European Super League - plans announced

BorneTobyWilde

Damien360 wrote: »

So I own a club called Arab Utd and I’ll pay him 150,000 per week. But look here’s our sponsor Saudi 4ever which I also own, and I’ll pay him 500k per week to appear once a year on our magazine.

How do you control a wage cap ? There are ways around all that. Just look at GAA managers here that officially don’t get paid.

Easy to control. Same as FFP, You can't simply do what City did with magical sponsors who are actually the owners pumping in money. They got a ban, and then.......... how fcking ironic..... they buy their way out of it.
WTF

lee_baby_simms

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Hilarious all these players coming out after it has collapsed, De Bruyne, a guy who DEMANDED 400,000 pounds a week to stay at City suddenly cares about grassroots football.

https://twitter.com/DeBruyneKev/status/1384572733653229572


Posting that yesterday evening when it was dead in the water already. Give me a break. It's his demands and wages that have caused it.

At least the Liverpool players had a go Monday, when it was still full steam ahead for the SL

Good god. The grandstanding is nauseating.

adaminho

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

They should bring into law a wages cap. 150,000 the top bracket. Let Messi play for the club he wants to play at, not the one willing to break the club just to have him, have it that NO ONE can pay him more than 150,000 a week.

You could do an NFL wage cap per team but you would never be allowed to bring something like that individually because of European law! Imagine if it happened and your boss turned up in the morning and said "I'm capping all your wages at the minimum!"

dor83

adaminho wrote: »

You could do an NFL wage cap per team but you would never be allowed to bring something like that individually because of European law! Imagine if it happened and your boss turned up in the morning and said "I'm capping all your wages at the minimum!"

It's a different thing though, it would be more like "After your current contract runs up we won't be offering anyone anything above the set amount". They can't change the current contracts but they can set an upper limit on how much they'll offer for new ones.

namloc1980

adaminho wrote: »

You could do an NFL wage cap per team but you would never be allowed to bring something like that individually because of European law! Imagine if it happened and your boss turned up in the morning and said "I'm capping all your wages at the minimum!"

The French Top 14 rugby league has a salary cap and has not fallen foul of any EU laws. Salary caps exist in most industries. A famous example in Ireland is the €500k cap on bankers salaries etc.

callaway92

namloc1980 wrote: »

A famous example in Ireland is the €500k cap on bankers salaries etc.

Which is bypassed by massive bonuses

namloc1980

callaway92 wrote: »

Which is bypassed by massive bonuses

Bonuses are effectively banned at Irish banks that have salary caps as a massive windfall tax applies.

BorneTobyWilde

If the clubs really want to save money, and survive in the black, not the red, then they should all come together and agree a wage cap , would love to see it. They should also ban agents

Leroy42

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

If the clubs really want to save money, and survive in the black, not the red, then they should all come together and agree a wage cap , would love to see it. They should also ban agents

So the managers, ceos, shareholders and banks can earn millions but the players, the actual stars of the show, need to have a wage cap?

And can be stuck to a contract, refused to be allowed to move, and if the get injured they may end their career?

billyhead

Why haven't the Spanish teams pulled out. Is this ESL legally binding and can they sue the English and Italian teams for withdrawing,?

Fromvert

It's not the players fault that the owners are too stupid to refuse to pay money to players that they don't have. Most of the money should be going to the players imo. They ask for the money, stupid owners give it to them.

Salary caps are there in the main for the owners to cream off a healthy chunk of cash each year. I don't think anyone wants that happening at whatever club they're a supporter of.

Fromvert

billyhead wrote: »

Why haven't the Spanish teams pulled out. Is this ESL legally binding and can they sue the English and Italian teams for withdrawing,?

They're skint so it would not be shocking if they're looking to find a way to sue as you say. Not that you'd get anything out of the Italians, they're also broke.

callaway92

namloc1980 wrote: »

Bonuses are effectively banned at Irish banks that have salary caps as a massive windfall tax applies.

That’s a naive viewpoint to have

Fitz*

Wasn't one of the key points in the ESL that there would be a salary cap in place? 55% of revenue. One of the few good selling points of the proposal, if the only one.

jayo26

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Posting that yesterday evening when it was dead in the water already. Give me a break. It's his demands and wages that have caused it.

At least the Liverpool players had a go Monday, when it was still full steam ahead for the SL

He actually posted this an hour and half before jordan Henderson put up his tweet about players not wanting it and at that stage Chelsea and City had pulled out and im sure he knew liverpool were gonna pull out an hour later.

