The Secret Footballer: Why do they blame us for the high wages?
Fans may think we are overpaid or not worth what we are said to earn but we are just part of someone else's grand design
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/05/the-secret-footballer-players-wages
'When I think back to when I was kicking a flat ball around a council estate, I was just as curious about players’ wages' Photograph: Getty Images
Money? It's a crime. Apparently. At least according to Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame it is. That was before he made it on to the Sunday Times Rich List (number 763, estimated wealth £85m, since you asked) so maybe he's changed his mind by now.
I have always been of the opinion that talking about money, especially what one earns, might be considered, by others at least, a little vulgar, especially if nine times out of 10 the person you are talking to can only dream of earning what you do. Strangely, however, I find that fans want to talk about the subject more and more. As the seasons slip by, it seems fans want to talk about little else, often to find out if all the zeros they counted on the back of the paper on Monday really are being deposited in players' bank accounts on the Friday. And, let's be honest, there has been a lot of counting going on this week.
It seems a little alien to me now, but when I think back to when I was kicking a flat ball around a council estate with holes in my Nike hand-me-downs, I was just as curious about players' wages. Now that I am a footballer and I earn some of those zeros that curiosity has gone. But for a fan, those feelings and questions remain. So let's talk money.
Be honest. How many of you, when berating a player either in the pub or in the stands, bring up money? Most, I'll bet. "Overpaid!" "Not worth it!" Not many say the owners were mad to give him the wage in the first place. Instead, most of the anger goes towards the player, for seemingly having the sheer nerve to accept it. And this is what I don't understand, because in any walk of life, how many people say: "You know what, I think you're paying me too much." And there aren't many of us who would turn down the opportunity to leave a place of work and do the same job for somebody else if it meant a higher salary and a better standard of living for our families and ourselves. So I try not to feel guilty – although I sometimes do – and I try not to feel that I have been greedy in any way.
That is not to say that I don't "get" the argument of "How much is enough?" when people question why a player earning tens of thousands of pounds a week needs to ask for 10k, 20k or 30k more. But, as far as I'm aware, it is still illegal in this country for a player to hold a gun to a chairman's head. Shame, really.
The point I am trying to make is that football club owners, as much as players, drive wages. After all, a player can ask for as many zeros on the end of his salary as he wants but the only way he will get that money is if an owner is willing to pay it. And, by the same token, none of those players sold on deadline day would have left their clubs, no matter how much they wanted to get away, without a chairman signing a huge cheque at the other end. It seems to me that on deadline day "no" is the hardest word.
To let you into my mind, when I find myself the subject of a transfer and subsequent contract negotiations, I try to remove all of the emotion and work on this simple principle: a group of business people have taken the decision that their club can afford to make me an offer of X amount of money over Y amount of years. If their business falls in to decline, it is because those same people got their figures wrong or misjudged the market. Players can, of course, fail to live up to expectations, but can one bad signing bring down a football club?
Before I stand accused of portraying all footballers as the good guys, let me share a few things. Between you, me and the rest of the world, there are some players out there moving clubs every year to earn contract pay-offs and signing-on fees. Some players see football purely in financial terms, exactly like people do in other professions. They play the game simply because it's a well-paid job. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard: "If I could get the same money doing something else, I'd be gone in a flash." Sometimes they sound almost believable.
Every job has its perks, so why not try to enjoy the ones that come with playing football for millions of pounds? As the song goes, I like new cars, caviar and four-star daydreams but as for buying a football team, I'll leave that to the billionaires that spent eight-figure sums on players last month. And who cares where their money comes from? Not players and not many supporters – at least not until it goes wrong.
So what do fans really want? Players to give 100 per cent? That's the easy answer. How about every trophy, every great player and the best coach possible? And it isn't enough to just win, if the football gods could throw in relegation or financial strife for your biggest rival, well that would be even better.
So who is greedy? Not me. The owners? In some cases, definitely. You? Well, I wouldn't say greedy, just super ambitious and there is certainly nothing wrong with that in life. But the next time you go to punch your pin in on the debit machine to buy three tickets to watch your team play, ask yourself what really makes you happy? Because those of you who want the very best talent that enables your team to compete and win trophies will know that somebody has to pay for it, and those same people will also understand that if it all ends in tears, it isn't necessarily the players that need shooting because, for the most part, we're just playing our role in somebody else's grand design. Those who don't understand that argument, take your card out of the machine and take the kids to the park. Either way, the real power still belongs to you.
