[Archived] Nickos Thread

[ABBEY]

as ewood i would said ...me and thee are commies hahaahaha

[nicko]

I'd agree that with amount of money that is in a football these days, that footballers are entitled to some of it. But then I find it very hard when you hear about players demanding £80,000 or £100,000 a week because it's only fair and justifying it by saying that they have a short career and need to have money in the bank. Most people will never earn close to what these guys will earn in their careers, but yet still leave happy lives, don't go without and have a good standard of living. These guys ask for this money to maintain a certain type of lavish lifestyle after football, which goes beyond the idea of them having short careers and needing money for the future.

Like it or dislike it, the fact is that football has turned into a massive money-making business.

To get some of the best players around you have to pay for them.

The alternative is to be poor and happy and playing in League Two.

I don't think Bentley has asked for anything silly and I don't think he is the type to justify his demands with cliches.

As I said before if you value something at £15 million you should pay for the privilege too.

WHY do TV companies pay millions and WHY do crowds go to big games? It's to watch players, so the punters pay and the money eventually reaches the players.

What's wrong with that?

You can't compare them to other walks of life as you don't pay to watch people doing other jobs, no matter how important they are to society.

Anyway, the point still is that this would have been sorted - along with many other contract issues coming up shortly - if there was not a daft rule about players having to pay their agents out of their salaries.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Nicko,

Just posting to enquire about Huddlestone. The press said Ramos had this untouchable list, in other words 5 players if i recall that he wanted to keep, and i'm pretty sure Huddlestone wasn't on it.

We have been linked to Huddlestone before and its rumoured that Hughes is a big admirer.

Can you see Rovers making a possible move for him in the summer?

Not sure myself as he is English and young so it means he will be very pricey, and wondering if he he would be willing to make the move up north.

Whilst i do have some concerns about the player, his weight affecting his mobility for example, I believe Hughes could really turn him into a top quality player.

So have you heard any news about Huddlestone to Rovers? or is this speculation in the media a load of rubbish?

[nicko]

On Huddlestone...I am pretty sure he is on the 'most wanted' list at Rovers. He's been on it for some time too - as many informed posters revealed before me.

Spurs will probably sell him, but when you deal with Daniel Levy it usually means a long wait and expensive deal.

If he is THE one that the manager wants then they should tap him rotten and get him to ask for a move.

I suspect there will be others as that is the way it works.

Some of the best signings happen by accident. I don't think Roque was first choice in the summer, but he was cheap[ish] and available at the right time. Sometimes it just happens like that.

Like Eric Cantona too, but that's another story.

[Hughesy]

Ok so the rule is that they have to pay out of their wages – still what is the delay?? A greedy agent?

I agree totally with the saying that if you want the best then you have to pay for it. If we want one of the best right wingers in the prem then we have to pay for him. Bentley will sign a new deal but whether or not that will stop clubs making a move this summer, remains to be seen.

[philipl]

No doubt Cantona would sign for a fish finger these days.

Square football's take on the Huddlestone/Rovers link.

If they are doing a big clear out at WHL, it will be tricky for Levy to be antsy about all of them.

For what its worth, I am pretty certain Rovers were closing in on a Huddlestone deal when Jol got fired and that he was the midfielder not named when John Williams commented at the beginning of February that Rovers had moved for a midfield target in the January window but it transpired he was unavailable. On that basis Rovers have already put hours and miles into the effort to get Huddlestone and as we saw with Benni, Sparky eventually got his man.

[nicko]

Ok so the rule is that they have to pay out of their wages – still what is the delay?? A greedy agent?

It's just a matter of sorting out how best to do it within budgets etc. Funnily enough the agents won't make any more this way, the player doesn't either. The club just has to pay extra to the player and the tax man benefits. Crazy.

Under the old rules agents were paid seperately, now players have to pay them - and the clubs have to pay the players more to make everyone happy.

It is just stupidity and wastes time and money.

I still think Bentley's deal will be done, but it will cost Rovers more to do it. It's bureaucracy/red tape/whatever.

[thenodrog]

No doubt Cantona would sign for a fish finger these days.

Square football's take on the Huddlestone/Rovers link.

If they are doing a big clear out at WHL, it will be tricky for Levy to be antsy about all of them.

He sounds like a new Ivan Campo! That'd do nicely!