Fromvert

Fitz* wrote: »

Wasn't one of the key points in the ESL that there would be a salary cap in place? 55% of revenue. One of the few good selling points of the proposal, if the only one.

It was and apparently 55% of revenue was for all sport spending (transfers, agent fees, development, wages etc.). The players would have spiked it on that alone, they'll be wanting at a minimum 50% just for them.

dor83

Fromvert wrote: »

It's not the players fault that the owners are too stupid to refuse to pay money to players that they don't have. Most of the money should be going to the players imo. They ask for the money, stupid owners give it to them.

Salary caps are there in the main for the owners to cream off a healthy chunk of cash each year. I don't think anyone wants that happening at whatever club they're a supporter of.

I would imagine that if there is ever a salary cap there would also be a lot of other financial restrictions put on clubs to stop too much money leaving the clubs for non football reasons. I personally think that there should also be a limit of a certain percentage of the profit that can be taken by owners as well as salary caps for the other staff such as the CEO, president, etc. and that owners can only take money from the profit if the club is completely debt free. Throw in a ban on agent fees paid by clubs and limit them to a certain percentage of the players wage and signing bonus to stop all the money that is currently leaving the sport. At the end of the day the agents are supposed to work for the players not the clubs, so let the players be the ones who pay them to ensure that they actually act in their best interest rather than constantly trying to force a move to get their cut of a transfer fee.

Fromvert

dor83 wrote: »

I would imagine that if there is ever a salary cap there would also be a lot of other financial restrictions put on clubs to stop too much money leaving the clubs for non football reasons. I personally think that there should also be a limit of a certain percentage of the profit that can be taken by owners as well as salary caps for the other staff such as the CEO, president, etc. and that owners can only take money from the profit if the club is completely debt free. Throw in a ban on agent fees paid by clubs and limit them to a certain percentage of the players wage and signing bonus to stop all the money that is currently leaving the sport. At the end of the day the agents are supposed to work for the players not the clubs, so let the players be the ones who pay them to ensure that they actually act in their best interest rather than constantly trying to force a move to get their cut of a transfer fee.

Yeah it will need to be a complete overhaul of all finances in and out of football clubs. A collective pull together which will be extremely tough and it needs to be Europe wide.

The clubs paying for the player's agents just seems stupid on the players part. How are the players confident the agent is even working for them when it's the club paying them, easily could be getting shafted by the agent/owner out of millions. Do the players know how much their agents are even getting?

Yeah they are technically saving money by not having to pay the agent but they don't know that they are actually saving money.

BorneTobyWilde

Leroy42 wrote: »

So the managers, ceos, shareholders and banks can earn millions but the players, the actual stars of the show, need to have a wage cap?

And can be stuck to a contract, refused to be allowed to move, and if the get injured they may end their career?

No one at a club earns more than the players. Insurance for injuries should be a thing.

BorneTobyWilde

jayo26 wrote: »

He actually posted this an hour and half before jordan Henderson put up his tweet about players not wanting it and at that stage Chelsea and City had pulled out and im sure he knew liverpool were gonna pull out an hour later.

Liverpools captain on the night spoke Monday, as did the manager.

giveitholly

If below is an actual quote then Perez has totally lost the plot

https://twitter.com/dermotmcorrigan/status/1385008270469914629?s=19

giveitholly

giveitholly wrote: »

If below is an actual quote then Perez has totally lost the plot

https://twitter.com/dermotmcorrigan/status/1385008270469914629?s=19

Perez was always a clown removed from reality. He never had the plot. You'd have to wonder about the mentality of Real supporters to vote him in as president all these years :rolleyes:

dor83

Fromvert wrote: »

Yeah it will need to be a complete overhaul of all finances in and out of football clubs. A collective pull together which will be extremely tough and it needs to be Europe wide.

The clubs paying for the player's agents just seems stupid on the players part. How are the players confident the agent is even working for them when it's the club paying them, easily could be getting shafted by the agent/owner out of millions. Do the players know how much their agents are even getting?

Yeah they are technically saving money by not having to pay the agent but they don't know that they are actually saving money.

How agents currently get their money in football is one of the things I find crazy, can the players not see how it is in the agents interest to have them move clubs more often so they get more from it? I don't even see how it is allowed, how can the players representative get paid so much by the club? Surely it a conflict of interest and should be stopped.

