[Football] Have the players got off lightly?

Seasider78 · Apr 23, 2021

All the talk this week has been about evil plotting owners selling the soul of the game but the main reason these clubs are in trouble and chasing money is the non stop astronomical rise of player fees, wages and agents costs.

The truth is with a sensible and controlled level of salary and fees football would be both sustainable and profitable but it has ran out of control.

Despite all of the financial issues reported we will still see a summer where clubs chase Haaland for what is estimated as £150m fee + £1m a week wages.

Very few players took pay cuts during the pandemic whilst lower paid members of club staff were laid off.

Whilst the owners are rightly getting the criticism they deserve when will the issue of wages and salary caps get addressed at a global level as this is what is driving the unsustainable football finances?

Hotchilidog · Apr 23, 2021

Yes they have. All the extra money that these whiny owners want to scoop up is going to walk straight out of the game and into the players pockets.

Albion Dan · Apr 23, 2021

If the owners wouldnt pay it the players couldnt earn it!

lost in london · Apr 23, 2021

Hardly the players' fault, who doesn't try and get the best deal for themselves?

Prince Monolulu · Apr 23, 2021

#allinthistogether

Swansman · Apr 23, 2021

That they didnt take cuts during the pandemic was poor and they got off lightly with that, but generally speaking the clubs themselves are at fault for the situation.

If you are going to point at the players in the wider picture, you also have to point at the football fans who have - for the most part quietly - just accepted rising ticket and TV prices.

lawros left foot · Apr 23, 2021

I had a twitter discussion with a couple of scab 6 fans about what the punishment should be for the scab 6. Both of them were adamant that the players shouldn’t be made to suffer by club bans etc. I did mention the reason the huge clubs are struggling with debt is the quite ridiculous wages they pay said players. It’s the market, apparently, and the clubs can do nothing about it. Both were also against a Europe wide pay cap.

Until there’s a pay cap that is actually enforced, this problem will just get worse.

Stato · Apr 23, 2021

I think that's unfair. Yes players are overpaid to a ridiculous extent and they mostly don't accept any responsibility for the repercussions of this inflation, but when this proposal suggested an opportunity for some to increase their wages even further this week, they responded pretty much with one voice and said 'We don't want it. That's not football.'

The incredible thing about this plan is that it was so divorced from everything that is compelling about football that it united three nations or more against a dozen or so people. The owners are solely responsible for this, trying to force it through without consultation, and even against the wishes of others in the boardroom. Yes some are driven by desperation connected with the rampant competition that has player wages as a root cause, but they had a choice about how to respond and didn't have to take the James Bond villain option, and spend months plotting in secret over something that any one football supporter could have told them was unworkable and totally alien to the ethos of the sport.

Your point about wage inflation is valid and this needs talking about, but there are ways to approach the problem that don't involve lying to the father of your godson, or destroying working relationships that have taken years to develop.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Apr 23, 2021

Swansman said:
That they didnt take cuts during the pandemic was poor and they got off lightly with that, but generally speaking the clubs themselves are at fault for the situation.

If you are going to point at the players in the wider picture, you also have to point at the football fans who have - for the most part quietly - just accepted rising ticket and TV prices.

TV money is the root cause of the madness. Players would get a very rude awakening if their pay was ever to become reliant on gate receipts

CheeseRolls · Apr 23, 2021

Seasider78 said:
All the talk this week has been about evil plotting owners selling the soul of the game but the main reason these clubs are in trouble and chasing money is the non stop astronomical rise of player fees, wages and agents costs.

The truth is with a sensible and controlled level of salary and fees football would be both sustainable and profitable but it has ran out of control.

Despite all of the financial issues reported we will still see a summer where clubs chase Haaland for what is estimated as £150m fee + £1m a week wages.

Very few players took pay cuts during the pandemic whilst lower paid members of club staff were laid off.

Whilst the owners are rightly getting the criticism they deserve when will the issue of wages and salary caps get addressed at a global level as this is what is driving the unsustainable football finances?

Interesting point, I think the answer is surprisngly no and it reveals the biggest flaw in the whole dumb plan.

If you look at the money on offer to go and play in China and a few other newly wealthy places, very few players in their prime have been tempted by the offer. If you are a hugely famous footballer, with huge wealth and priveledge, one place is pretty much like another. You need to have the most expensive stuff and have a barrier between you and your fans. Frankly it coul dbe anywhere.

The thing that makes the difference ultimately is the glory. You and I might be happy sticking one in the top corner in the local park, but if you are the best, you want to be remembered as the best, which means playing with and against the best and coming out on top.

Money is nearly everything, but there is still an element of glory. The meaningless franchises these self seeking fools were proposing, would utlimately have been swept aside by richer, greedier self interested oligarchs.

Seasider78 · Apr 23, 2021

lawros left foot said:
I had a twitter discussion with a couple of scab 6 fans about what the punishment should be for the scab 6. Both of them were adamant that the players shouldn’t be made to suffer by club bans etc. I did mention the reason the huge clubs are struggling with debt is the quite ridiculous wages they pay said players. It’s the market, apparently, and the clubs can do nothing about it. Both were also against a Europe wide pay cap.

Until there’s a pay cap that is actually enforced, this problem will just get worse.

This I my view the market has not and cannot regulate itself as player costs have risen to levels where they are consuming almost the entire income of clubs.

