So, the players have decided to put some of their ridiculous earnings into a fund to support the NHS and no doubt they will all be patting themselves on the back.
It is clear their ploy at restoring their battered reputations has worked in some areas but some of us and I would like to think most of us have not been fooled.
The players have in effect said screw the clubs and fans that pay their wages, they want to look good by putting money into NHS charities and leave the clubs to fend for themselves.
Clubs will fold, that is an almost certain scenario that will unfold and the players know this but they do not care, they do not care about their local communities that support them and pay them, they only care about their image.
You see, the NHS today is funded beyond imagination, the Government is spending literally hundreds of billions, they have made it clear they will do whatever it takes and the NHS will not want for anything and I have yet to find anyone that does not believe them. Sure, some will say they have let the NHS down before and underfunded it and they are right, however, that is not happening today.
The NHS does not need money from players but the players do need the NHS to make themselves look good, to brainwash the naive into thinking they are actually doing a good thing.
No number has been released so as far as anyone is concerned the players may only be putting in 1-2% of their wages, no one really knows. Remember these are people that are under constant investigation for their tax dodging.
For those that cannot be bothered to check out the link to the BBC that outlines the numbers under investigation, it is huge, here are some numbers to get your teeth stuck into.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is investigating the tax affairs of 330 footballers, 55 clubs and 80 agents, up from 173 players, 40 clubs and 38 agents in January 2019, those numbers are dated from March this year.
All this waffle about why are footballers being picked on and so forth is nothing but a distraction, big business is making a huge effort, certainly far more than footballers.
If anyone did any form of research they would see the massive amount of money and technology the huge corporations are giving, Amazon, Google, Apple, Boots, Four Seasons, Formula one etc have all been doing their bit, whether it is donations to the WHO or providing technology to help the NHS or millions of face masks, properties to use, be it hotels, conference centres etc big business is doing its bit.
But that would need some effort to check and verify and most defenders of the millionaire selfish greedy footballers will simply refuse to acknowledge what big business is doing and just trot out the same old excuses about their “heroes”
The players could save their clubs but they have chosen not to. Think about that for a minute, think about it when the clubs go under.
The players, mainly Premier League and mainly the top six have shown themselves to be contemptible people that have abused and continue to abuse the clubs that employ them and the fans that idolise them and this attempt at good PR by donating as little as they probably can to the NHS that simply does not require the money right now is all about the players and not about helping the community they leach off.
No doubt their defenders will trot out all the usual stuff but for me and quite a few fans, I would say the vast majority, will not be fooled by their latest antics.
They have not done a good thing, they have made sure they have taken care of their own image first and foremost, such a shame that some have actually been taken in my their bull.
Start to say goodbye to football clubs but that’s ok, as long as the millionaires get yet another Ferrari or open up a new fashion label or coffee shop then its all good.
Admin Martin
My sentiments exactly
There were plenty of former players getting involved in dodgy tax breaks and I’m pretty sure that is continuing as you suggest
I’m glad you put a different side of the story to a previously posted article which seemed to applaud the players
Thanks SueP
Different writers have different opinions and so it is not unusual for there to be contradictory articles on here, it is all about opinions.
As with all Arsenal groups, be they writers, fan groups, mates in the pub, we at JustArsenal rarely agree on anything about Arsenal lol
AdMartin, I’m not sure you quite understand that footballers, and that means every single one playing in the UK, have no Devine right to pay ANYTHING if they don’t wish to do so. You seem to have written it is their responsibility which it clearly isn’t. Morally? Yes. But it’s not compulsory of ANYONE, let alone footballers.
And I must ask- is that really a photo of Ozil with the NHS cheque? Or have you super-imposed him just to make a point with this article?
Of course they have a divine right to give nothing. Morally they have a duty to society at large to show they care. I’m not exactly flush but manage to put supplies in the food bank at the supermarket as do many others. It is about playing your part as a member of the world community
The reality is that as a group and as a sport they were all out of touch and allowed this festering boil to grow. Guardiola made a huge contribution so altruism is still alive and kicking in some places
The article is not about devine rights but about not being fooled by their latest attempts to “do the right thing”
Regards the picture, on this occasion I plead innocence, I asked someone to put me an image together for the article as I am not actually working right now and that was the image provided.
It is an image of Ozil superimposed and yes it is to make a point but absolutely nothing to do with Ozil personally, I actually know he does a lot of good charity work already.