Fans may think we are overpaid or not worth what we are said to earn but we are just part of someone else's grand design
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/05/the-secret-footballer-players-wages
'When I think back to when I was kicking a flat ball around a council estate, I was just as curious about players’ wages' Photograph: Getty Images
Money? It's a crime. Apparently. At least according to Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame it is. That was before he made it on to the Sunday Times Rich List (number 763, estimated wealth £85m, since you asked) so maybe he's changed his mind by now.
I have always been of the opinion that talking about money, especially what one earns, might be considered, by others at least, a little vulgar, especially if nine times out of 10 the person you are talking to can only dream of earning what you do. Strangely, however, I find that fans want to talk about the subject more and more. As the seasons slip by, it seems fans want to talk about little else, often to find out if all the zeros they counted on the back of the paper on Monday really are being deposited in players' bank accounts on the Friday. And, let's be honest, there has been a lot of counting going on this week.
It seems a little alien to me now, but when I think back to when I was kicking a flat ball around a council estate with holes in my Nike hand-me-downs, I was just as curious about players' wages. Now that I am a footballer and I earn some of those zeros that curiosity has gone. But for a fan, those feelings and questions remain. So let's talk money.
Be honest. How many of you, when berating a player either in the pub or in the stands, bring up money? Most, I'll bet. "Overpaid!" "Not worth it!" Not many say the owners were mad to give him the wage in the first place. Instead, most of the anger goes towards the player, for seemingly having the sheer nerve to accept it. And this is what I don't understand, because in any walk of life, how many people say: "You know what, I think you're paying me too much." And there aren't many of us who would turn down the opportunity to leave a place of work and do the same job for somebody else if it meant a higher salary and a better standard of living for our families and ourselves. So I try not to feel guilty – although I sometimes do – and I try not to feel that I have been greedy in any way.
That is not to say that I don't "get" the argument of "How much is enough?" when people question why a player earning tens of thousands of pounds a week needs to ask for 10k, 20k or 30k more. But, as far as I'm aware, it is still illegal in this country for a player to hold a gun to a chairman's head. Shame, really.
The point I am trying to make is that football club owners, as much as players, drive wages. After all, a player can ask for as many zeros on the end of his salary as he wants but the only way he will get that money is if an owner is willing to pay it. And, by the same token, none of those players sold on deadline day would have left their clubs, no matter how much they wanted to get away, without a chairman signing a huge cheque at the other end. It seems to me that on deadline day "no" is the hardest word.
To let you into my mind, when I find myself the subject of a transfer and subsequent contract negotiations, I try to remove all of the emotion and work on this simple principle: a group of business people have taken the decision that their club can afford to make me an offer of X amount of money over Y amount of years. If their business falls in to decline, it is because those same people got their figures wrong or misjudged the market. Players can, of course, fail to live up to expectations, but can one bad signing bring down a football club?
Before I stand accused of portraying all footballers as the good guys, let me share a few things. Between you, me and the rest of the world, there are some players out there moving clubs every year to earn contract pay-offs and signing-on fees. Some players see football purely in financial terms, exactly like people do in other professions. They play the game simply because it's a well-paid job. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard: "If I could get the same money doing something else, I'd be gone in a flash." Sometimes they sound almost believable.
Every job has its perks, so why not try to enjoy the ones that come with playing football for millions of pounds? As the song goes, I like new cars, caviar and four-star daydreams but as for buying a football team, I'll leave that to the billionaires that spent eight-figure sums on players last month. And who cares where their money comes from? Not players and not many supporters – at least not until it goes wrong.
So what do fans really want? Players to give 100 per cent? That's the easy answer. How about every trophy, every great player and the best coach possible? And it isn't enough to just win, if the football gods could throw in relegation or financial strife for your biggest rival, well that would be even better.
So who is greedy? Not me. The owners? In some cases, definitely. You? Well, I wouldn't say greedy, just super ambitious and there is certainly nothing wrong with that in life. But the next time you go to punch your pin in on the debit machine to buy three tickets to watch your team play, ask yourself what really makes you happy? Because those of you who want the very best talent that enables your team to compete and win trophies will know that somebody has to pay for it, and those same people will also understand that if it all ends in tears, it isn't necessarily the players that need shooting because, for the most part, we're just playing our role in somebody else's grand design. Those who don't understand that argument, take your card out of the machine and take the kids to the park. Either way, the real power still belongs to you.
i dont blame they players though, money has blown up into football as the world in general is greedy, its just so happened to make prices in footy generally rocket, as it is a money-spinner