It's all about wages

[abc]

In fairness to Mr Barber, Mr Bloom and the Board they have no choice but to 'sweat the asset' by pushing every button possible to increase revenues if we are to compete in the Championship let alone the Premiership. This means higher ticket prices, higher catering , parking, admin, etc charges and of course this means us fans spending more each season. Of course this is the same at every club in the country.

But let's be honest, at clubs like Brighton and many others of similar size and larger it's not because of a lack of income but entirely because of the massive player wage bills. It was recently calculated that the EXTRA money that the Premiership will earn next season due to improved TV rights deals is enough to eliminate the need for admission prices at all IF all the money was used to reduce ticket prices. In reality it will of course go to increase player wages even further.

So unless wages are significantly curbed the will be no let up in the money demanded from fans until football eats itself.

If its the fans that are suffering and its the fans money that is being demanded then it must be the fans that have to do something about it. Mass boycotts may be unpalatable or even unworkable and I hopetyat some bright spark has a betternisea but isnt it fair to assume that if we accept the situation then we must think its OK?

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Yes & no

 

[Return of the Rev]

Putting prices up will not always increase revenue.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Players should be paid a whole lot less. It would benefit the game at every level if clubs had a chance of making of a profit. But greed is incurable.

 

[Wilko]

I agree, it is all about stupid, stupid player wages that are totally out of line with reality.

In a world where a business that generates 25,000 spectators, sells masses of food and drink plus merchandise and makes a loss of millions there really has to be something wrong.

 

[Wilko]

Players should be paid a whole lot less. It would benefit the game at every level if clubs had a chance of making of a profit. But greed is incurable.

Agreed, but the players must be pissing themselves sometimes- getting obscene amounts of money for arguably the best job in the world.

 

[finlaych]

I think a wage cap is needed

 

[jackanada]

I think a wage cap is needed

Excellent news. That means we can blame Jimmy Hill.

 

[El Sid]

I doubt if wages at the club are excessive compared to other Championship sides. If we aspire to the PL then we have to attract and keep good players. With 25000 at every home game we should be covering the wage bill. Perhaps the club needs to trim the costs in other areas. Would be interesting to see details on this 8m loss.

 

[Kent Seagull]

At the end of the day it's down to the fans. If people don't turn up at matches and don't pay the price to watch football on Sky, then they have no choice to make it affordable.

 

[niknokseagull]

I agree that something has got to give.
Chelsea released their annual accounts last week and it was reported that their wage bill was £481,468.

Per day.

Staggering, isn't it.

Surely that is the definition of insanity, no?
Interesting to understand what expectations smaller clubs, such as ourselves, can have around ever being able to truly compete and evolve into a genuinely long term, genuinely successful footballing entity when this is the environment you're (almost) forced to operate in.

 

[abc]

I agree that something has got to give.
Chelsea released their annual accounts last week and it was reported that their wage bill was £481,468.

Per day.

Staggering, isn't it.

Surely that is the definition of insanity, no?
Interesting to understand what expectations smaller clubs, such as ourselves, can have around ever being able to truly compete and evolve into a genuinely long term, genuinely successful footballing entity when this is the environment you're (almost) forced to operate in.

Total insanity indeed. Yet apart from the occasional jealous whinge we fans tend to ignore the effect these wage levels are having. Countless complaints about ticket, pie and beer prices, criticism of too much focus on corporate entertainment, too frequent kit re launches etc are the norm at nearly every club these days. But all of this is only necessary because of absurd (and still rising) player wages.

Somehow we, the fans of every league and premiership club, need to re focus our complaints towards the players themselves.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Total insanity indeed. Yet apart from the occasional jealous whinge we fans tend to ignore the effect these wage levels are having. Countless complaints about ticket, pie and beer prices, criticism of too much focus on corporate entertainment, too frequent kit re launches etc are the norm at nearly every club these days. But all of this is only necessary because of absurd (and still rising) player wages.

Somehow we, the fans of every league and premiership club, need to re focus our complaints towards the players themselves.

What is needed is clubs to start to refuse to pay these wage demands if they don't fit within a workable budget, something we have done in the recent past (Murray, and other potential signings we have stopped chasing because of their demands) and with the FFP coming into play, then more clubs will have to be stricter on what they can pay which should see the average wage for the division come down.

Historically, the problem hasn't been helped by fans demanding better and better players and questioning why clubs haven't spent that bit extra to get someone in (or keep them) and usually without any thought for budget limits, etc. Murray is a good example of this

 

[seagullsslimjim]

The problem with introducing a wage cap is that players/agents would seek alternative channels of income from the club - ie player image rights weren't around 10 years ago and yet that hits merchandise profits of the club and the clubs overall profit.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

I doubt if wages at the club are excessive compared to other Championship sides. If we aspire to the PL then we have to attract and keep good players. With 25000 at every home game we should be covering the wage bill. Perhaps the club needs to trim the costs in other areas. Would be interesting to see details on this 8m loss.

Forget the premier league if we do not get promoted this season which we probably wont.We spent too much on the rafters and not enough on the team to get us promoted, peanuts to be honest.Not signing strikers and keeping McSmudger is probably the worst and most costly decision ever made at this club

 

[abc]

Forget the premier league if we do not get promoted this season which we probably wont.We spent too much on the rafters and not enough on the team to get us promoted, peanuts to be honest.Not signing strikers and keeping McSmudger is probably the worst and most costly decision ever made at this club

Surely a slight exaggeration. Allowing Archer and Belotti to take control of the club might just possibly have been a teensy weensy bit more costly?

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Players should be paid a whole lot less. It would benefit the game at every level if clubs had a chance of making of a profit. But greed is incurable.

Indeed. I'm pig-sick of hearing about the obscene amounts of money that many professional footballers are raking in these days. And dn't get me started on their verminous AGENTS...

 

[seagull51]

If we force wages down in this country, the best players will move to other country's clubs. Without worldwide participation, lowering wages will reduce the quality of English football. Also if wages do fall to low, less people would seek to become professional footballers due to the high chance you won't make it as a star, and the now reduced reward at the end makes it not worth the risk. There will still be the ones playing for the love of it, but the quality would go down.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

[/B]

Surely a slight exaggeration. Allowing Archer and Belotti to take control of the club might just possibly have been a teensy weensy bit more costly?

I had that in mind while writing but left it out as wanted someone to acknowledge that not spending on strikers these last two seasons has massively altered the future prospects of the legacy Tony has set up.Instead of premier league football we will continue to play in the lower leagues.What we had in the late 70`s early 80`s will now probably never be seen again.The training ground should not have been set up before we achieved premier league status, if the money had been spent wisely on the team we would be top 2 right now Receiving 100 million pounds next season on promotion, and if the worst came to the worst 16 mil plus 16 mil plus 8 mil plus 8 mil for the following 4 years with 4 years exemption from financial fair play.What happened to tonys Gambling/bussiness head,20 million thrown at the team could have recouped 148 million pounds ,if we stay in this division he will never see his money again

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

If the championship has FFP, then we simply can't pay the players the sums of money they are currently on. This will apply across the championship. No club will be able to get around it. Therefore all clubs will have to reduce wage bill. In theory, if we are well managed, it would put us top of the pile, as our income should be in the top 3-4.