Is it time for Premier League players to strike??

[Albion in the north]

Its less to do with how much footballers get paid but more to do with the fact that there are 1000000s of people in far more stressful jobs who just get on with it. Footballers definitely need some life skills training to help them deal with these stresses.

 

[dazzer6666]

I’ll ask my daughter what she thinks (when she finishes her 13 hour shift on a Covid ward for a lot less than £20 an hour)……….

PL players have their ‘loads’ (training plus matches, cumulatively) scientifically managed to the nth degree by the army of physiologists the clubs employ, their recovery managed in the same way and their nutrition adapted accordingly. They really aren’t being asked to risk too much.

 

[banjo]

I’m in favour of this, We could do with a couple of strikers in our squad.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

The article and topic in general is not about Covid in itself, but the fixture congestion.

Football is one of the more dangerous professions in modern society. Workplaces where every week on average one out of 23 employees sustain workplace injuries are quite unusual. This risk is amplified when they play a lot of games in a short amount of time. Sure, they earn a lot of money but many people rightfully think that health is more important than wealth. I know numerous ex-players who are unable to go for a jog because they have destroyed themselves doing elite sports. 40-50% players take painkillers before every game.

Football causes a lot of chronic problems in a lot of players and I think it is fully understandable if they are getting tired of the ever increasing number of fixtures and I think they have all the right in the world to protest that, regardless of how much they make.

They play less now than before with bigger squads more subs, better pitches, better physio, better treatment get real .

 

[bluenitsuj]

Must be so difficult for them. I don't know how they cope

 

[BN41Albion]

Must be so difficult for them. I don't know how they cope

My heart bleeds for the poor souls. The amount of football they have to play in amongst a few hours training on days they don't play. Tough life, especially for the pittance they get paid

 

[BN41Albion]

No, they’re not really. If we’re talking about roles with an unhealthy relationship between pay and personal risk, stress or sacrifice, I think it’s fair to say there are plenty in the queue ahead of Premier League footballers.

I took on a new role in February which has led to me regularly working 70+ hours a week (admittedly mostly from my home office) with much higher stress levels, generally speaking. Naturally, that’s not amazing for work / life balance, particularly when I have a young family. But ultimately I took it on for improved financial benefits, improved long-term prospects and because I find the nature of the job itself inherently interesting and exiting - I fúcking enjoy it.

Ultimately though, I knew what I was getting into. If, one day I believe the ratio between financial benefit and the personal toll it takes on me (and, even more pertinently, my relationship with my wife and kids) is no longer appropriate, my answer won’t be to go on strike because ultimately the parameters of the job I took on won’t have changed. Instead, I’ll have to go and do something less stressful and demanding, on the understanding that I’ll probably be paid a lot less for my troubles. Footballers have this option too, but will very rarely take it, not because they can’t afford to (5 years at that level and most will be set for life), but because the ratio between the upsides and the downsides of the job is just so immensely favourable.

So no, they shouldn’t strike. No one is forcing them to do anything; they’re simply working to the demands of market forces, the very same market forces which have made them so incredibly wealthy in the first place.

This; hardly like theyre working down the mines with no other option and still struggling to put food on the table for their families. They are part of huge squads, have incredible healthcare, do a job most of us can only dream of, and get paid astronomical amounts. Ffs.

 

[Superphil]

The risk of serious issues for Premier League players from Covid is close to if not completely 0%, especially from Omicron, as confirmed by our scientists today.

Your relentless campaign of Covid scaremongering on this website to the point of sharing DM clickbait articles like this one is a joke, yet despite this I'll be the one banned from this thread again for pointing it out, as your post goes along with the narrative that is being enforced on this website by those in charge and disagreeing with it is not an option here.

We all want to be free... but first we need to accept that covid hospitalisations are as low as they will ever be, and the threat of covid has always been extremely low for healthy people anyway. Especially young and healthy people. Even more so for the vaccinated... and even more so again with the omicron variant.

Stop your scaremongering and let us get on with our lives. The Premier League footballers will be fine and they know it, despite this DM shit stirring, click bait article.

Still here? Thought you’d ****ed off. You need to chase up your account being deleted. Please.

 

[Fat Boy Fat]

I am posting on covid threads only. I'm not starting any threads or posting on any other topic, including Albion. I am waiting for [MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] to delete my posts and account.

There is a far simpler option - stop ****ing posting!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I’ve only seen Pep push for this so I’m basing my response on that

He’s wanted to stop festive fixtures since the day he arrived, so I wouldn’t be shocked if that was part of his motivation.

If games can go ahead, they should - if they can’t they shouldn’t

 

[BNthree]

I am waiting for [MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] to delete my posts and account.

Aren’t we all!! Fingers crossed it will be soon.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Must be stressful choosing which one of their top end cars to drive to training or which designer watch to wear.

 

[BN9 BHA]

PL players increasingly concerned about their welfare,Danny Rose previously claimed they are treated like 'lab rats'.

Wish I was as fit as a ‘lab rat’

 

[Swansman]

They play less now than before with bigger squads more subs, better pitches, better physio, better treatment get real .

... and in a lot higher tempo battling against stronger opponents. The number of sprints has increased with at least 50% in the last 15 years of PL and it is mainly those high intensity moments that causes tiredness and injuries.

Players are not playing less. As much, sure - it has been normalised in recent decades. Last season 489 players in top football played 50+ games (despite several competitions being cancelled etc). In the 97/98 season that number was 98.

 

[BBassic]

I thought this strike business was about things like 3 subs instead of 5 and a winter break and whatnot.

Which all seem fair enough to me.

 

[drew]

Really bizarre how all the usual green eyed posters start slagging off the players for something that, as far as I can see, none are reported as having made mention off! The only person that seems to have used the word 'strike' is Pep and, as someone else quite rightly alluded to, has been against xmas fixtures from day one.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Shame your account wasn't deleted and all your covid drivel removed like you requested.

Are you not embarrassed?

I’m glad it hadn’t….regarding embarrassment

 

[Doonhamer7]

What’s an average PL footballer on? Say a conservative £40k a week, so that’s way higher than average wage. So say they play for 4 years at this amount = £8million before tax. The above average person - say a teacher earns c£35k over 40 year career = £1.4m. So why don’t over over stretched players just nor retire after 4 years?

I know if so many people who do much more stressful jobs or have to work away from home or overseas for long periods to pay their mortgages so they and Pep (who to me - can’t be a great manager as he has never taken a club to greatness (aka Clough) just managed the top/richest clubs in the leagues he plays in) can go F off.

Can you imagine the PR disaster of going on strike

 

[GT49er]

If a significant portion of them want to, then yes they should.

Absolutely.






On the understanding that they will forfeit every penny of their wages whilst on strike. I doubt if most PL players (and their agents) have grasped that part of the deal yet,

 

[drew]

What’s an average PL footballer on? Say a conservative £40k a week, so that’s way higher than average wage. So say they play for 4 years at this amount = £8million before tax. The above average person - say a teacher earns c£35k over 40 year career = £1.4m. So why don’t over over stretched players just nor retire after 4 years?

I know if so many people who do much more stressful jobs or have to work away from home or overseas for long periods to pay their mortgages so they and Pep (who to me - can’t be a great manager as he has never taken a club to greatness (aka Clough) just managed the top/richest clubs in the leagues he plays in) can go F off.

Can you imagine the PR disaster of going on strike

Do you do the same analysis for pop singers earning millions, or golfers who earn a good living for just finishing in the top 100 of any tournament. Or maybe a woman who earns over £400m a year just because people like a little gamble here and there.

If the money didn't go to the players, who should it go to?