The insanity of Premiership football

[Concrete John]

I can't wait untill we can get our wages under control stupid giving them that much.

It's not stupid giving them what is comparable to others in the league, although I can't argue with the notion Beye is lucky to be getting what he is.  What is stupid is doing so and not playing them.

[Risso]

With the move to a squad based game how much is being paid each week across the 20 clubs to blokes who don't kick a ball in anger?

I think you'd struggle to find many players outside of Man City earning so much for doing so little as our "outcasts".

[Chris Smith]

With the move to a squad based game how much is being paid each week across the 20 clubs to blokes who don't kick a ball in anger?

I think you'd struggle to find many players outside of Man City earning so much for doing so little as our "outcasts".

Possibly not but I was just musing on the "insanity of Premiership football" where millions of pounds are paid to players every week who don't get a game. We all recognise the need for strength in depth but this is the consequence.

On our turnover it isn't sustainable, which is why we will probably have to continue to rely on selling a top player each year..

[Salsa Party Animal]

and a certain Ashley Young earning big money as well. Don't forget football don't rely on gate money alone, as there is fat cat boxes, corporation hospitably, food, program, TV money, club shops, away tickets, travelling coaches, advertising, radio, internet, merchandising.

[OzVilla]

Well whatever the total the figure is quite irrelevent.  The figure of 88% is all we need to know - totally unsustainable and a good reason why relegation could hit us much harder than some other Clubs that are more 'geared' towards this sort of thing.

For years we had a small squad, and moaned about it.  Then a couple of years ago MON built it up and I can't recall too many posters on here complaining about these purchases (Heskey aside).  Now the same people moan that MON is responsible for our position and the 88% wage/income ratio.

Now i'm as pissed off as the next fan at the fact that MON did one 5 days before the start of the season, but this figure is the responsibility of Randy, he signs the cheques after all.

If this situation had occured under Doug they'd have been hell to pay.

Other than Villa games I now only really watch Championship matches on TV - the standard is good and atleast you know all the fans are genuine, not the Johnny come lately brigade and the matches are more exciting too.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I now only really watch Championship matches on TV - the standard is good

Have to disagree with you there Oz, i've found it to be pretty poor, an unbelievably high amount of staid low quality games.

[DeKuip]

Yet the guy who is actually trying to do something the tackle the debt situation is seen by English football fans as a French twat who hates the English. Strange.

Only when Platini's plans for tackling the debt problem come into place in two seasons time will we possibly see things brought under control. Even Brian Marwood at Man City has hinted that their big spending now is aimed at getting City up level with the big boys by the time the new UEFA rule comes into place in 2012-13. At which point they, like everyone else who wants to play in European competition, will have to break even each year. Hopefully once the top teams stop paying out the kind of money they have been, the clubs below will also follow suit.
From what I last read, Platini is insisting that earnings does not include money put in by owners, and let's hope that is the case.
I'm sure certain clubs will find another way of topping up the bank accounts of the very top players - but at least this should put an end to the likes of Habib Beye earning mega-bucks for playing a few games of 5-a-side each week.

[Concrete John]

Yet the guy who is actually trying to do something the tackle the debt situation is seen by English football fans as a French twat who hates the English. Strange.

He is doing so as that's the remit given to him by the club when he got the job.  Any manager would want more money to spend, be it on wages or tranfer fees, as it allows him to build a better team.

[Risso]

Yet the guy who is actually trying to do something the tackle the debt situation is seen by English football fans as a French twat who hates the English. Strange.

He is doing so as that's the remit given to him by the club when he got the job.  Any manager would want more money to spend, be it on wages or tranfer fees, as it allows him to build a better team.

I think he was talking about Platini , not our own particular English-hating Frenchman!

[BannedUserIAT]

The current sillyness makes me nervous that something revolutionary is about to happen...as in taking the game global.