I had no issue with it and so it was published, if the pic was with Aubameyang I would have said yes also.
Phil “No devine right to pay?” Surely they have no devine right NOT to pay. If you are speaking purely legally then you are correct. But this whole debate is about what is morally right. AND what will be necessary to save the life at top level of the sport we all love. AND which provides those same players with their living. That thought, when it hits, – which it will, sooner or later- through financial necessity of perhaps being unemployed and then having to sue an insolvent credito, will sharpen their wits, I ‘d suggest to you and to others who think as you do.
Jon, I’m not being argumentative here, and totally get what you were stating.And your right. I have no doubt some clubs in the lower leagues will not survive this crisis, and even some Premier League and Championship clubs are at risk.
I honestly believe MOST players will not be adverse into doing the right thing for their clubs, but it won’t save all the Football Clubs and won’t necessarily prevent some from needing a fire sale of players to get revenue into their banks. But the point I’m trying to make is why just the players? We have a CEO, Raul and Edu on huge money. Would you not expect them to contribute? I would. The Coaches, Physios, etc. Are they not the same?If one player is being asked to cut his wages, surely that applies to all the Club. I’m not suggesting the Admin Staff, who you rightly say are not being paid a fraction of the players wages, but their are plenty of big earners who are at Arsenal who can contribute along with the team.
As for other sports, there are some, that I noted as Yennis, Golf and Formula One, that earn fortunes from their profession. Don’t you believe these should be accountable as well?
Phil, We ARE firmly on the same page but have a mere difference in emphasising what we each consider to be the prime important point. I agree with all you say ,totally too, about other wealth employees doing far more. But to me the discussion is chiefly about how players can and should or should not, help football survive.
It is my basic respect , historically, for players that makes me expect more from them than I do from a sleezebag multi billionaire. it is a very rare such animal that has ever made his money by being moral and ethical. Kroenke is the prime example to we Gooners.
But top football is unlike any other normal industry. Only in football does a firm, or club if you like, have thousands of supporters and fans who worship the name of it and would give their eye teeth to be in its company. No one goes to Tescos and comes home singing its praises , nor ever has a foul weekend because it sold out of milk. TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. LOVE AND HATE.
So different rtules apply to football and in fact all such sporting clubs , cricket, rugby and so on. But football dwarfs all others in passion in sheer numbers.
Unlike Ken, I an not a socialist and do not try to defend working class blokes, footbllers, over and above the perceived toffs , like owners or the likes of Hill-Wood were Equally, I have little regard in general for perceived toffs, thinking many of them out of touch with lifes reality. But fairness applies to all , not one group more nor less than any other.
And it is owners, football authorities corporates and players and fans alike who have made the Prem into thr behemoth it has become. In general , as an ethical capitalist, I am relaxed about this success. But it must be faced that since 1992 when the Prem began in a trumpet of glory, the one sided nature of club to fan and player to fan relationshipos have become distorted out of all question to the way it was in McLintocks time, when I and others who the players got to recognise, used to get given away tickets by those players when we waited outside the players entrance.
In those times the fan / player ralationship was the cornerstone of footballs spirit and almost all my personal favourite Arsenal people, not necessarily as players but as people, were from the 60s and 70’s. I knew wee Geordie, slightly, as a friends granny lived next to himand Margery and we were often at Grannys of course.
The advent of huge , obscenely large wages for even fairly young regulars in top Prem teams is unhealthy and has caused an us and them mentality which , if left unchecked, will one day destroy all that has been achieved. I sincerely believe this crisis will eventually prove to be the thing that saves top level football from dying from filth and filthier still lack of morality. We all know a decent minority of players are very giving and very few are bad people. That is true everywhere and simply reflects human nature, But as with MPs, who start their Parliamentary life with good intentions, they become warped by the corrupt system and 4th form arguments, so footballers give in to the easy temptations of easy and lavish money,. It takes a load of character to stand aginst your peers and shout “no ,this is wrong”! FAR SIMPLER TO KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN AN GO WITH THE CROWD AND HIDE BEHIND THE IMMORALITY OF OTHERS.
But that does not impress me as a way to live; it is cowardice and it needs saying loud and clear. Only cowards shirk opinions for fear of upsetting others. Brave people take the lead, they act first, they persuade others of the rightness of their actions and they lead. For every Bob Wilson and Tony Adams we have a dozen Paul Pogbas and Cashleys today, sadly. Those greedy beggars need calling out for what they are , or the majority of them anyway.
