[Albion] At what point do player wages get looked at?

[Acker79]

Any club, including the Albion, could start paying sensible wages any time it liked once existing contracts expired. But would we thank them if (or more likely when) it resulted in relegation?

Tony Adams used to say that Wenger was important in Arsenal winning trophies but just as important were David Dein and Danny Fiszman making it possible for them to pay big wages and attract good players.

There are exceptions and smart clubs who manage to outplay richer clubs - read Neil Harman's book 'Close Quarters' about Wycombe last season for a good example - but they are very much the outliers.

I think pretty much covers why it won't happen, particularly at the premier league level. It's the same reason for the lack of relegation clauses in so many contracts. If you're being scouted by, say, Fulham and West Brom - two teams expected to be fighting relegation, both are offering you 15K a week/4yr deal, but West Brom want a clause that says it drops to 5k if they are relegated at the end of the season - which will most people go for? The one where you get 15k a week for 4 years regardless of the division, or the 15k that could realistically get get to a third within a year? From the club's perspective, if you see a player as key in helping you get promoted/stay up/move further up the table, but he's being courted by another team, is a sensible future-proof wage offer going to tempt him?

Clubs don't care - They only pretend they care.

They will go on taking people's money and the TV Money for as long as they can.

The TV Companies need ''Content'' - They haven't been able to make new TV Programmes for months due to Social Distancing. Thats why we are seeing re-runs of old Programmes repeated Constantly. Football is a fast way to create ''Content'' much quicker than it would be to start filming new programmes, much of which they can't afford to make anyhow.

It's more than just content, it's live content. Even new episodes of Coronation Street can be tivo-ed and watch the next day, skipping the adverts. Football, live sports, are harder to 'save for later'. So more people watch live, watching live means no skipping of adverts, meaning higher fees to the advertising agencies.

 

[El Presidente]

Clubs can cut wages unilaterally if they want, then face the consequences.

These are likely to be
(1) Lawsuits for breach of contract
(2) Players free to find alternative employment on the equivalent of a Bosman, Wouldn't be overkeen if Lewis Dunk and Ben White took such an approach.