The sport does need a complete overhaul financially alright, the fact that the biggest clubs in the sport are in so much debt is crazy. It's insane to think that you could probably buy a club like Inter, and pay off all their debts, but still spend less than Barca owe. It is extremely poor management over a long period of time that put them in that situation, and they're fan owned so it can't even be blamed on some money grabbing owner milking them for everything they could get.

Headshot

The Trumpion of Madrid

Bat **** crazy

jayo26

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Liverpools captain on the night spoke Monday, as did the manager.

Yes the manager complained about leeds wearing shirts in protest... Milner gave a great interview indeed.

gormdubhgorm

John Barnes gone way up in my estimation calling a spade, a spade.

Blanco100

A salary cap is beneficial to fans. Makes the game more even and actually will narrow the gap somewhat.

Actually nothing wrong with driving wages down as it's getting out of hand. How people can't see this is beyond me.

Nothing wrong with more profit going into an owners pocket, means the club is healthy. Enforce it in every European league. Will automatically help grass roots football, best players are not stockpiled at 1 club, clubs will try to invest in infrastructure to promote from within.

Greedy players are as much a cause of high ticket prices as greedy owners.

John Barnes made an excellent point that should be repeated until everyone hears it, these owners are being forced to develop revenue streams from wherever they can, as it's not sustainable to be paying such astronomical wages that seem to be getting higher and higher.

Making a profit shouldn't be a dirty word associated with greed, it's about sustainability. Every club should be forced to live within a percentage of their true turnover.

~Rebel~

jayo26 wrote: »

Yes the manager complained about leeds wearing shirts in protest... Milner gave a great interview indeed.

Why not just lay out what he actually said?

- His opinion is the same as it always was, and he doesn't want the Super League.
- He loves the CL, and loves that anyone can fight their way into it.
- Reiterated that the players had nothing to do with it at all, and didn't know about it, so don't deserve any of the abuse they were getting.
- Pointed out that what everyone is doing is for money - new CL, Fifa's World Club Cup etc.
- Reiterated yet again that the competitiveness is most important, that you have to earn it.
- Said they can't wear the t-shirts that were left for them in their dressing room, and that if someone thinks they need to be reminded that the CL is earned, that it's a joke as no-one knows better than them that you have to earn it.


Can't say I disagree with any of that. It seems like he took the shirts being left for them to wear more personally than it was perhaps meant - but i can understand that to be honest. Arriving into your dressing room and finding these things left out for you saying Europe has to be earned, when since he's been there it took them a few years to fight their way back into the CL, and then losing a heartbreaking final, before fighting their way all the way back the next season to win it. If Leeds were serious about it being a show of protest together, there should have been a conversation up front, rather than just leaving them there to be found. It's probably more likely it was a clever wee barb before the match - in which case, it was a good idea.

Shanotheslayer

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

John Barnes gone way up in my estimation calling a spade, a spade.

Absolutely brilliant interview

eagle eye

Love Barnes take on it, thanks for posting that gormdubhgorm.

Leroy42

I don't understand calls for a salary cap.

You do understand that owners are not forced to pay the rates, that they aren't forced into the contracts?

In the stand off between billionaires and millionaires you guys think the millionaires, the guys that actually do the work, are the problem?

Messis contract is not the problem, if Barca can afford it. They can't, and should never have agreed to it.

Salaries are undoubtedly driving the crisis, but only because owners, and fans demands if we are honest, allow it and put football ahead of business.

It seems bizarre that people are actually in favour of limiting another person's earning ability just so they can give more money to owners.

IncognitoMan

Leroy42 wrote: »

Messis contract is not the problem, if Barca can afford it. They can't, and should never have agreed to it.

Salaries are undoubtedly driving the crisis, but only because owners, and fans demands if we are honest, allow it and put football ahead of business.

It seems bizarre that people are actually in favour of limiting another person's earning ability just so they can give more money to owners.

Problem is if Barca don't give Messi those insane wages one of the Oil clubs will.

I agree that clubs should be more frugal/better run but with the Oil clubs and the way agents are always looking to squeeze every last cent from them I can understand how a club could end up in a bad situation financially.

I would say regulation of agents could help but I think they would probably find a way around it to be honest. Maybe setting it so that there is a salary cap relative to a teams turnover and an agent is only entitled to a maximum of 10% of a players wages and nothing from a club. Heavy penalties to any team found making payments to agents.

Again though, I'm sure there would be ways around that easy enough.

dor83

Leroy42 wrote: »

I don't understand calls for a salary cap.

You do understand that owners are not forced to pay the rates, that they aren't forced into the contracts?

