Barry "Messi" Bannan - again

[john e]

a football career lasts for a few years, why would more money in the bank be more important than a good career to look back on, I just don't get it

Maybe because it only lasts a few years (with limited options at the end of it) it's why writing off a couple of hundred thousand pounds just to play a few more games of football isn't really something that appeals to them.

which means that money means more to them than actually playing football,
football is a distant second to how much money they can earn, sometimes for doing nothing

 but you will never hear them say that, that's what gets my goat, its always 'I just want to play the game'
 which if what you say is true is clearly lies

[Percy McCarthy]

Purely guesswork on my part, but I'd say Hutton, Ireland and Given will get nowhere near what they're on presently from other clubs. I think Hutton's wages would probably drop from about 30k a week to 5k a week to move to a Spanish second division club. In that case john, would you still happily move for your love of playing the game?

The others' short-fall may be more marginal, in which case you'd have a point.

[Concrete John]

a football career lasts for a few years, why would more money in the bank be more important than a good career to look back on, I just don't get it

Maybe because it only lasts a few years (with limited options at the end of it) it's why writing off a couple of hundred thousand pounds just to play a few more games of football isn't really something that appeals to them.

which means that money means more to them than actually playing football,
football is a distant second to how much money they can earn, sometimes for doing nothing

 but you will never hear them say that, that's what gets my goat, its always 'I just want to play the game'
 which if what you say is true is clearly lies

I suppose it's like being a doctor or nurse.  They genuinely care about their patients and want to do well for them, but still expect to get paid at the end of the week.  Some care about the money almost exclusively I'm sure, but others want to play and try to make that happen while protecting their financial interests at the same time.  I suppose it's a balancing act and right now with our bomb squad that has truned into a bit of a 'who blinks first' game.

Deals will be done late in the window for them.

[Malandro]

I'll hold my hands up and say I'd do the same.

If I put myself in Ireland's shoes (and I doubt he feels this way) I'd be thinking about earning enough money to not only make my children's lives comfortable but also their childrens.

Unfortunately these morons will get rid of the majority of their wealth on crap watches and ridiculous cars.

[Dave]

a football career lasts for a few years, why would more money in the bank be more important than a good career to look back on, I just don't get it

Maybe because it only lasts a few years (with limited options at the end of it) it's why writing off a couple of hundred thousand pounds just to play a few more games of football isn't really something that appeals to them.

which means that money means more to them than actually playing football,
football is a distant second to how much money they can earn, sometimes for doing nothing

 but you will never hear them say that, that's what gets my goat, its always 'I just want to play the game'
 which if what you say is true is clearly lies

Of course the money is more important to them. As Dave says, someone would have to be very naive to think that there is any footballer that doesn't see it as a paycheque firstly and a game secondly.

Is the alternative going to be any better for you? Benoit Assou-Ekotto gets abuse for basically saying that he sees it as nothing more than a job and doesn't even check who Spurs are playing next. Would you feel warmer and happier if all players followed his lead?

[richtheholtender]

I think you have to factor in that these players are either too old or don't have the ability to make it any higher in the game. For these reasons there is no point in moving for less money.

[nick harper]

Footballers do think very short term though. I have no idea what Bannan is earning or what the drop might be to go to Blackburn but it is an opportunity to rebuild and prolong his career by getting his head down and demonstrating his capability - and earning better contracts for the next 10 years. As things are, after his contract ends here, he might not get another one if he sits around doing nothing.

Sometimes a footballer has to make decisions that have short term impacts but can give longer term benefits, like we all do.

[dave.woodhall]

maybe I am naïve,
 but I just don't think you can compare playing football in front of thousands of adoring fans to working in an office or stacking shop shelves
I suppose you are right in that anything becomes normal if its done so often,

however thousands of people play football every week for no money, just for the love of the game,
to my knowledge people don't volunteer to go in to work for nothing, because in general we rather not
apart from a few vocational jobs ie teaching, nursing etc most people would stop work tomorrow if they could

I'm not saying your wrong or arguing against you really, but I just don't get the 'its only a job'  like everyones elses job,
 its not is it, its a totally different way of earning a living like in the entertainment industry, a football career lasts for a few years, why would more money in the bank be more important than a good career to look back on, I just don't get it

With footballers it's probably all they've ever done. From the day they first started school they've been marked out as a special talent. Even someone as limited as Alan Hutton would have been miles better than anyone he ever played with, right up until the day he signed Academy forms and started mixing with other full-timers. His entire life has been geared with one aim in mind - to become a professional footballer. With that in mind it's hardly surprising that he regards it as a job, and one that could end with a crunching tackle tomorrow.

