In a world of massively overpaid primadonna's Lineker is up there with the best of them. Fair play though for his salary donation. As much as I detest the bloke it's certainly not something he was obliged to do.
Honestly, how can anyone really 'detest' Lineker. Good player, decent presenter. Dislike maybe, disagree with probably perhaps, but detest seems unnecessarily hateful imho. We're so polarised in this country. Everything is black and white, grey seems to have vanished from the vocabulary.
Whether 30% is the correct figure or not, something should have been agreed a week ago. After all Leeds United announced their wage deferral on the 26th March, and Barcelona their 70% cut on the 30th March
Matt Hancock's salary is irrelevant a) His salary is a fraction of what PL players earn b) Whether you think he's doing a good job or not, he's currently working his arse off at the moment not sitting around at home like PL players are at the moment
And Hancock was basically saying what Labour's David Lammy said yesterday
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
Don't think there would even be a discussion if Spurs, Newcastle and others hadn't decided to furlough staff. That stinks, but I feel the players are getting the brunt of anger better directed at Levy and Ashley.
I think the issue is that Lineker and the PFA are saying that this takes time to formalise and probably at least a couple of weeks. It could be done on the back of a fag packet in about 5 minutes! In fact the NHS will have built a hospital housing 4,000 patients in the time they take to work out what's "fair and equitable".
It's also hard to get one's head round how Spurs can make the decision in a nanosecond to use tax payers money to furlough 550 staff but aren't prepared to do anything so far as their superstars are concerned. I wonder why?
Finally, as for Premier League footballers coming out and saying this criticism is so unfair I would like to assure them that they will be able to manage an average reduction of £14,000 a week. - the £56,000 they would get paid instead still represents 100 times more than the average wage of a nurse. They should try living on that!
I'm sure they could survive on£2500 a month, for 3 months
Whilst I agree with all of the premises outlined in the main argument - they actually probably couldn’t survive on that. If you have been earning x for 10 years and all of a sudden your income is X/50 then anyone would find themselves in the sticky place. Simply we all live to our means. To a point you can cut back but eventually your fixed outgoings just can’t be cut further
If you've been earning £50K a week for 10 years I'm sure you could earn nothing for 3 months simply because they will have savings/properties/investments etc etc. And if they do have a big mortgage to pay then they can do what the rest of society is having to - take a 3 months payment holiday.
Wilfried Zaha recently offered 50 properties he owns to the NHS. A very worthy act but indicative of the life and means of a PL footballer.
Yeah fair point. Prem footballs are on such massive money. I have heard lots of people saying MPs / people on c£80-100k a year should be forced to take 50% pay cuts. Thats probably more what I would lean on - they wont have the savings / investments mentioned. Not to mention so many of the MPs are getting pelters but for now the cabinet all look utterly exhausted trying to run the country through this so actually are probably earning their money at the moment.
The issue in this case as far as I'm concerned is that Spurs announced they would be claiming the non playing staffs wages from the government system without looking to use other sources first. Extremely wealthy entities who have staff on ridiculously high wages and bonuses, should not be automatically seeking to use tax payers money immediately to subsidise other wages, many of which will be on minimum wage.
N.B. Obviously this doesn't apply to West Ham. They should be able to claim as much tax payers money as they want.
Don't think there would even be a discussion if Spurs, Newcastle and others hadn't decided to furlough staff. That stinks, but I feel the players are getting the brunt of anger better directed at Levy and Ashley.
I was told on another thread that the only football club in the UK that makes any profit is Citeh, so I can understand clubs cutting their cloth to get through the next few months, as all businesses are doing, but when you consider some players monthly salaries can probably cover the whole running of the non footballing side of the business for the same period, I can't see why each squad wouldn't want to pull together to cover this for the next couple of month, not because they should, but because they want to. No I in team and all that, although there is ME if you look hard enough
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
No one is "blaming footballers for all this", and if they are they're stupid
I have lost some respect for Lineker but don't detest him and have certainly not used any language to suggest that I do. What I do detest is this attitude from him that footballers are exempt from the sort of immediate cuts that have already been imposed on non playing staff. That is staff who will, undoubtedly, be living from hand to mouth.