In the stand off between billionaires and millionaires you guys think the millionaires, the guys that actually do the work, are the problem?

Messis contract is not the problem, if Barca can afford it. They can't, and should never have agreed to it.

Salaries are undoubtedly driving the crisis, but only because owners, and fans demands if we are honest, allow it and put football ahead of business.

It seems bizarre that people are actually in favour of limiting another person's earning ability just so they can give more money to owners.

It's not about taking money from the players to give to owners, as has been said in previous posts, it would be more than just a salary can and instead be a complete overhaul of the whole financial system in football.

The problem with owners just refusing to pay high wages is that you then have other clubs who will just keep offering huge amounts and hoover up every player they can. Say a group of top clubs all decide they won't offer above a certain amount, say €250k per week, and stick to it but then PSG or City decide that they will offer all the top players double that(not having a go at either club by the way, just using them as an example because they are probably the ones who could afford it most). Then either the other clubs give up on their limit or the best talent all goes to the one who pays double what everyone else is paying.

The one thing I would say is that if a salary cap were to be introduced then I think that clubs shouldn't be allowed to take players image rights, that would be a way for players to make extra for themselves without it costing the clubs.

Drumpot

Barnes always tells it how it is to be fair , he cuts through a lot of the hyperbolic BS that people can get hung up on.

Did they talk about whether the super league would be better/worse? As right as he is, I can’t see how the super league would of been better for the majority in the game. At least some money filters down in English football. Eventually these clubs would leave England and none of their riches would get into England or grass roots.

He’s also right that nothing is probably going to Change. Rich people and governments have been playing with the people since time began. Facebook and social media has made it even easier. Anything free means you are the product, boards.ie is free ( :eek: ).

You can see it in threads all over the shop, with certain “influencers” trying to sway opinion or destroy conversations. It’s not always intentional manipulation (sometimes just an angry poster) but it’s just a smaller example of the wider world where we are manipulated and influenced into beliefs that aren’t really things we naturally adopted but were spammed into believing.

Consumerism is the new religion. I find it funny when people have a go at religion itself and are oblivious to the fact that nature abhors a vacuum. You don’t stop something that’s been around for thousands of years, that creates a comfort in many and not have ramifications. People look to tv, social media and Amazon now for their comforts and their guidance and product providers are all to happy to fill that hole. People can lie to themselves and pretend they are individuals with unique motivations but all your opinions and mine, have been mostly moulded by different vested interests in society.

It’s not easy to separate from it, I’ve been trying for years because I don’t feel comfortable in it. That feeling that somethings wrong has always been with me and I’ve always thought I am the problem but I’m not. I’m trying to get closer to nature because that’s where I feel most relaxed. But my phone, my job, my interests , pretty much everything in our world are all about distraction and keeping me away from just enjoying my life. Can anybody in here say that if they knew they were gonna die tomorrow that they wouldn’t have regrets? Would any of these regrets be about wasting time getting angry or upset over the most shallow stupid sh*t possible?

In summary , I like John Barnes, he nice man.....

rob316

Its the blood sucking agents extracting transfer fees I want to see turfed out over a salary cap. Liverpool spending about 30m a year on agent fees, its ridiculous money. KDB used a lawyer and scientific data company recently to negotiate his new contract, that seems a far better way. Solicitors do most the leg work anyway

DM_7

Wages are not the problem for football financing.

They are a significant part of outgoings but in terms of the cost of the playing side they are only one part of having a player. The transfer fee is a major outlay. A player like Messi has never costs Barcelona a transfer fee and when contract renewals arrive Messi can ask for more as Barca have no transfer fee to pay.

He can also ask more because he knows Barcelona have generated massive revenue on the back of the success the first team had with him as the main player.

Of course the issues are linked, the players can ask for higher wages due to to the ability to raise massive tv and commercial revenues. The clubs need to earn more Revenue to continue paying the wages while also retaining or bringing in the type of player who has played a massive part in the club generating Revenue.

It is worth remembering that while Messi has been playing at his insane standards his club have been spending the guts of a billion in transfer fees - many of the major ones did not work out in terms of fee and wage costs, Dembele, Griezmann, Couthinho, other players like Paco Alcacar, Andre Gomes, Yerry Mina, Malcolm, Semedo and Braithwaite may as well not have taken place.

Much of these issues have been experienced by other clubs and in their desire to accumulate they have speculated massively and poorly.