If clubs are spending 88% of their income of wages, then either wages drop (which will inevitably reduce the 'glamour factor' - something the FA will do anything to ensure does not happen)  or income increases. And there are BILLIONS of people outside of the UK that might pay to see a Premiership game.

Future Premier League matches may be held all over the world like F1 races. I can just see a 'home' based team for the games held in England and a 'travelling' team for the glory-hunters in far-flung places.

And yes, a large percentage of traditional fans will give the game away. But if one person who leaves can be replaced by 5 others, the FA won't see a problem...in fact, it's a hell of a solution.

The reaction to the 39th game I think, was just to test the waters of the 'home' fans. I've absolutely no doubt that they're quietly gauging potential responses to non-England based games. And, with many teams going to the wall, expect something drastic to happen sooner or later.

The FA is not unlike the US military machine...if it means talking up a war and generating fear in order to justify a growing existence, so be it. Likewise, if it means the FA will have to talk up the glamour of modern football to take the game global and justify it's expensive existence, you can bet they'll do it.

[woo]

The reaction to the 39th game I think, was just to test the waters of the 'home' fans. I've absolutely no doubt that they're quietly gauging potential responses to non-England based games. And, with many teams going to the wall, expect something drastic to happen sooner or later.

The FA is not unlike the US military machine...if it means talking up a war and generating fear in order to justify a growing existence, so be it. Likewise, if it means the FA will have to talk up the glamour of modern football to take the game global and justify it's expensive existence, you can bet they'll do it.

This worries me too. If it happens it'll be the end of it for me, I just hope there are enough of us letting them know how wrong it is every time they try and sell the idea again.

[VillaZogmariner]

It won't be an FA decision, it will be a Premier League one.

And that worries me more.

[alanclare]

Future Premier League matches may be held all over the world like F1 races. I can just see a 'home' based team for the games held in England and a 'travelling' team for the glory-hunters in far-flung places.

Thank you for this. I look at what used to be Grand Prix racing and how it was hi-jacked by Ecclestone and sold world-wide as a product for television, and suddenly the future becomes clear. I look at what was Test Cricket and I see another sport that has been "re-packaged" for the world TV audience and is making fortunes for those astute enough to get in on the ground floor. I see top-flight football following a similar path.

[DeKuip]

Yet the guy who is actually trying to do something the tackle the debt situation is seen by English football fans as a French twat who hates the English. Strange.

He is doing so as that's the remit given to him by the club when he got the job.  Any manager would want more money to spend, be it on wages or tranfer fees, as it allows him to build a better team.

I think he was talking about Platini , not our own particular English-hating Frenchman!

Yes I was referring to Platini, I don't think GH has yet been accused of hating the English!

On the subject of the 39th game, where this thread has new spread to, I'm sure both UEFA and FIFA would have a big say in never letting this happen. For all their faults, one thing these organisations cannot be accused of is ignoring the plight of football in smaller nations.
UEFA have already shown this by expanding the Champions League and Europa League to allow more direct entries from smaller nations - much to the inconvenience of our own Premier League clubs who now have a very much overcrowded fixture list if they progress in Europe.
FIFA would also step in and protect the leagues of smaller nations against a money-grabbing invasion of the Premier League and its attempts to take over the world.
Both UEFA and FIFA have far more clout in protecting the interests of the little guy than our own FA appears to have.
Platini's plans to bring the debt-ridden big-spenders into line could be seen as anti-English in particular (and that is the way the Premier League would want us to see it), but I prefer to view it as a way of making sure clubs are run within their means, and so protecting the communities/supporters of those clubs.
The Premier League is run purely for the benefit of the greedy - it has to be put in its place somehow. It has to stop treating us as customers who are easily ripped off, and it has to make players, agents and the PFA realise that the days of obscene wages for average players are numbered.

[KevinGage]

Lets hope barcodes are playing all Irelands wages..

Shitting hell, I forgot about him.
Are they just paying half?
He's supposed to be on £63k pw.

According to Pardew, he's on a pay as you play deal there.
They haven't paid a cent yet.