Daniel Levy didn't seek to negotiate with those 550 non playing staff. He just did it and chose to use tax payers money to impose that 20% cut "in order to preserve their jobs". He included himself in that but then he had just received a £3m bonus for completion of the stadium out of an annual salary of £7m.
Just a 5% reduction in wages of the players would have covered the 20% cut imposed on the clerical staff that but, instead, we have had to wait for the PL to negotiate with the PFA who then have to get the agreement of their members. And then they had to sweeten the deal by talking about "deferrals". I don't see any use of the word "deferral" so far as the 20% cut of those non playing staff is concerned.
Please someone tell me why Spurs did not do that if it wasn't to protect their precious footballers and the potential backlash?
Again we are talking a 5% cut not the 70%-80% cut that Barcelona players have chosen to take. Any subsequent agreement such as the now proposed 30% cut/deferral could then have followed. It is amazing how many footballers manage to make a deadline day decision to join a club but it is thought that they need weeks to decide whether and/or how much of a pay reduction they are prepared to suffer.
Lineker sought to separate the two issues by saying that it was wrong that Spurs did what they did but that his had nothing to do with the players. It does - simply because Clubs know that the players now hold the power. And the likes of Levy and Ashley will conveniently utilise a Government scheme rather than impose an immediate cut on the players - in order to not just preserve the 550 clerical jobs but also to save tax payers money that could be better served helping the NHS.
And I'm sure that Lineker being so vociferous in his defence of footballers in this way has absolutely anything to do with the fact that he was one once or that he has to be able to interview them as part of his job. As does Gary Neville. That really would be too cynical to contemplate.
I like him. Great footballer and decent presenter. Has done well for himself and at least he’s not a Tory. To many he is a champagne socialist; has lots of money but some left wing views ( which are basically about a fairer society). His ‘opponents’ throw this at him all the time and when he donates two months salary he gets it in the neck for either it being not enough or for making it public. Not sure what he’s done to offend so many.
I think the problem here is , that clubs are happy to fund crazily enlarged player salaries whilst they don’t work ... and are more than happy to reduce their non playing staffs wages and then ask the government to fund it!
No one is asking them to fund the NHS , that is crazy - if they chose to help as some have them that’s amazing BUT they should be helping Their own clubs workers salary payments at fractions of cost to themselves!
If a player earns £20k a week (somewhat more championship level than premier league) they earn over £1million before tax that year ... extrapolate that time a squad of 17 and you’re talking enough to pay £25k to 680 staff!
Surely a pay cut to help their clubs staff through this period isn’t a big ask!!??
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
No one is "blaming footballers for all this", and if they are they're stupid
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
No one is "blaming footballers for all this", and if they are they're stupid
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
Well, I can't be bothered to do your, you know, actual leg work for you. But, also, can't sit here reading your total claptrap without comment. So here's a starter: Disney execs 50% cut for the top guys, 30% for other exces; Frasers Group - all execs salaries capped at £40k; and Gravity Payments (read about the guy that runs this business) voluntary pay cuts with some taking no pay. I could go on, obviously many will lose their performance related pay. Sorry if that doesn't fit your mouth-frothing agenda. Meanwhile, it goes without saying that professional footballers in the PL should do their bit. And if a hospital can be constructed in 9 days surely the highly paid executive of the PFA could do something useful in a little less time?
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
Well, I can't be bothered to do your, you know, actual leg work for you. But, also, can't sit here reading your total claptrap without comment. So here's a starter: Disney execs 50% cut for the top guys, 30% for other exces; Frasers Group - all execs salaries capped at £40k; and Gravity Payments (read about the guy that runs this business) voluntary pay cuts with some taking no pay. I could go on, obviously many will lose their performance related pay. Sorry if that doesn't fit your mouth-frothing agenda. Meanwhile, it goes without saying that professional footballers in the PL should do their bit. And if a hospital can be constructed in 9 days surely the highly paid executive of the PFA could do something useful in a little less time?