Man Utd are an obvious stand out also players like Rojo, Blind, Darmian, Schneiderlin, Mkhitaryan, Herrera, Lukaku, Sanchez were all signed and are already gone. Pogba and Martial have not bee great successes. Even the pile spent on Maguire was very wasteful.

Not only have many of the major clubs failed to find value in the transfer market they have failed to actually value money or the privileged position that it affords them.

namloc1980

callaway92 wrote: »

That’s a naive viewpoint to have

Can you show me otherwise? Proof that bailed out bankers are getting "massive bonuses" as you said and proof they are evading the windafall tax on them if they do get them? I'll gladly retract if you can show me this proof.

gormdubhgorm

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Absolutely brilliant interview

eagle eye wrote: »

Love Barnes take on it

I was thinking a lot of the things he said on this thread and I was wondering why no footballer said it. Starting to think I was daft or in the wrong. Because all the noses were focused on the clubs greed etc.

But I loved the way he said it. Honest, articulate and straight from the heart. He even managed to tie in other arguments about Qatar, Black Lives Matter. lack of Black Managers, ticket prices, jerseys etc.

I particularly like the lines where he said the working classes are being fooled into thinking they did something. And that he would not criticise any organisation or even country outside England until they get 'their own house in order'.

Potential Underachiever

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Why not just lay out what he actually said?

- His opinion is the same as it always was, and he doesn't want the Super League.
- He loves the CL, and loves that anyone can fight their way into it.
- Reiterated that the players had nothing to do with it at all, and didn't know about it, so don't deserve any of the abuse they were getting.
- Pointed out that what everyone is doing is for money - new CL, Fifa's World Club Cup etc.
- Reiterated yet again that the competitiveness is most important, that you have to earn it.
- Said they can't wear the t-shirts that were left for them in their dressing room, and that if someone thinks they need to be reminded that the CL is earned, that it's a joke as no-one knows better than them that you have to earn it.


Can't say I disagree with any of that. It seems like he took the shirts being left for them to wear more personally than it was perhaps meant - but i can understand that to be honest. Arriving into your dressing room and finding these things left out for you saying Europe has to be earned, when since he's been there it took them a few years to fight their way back into the CL, and then losing a heartbreaking final, before fighting their way all the way back the next season to win it. If Leeds were serious about it being a show of protest together, there should have been a conversation up front, rather than just leaving them there to be found. It's probably more likely it was a clever wee barb before the match - in which case, it was a good idea.

Cracking post tbf, you can't really argue with any point you made. It's amusing the lengths some have gone to to try and get jabs in about Klopp the other night! There won't be any comebacks to this post though.

JPA

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I was thinking a lot of the things he said on this thread and I was wondering why no footballer said it. Starting to think I was daft or in the wrong. Because all the noses were focused on the clubs greed etc.

But I loved the way he said it. Honest, articulate and straight from the heart. He even managed to tie in other arguments about Qatar, Black Lives Matter. lack of Black Managers, ticket prices, jerseys etc.

I particularly like the lines where he said the working classes are being fooled into thinking they did something. And that he would not criticise any organisation or even country outside England until they get 'their own house in order'.

Barnes will never be on Talksport again after that!

gormdubhgorm

JPA wrote: »

Barnes will never be on Talksport again after that!

I am not sure. It will get Talksport a lot of attention. I realise there is an overlap between SKY and Talksport Jim White etc. But they are at least separate from SKY as an organisation.

I believe Laura Woods works for SKY and she was noticeably quiet. Although even she said 'It is hard to argue with anything you have said and I would agree with a lot of it'

Fr Tod Umptious

Great interview that with John Barnes, so many good points made by him.

Really hit the nail on the head with the point that (and I'm paraphrasing) "we talk about multi billionaires having to understand football, but it should be the other way round, football needs to understand multi billionaires".

gormdubhgorm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Great interview that with John Barnes, so many good points made by him.

Really hit the nail on the head with the point that (and I'm paraphrasing) "we talk about multi billionaires having to understand football, but it should be the other way round, football needs to understand multi billionaires".

He would make a fantastic politician really bright and strong work ethic. (father was a Jamaican Army man)

That comment he made completely spins the whole argument on it's head and approaches it from the other direction.
Because Barnes realises big money - billionaires in football are here to stay.

atilladehun

The idea of a Salary cap won't fix all the problems but would be part of a range of measures to correct football.

The way I look at it is there are a number of problems in European football that need correcting. The collapse of the ESL actually bring about a chance to push change on everyone.