So on this, I am not with Ken and Dan Smith, who seem to want owners and other rich folk to act first.
REAL MEN , LIKE FRANK AND TONY WOULD BE TAKING THE LEAD AND DEMANDING ALL PLAYERS TAKE SUBSTANTIAL CUTS TO SAVE THE GAME FOR THE FANS, FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR ALL WHO LOVE FAIRNESS. Sorry for the sermon Phil.
I wish it were otherwise but I have to admit being with Martin on this subject. I much dislike tarring ANY group of perhaps 500-100 people with the same brush because life teaches us all that this is wrong and unfair. This tarring all with the same brush is the evil principle behind racism and bigotry of all foul kinds. But, to be equally fair,as I always try to be, it needs saying that, in general, most players are more concerned with their own image than in TRULY helping the game that rewards them and their families so well in financial ways and in crowd esteem.
Martin skilfully debunks the myth of that false saying “we are all in it together”. David Cameron used to use that fake and untrue saying when it suited him. If a player on £100,000 pw takes a 30% wage cut he is left with £70,000pw, not exactly peanuts , I’d suggest. Whereas if a person on £25,000 per YEAR takes a similar cut he is left with £17,500 per YEAR, which IS peanuts in todays world, esp to feed a family. Demonstrably a fake equality then!
To hide behind a corporate projected image of mass players generosity, simply because a significant number, though still a minority of players, are big hearted and give substantial sums to good causes, is to act as a coward.
I address my comments then ONLY to those who do little or nothing and do NOT include those minority of fine human and big hearted players who DO regularly give massive amounts to others.
To these greedy players I SAY, YOU ARE NOT ONLY A DISGRACE BUT YOU ARE IN REAL DANGER OF KILLING THE SPORT THAT PAYS YOU FOR YOUR TALENTS.
In the end, after much cat and mouse shenanigans and self interest, these players will be forced to toe the line by pure economics, as they will not wish to starve. If the whole of football goes under, which is an outside possibility which however willl increase the longer no games are allowed, then you will be well advised to go into hiding.
THE PASSION AND ANGER Of A VENGEFUL FOOTBALL COMMUNITY WHO RIGHTLY WILL BLAME YOU, WILL BE BROUGHT DOWN ON YOUR SELFISH AND DULL WITTED HEADS LIKE A TON WEIGHT. You have been warned!
In fact the vital player to fan relationship is already badly damaged and may yet prove incurable. Cure yourselves then you greedy players while you still, probably, can!
Jon, now this comment of yours I can agree with 95%, simply because you have included one very important point:
“I address my comments then ONLY to those who do little or nothing and do NOT include those” – then it becomes a little hazy for the rest of that paragraph.
So, who are the greedy players you aim your anger at? Am I to presume that you know every detail about what this player gives and that player doesn’t give?
Not one single person can profess to know what another is doing/giving at the moment and Martins headline about not being fooled shows just that later in the article when he says they MIGHT only be putting in 1-2% of their wages – that could be so of course, but equally they MIGHT only be putting 50-60% of their wages…do you see the point I am making?
Words, in particular yours, carry an awful amount of weight.
So when you aim them at an unknown target, the danger is they become a target for all.
I notice you haven’t replied to Dans take on this in another article.
He gives another side to the coin, which I found refreshingly different to Martins, but that is just my personal opinion of course.
A the end of the day (a phrase I detest but here it fits!!!) we will never be able to find out what EVERY individual has done to support the NHS and, just as importantly, the care service, the bus, train drivers, the teachers looking after essential workers children – the list is endless.
To think that players are any different in that respect is to invade their privacy, just as it would be if you asked me what I have done, wouldn’t you agree?
I believe each person makes his/hers own decision, based on their own morality and no amount of mud slinging by one person against another will change anything – especially when one takes the moral high ground to begin with.