A cap is the only answer as we are seeing despite the financial issues of the last year agents are still touting even higher fees and weekly salaries for the top talent.

FFP had a go at enforcing this at the club level but given the percentage of club costs that are now spent on players it would make more sense to apply restrictions on fees and salaries.

What is interesting is this is never tabled by the clubs or any movement to change even though it is eating into their profits. Instead they chase mad breakaway plans.

Seasider78 · Apr 23, 2021

Albion Dan said:
If the owners wouldnt pay it the players couldnt earn it!

It’s a bit of a vicious circle though isn’t it the clubs need the top players to stay and thrive in the competitions that attract and fund those salaries. Without them their business model collapses so players ask for more and the top clubs have to ask for more to fund those increasing costs.

At some point the cycle needs to be broken

Seasider78 · Apr 23, 2021

CheeseRolls said:
Interesting point, I think the answer is surprisngly no and it reveals the biggest flaw in the whole dumb plan.

If you look at the money on offer to go and play in China and a few other newly wealthy places, very few players in their prime have been tempted by the offer. If you are a hugely famous footballer, with huge wealth and priveledge, one place is pretty much like another. You need to have the most expensive stuff and have a barrier between you and your fans. Frankly it coul dbe anywhere.

The thing that makes the difference ultimately is the glory. You and I might be happy sticking one in the top corner in the local park, but if you are the best, you want to be remembered as the best, which means playing with and against the best and coming out on top.

Money is nearly everything, but there is still an element of glory. The meaningless franchises these self seeking fools were proposing, would utlimately have been swept aside by richer, greedier self interested oligarchs.

You make a valid point for players it is not just about the money but in Europe they get the money and the glory.

But take us as a example we are a well ran club with (in normal times) good match day income with average players on a bottom 5 playing budget. We are getting millions of pounds of TV money in addition to this but still struggling with costs and relying on a wealthy owner to plug the difference.

The model is broken and without crazy player fees and wages we would see more sustainable clubs and hopefully lower costs for supporters.

The way things work now is if we got double the TV money players would demand double the fees and salaries and this has got to stop.

I was as disgusted as anyone at the behaviour of the 6 clubs this week but they are just part of the problem.

Thunder Bolt · Apr 23, 2021

Agents are the scourge of modern football. Players leave a lot of negotiations to their agents, and every penny that goes to agents, goes out of the game.

CheeseRolls · Apr 23, 2021

Seasider78 said:
You make a valid point for players it is not just about the money but in Europe they get the money and the glory.

But take us as a example we are a well ran club with (in normal times) good match day income with average players on a bottom 5 playing budget. We are getting millions of pounds of TV money in addition to this but still struggling with costs and relying on a wealthy owner to plug the difference.

The model is broken and without crazy player fees and wages we would see more sustainable clubs and hopefully lower costs for supporters.

The way things work now is if we got double the TV money players would demand double the fees and salaries and this has got to stop.

I was as disgusted as anyone at the behaviour of the 6 clubs this week but they are just part of the problem.

Sure - but I also think that is a different argument.

happypig · Apr 23, 2021

lawros left foot said:
I had a twitter discussion with a couple of scab 6 fans about what the punishment should be for the scab 6. Both of them were adamant that the players shouldn’t be made to suffer by club bans etc. I did mention the reason the huge clubs are struggling with debt is the quite ridiculous wages they pay said players. It’s the market, apparently, and the clubs can do nothing about it. Both were also against a Europe wide pay cap.

Until there’s a pay cap that is actually enforced, this problem will just get worse.

100% this. Some fans of the scab 6 still think that they should always get the best players no matter what the cost; unfortunately the cost is borne by the other 86 clubs.
A Europe-wide wage cap would still see top players living lavish lifestyles with the best cars and luxury houses (maybe not in Burnley though).

Eric Youngs Contact Lens · Apr 23, 2021

I'm also of the view that players ultimately will only be paid whatever their employers believe they can afford or gamble. This is one reason why we will not get certain players vs. other clubs. But the owners realise that the model is unsustainable - if you approach it as a business proposition, they have bought market share. Their whole future success financially depends on growing that market, (or getting more from the current one - TV revenue) and the reality of that is it that this is the vast numbers of consumers in under-served populations of the world. If anything, there is growing pressure here to reduce income per fan, making other areas even more attractive. If no-one pays Haaland his huge demands, he will have to temper them. Does that mean he will go to China to play, where he might get that kind of money? No, he will stay in Europe and get the best money he can for now.
However, Our own model is built on the assumption that the richest clubs will pay big money/wages for players that we have developed or discovered - if that changes, we too will also have to think again.

Blue Valkyrie · Apr 23, 2021

Players can only earn what owners are prepared ( or allowed ) to pay.

Glawstergull · Apr 23, 2021

How can they not be part of the problem?
This is where most of the money is going.
It isn't helped by the enormous increase in foreign players with no or little understanding of the country they work in and a lack of real connection with the fanbase on a personal level. Matchday adoration doesn't count.
If an effort to recalibrate the gauge at any level meant a drop in wages there would be players in tantrums.

bhafc99 · Apr 23, 2021

Agree to an extent, but let’s not forget the Glazer family have taken about a billion pounds out of Man Utd for themselves.

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[Football] Have the players got off lightly?

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