Problem:
Owners say we are going broke, we can't keep up with the costs based on our incomes, Covid and oil money has exacerbated that. -Give us more Money

Fans say: football is becoming too disconnected from us and way too expensive, also owners are taking money from the game. -Reduce ticket prices (Also Sign Haaland)

The solution has to come separate from both those parties for their own good. Control the money at the start of the stream (prizemoney) and not just in the middle of it's flow (salary caps)

1. UEFA, the FA and all similar bodies need to lobby their governments that allocates the special place sport holds in society. Governing bodies should be able to apply certain financial rules that are considered for the benefit of amateur sport throughout their jurisdiction.

2. Remove direct prizemoney for all professional leagues. Everyone gets an equal amount. Being in the Champions league and the premier league shouldn't have a double benefit over those that are not in it, or just in it once.

3. Reduce the overall prizepot and TV money allocation going directly to the participants. It should be taxed by UEFA/FA etc and evenly redistributed about the game.

So far the owners aren't happy but it improves the game for everyone. Now is the time to bring this in. This is the punishment for the 12.

4. Salary Caps. This is where you start to even out the oil money. The 60% of turnover that is often referred to is too high. Drop it dramatically.

5. Transfer caps as a proportion of income over previous 3 years. You don't get a new owner or 1 year in the champions league and get to blast everyone away like we've had in League of Ireland or any other small league as well as France.

6. Overall spending. This is the most drastic but should be applied to every level of the professional game. In each year you can only spend a maximum of 1/3 of last years profit, 1/3 of 2 year's ago profit and 1/3 of 3 years ago profit. It covers the rich clubs for years like this as well as stops Shelbourne (Any LOI)spending their Champions league money all in one go.

The game, as displayed this week, has value other than a business pursuit and should be collectively regarded as so. We control other parts of society like education, health and public transport be cause we deem it socially necessary. We give tax funding to the Arts and to minor sports. Society has a cash generating arm of professional sport that the market has decided is highly valuable. There's nothing wrong redistributing some of that money to the roots of same sector.

The salary cap is a nice idea, but you can be sure there's ways to get around it. It's a good PR headline though.

Fr Tod Umptious

6 wrote: »

The salary cap is a nice idea, but you can be sure there's ways to get around it. It's a good PR headline though.

People throw the term around all the time like it's some sort of silver bullet

It's not , it has to be part of an overall solution.

In America they have a salary caps, but they also have a far more important entity called the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

This is where the players union and the owner decide how everything will run for the duration of the agreement, it deals with salary, injury, punishment's for digression, scheduling etc etc

And it's when the CBA expires without renewal is when you get strikes by players or lockouts by owners.

It's the CBA that drives the prosperity of the leagues for both players and owners, not just some salary rules.

Leroy42

The salary cap in the US is a disaster for the majority of players. They can get cut at a moments notice. Contracts mean nothing.

Salary Cap is the way the owners engineered to make sure they didn't have to deal with player power too much.

Sure, the top guys do great. But the average player does really poorly. Length of career in the NFL is really short, injuries are a massive risk, and many of the lessor players don't make that much at all.

I just don't see how, in a movement that championed fairness and the ability to succeed through effort (promotion etc) people think that a solution is to articifically place a ceiling on the value of a players talent.

Do people really think that Messi should be on the same money as Maguire?

Gbear

Players have marketability on top of what they earn in wages.

That's not to say that I'd be in favour of a salary cap, but Messi probably earns more in endorsements in a year than Maguire has in total in his career.

gormdubhgorm

Leroy42 wrote: »

Do people really think that Messi Callum Robinson should be on the same money as Maguire Messi?

Sorry, I could not resist that.

Leroy42

Gbear wrote: »

Players have marketability on top of what they earn in wages.

That's not to say that I'd be in favour of a salary cap, but Messi probably earns more in endorsements in a year than Maguire has in total in his career.

Great, but then doesn't that give certain teams advantages over others by itself.

A team could give the salary cap, but put millions behind marketing campaigns, while another team can offer much less. So we have solved nothing.

It's a free market, I cannot see the rationale behind denying a person the right to charge what they think they are worth. Just because it is a football company?

If Barca cannot afford Messi then they need to let him go. Or find people to pay for him. But Barca are chasing trophies, because that is what the customers want. So they gamble that paying Messi will get them trophies and give them enough revenue to cover the costs.

A salary cap, while sounding great, doesn't deal with the fundamental problem that certain clubs are spending more than they can earn. Why should the likes of Messi pay the price for their incompetence?