[RibbleValleyRover]

Interesting day today, according to SSN its the last day we have to appeal against our misconduct charge.

Surely we are going to appeal strongly?

[tony gale's mic]

It's just a matter of sorting out how best to do it within budgets etc. Funnily enough the agents won't make any more this way, the player doesn't either. The club just has to pay extra to the player and the tax man benefits. Crazy.

Under the old rules agents were paid seperately, now players have to pay them - and the clubs have to pay the players more to make everyone happy.

It is just stupidity and wastes time and money.

I still think Bentley's deal will be done, but it will cost Rovers more to do it. It's bureaucracy/red tape/whatever.

How long is this extension till then, 2012 or 2013?

[thenodrog]

Well, you don't expect them to play for nothing...

There's the rub Alan. It's a supreme irony that if professional football was banned from today I'd wager over 90% of pro's would still play at the weekend. It's like a drug. Sure Benni and axe may play with their mates in SA, just as RSC might buggger off back to his local pub team or whatever in Paraguay etc etc but the point that you are misssing is that we all like playing football and most of us have paid to get the strip washed simply to play!

Now compare this to somebody's boss asking em to still work 9-5 weekdays for no money.

[thenodrog]

nicko...is there anything in jermaine jenas getting dropped from spurs squad??

i know players get dropped but he seemed to be playing well lately

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=632899

Jenas has had a strange season. He was doing very well for Spurs and made the England team, then he dips and loses his place for club and country. It's that type of incosistency that stops him being the player he could be.

Ramos is ruthless at Spurs and it will be interesting to see who starts next season in his team.

I think Ramos has identified him for the 'sick note' player that he is. Darren Anderton re-incarnated. Last week v PSV he was clutching his leg and waving to the bench to be subbed. Ramos took absolutely no effin notice nad subbed others leaving Jenas to play to the end. Strangely enough Jenas was played the next match at the weekend.

The lad has a few nice touches but until the last match, and along with Dyer, had simply made up the numbers in the England squad cos he played for a big club but without ever contributing anything of significance to an England performance.

Reminds me of the early George Graham days at spurs when rumour had it that George cut the plugs off all the dvd players in the treatment rooms, switched the heating off and only opened them from 4.00pm in the afternoon. Apparently the injury list virtually vanished overnight.

[SouthAussieRover]

Like it or dislike it, the fact is that football has turned into a massive money-making business.

Anyway, the point still is that this would have been sorted - along with many other contract issues coming up shortly - if there was not a daft rule about players having to pay their agents out of their salaries.

Why should a club or any person, other than the player, pay for services provided by an agent to his employer ie the footballer?

[USRoverME]

In my memory of us in the Prem Flitcroft and Batty being the best midfield examples of that spirit. Gave it but could take it too without complaint. 'Proper' football players.

Reidy does a good job of it too...

[roversmum]

My daughter just came in on her way home from her job at the local Sainsburys.

She told me, in all seriousness, that they had just had a contingent of about 15 trainees in from Burnley, and 'the funny thing was', she said, 'they were all related'.

I'm still choking..............

[American]

Why should a club or any person, other than the player, pay for services provided by an agent to his employer ie the footballer?

Exactly.

Maybe I should demand that my company pay for someone to do my taxes, or pay my mechanic to fix my car....

[Fife Rover]

Well, you don't expect them to play for nothing...

If you think a player is worth £15 to £20 million you should really pay him those kind of superstar wages.

To be fair to Bentley I don't think his wages demands are too stupid - he has team-mates on more.

I don't think there is a player anywhere in the world that is worth £15m to £20m. In fact I don't honestly believe that there is a player worth even £1m in truth. The one and only reason why players go for these obscene sums is purely and simply market forces. If club A wont pay it then club B will; simple as that. And the greedy thieving agents are not only encouraging such behaviour, they are positively promoting it, because the more the player goes for and the higher his wages, the more their bill goes up in direct proportion. The whole dirty business stinks to High Heaven, and one day there will be a collapse of the whole rotten business. Cant happen soon enough for me; then maybe we can all get back to reasonable wages and prices for transfers and admission at the gate.

[Fife Rover]

My daughter just came in on her way home from her job at the local Sainsburys.

She told me, in all seriousness, that they had just had a contingent of about 15 trainees in from Burnley, and 'the funny thing was', she said, 'they were all related'.

I'm still choking..............

Did she count their fingers?

