Charitable Wage Gesture But Should PL Clubs Be Able To Furlough? | Page 2 | Vital Football

Charitable Wage Gesture But Should PL Clubs Be Able To Furlough?

A disgrace.

Leaders Liverpool are the latest Premier League club to place some non-playing staff on temporary leave.

Staff affected will receive 80% of their salary through the government's job retention scheme and the club will make up the difference.

The decision has been criticised by former Liverpool players Jamie Carragher and Stan Collymore.

Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich have already announced they will furlough some non-playing staff.
 
Why can't the 30 % reduction go to NHS as a gross figure ?

The Professional Footballers' Association says proposals for a 30% pay cut for Premier League players would be "detrimental to our NHS".

The PFA also called on the league to increase its own £20m charity pledge.

The league wants players to take a 30% salary cut in order to protect jobs, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But the union says that equates to more than £500m in wage reductions, and a loss in tax contributions of more than £200m to the UK government.

The union also questioned Health Secretary Matt Hancock's public criticism of footballers' salaries during a news conference on Thursday.

"What effect does this loss of earning to the government mean for the NHS?" the statement read. "Was this considered in the Premier League proposal and did the Health Secretary factor this in when asking players to take a salary cut?"
 
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The Fear said:
Interesting take on the greed in football and the current discussion about players not being put on furlough but non playing staff (who can ill afford it) are.

Quite good on the players being accused of being greedy:

https://www.football365.com/news/feature-premier-league-player-wage-cut-matt-hancock

He’s a really interesting person, very self-effacing and kind. He has given away all of his £200,000-per-month wages for about three years now, donating it to various charities and investing in projects, anonymously where possible. His position is that Premier League footballers are massively overpaid and that something needs to be done about it, preferably a radical wage cap. He’s very critical of the people in football, from agents to club owners and directors, and “all the flies that circle around the shit”, almost all of whom he says are “horrible greedy bastards”.
Click to expand...
An amazing read - fair play to him.
 
Here’s that statement, from The Athletic - hence the big font, saves me fetching my specs 🤓

The PFA statement read: “The players are mindful that as PAYE employees, the combined tax on their salaries is a significant contribution to funding essential public services — which are especially critical at this time. Taking a thirty per cent salary deduction will cost the Exchequer substantial sums. This would be detrimental to our NHS and government-funded services. The proposed 30% salary deduction over a 12-month period equates to over £500m in wage reductions and a loss in tax contributions of over £200m to our government. What effect does this loss of earning to the government mean to the NHS? Was this considered in the Premier League proposal and did the Health Secretary Matt Hancock factor this in when asking players to take a salary cut?”
 
It does sound like the players and PFA want money to go to the NHS rather than to their club owners, which it may well do if they just took a pay deferral. The point about PAYE is relevant and The Athletic article suggests they are more than happy to help as a collective but that they want to ensure the money is guaranteed to help the NHS.
 
Premier League players had initially been under the impression that any wage deferrals or reductions they agreed would ensure that clubs were able to fully pay non-playing staff. However, Tottenham proposed wage cuts in addition to placing staff onto the government’s furlough scheme earlier in the week. Bournemouth, Norwich, Newcastle and Liverpool have all followed in putting staff on furlough. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme sees the government step in to cover 80 per cent of wages for the next two months, capped at a maximum of £2,500 a month. The latter four clubs have committed to topping up the wages to ensure employees continue to receive their full salary. However, Liverpool’s decision, in particular, provoked a public backlash as the club announced a pre-tax profit of £42 million on revenues of £533 million only five weeks ago.
 
As clubs employ the government’s scheme and call in the taxpayer to cover salaries, players now want to understand where their personal money they sacrifice will go. The players are determined that any money they do give up should go to non-playing staff at their own clubs or the emergency services, unless the clubs can prove in their accounts that the organisation is under threat without the money. The Athletic has been told to expect more than 10 Premier League sides to resort to the furlough scheme in the coming weeks.
 
I am not a Royalist but having just listened to the Queen's speech
there was more inspiration and sincerity within 5 minutes than comments from
half wit premier league footballers over past week.
 
The ridiculous Webber has come out and said there is no money in football . Who are you kidoing mate , when yours and other clubs are paying average footballers more money than most of us can only dream of . Shut up Webber and don’t make a fool of yourself
 
Thought I had provided a link but I had not.
What SW said below :


“I can see both sides of the argument,” he said. “What we have seen this week is an attack on players, which is extremely unfair. It is not their fault they are waiting for clubs or the Premier League to make some decisions.“The reason we furloughed our staff is we have been told, by the government, like everyone else that staff cannot work at this time. The staff who can work from home continue to work from home. Every member of staff has had their wages topped up so no one loses out at this point.“When that government initiative came in, for a self-funded club like ourselves, we are extremely grateful. In terms of the players, the last meeting before the Premier League one (on Friday) was two weeks ago. Now action has been taken to try and reach a collective agreement and that will go on for a few days yet.“Some of the venom towards football and footballers has felt like points scoring and a bit out of order, if I am honest. It has been a sad week for football.”

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https://twitter.com/pinkun

Webber made it clear the financial ramifications for Norwich are serious, in the wake of a statement released by top flight rivals Burnley mapping out a £50m shortfall for the Clarets - in terms of matchday revenue and broadcast payments - should the season not be completed.

“I can only talk about our club and we have had some difficult days. And those will continue,” he said. “It is like any other business. You get a certain amount of income and you spend it. Football clubs are criticised if they don’t spend and have money in the bank but when income dries up the club gets criticised.
“It is a very hard time but we have to stick together as clubs and a community because one thing we can guarantee is the whole country is missing football. But it is a myth to suggest football is full of money.”
 
Harry Kane has made a special appeal for us all to dig deeply into our pockets to help our poor suffering Premier League players during this virus crisis .








 
Assuming SKY etc still pay the Prem clubs if the rest of this seasons matches are played behind closed doors in June

Then a Premier League pay cut for a few months should fund the paying of wages to players in League One, League Two and the National League to keep the football structure in tact.

If theres enough then may be the Championship clubs can get a hand too.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52228550

Not really happy about this.

The idea was to try to reduce outgoings of clubs who do not have rich owners
( that's just us then ) so club remains running when the funding from sky etc is reduced. The money does go to good causes but is basically from owners as players still earn obscene wages and I doubt if they will miss even half of their
£ 70 k a week average premier league wage.

Also it would be best for Green and Snodgrass to shut up.
 
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