So Ozil Was Correct to refuse a pay cut? by Dan Smith
This isn’t another pro Ozil article, but hopefully you now see how he is being mistreated to save Stan Kroenke money.
During Lockdown it was leaked that Ozil was one of 3 players who had refused a pay cut. Ever wondered how/why this information was leaked? A coincidence that the only name the press was able to identify happened to be our highest earner, the man the club wanted off the wage bill.
It was a PR move by Arsenal. They knew at a time where people were losing their jobs, businesses were being closed down, the NHS was being stretched …. here’s a greedy footballer refusing to give up his 350,000 pounds a week.
The majority of fans reacted how our owner wanted them to do, blame the ‘greedy midfielder’ while other staff lost their jobs. As long as they are focusing on Ozil, no-one is asking what’s the Billionaire in charge of the club doing to support those who work in THE Armoury or food stands, office personnel, etc?
Ozil saw through this. After all, if anyone in our dressing room knows how far the Gunners will go to save some cash it’s him.
Since his employers regretted the deal that THEY offered, they have tried leaving him on the bench, leaving him out of squads, loaning him to Turkey, not supporting his views on what’s going on in China, and now even went to the length of banning him from Wembley this past weekend.
So Ozil was smart. Instead of refusing anything he pointed to the charities he helps and simply asks until he agrees to a pay cut, he wanted to see what his bosses intentions were? How much are the Kroenke Family financing to save jobs? The money they are saving on the wage bill, who or where is that going to?
I defended Ozil on here back in April because why should he give up 12.5 percent of money he’s legally entitled to, just to make a Billionaire richer? This is Silent Stan’s responsibility. It’s no different if you own Tesco or Costa or McDonalds, if you purchase a business, you have to be prepared for disasters to happen. You can’t expect your employees to bail you out.
Now I’m not a mathematician (so feel free to help me out) but if a squad of 23 are taking a 12.5% pay cut and executives have waived their yearly income by a third, plus the 30 million of qualifying for Europe, that’s a lot of money made?
In terms of outgoings remember they still get those contracts worth billions to share with 19 other clubs, as that’s why they agreed to a version of football with zero fans and a congested fixture schedule
In a club statement they say they ‘face more significant and longer lasting reductions in our revenue then we hoped.’
So Ozil was correct?
Don’t look at this as Ozil the player, whether you rate him or not. This isn’t a football debate but morality. Players gave 12.5% of their wages to look after all the backroom staff, but at a time when they can afford to offer 250,000 pound a week to Aubameyang they have to make 55 people redundant?
What does their statement even mean? Surely, they sat down and knew how many staff needed paying? Surely when they originally said 12.5 would be enough to save jobs, they factored in worst-case scenarios (no Europe, no match day revenue for the rest of the year)? They miscalculated so much that 55 people have to lose their jobs.
I asked in numerous articles (and still haven’t had the answer); why do you think Ozil played every game under Arteta pre-lockdown, but can’t get in squad post-lockdown? It wasn’t the team because we were unbeaten in 2020 with Ozil playing so it was working. In fact, in the game before the break Ozil assisted the winner against West Ham.
So, to clarify, when Arteta had no inclination finances were about to take a hit he played Ozil all the time. The moment Stan Kroenke says we need to slash our overheads, Ozil never plays again?
If the club needed that 350,000 pound to save jobs, then I get that – but that’s simply what they want you to think and Ozil saw through it. Because you can’t on one hand make 55 people redundant, call Ozil greedy, then give Auba 250,000 pounds a week. You can’t have it both ways…
So, players have taken a 12.5% cut, so have executives, and now other staff will lose their jobs? Stan Kroenke? His wealth during the pandemic increased by 305 million during this crisis. A man with a worth estimated at 6.3 billion will save 2 million a year by sacking 55 people. That stinks.
So well done Ozil for having principles. Liverpool and Spurs fans pressured their clubs to reverse similar decisions, shouldn’t Gooners should do the same?
Dan Smith