AHEAD of tomorrow’s derby against Bolton at Ewood Park, we caught up with former Rovers favourite Paul Warhurst, now a player agent, who also wore the Wanderers shirt with distinction.

A LACK of morals, untrustworthy and driven solely by money are just some of the accusations thrown at the people many blame for the ills of the modern day game – the dreaded football agent.

Paul Warhust is not about to jump to the defence of the much-maligned trade either, having suffered at their hands himself, but his own bitter experiences haven’t stopped him from ‘crossing over to the dark side’.

The former Rovers man is quick to stop short of calling himself “an agent” but, working as a consultant for a top London agency, Warhurst knows he is bound to be tarred with the same brush as some of football’s most-hated men.

Since retiring from the game last year aged 38, Warhurst has sampled a brief taste of football management but, while never ruling out a return to the dug-out, he is content in his own crusade to show there are still good guys out there.

Working for his former agent, Mel Stein, Warhurst combines looking after players’ interests with scouting work and insists the job he does is crucial in the increasingly commer-cialised global game.

He said: “There is a stigma attached to being a football agent, but there are good agents and bad agents like anything in life.

“I don’t want to be classed as just an agent, because there is more to it, and all I am doing is looking after the players on the football side of things.

“There are some agents who will stab you in the back, but in this day and age players need to be looked after.

“I am someone the players I look after trust and am hopefully on the way to becoming one of those very good agents.”

With 16 former clubs to his name, including both Rovers and Bolton, Warhurst is regarded as one of the quintessential journeyman of English football.

During this time he has seen a number of team mates wronged by the men employed to look after them, including himself during his early days at Sheffield Wednesday.

He said: “I understand what people say about agents. I had an agent who stung me financially in my early days but then I was lucky enough to find someone like Mel.

“Football is only a short career before you have to retire and you need to make sure you can maintain a decent standard of living.

“If I can make sure my players are well looked after then they can concentrate on their football and I am happy.

“All my mates who played the game give me stick about crossing over to the other side, but it doesn’t bother me.”

Warhurst, who picked up a Premier League winners medal during an injury-ravaged spell at Ewood, stumbled across manage-ment at his last club he was a player at, Northwich Victoria, but 11 days later the adventure was over – for now.

He said: “Neil Redfearn asked me to join him as a player at Northwich, I did but then he left two days later and the chairman asked me to take charge temporarily.

“With me in charge we lost two games, got their first win of the season, and then I met with the chairman to discuss the future.

“We were miles apart in our thoughts and so I left. I loved the experience though and, if the chance ever arose again, I would never say never to giving it a go again.”