Ken I now have answered Dan and I hope you will read my post there on that thread . Also above on this thread in reply to Phil, which mentions you. Overall, there is much on which we all agree but the main difference as I see it is that no matter what someone else should do but chooses not to do, disgracefully so too , if the onus is on you to act, then you should always do it . Do it first too, do not wait to see whether others do it or don’t do it. Be moral, act morally and do what you know is morally right. I focus on players, mainly because we are mostly speaking about what players should or should not do . Strong characters lead and set examples; weaker folk wait for others to take the lead. I am very interested in your reply on my post to Phil about Adams and McLintock and about their leadership characters. LASTLY WE FANS HAVE AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO OUR PLAYERS, THEY ARE SORT OF FAMILY. NO SUCH ATTACHMENT WITH KRONKE. He is a scumbag and we all know that. He woud laugh at fan pressure but only and hopefully dire financial pressure PLUS vastly changing us and them attitudes in general may force him or scare him, financially, into hopefully , selling up. Even down the line a bit is better than never selling. Surely?
But Jon, I will ask you once again, how do you know what any player has donated in private AND from his nett pay, tax avoidance or not.
Yet you have taken the stance that, because they have not come out and told the world about their commitment, they haven’t done it!!!
Perhaps they have, perhaps they haven’t but you REALLY DON’T KNOW do you…just like the rest of society.
It has nothing to do with political views at all, more a sense of fair play when making sweeping judgements.
When it was mentioned about the charity work that Ozil was doing, one of the comments was “He’s only looking for praise, but letting his agent tell the world so it doesn’t look like it’s him”.
Do you remember that Jon? So why would ANY professional footballer want that kind of response to something that he has chosen to do?
Your complete basis in condemning players is based on absolutely no proof whatsoever (it could be true of course and I would be inclined to lean that way) but you are using assumption to denigrate a complete profession that happens to be paid absurd salaries, with the proviso that those who have done so are not included in your criticism – yet you have no idea who they are!!!!
Why is it you think that, to be caring, one has to blow ones own trumpet and be the leader when announcing what one has done?
As sure as eggs are eggs, some smart alec will come on, saying that said person is only looking for publicity – as happened with the Ozil example.
As I have said, this is turning into a witch hunt and just like the original Pendle witch hunt in 1612, based on no proof whatsoever, just ignorance of the situation.
Linking it with tax evasion tries to make the argument that this is the proof needed to brand them as lowlife and is a complete nonsense.
In 2016, it was reported that four out of the top ten FTSE companies paid no corporation tax whatsoever, I seemed to have missed the condemnation of these greedy people completely!!!
Now, if what is ALLEGED IS PROVEN, I will be just as forceful in my condemnation as others and that goes for all walks of life.
Without it, righteous and indignant protestations quite frankly, are completely pointless and do nothing but spread hate, rather than bring the people together in time of need.
Ken I am going to leave my comments to what I HAVE ALREADY STATED. You andII think completely differently on cerain matters, I believe based onour differing beliefs . You are socialist . I am a believer in an ethical capitalist system with as much TRUE libealism as it is possibel to have in a any society under the rule of law.
I did not come on to condemn nor certainly to condone any companies who aviod paying rightful tax. I was hoping to concentrate on football matters but you seem intent on widening the discussion to a general “who is moral in busines andwho is not”type discussion. As I told you on a previous thread yesterday, I am not getting drawn into wider business political discussions on THIS site but will,happily, speak privatelywith you by phone onany human matter. But I prefer to stickin th main to Arsenal and to other prem footballers , for the simple reason that this is a football site and I believe in horses for course, as I already told you, previously. Try as you might Ken you will not persuade me to be a socialist. It is a proven financial failure system in my opinion.
Finally, I REPEAT, AS IT NEEDS REPEATING SO YOUWILL ACCEPT MY STANCE, THAT UNLIKE YOU, I do not hink that merely because some other people are also to blame that footballers can or should hide behind the immorality of others, be they rich owners , coaches or whatever but should pay their dues to the game by embracing and accepting the large reduction in wages that will inevitably be forced on them sooner or later, whether or not they like it. PRACTICALITIES OVER THEORY FOR ME EVERY TIME, KEN!
So Jon, while I understand what you are saying, the point I would suggest is why are just footballers being targeted? Why not other Sportmen in, say Golf, Tennis , Formula One etc? Why just footballers.
I have been to numerous events where players, mainly Arsenal to be fair, have attended charity events and they really do seem to “get” why they are there. Mesut Ozil once paying over £100k for a specifically made Watch for the Invincibles. Did he really need ANOTHER watch? Of course not. Did he have a spare £100k to gift for that cause. Obviously he did. But, he didn’t have to did he? He gave generously as I believe most players do, it’s just not reported and advertised. I’m not highlighting Ozil for any reason other than this instance, there were plenty offering their time for Golf Days etc. So, while I do understand why Footballers are highlighted I do not believe they exclusively should be the ones that are held to account.