[LeftWinger]

I don't think there is a player anywhere in the world that is worth £15m to £20m. In fact I don't honestly believe that there is a player worth even £1m in truth. The one and only reason why players go for these obscene sums is purely and simply market forces. If club A wont pay it then club B will; simple as that.

While I agree with your "concerns" about the money mad state of the game - you're surely contradicting yourself here. Take Brad Friedel for example - without him I don't think we'd even be in the Premier League right now. Every season he must be worth at least 10 points on his own - when compared to an average keeper. The TV money that we'd miss out on as a result of not being in the Premier League surely makes Friedel worth a huge amount to Rovers - despite his age. If there was a 20 year old Brad out there now - who would gain a team at least 10 points a season - he'd be worth far more than the £1m you suggest no player is worth. Unfortunately the huge amount of money in the game is in danger of destroying it.

[den]

Surley, if the fans are happy to pay the money, the club are happy to pay the wages and the club doesn't go into debt, - what's the problem?

[BiggusLaddus]

Exactly.

Maybe I should demand that my company pay for someone to do my taxes,

Thats called the payroll dept where I work.

Exactly.

Maybe I should demand that my company pay for someone to do my taxes, or pay my mechanic to fix my car....

And that I suppose they could also do over here, but you would have to pay more tax on the 'benefit in kind', which is really what football players have been getting while clubs paid their agents fees for them.

[Fife Rover]

Surley, if the fans are happy to pay the money, the club are happy to pay the wages and the club doesn't go into debt, - what's the problem?

Well if you put it that way there is no problem, but I guess my problem stems from 1961 when the maximum wage in football was removed. It was obvious from that very moment what was going to happen, and some of us tried (through letters to the press etc) to point out the way things would eventually turn out, and we were right; it has. The result (as predicted) was the end of genuine fair competition whereby any club in the Football League could achieve anything there was to win, and that's the way it had always worked from the formation of the FL in 1888 right up to 1961. And to be fair, it still took a few years before the full effects we had predicted became sufficiently apparent and made the emergence of the "Big Clubs" the overriding factor. Players went to the "Big Clubs" simply because they were willing to pay higher wages, so eventually we arrived at the situation where most clubs could not compete money wise and therefore lost all their best players and were never again able to even hope to get them back again. Thus a set in stone Strata System appeared and is what we have to this day. Except that now on top of all that we have the PL which has moved the goalposts again. This time to create a "Super League" with only the super-rich clubs invited.

If that is what you all want and have no problem with, all I can say is: OK get on with it and continue to be ripped off, after all those of you that are left as supporters on the ground can afford it can't you? What does it matter if there are 100's of thousands of former football diehard supporters that have (of necessity) dropped out of the rat race and found other interests.

[EwoodGlory]

Nicko, do you know if anyone is interested in Fabian Yantorno who has been released by Gretna?

He stood out a mile in the Gretna games I have seen.

Might be worth a look when he's recovered, i'm sure a number of clubs will.

[joey_big_nose]

If that is what you all want and have no problem with, all I can say is: OK get on with it and continue to be ripped off, after all those of you that are left as supporters on the ground can afford it can't you? What does it matter if there are 100's of thousands of former football diehard supporters that have (of necessity) dropped out of the rat race and found other interests.

That is a fair point in that many cannot afford to now attend. But the reality is that if you have a maximum wage in any industry then the money that would be spent on the individuals actaully playing the sport (the players and the managing staff) it would just get diverted into shareholders or the owners of the clubs. A ticket price is not dictated by what the costs incurred by the club are but by how much the club thinks it can extract from those that attend. Simple supply and demand.

So if you want to attack pricing of the gate government legislation/league rules should focus on lowering the ticket price.

To be honest the players are negotiating for the biggest cut they can take which is not suprising given that they are the product. Just the same as any industry where the people involved are the commodity. A wage cap would have the main effect of making owners much much more wealthy and little affect on prices imo.

[den]

I wasn't addressing the abolition of the Maximum wage Fife, I was addressing the idea of whether, or not, a player is "worth" his wages.

Put it another way. If Liverpool FC pay their players astronomical wages, but the club are always contesting the big prizes and the club make profit = no problem. If Liverpool FC pay astronomical wages and the club make losses = big problem.

It's not the level of wages that's a problem, it's clubs paying more than they can afford that's the problem.