Frasers Group? Doesn't the guy who owns them also owns Newcastle who has done a similar deal as Levy? Disney executives? Are they in anyway anything to do with this country? I dont really worry too much what others earn, footballers are an easy target. There are others, loads of them who earn vast amounts but seem to stay off the radar of bitterness.
As someone said earlier it’s right in the vigilante mindset to blame footballers for all of this. They didn’t starve the essential public services of resources over the last 12 years but of course if they take a pay cut all will be well. I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs. Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
Well, I can't be bothered to do your, you know, actual leg work for you. But, also, can't sit here reading your total claptrap without comment. So here's a starter: Disney execs 50% cut for the top guys, 30% for other exces; Frasers Group - all execs salaries capped at £40k; and Gravity Payments (read about the guy that runs this business) voluntary pay cuts with some taking no pay. I could go on, obviously many will lose their performance related pay. Sorry if that doesn't fit your mouth-frothing agenda. Meanwhile, it goes without saying that professional footballers in the PL should do their bit. And if a hospital can be constructed in 9 days surely the highly paid executive of the PFA could do something useful in a little less time?
Frasers Group? Doesn't the guy who owns them also owns Newcastle who has done a similar deal as Levy? Disney executives? Are they in anyway anything to do with this country? I dont really worry too much what others earn, footballers are an easy target. There are others, loads of them who earn vast amounts but seem to stay off the radar of bitterness.
Be funny to see some of these high earners, not just football players, get by on £2.5k a month before tax
In a world of massively overpaid primadonna's Lineker is up there with the best of them. Fair play though for his salary donation. As much as I detest the bloke it's certainly not something he was obliged to do.
Honestly, how can anyone really 'detest' Lineker. Good player, decent presenter. Dislike maybe, disagree with probably perhaps, but detest seems unnecessarily hateful imho. We're so polarised in this country. Everything is black and white, grey seems to have vanished from the vocabulary.
Don't know about that. There was that Christian Grey character only about 5 years ago.
Think the Palace chairman said they would continue to pay matchday staff during the break. Not sure if anyone has mentioned that? Spurs and Newcastle furloughing staff is crazy. They could easily afford to pay them without government subsidies or asking players to take a cut. But the offer was there from the government and they've taken advantage of it. No one said big business was exempt
Lineker is a total "James Hunt". Uses the platform he has built on BBC (which I have to pay a licence fee for, with no real choice) to spout his political beliefs which insult a rather large proportion of the captive licence fee payers he has ponced off for years. Has made some totally unjustified criticism of England fans from his Ivory Tower without knowing what is really happening on the streets. Does he do a good job on MOTD? He is a poxy link man. A genial host< How hard is that?
For me the issue is why Spurs furloughed non playing staff but not the players.
If they hadn’t we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
This. Bang on the money!
My feelings on Levy are well known.
The fella pays himself a basic of £4m and then gave himself a bonus of £3m for completing the stadium project.
Then he shows his true colours by creaming off the lowest paid members of staff, to save the club from paying £1.375m a month.
The bald headed little runt can go and do one. Tottenham have always looked after their own. What he has done is the lowest of the low. By furloughing the scouts, he's also given himself an excuse not to spend any money in the next transfer window too but thats another matter.
I'm f'ing disgusted by what he has done and so are the majority of Spurs fans. Thankfully, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back with him. So many people have defended him for so long but this is the lowest of the absolute low.
He deserves the pelters he gets and so do Spurs. I'm ashamed to be a supporter of them quite frankly.
Then you've got the likes of Ndombele who is on £200k a week and he cant even run for 90 mins. Football is seriously fucked.
I'm beyond the point of defending Levy. I've been there for a while. Thankfully, it seems the tide is turning against him now.
No PL club should be putting any staff on the furlough given the income coming into the club.
