Chairman acts to cut costs.... | Page 9 | Vital Football

Chairman acts to cut costs....

Exclusive: Arsenal players have refused to take pay cut despite club's coronavirus financial worries

Club had asked the players to consider wage reduction with Champions League looking a long shot

By Sam Wallace, Chief Football Writer 13 April 2020 • 5:09pm
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Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi Credit: REUTERS

Arsenal’s senior players have rejected the terms of a 12.5 per cent pay cut over 12 months in response to the coronavirus crisis, despite the club throwing in some fresh incentives on new contracts in a bid to get them to agree.
Under the proposed terms that were voted on this afternoon, the club said that any player who was offered and signed a new deal in the future would – as a matter of course - get the deducted balance in addition to his new salary.
There was also another clause that any player sold for a fee would also receive any of his deduction back in full. With the transfer market likely to be slow in the extreme this summer, and the value of any future contract in doubt, there were few takers.
It is understood the players had a formal vote around 4.30pm with very few in favour of the deal, and none among the more senior professionals on the top-earning contracts. Telegraph Sport revealed this weekend that the squad had been asked to take a cut with the club trying to incentivise them by offering for it to be rebated in full if they qualified for the Champions League.
The proposed 12.5 per cent cut would fall to 7.5 per cent if the club only qualified for the Europa League. The club also added the proviso that the cut would be rebated in full if the team were to reach the Champions League next season as well as this current one. The 12.5 per cent cut would have equated to around £25 million, a welcome economy for a club with a £230 million annual wage bill. A cost that was famously described by director Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan, as “a Champions League wage bill on a Europa League budget".
In order for there to be any chance of the proposal carrying with the whole squad, the club needed an overwhelming majority in favour - but it was rejected. The Professional Footballers’ Association have advised players that they should not take pay cuts and only accept deferrals. The players’ union has also advised players that they should double-check any agreements negotiated between players and management first.
Arsenal currently sit five points and four places off Manchester United in fifth, currently the last Champions League spot given Manchester City’s Uefa suspension from the competition. They last qualified for the Champions League in 2016, for the following season.
 
Anyone else seriously thinking about ditching top flight football and start going to grass root games? I am.

I just can't stand this greed from footballers. It's seriously disgusting.

Yeah, mentioned it not so long ago on here. I have a club that I can walk to that plays Helenic. Occasionally bump into the manager in the local.

I wouldn't ditch top flight football because of footballer's greed though. I could happily quit it because of the pay TV companies, FIFA/UEFA, the PL fake company, the refs / VAR, the agents, the billionaire chairmen etc. Most of the time, it's only the footballers and football that keep me interested with all the toxic stuff going on around them. They didn't create the monster and ultimately they are still the end product that entertains.

I am worried about the smaller clubs being collateral damage of this Mexican Standoff happening between the TV companies, The PL and the players / PFA though. Whilst it is intriguing to watch the power play, is it really going to see Sky subscriptions, gate receipts and merchandise come down for the honest fan though?
 
Norwich City sticking to their guns over furloughing staff, and their fans are on board with it

Norfolk club and Newcastle United are now the only Premier League clubs who are using the government’s furlough scheme

By Sam Dean 15 April 2020 • 4:01pm
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Carrow Road, home of Norwich City Credit: PA

Norwich City currently have no plans to reverse their decision to furlough some staff, although the club is facing much less pressure from their own supporters than experienced by their Premier League counterparts.
Norwich and Newcastle United are now the only Premier League clubs who are using the government’s furlough scheme after Bournemouth followed Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in changing their stance.
Bournemouth said they had “listened to our supporters” as they rowed back on their original decision to make use of the scheme.
Liverpool and Tottenham faced similar opposition from their fans, many of whom were infuriated by the prospect of the club taking taxpayer money.
Telegraph Sport understands Norwich have received objections from some fans but there is an acceptance among leading supporter groups that the club’s financial status, and their perilous position in the Premier League, means that furloughing staff is a necessary measure.