No-one is suggesting that footballers are not generous with their earnings. Ozil who you mentioned spent a third of his week’s pay on a watch at that charitable event. This is commendable but if you try to relate that to a person on £100 per day then the equivalent amount would have a huge impact on them just surviving.
As for other sports and sportsmen, golf and tennis have been pro active with European players contributing generously to national causes fighting the virus. Formula 1 in particular Mercedes are building ventilators, McLaren drivers and senior staff have had pay cuts across the board to help lower paid members of staff and the Ferrari family have also donated millions
We probably don’t mention it much because football is our national sport
Golf, Tennis players and the like are not getting paid a salary, they earn it by winnings and sponsorship.
Good point Reggie
I know the rewards are high but only at the very top
FAIRLY SIMPLE ANSWER TO A FAIR QUESTION I’d say Phil. Which is that football is by far the biggest world sport with far more millions, even billions, of followers who are passionate about it than ANY other sport, golf, tennis, formula one etc. I do not use this Arsenal site to make political points against other non football folk, at least not by and large. MANY MULTI BILLION CORPORATES ARE CORRUPT, WHICH IS WELL UNDERSTOOD BY MOST WORLDLYWISE FOLK. But I am not on THIS site to comment on them , at least not in any more depth than I have done already.
That, however,is not good reason not to criticise football folk on a football site. Horses for courses I believe in and I will not get drawn into socialist dogma, as Ken writes and presumes that I will get into. I will not, neither with Ken nor with you Phil.
STAY SAFE!
A very interesting and immotive article .I personally applaud the players initiative in making donations to the NHS and I would hope other high earners from other walks of life follow their example.The likes of film stars,rock bands and successful businessmen readily come to mind.You could be accused of slating the players unfairly on the basis of them being dammed if they do or they don’t when to me it is the Premier League itself who should be throwing lifelines to smaller Clubs from the lower leagues before they go under.After the Pandemic dust has settled, and that could be a least a year from now, I suspect the man in the street will resist any attempts by Clubs and TV Companies to increase prices to fill the bulging pockets of players and their greed driven Agents who must be driven out of our great game as part of the realignment you mention.I fully accept that a high majority of Premier League players are overpaid and that is unlikely to change until Football as a whole rids itself of the leeches who are known to fans as Agents.Something has to be done to get rid of these parasites who take so much out of the game .
Grandad,
I completely agree
Great article Admin Martin, no punches pulled. At a MINIMUM players should contribute enough to ensure that all non-playing staff at the club are covered financially until normality returns. The NHS will be covered financially because anything else would be political suicide when there is a future public enquiry about Covid-19. More urgent financial support is needed in local communities particularly those in high conurbation areas.
Andrew, you and I normally agree on most things, but I have to ask you why you think it is the players who should be safeguarding the non-playing staff?
They are not the employer of these people, Stan Kronkie is…you know, the billionaire who owns our club, but hasn’t put a single penny into it since he bacame sole owner.
Only four clubs WHU and Chelsea had signed up to the LWF wage of £10.55 in the London area and Everton, Liverpool with the £9.00 outside of London…what a disgrace the other fourteen clubs are to the footballing world – and to think that The Arsenal have sunk to that level is a complete disgrace…but it’s not the players decision is it?
The onus has to be on the employer aka The Arsenal aka Stan Kronkie to ensure our club does the same? And shouldn’t it have been implemented long before the corona virus took a hold as well?
Of course, the players, yet again, are seen as the villians simply because of their own personal salaries, obscene and grotesque as they are to the fans.
We are in danger of going completely over the top on this issue and I would love to know how anyone on here can have a clue as to what our players are giving away, individually to help the situation?
To persecute a group, without knowing or having all the facts is equivalent to a witch hunt or a lynching – and trying to avoid paying taxes is completely irrelevant to the issue.
Innocent until proven guilty comes to mind and this article, as with Dan’s opposing view, does not know what any Arsenal player is doing.
I hope and pray they are doing something I hasten to add!!!
Finally, some sensible comments! The greedy leaches – Ozil …can’t score, can’t assist tops the list – do not realize that if there is no club AND loyal supporters of these clubs, there are no high-earning players!! Even after examples set by famous clubs such as Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern, the PL players have taken the last resort of scoundrels i.e. patriotism aka funding [more!!] NHS!!!