Ok , so if a footballer is on £200k a month shouldn’t he be paying £100k of that to the tax man . if said footballer reduces his salary to £50k a month tax man gets £25k instead of £100k ? Sounds like tax man loses as well as player and club wins .... obviously these figures are basic guff but you get the gist
Don't think there would even be a discussion if Spurs, Newcastle and others hadn't decided to furlough staff. That stinks, but I feel the players are getting the brunt of anger better directed at Levy and Ashley.
They should have come forward themselves earlier though
It's not as if the players will be unaware of what's going on. I can understand it in normal circumstances, when they are completely preoccupied with matches, training and travelling, but for 3 weeks they've been basically bumming around at home. Taking Spurs as an example, Harry Kane seems a decent and intelligent person, and if he (as Captain) didn't think of proposing a pay cut by the players to pay for the other staff, surely his agent and sports management should have been prompting and organising it, seeing that they get paid loads of money to basically run the off field lives of footballers.
Levy might be a money grabbing **** but the players, agents and PFA needed to take a moral lead themselves much earlier. Especially when players at other top European clubs had already done this. Indeed the players at Union Berlin have given up ALL their salary to ensure the club survives
In a world of massively overpaid primadonna's Lineker is up there with the best of them. Fair play though for his salary donation. As much as I detest the bloke it's certainly not something he was obliged to do.
Honestly, how can anyone really 'detest' Lineker. Good player, decent presenter. Dislike maybe, disagree with probably perhaps, but detest seems unnecessarily hateful imho. We're so polarised in this country. Everything is black and white, grey seems to have vanished from the vocabulary.
Played for Spurs?
Leicester, Everton, Barcelona, Spurs .. I think that's the lot .. Oh England as well of course and as skipper ?
Lineker was a brilliant footballer and clearly a good presenter.
Have any of you met him? I have in my work for the Red, White and Black campaign. Given the bloke's political views, you would expect him to be supportive, but no, he didn't want to know and openly sneered and then laughed at John Barnes for associating with Charlton.
Lineker was happy to associate with us when he was paid to be at the re-opening of Sparrows Lane.
I can never understand why this country is so obsessed with footballers wages. Doesn’t seem to be the same for top golfers, tennis players, F1 drivers, actors or musicians.
I would guess that more people dream of being a footballer when they are young than any other profession, Premier League players (even if they just warm the bench) are at the apex of that profession, the very top of an industry which generates billions every year, they are going to get big bucks.
I can only imagine that the vilification of footballers for their salaries in contrast to others in comparable professions is because of their predominantly working class backgrounds.
Comments
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52048216
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52092809
Matt Hancock's salary is irrelevant
a) His salary is a fraction of what PL players earn
b) Whether you think he's doing a good job or not, he's currently working his arse off at the moment not sitting around at home like PL players are at the moment
And Hancock was basically saying what Labour's David Lammy said yesterday
I’d like to see a list of all the politicians and other rich people’s pay cuts to help in the current situation. I doubt I will though because they have snouts that dip into protected troughs.
Of course, though, footballers who earn the amounts touted around are courting a PR disaster if they don’t do something.
Yeah fair point. Prem footballs are on such massive money. I have heard lots of people saying MPs / people on c£80-100k a year should be forced to take 50% pay cuts. Thats probably more what I would lean on - they wont have the savings / investments mentioned. Not to mention so many of the MPs are getting pelters but for now the cabinet all look utterly exhausted trying to run the country through this so actually are probably earning their money at the moment.
N.B. Obviously this doesn't apply to West Ham. They should be able to claim as much tax payers money as they want.
Daniel Levy didn't seek to negotiate with those 550 non playing staff. He just did it and chose to use tax payers money to impose that 20% cut "in order to preserve their jobs". He included himself in that but then he had just received a £3m bonus for completion of the stadium out of an annual salary of £7m.
Just a 5% reduction in wages of the players would have covered the 20% cut imposed on the clerical staff that but, instead, we have had to wait for the PL to negotiate with the PFA who then have to get the agreement of their members. And then they had to sweeten the deal by talking about "deferrals". I don't see any use of the word "deferral" so far as the 20% cut of those non playing staff is concerned.
