Funkstain wrote:

Just to be clear, my issue here is the basic one of very rich people who ARE paid by the club, whatever their renumeration structure is, not willing to come to a simple arrangement to save their clubs money which can be used to continue paying for their much-less-well renumerated staff, and instead using bullshit PAYE excuses, and in Rooney's case, a laughable comment about "financial ruination".

This is kind of where I'm at. The issue is being clouded by this idea that players should be donating money to NHS etc., which is a different thing and is ludicrous to focus on footballers, in fact in general cos the government should be funding the NHS! And footballers often are easy targets for the press and media.

but the general concept of a business furloughing the cleaners and kitchen staff, possibly not even topping up to full wage, while some employees are sat at home collecting 100K per week is what gets me.
60K per week would cover the furlough wages of 100+ average wage employees, there's no excuse for any prem club not being able to manage that within themselves in a fair agreement with their players that would barely impact their individual pay overall.

I would be (and am) annoyed at the mega rich businesses and billionaires that could easily afford to pay the staff, but instead are using this system to save money. However they're also slightly remote and different to footballers.

Footballers (and other sports people) are effectively funded by the fans, to train and entertain each week. The top ones are paid exorbitant amounts to do this slightly better than others. And currently they're not able to do anything to justify this. Players shouldn't be pressured to support charities or fund public services, but for me there's no excuse for those at the top of the pay scales not to happily take a cut to make sure the club/business can pay the wages of all their staff, if the club isn't able to do so otherwise.

if my boss is on 100K per week then i'd expect them to do the same and set the example yes.
we're talking about footballers cos that's teh discussion, but clearly it doesn't start and stop with them.

let's make it much more simple and generic. anyone, in any industry, currently earning over 50k PER WEEK, who isn't fulfilling their job cos restrictions but still taking full pay, whilst other min/low wage employees are being furloughed and possibly losing earnings cos the business can't sustain their wages, should have a word with themself.

RamSteelwood wrote:

if my boss is on 100K per week then i'd expect them to do the same and set the example yes.
we're talking about footballers cos that's teh discussion, but clearly it doesn't start and stop with them.

let's make it much more simple and generic. anyone, in any industry, currently earning over 50k PER WEEK, who isn't fulfilling their job cos restrictions but still taking full pay, whilst other min/low wage employees are being furloughed and possibly losing earnings cos the business can't sustain their wages, should have a word with themself.

F1 drivers took a cut or in some cases waived their salary entirely for the duration of the crisis.

Not sure whats happening in NFL or the NBA. The former being the richest sport in the world.

I don't disagree with any of this either.

Funkstain wrote:

Just to be clear, my issue here is the basic one of very rich people who ARE paid by the club, whatever their renumeration structure is, not willing to come to a simple arrangement to save their clubs money which can be used to continue paying for their much-less-well renumerated staff, and instead using bullshit PAYE excuses, and in Rooney's case, a laughable comment about "financial ruination".

It doesn't have to be enforced, it can be voluntary (witness Barca and other clubs here), but it sure looks like shit when you, as multi millionaire, refuse to make any gesture and back that up with rubbish excuses whilst others much less well off suffer.

This opinion applies to any and all of the millionaire / billionaire class and would apply even in pandemic free times.

It's all very well saying the players have been left out to dry by fuckers running clubs (this is also true -always remember things can be more than one thing at the same time!), that doesn't make the players look any better does it?

cockbeard wrote:

I'm amazed that you think Rooney using the words "financial ruin" is laughable. How many business do you know that could manage a 30% drop in income??

Didnt he mean other players? Some can take a 5% drop others more depending on their standard of living.

Its a hard life for footballing millionaires during this lockdown. After a mansion with private pool, gym, sauna, snooker room can only alleviate some of their boredom. You have to empthase with them. They are struggling.

Dinostar77 wrote:

cockbeard wrote:

I'm amazed that you think Rooney using the words "financial ruin" is laughable. How many business do you know that could manage a 30% drop in income??

Didnt he mean other players? Some can take a 5% drop others more depending on their standard of living. Its a hard life for footballing millionaires during this lockdown. After a mansion with private pool, gym, sauna, snooker room can only alleviate some of their boredom. You have to empthase with them. They are struggling.

You see that' the problem Dino, that last paragraph is all about jealousy, and nothing about how to help employers. Plus the fact it's super lazy, go after footballers, royals, and celebrities, it's just boring, go for the rich yes but at least bring something new to the table. Why not Andrew Haines, who took 4.2Bn of public money into his firm last year, and then paid out 200 Million to shareholders, which is weird, surely if they needed 4.2 from the tax payer where did they find 200 M to pay dividends

monkey wrote:

I think everyone's on the same page aren't they. Footballers shouldn't be singled out, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't give up some of their huge pay packets either, anyone singling them out probably has ulterior motives, Ashley and Rooney are both pricks.

Exactly, noblisse oblige, but that comes from within. External parties trying to force it are incredibly vulgar

cockbeard wrote:

monkey wrote:

I think everyone's on the same page aren't they. Footballers shouldn't be singled out, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't give up some of their huge pay packets either, anyone singling them out probably has ulterior motives, Ashley and Rooney are both pricks.

Exactly, noblisse oblige, but that comes from within. External parties trying to force it are incredibly vulgar

Ah yes let's hope the rich take pity on us and throw us some cake rather than pointing out their moral failings. "External parties" that would be, I dunno, progressive politicians trying to enact fairer tax policies for example?

I'm gonna judge whoever the hell I want, and I will judge rich motherfuckers who refuse to help their fellow employees when it would cost them very little to do so. Jealousy my arse. Hopefully they will see moral sense and agree something in the near future.

Allowing politicians and journalists to point score over a private citizens income, especially when it involves no public money, is vulgar. We also know nothing of how many people these footballers employ or house. Like I say above, they aren't asking the government to bail them out, yet are getting as much flak as Branson, Tim Martin, and far more than other companies that suck money directly from the public purse

Struck me as desperate journalism as it was.
One of a small handful of journos allowed to ask just two questions each about the state of the country during a pandemic and they choose to ask the health secretary about footballer's wages.

Fuck off back to Match magazine.

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I like Kyle Walkers way of dealing with boredom.  Good idea, would attend.

He's a fucking douchbag telling people to stay home then sending escorts to his house for sex partys.

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I like Kyle Walkers way of dealing with boredom.  Good idea, would attend.

Yeah, some expenses are justified, so long as i get a ticket!

I now like the idea of Footballers going 'Brewsters Millions' in the next few weeks, desperately trying to spend all their wage to prove they couldn't afford a cut. "you must spend 120K per week, but can't buy any more cars or houses as that would be insensitive in the current climate"

I think once we start making exceptions for football clubs then we go down a slippery slopes as further industries feel they deserve an exemption, a la Ashley claiming Carbrini tracksuits and giant tea mugs are essential purchases so they should stay open

But that's no bad thing, especially if you apply the rule across the board. I mentioned yesterday or Saturday a suggestion that maybe the only companies that qualify for furloughing are firms with <200 employees who also paid less than 20M(?) in dividends and directors fees the previous year. That would protect most smaller clubs and most smaller businesses, if you're much bigger than that and can't/won't look after your employees you're a fucking joke of a firm and maybe we're better off without you

In short, the central question is: are rich footballers being fuckers? My answer is yes. What's yours?

There's no need for added context, it's simply not relevant unless you are oddly trying to defend a particular group of rich fuckers in a clumsy way.

In long I've answered that in posts above, also there is always context