Daniel Farke’s side are currently at the foot of the Premier League table, four points off 19th-placed Aston Villa and six points away from safety.
Norwich are a self-financing club who lack the spending power of their Premier League rivals. The club spent only around £1m in last summer’s transfer window, following their promotion from the Championship.
“You have to look at it in the context of Norwich City as a club and how it is financed,” said Robin Sainty, the chair of the Canaries Trust. “Compared to others, we don’t have the same financial backing from owners. One the one hand the club can furlough staff and top up their wages, and on the other hand they could make them redundant because they cannot afford to keep them on when they are not producing anything. It is very difficult.
“There will be fans who will say they should not be furloughing staff. We speak to the club on a regular basis and we talked about this in some depth, and I can see where the club is coming from.”
Norwich remain in discussions with their players over possible wage deferrals. The situation is further complicated by their position in the Premier League table as their players would already face a significant salary reduction if they are relegated.
Farke, the players and senior staff have donated some of their salaries towards the club’s Covid-19 community project, with more than £200,000 raised. As part of the project, food packages and vital medication has been delivered to vulnerable families in the local area.
 
Makes me wonder whether this eventually reopens the debate about the payments split from the PL based on the TV revenues. At the moment all 20 clubs get the same Equal Share, International TV and Central Commercial fees. Last year those 3 things added up to about £70m.

Then on top of that you earn based on being the live televised matches you appear in. That ranged from 10 games Huddersfield at £12m all the way to Liverpool on 29 games and £33.5m. The final piece is your final league position. That's £2m a place so Huddersfield for £2m and City got £38m.

It all sort of makes sense when you think what clubs sells Sky or BT Sports packages and have the greater fan following. However, when you look at the final league table of PL earnings you'll see Huddersfield (=Norwich this season) on £96m and Liverpool on £152m. It's a big gap. Where it also penalises Norwich over Huddersfield is that they've been amazingly entertaining this year in all of their televised games.

Even with a couple of extra TV games, they'll still be £50m worse off. Their ability to create profit from player sales in the summer also reduces etc. I can see why the fans are backing the owners but still not aligned with a PL club using the government scheme.
 
Spare a thought for partick thistle. Relegated despite being a game in hand and within reach of safety. Shambles.
 
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Read today that he has asked Poch to take a cut as well from his pay .
times are hard .

I shouldn't laugh, but just did (out loud) when I read that.

Let's hope Danny boy has invested enough into their relationship that Poch will cooperate. Any lasting bad blood and Levy's money will be heading into some Argentinian Coronavirus community project. Poch will come out smelling or roses when it's plastered over the papers, just like the Prem players with their NHS fund.
 
Hello, there is a sea change afoot in banking philosophy, it is a global phenomenon that may have been brought about by the proliferation of nonbank lending being much more driven to see a business succeed.

Big banks are looking at debt work out solutions instead of shutting down businesses. Some of this is government-backed but senior bank officials are referencing 2008 and saying it was a mistake to shut down so many businesses, an economic catastrophe in hindsight.

This may change the game completely to a much better outcome and rebound from this situation.
 
Hello, there is a sea change afoot in banking philosophy, it is a global phenomenon that may have been brought about by the proliferation of nonbank lending being much more driven to see a business succeed.

Big banks are looking at debt work out solutions instead of shutting down businesses. Some of this is government-backed but senior bank officials are referencing 2008 and saying it was a mistake to shut down so many businesses, an economic catastrophe in hindsight.

This may change the game completely to a much better outcome and rebound from this situation.

I lost a pan-European business during that period where the bank behaved abominably and always said that when the next big disaster happens the way the banks react will be on a whole new level. Many now see how much managing talent is around - most especially in turnabout situations and will look to sell in that expertise first (with financial support) before looking to cover their backsides in future.