And when you're a Premier League player you don't live a normal life. You earn a fortune, you hang out with people who earn the same so you don't stop to think that you could cut your wages by 90% and still have what mere mortals would consider to be a very tidy living. You couldn't have the lifestyle you've got if you were earning £5k a week rather than £50k. In the same way, most of the world's population would see the average wage in Britain and think it riches beyond comprehension. You can't understand why a player can't live on that £5k, someone in the slums of Calcutta would stare open-mouthed at your belief that dropping from £800 to £600 would cause you hardship.

[john e]

Purely guesswork on my part, but I'd say Hutton, Ireland and Given will get nowhere near what they're on presently from other clubs. I think Hutton's wages would probably drop from about 30k a week to 5k a week to move to a Spanish second division club. In that case john, would you still happily move for your love of playing the game?

The others' short-fall may be more marginal, in which case you'd have a point.

I don't know the ins and outs of the new deals been offered, if they are massively different then no I don't blame them for staying and waiting for a better option

you just get the feeling that the love of the game is not there for some of them, they really don't care about going anywhere else, and quite content to sit around doing nothing but picking up massive wages that some twat of a manager thought they were worth

even a top actor or actress who can command 10-20 mill for a film can still very often go and do a bit of theatre work for next to nothing, because they love there work they love performing and like what they do
i'm sure there are many footballers who do the same,

with someone like Bannan who is still relatively young, why doesn't he take a leaf out of Cahills book, he wanted to play, went to a lower club was succesfull and now is probably paid more than we would have ever payed him, he backed himself and his talent

the best thing Bannan could do now for his career is prove himself somewhere else, unless of course he doesn't think he is good enough, and there arnt many footballers like that, they all think they could play for Real Madrid

I suppose at the end of the day money rules just like in every other aspect of life

[QBVILLA]

If I had made the grade I would have signed for whoever paid me the most money, . At professional level i'd also question how many actually enjoy the game. Us amateurs work all week and play in Sunday league as it's an enjoyable hobby, a break from the day to day routine. Footballers, are at it every day and i'd bet that there are 40 year old fat blokes playing in division 6 of the Kidderminster league who get more out of 90 minutes on a Sunday than the £100k a week superstars do playing in front of packed stadiums. Sinclair,Rodwell,,Wright Phillips etc etc have all swapped playing week in week out for a fat wage rise and a place on the bench.

[VinnieChase84]

So we accept then that most footballers are full of shit in regards to the love of the game? When we agree it does just boil down to cash for them!?

[VinnieChase84]

Purely guesswork on my part, but I'd say Hutton, Ireland and Given will get nowhere near what they're on presently from other clubs. I think Hutton's wages would probably drop from about 30k a week to 5k a week to move to a Spanish second division club. In that case john, would you still happily move for your love of playing the game?

The others' short-fall may be more marginal, in which case you'd have a point.

I don't know the ins and outs of the new deals been offered, if they are massively different then no I don't blame them for staying and waiting for a better option

you just get the feeling that the love of the game is not there for some of them, they really don't care about going anywhere else, and quite content to sit around doing nothing but picking up massive wages that some twat of a manager thought they were worth

even a top actor or actress who can command 10-20 mill for a film can still very often go and do a bit of theatre work for next to nothing, because they love there work they love performing and like what they do
i'm sure there are many footballers who do the same,

with someone like Bannan who is still relatively young, why doesn't he take a leaf out of Cahills book, he wanted to play, went to a lower club was succesfull and now is probably paid more than we would have ever payed him, he backed himself and his talent

the best thing Bannan could do now for his career is prove himself somewhere else, unless of course he doesn't think he is good enough, and there arnt many footballers like that, they all think they could play for Real Madrid

I suppose at the end of the day money rules just like in every other aspect of life

Spot on

[UK Redsox]

So we accept then that most footballers are full of shit in regards to the love of the game? When we agree it does just boil down to cash for them!?

They might be good at football but who says that they have to love the game ?

I do my job purely for the money, I don't derive any pleasure from it. I expect that some footballers are just the same.

[QBVILLA]

So we accept then that most footballers are full of shit in regards to the love of the game? When we agree it does just boil down to cash for them!?

I'd say that is the case yes. There will be exceptions of course but you only have to look at the players who have left the first team of other clubs to sit on the benches at City, Chelsea etc to see that a big fat contract is the key factor.

[john e]

I've never had a big love of money, its always been easy come easy go for me, I like earning it to spend it, but I don't love it for what it is
so I am probably the wrong person to try and understand the modern day footballer

its easy for me to say as I will never be in the position to prove it,
 but if I was a footballer and offered 50k a week to sit on the bench or 40k a week to play every week, I would definitely choose to play.
obviously if as Percy said it was only 5k then that would be different

but someone like Darren Bent is not going to be offered a 90% cut in wage no matter where he goes