Because Barcelona ( richest club in world ) won’t pay staff
We are paying staff.
Players simply want money to go to nhs not back into football
There choice
So the players can’t win then ?
For the last World Cup fifa made 6.1 billion
That’s just in a World cup
The actual premiere Leauge so far agreed to give just 20 million
Last year’s Tv contract 1.4 billion
We have owners who are billionaires
Point is , there’s of lots of money in Football to help
Idea that.Players shouldn’t be allowed to pay money to nhs but instead should pay for clubs debt ,etc is laughable
I think that the complaints about football UKs response is that they came out with too little too late.
I’ve said before that the tv money has ensured that the players salaries take up a totally disproportionately high amount from the club’s income as the agents gleefully squeeze even more money for themselves and theIr clients. Now clubs have realised that paying silly money to the few may very well cause the collapse of several clubs going forward.
I reiterate, there is a lot of money in football but I contend that too much goes to the players and grass roots football grubs around at the bottom for scraps. The PL only cares about itself
So sad a comment and so sadly TRUE, Sue, Sigh! But at least most fans are on our side, though Ken will always stick up for players, seemingly above even the club he adores, it seems to me at times. CAN’T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THAT MENTALITY PERSONALLY.
I am massively cheerd by the certain fact that in the end, though after much cat and mouse negotiations between clubs and players with the largely corrupt PFA sticking in its unhelpful oar ,so to speak, that financial reality will FORCE Prem players en masse into a permanent and substantial wage reduction (not merely a deferral).
World economic factors will force a new morality on greedy players. And such obscene wages need to be called out loud and clear as wrong and corrupt, EVEN WHERE a sizeable minority of players give a substantial chunk of those wages away to good causes.
MANY WEASEL WORDS ARE WRITTEN BUT NOT BY ME. I GET STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF THETRUTH, I REALLY BELIEVE.
Doing what is right cuts across everything.
The average mature adult, rich or poor, knows what is right in most circumstances.
They are crying very loud when the employer want to slash the wages by 30%. Its not anyone’s problem, but a global pandemic. If they were genuine, they would help the clubs that pays them
These boys are being paid ‘obscene’ salaries as a requirement of their contracts. It is not as if they are stealing the money or pushing drugs to get it. They are being paid for doing their jobs. So what is the trouble with that?
I only feel that the mudslinging and witch hunt, like Ken suggested, is as a result of one thing and one thing alone. Envy.
Can these boys be left alone? You can debate it all day long, but you will fail to convince anybody that you are talking from hard cold facts. Facts about their spending for charities will be really difficult without you being unduly intrusive.
Please try to refrain from making these boys a target of public disdain because of your personal beef with their salaries.
Please.
Gunnerphilic, the problem I have with your life philosophy that is so plain in your post, is that unlike you, I believe we are all responsible for the game that we all love to survive and to remain viable and healthy , both financially and spiritually healthy. I use “spirit” in the sense of the obvious football spirit we all recognise and not in some ethereal quasi religious context.
It seems you disagree with my concept of joint responsibility, when you fail to recognise that huge player wages are financially in imminent danger of killing our sport.
I do not write as a left wing socilaist btw, but as a true believer in ETHICAL capitalism for the benefit of all of society. Would you mind explaining how you can possibly consider such grossly obscene wages to be ethical and for the benefit of all?
Put simply I belive in fairness for all above the huge privilege of merely some , no matter how talented that “some” may be. Without a real measure of wage restraint from now on, our game will not survive. If you disagree with THAT statement, please explain to me and to others how you feel it will survive without substantial wage cuts.
I’m guessing you don’t think their income is obscene
The fact is that the advent of Tv money has allowed the PL to pretty much sell its soul to the devil and players transfers and salaries have sky rocketed as a result
The reality is that if they are not strutting their stuff then all of this insane money greed at the PL and the players becomes unsupportable in a crisis
Envy, no
I’d doff my cap if I had one to all the hospital and care workers etc who have shown their true mettle and give them a whopping pay rise at the expense of a PL player’s salary Sport is sport. What they are doing is much greater
Bear in mind that fòotball teams make money when players are doing their job. By sitting at home, there’s financial knock on clubs. So, clubs and employees should come to a common consensus. There should be sacrifises from both parties