Stephen Ward - Albion unwilling to match salary

[Westdene Wonder]

Looks as if we are in for a number of Div1 freebies,not a good thought if you have already forked out for a season ticket.

 

[Rod Marsh]

Looks as if we are in for a number of Div1 freebies,not a good thought if you have already forked out for a season ticket.

No such thing as a freebie.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

Im surprised Wolves don't want him themselves considering they are back in the Championship ??

 

[wellquickwoody]

It's time to make a stand. I don't want to see this club - nor indeed any other - bankrupted by players' ludicrous wage demands. £13,000 a WEEK, for an Ireland international (and where did they feature in the World Cup?) who in any other walk of life would be absolutely delighted to get a 10th of that. Lunacy.

The obscenity of professional footballers' bloated pay packets was brought into sharp relief when England's prized £300,000 a WEEK superstar ballooned that pathetic corner kick way behind the Italian goal. It's got to stop. We've got to stop forking out for it, week after week. And paying players no more than their actual worth in real-world terms is the only way to bring sanity back to the game.

Very good comment, although I will now offer a 'but'.....

For above average Championship players the going rate is what? £8k per week, maybe 10? Now think about a youngsters wage, March or Forster-Caskey, until established in the first team maybe £2k? Great money if you can get it I know, but bear in mind that puts the poor little luvs into 40% income tax. Now look at our local property market, owned or rental, one of the most expensive outside of London.

What I am getting at is this, footballers are paid far too much we all know, but with our wage policy I believe we may lose out on players. Not only are we paying comparatively low wages against certain other clubs, but our costs of living are far higher too. Tough life being a football player huh?

 

[Machiavelli]

Jesus there is some shite written on here!

Firstly, ignore anyone ignorant to claim that a footballer isn't worth £13k a week just because Joe Bloggs down the street doesn't earn in a year what Ward would earn in two weeks. That argument would suggest we should employ a host of Joe Bloggs from down the road to play in the team. Cheaper option but would it help fill the Amex?

Secondly, Ward is already earning £13k a week and has a year of that contract left. He is not going to go for less if he can help it. Wolves may well agree to let him go free but wouldn't do so if they had to pay off his contract.

And there is the rub. Ward would like to maximise his earnings, Wolves would like to minimise their losses and Brighton want to control their costs. It's called negotiation and I suspect that there may well be a resolution somewhere in the middle ground between the three parties.

Top post. Although there may well be a twist, which is the entrance of a fourth (fifth, sixth, ...) party, aka another club willing to match or go beyond his demands.If so, we just need to live with it.

 

[Machiavelli]

Very good comment, although I will now offer a 'but'.....

For above average Championship players the going rate is what? £8k per week, maybe 10? Now think about a youngsters wage, March or Forster-Caskey, until established in the first team maybe £2k? Great money if you can get it I know, but bear in mind that puts the poor little luvs into 40% income tax. Now look at our local property market, owned or rental, one of the most expensive outside of London.

What I am getting at is this, footballers are paid far too much we all know, but with our wage policy I believe we may lose out on players. Not only are we paying comparatively low wages against certain other clubs, but our costs of living are far higher too. Tough life being a football player huh?

All this suggests that we're doing the right thing in focussing on facilities and the academy, such that we can develop our own talent: you make a good case for sticking with Chicksen in this post. But, as the old cliches get trotted out about the England squad at the moment, "you don't win anything with kids", balance suggests that we need to be really smart with the more experienced players that we have in our squad, and the experienced players in the squad need to be really smart. And all this makes me want us to re-sign Orlandi.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

He will be paid £13k next Season whatever happens!



He played for us last Season, we paid him £10k, Wolves paid him the other £3k.

It's up to Wolves, not the player.

But the original article says the players salary is the stumbling block, not the transfer fee. Hence, he wants his full wage (£13k) paid, and he will not join Brighton if his demand isn't met.

[Before you say, it's up to the player, not the club, if the player doesn't like the contract the club can't sell him]

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

It's time to make a stand. I don't want to see this club - nor indeed any other - bankrupted by players' ludicrous wage demands. £13,000 a WEEK, for an Ireland international (and where did they feature in the World Cup?) who in any other walk of life would be absolutely delighted to get a 10th of that. Lunacy.

The obscenity of professional footballers' bloated pay packets was brought into sharp relief when England's prized £300,000 a WEEK superstar ballooned that pathetic corner kick way behind the Italian goal. It's got to stop. We've got to stop forking out for it, week after week. And paying players no more than their actual worth in real-world terms is the only way to bring sanity back to the game.

Where do you think that money comes from? Sky. Where do they get their money? Us. Or rather, you. I cancelled my sky sports subscription last season and encouraged others to do so and got laughed at.

 

[perseus]

Sign him up!!!

 

[Bob!]