Please someone tell me why Spurs did not do that if it wasn't to protect their precious footballers and the potential backlash?
Again we are talking a 5% cut not the 70%-80% cut that Barcelona players have chosen to take. Any subsequent agreement such as the now proposed 30% cut/deferral could then have followed. It is amazing how many footballers manage to make a deadline day decision to join a club but it is thought that they need weeks to decide whether and/or how much of a pay reduction they are prepared to suffer.
Lineker sought to separate the two issues by saying that it was wrong that Spurs did what they did but that his had nothing to do with the players. It does - simply because Clubs know that the players now hold the power. And the likes of Levy and Ashley will conveniently utilise a Government scheme rather than impose an immediate cut on the players - in order to not just preserve the 550 clerical jobs but also to save tax payers money that could be better served helping the NHS.
And I'm sure that Lineker being so vociferous in his defence of footballers in this way has absolutely anything to do with the fact that he was one once or that he has to be able to interview them as part of his job. As does Gary Neville. That really would be too cynical to contemplate.
BUT they should be helping Their own clubs workers salary payments at fractions of cost to themselves!
If a player earns £20k a week (somewhat more championship level than premier league)
they earn over £1million before tax that year ... extrapolate that time a squad of 17 and you’re talking enough to pay £25k to 680 staff!
Disney executives? Are they in anyway anything to do with this country?
I dont really worry too much what others earn, footballers are an easy target. There are others, loads of them who earn vast amounts but seem to stay off the radar of bitterness.
My feelings on Levy are well known.
The fella pays himself a basic of £4m and then gave himself a bonus of £3m for completing the stadium project.
Then he shows his true colours by creaming off the lowest paid members of staff, to save the club from paying £1.375m a month.
The bald headed little runt can go and do one. Tottenham have always looked after their own. What he has done is the lowest of the low.
By furloughing the scouts, he's also given himself an excuse not to spend any money in the next transfer window too but thats another matter.
I'm f'ing disgusted by what he has done and so are the majority of Spurs fans. Thankfully, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back with him. So many people have defended him for so long but this is the lowest of the absolute low.
He deserves the pelters he gets and so do Spurs. I'm ashamed to be a supporter of them quite frankly.
Then you've got the likes of Ndombele who is on £200k a week and he cant even run for 90 mins.
Football is seriously fucked.
I'm beyond the point of defending Levy. I've been there for a while. Thankfully, it seems the tide is turning against him now.
No PL club should be putting any staff on the furlough given the income coming into the club.
if said footballer reduces his salary to £50k a month tax man gets £25k instead of £100k ?
Sounds like tax man loses as well as player and club wins ....
obviously these figures are basic guff but you get the gist
It's not as if the players will be unaware of what's going on. I can understand it in normal circumstances, when they are completely preoccupied with matches, training and travelling, but for 3 weeks they've been basically bumming around at home. Taking Spurs as an example, Harry Kane seems a decent and intelligent person, and if he (as Captain) didn't think of proposing a pay cut by the players to pay for the other staff, surely his agent and sports management should have been prompting and organising it, seeing that they get paid loads of money to basically run the off field lives of footballers.
Levy might be a money grabbing **** but the players, agents and PFA needed to take a moral lead themselves much earlier. Especially when players at other top European clubs had already done this. Indeed the players at Union Berlin have given up ALL their salary to ensure the club survives
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11881/11963714/union-berlin-players-agree-to-go-without-wages-amid-coronavirus-pandemic
Have any of you met him? I have in my work for the Red, White and Black campaign. Given the bloke's political views, you would expect him to be supportive, but no, he didn't want to know and openly sneered and then laughed at John Barnes for associating with Charlton.
Lineker was happy to associate with us when he was paid to be at the re-opening of Sparrows Lane.
I can only imagine that the vilification of footballers for their salaries in contrast to others in comparable professions is because of their predominantly working class backgrounds.