But the original article says the players salary is the stumbling block, not the transfer fee. Hence, he wants his full wage (£13k) paid, and he will not join Brighton if his demand isn't met.

[Before you say, it's up to the player, not the club, if the player doesn't like the contract the club can't sell him]

He's not demanding £13k though, he's entitled to £13k because he has a contract with Wolves where the 2 parties have agreed for the period of that contract he will be paid £13k per week.

If BHA decide that they want a further loan of the player his contract still needs to be adhered to.

If he stays at Wolves he will get £13k per week from Wolves.

Last Season we agreed with Wolves to pay him £10k pw, with Wolves making it up to the contracted amount.

It seems we want a similar deal this Season.

Wolves want us to pay them to buy his contract, and we would still need to pay him £13k per week for the year of contract that we buy.

 

[drew]

Where do you think that money comes from? Sky. Where do they get their money? Us. Or rather, you. I cancelled my sky sports subscription last season and encouraged others to do so and got laughed at.

Cancelled mine 7 years ago.

 

[drew]

Top post. Although there may well be a twist, which is the entrance of a fourth (fifth, sixth, ...) party, aka another club willing to match or go beyond his demands.If so, we just need to live with it.

Agree about that. Every party has their starting negotiating position and slowly work towards a compromise but the interest of another club can change that outcome! Ward may well be aware that FFP is going to start affecting contracts and that his next one will be lower than his existing hence you can understand why he doesn't want to lose circa £150k over the next year and then subsequent years.

 

[Icy Gull]

Anyone know how good the Wolves LB is? He must be pretty good for Ward not to even be considered for a place in the Wolves side.

 

[strings]

Anyone know how good the Wolves LB is? He must be pretty good for Ward not to even be considered for a place in the Wolves side.

I think it is as much as an image thing as much as anything else. When Jackett arrived the first thing he did was to get rid of the the senior players that had been associated with the double relegation. Jackett then bought in a few new players and also used a lot of youngsters from the Wolves academy. It was as much about setting a positive message for the future, as it was getting rid of 'dead wood'.

 

[Maximus]

Ward signed his contract for Wolves when they were a Premiership team, so the £13k would be a Premiership wage, not a Championship wage (although he may have had a relegation wage % drop).

He's only being human in trying to get at least what he's earning now. No-one wants a wage decrease. Wolves are in the driving seat. They wont give the player away until they know that they can not get a return on him. I expect this to run until late July.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Ward signed his contract for Wolves when they were a Premiership team, so the £13k would be a Premiership wage, not a Championship wage (although he may have had a relegation wage % drop).

He's only being human in trying to get at least what he's earning now. No-one wants a wage decrease. Wolves are in the driving seat. They wont give the player away until they know that they can not get a return on him. I expect this to run until late July.

I disagree. Jackett has made it clear he is not in his plans, so they will want shot of a player who will only cost them dead money if they don't ship him out soon. I guess it depends on whether there are other clubs interested at the terms they are asking.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Ward signed his contract for Wolves when they were a Premiership team, so the £13k would be a Premiership wage, not a Championship wage (although he may have had a relegation wage % drop).

He's only being human in trying to get at least what he's earning now. No-one wants a wage decrease. Wolves are in the driving seat. They wont give the player away until they know that they can not get a return on him. I expect this to run until late July.

That's far too sensible an assessment of the situation. There's no room for a "Barber out" or "Burke" out from that. We want answers and we want them yesterday!

 

[drew]

I disagree. Jackett has made it clear he is not in his plans, so they will want shot of a player who will only cost them dead money if they don't ship him out soon. I guess it depends on whether there are other clubs interested at the terms they are asking.

Probably true but at the moment, it is going to cost them £676K. They either pay him off, or keep him on the books and carry on paying him with no intention of playing him and then he walks at the end of next season. Surely the middle ground is that we pay a fee, which is not unreasonable, Wolves use that to agree a % of what is owed based on what salary we are offering! Say we offer £10k a week, pay a fee of £156k which Wolves pay to Ward then surely everyone is happy. Ward will probably know that even if he stays at Wolves, he isn't going to play and the contract after that is not going to be anywhere near £10k (unless he is on loan at a decent club and secures a permanent move!). If he isn't playing he is also likely to drop out of the Eire squad aswell.

 

[perseus]

Stephen Ward has made all the right noises in public. If Albion bung in some promotion bonuses we will stand a good chance unless we get gazumped. I will be very disappointed if we do not sign him and I would see this a failure, unless there is a strong counter bid (from a Premier League club) which we cannot match.

 

[Triggaaar]

I will be very disappointed if we do not sign him and I would see this a failure, unless there is a strong counter bid (from a Premier League club) which we cannot match.

If we don't sign him, then it will be because someone else has offered him more. Whether they're in the PL or not isn't really relevant. We have a wage limit that some other clubs don't have.