The Pompey Chimes Forum

Seems like we are set to lose out big time with the new wage cap proposals.

- Cutting the wage bill by approximately £1.5m
- The additional money we make wouldn't be able to be used on wages only capital expenditure it seems.

Really would level the playing field and restrict us going forward.

Yep, would screw us up on the pitch (unless you have a tactical genius manager who is great at getting the best out of his players) but would at least get more done on ground improvements!

Seems nonsensical that Sunderland would only be able to spend the same amount as Fleetwood, despite having 20x the attendance. It would only encourage the "bigger" teams to bend/break the rules.

To my mind, some figure that is a percentage of income, combined with overall debt adjustment would be best; that is, if a club's debt is more than a set percentage of income, then their wages spend is reduced until the debt is sorted.

Not to mention there being an increase in Yo Yo-ing between league 1 and the Championship as they can't lose £15.5 million off a wage will overnight.

At least we won't have to play Wycombe Wanderers next season

Pompey1984+1 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:46 pm Not to mention there being an increase in Yo Yo-ing between league 1 and the Championship as they can't lose £15.5 million off a wage will overnight.

But surely they would have to build in a mechanism to lose that amount off their wage bill otherwise the whole ethos of a level playing field is lost? Hopefully the unreality of it will stop it happening. Having a wage cap as a percentage of turn over is much more sensible.

PakefieldBlue wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 7:07 am

Pompey1984+1 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:46 pm Not to mention there being an increase in Yo Yo-ing between league 1 and the Championship as they can't lose £15.5 million off a wage will overnight.

But surely they would have to build in a mechanism to lose that amount off their wage bill otherwise the whole ethos of a level playing field is lost? Hopefully the unreality of it will stop it happening. Having a wage cap as a percentage of turn over is much more sensible.

With that in mind and looking at what Citeh just got away with, can I propose the 'Monster Mick's Stadium'?

We are assuming that these proposals will be voted in. However there must be ways around it. Sponsor a Player: so effectively the Sponsor pays the Player direct, the Club are not really involved. In the bad old days if a Player was suspended because he had been sent off, the Club were not allowed to pay him. A certain Player then was given (or given the receipts of) the `Matchday programme` sales.

I can't imagine that rule being allowed in any other type of job / industry; minimum wage yes, but maximum wage and some arbitrary maximum wage bill for a company, regardless of its income? How about restricting the wage bill a food shop is allowed to spend. Keep a nice level playing field between Tesco and our village shop.

Won't the players also have something to say about this? Wouldn't it be classed as restricting a player's ability to work, or some legal jargon like that? It's not like most players in L1 would be earning obscene amounts like premiership players either and footballers do have potentially very short careers.

I think, as has been said above, it should be based on the income, debt and ability to service that debt. But I guess if I was a club with very small gates and low income, I'd love the idea.

How about nationalising all football clubs. The government then controls all of them and distributes the cash (and even the players) as it feels fit. Worked well with the railways

It occurs to me that all this extra income and consequent spending power that has been at our disposal, compared to most of the other clubs in League One, has not made any difference to the strength of our squad and has not been reflected in us obtaining any better quality players.
The fact that Oxford and Wycombe, such small clubs to us income-wise , can match us and even triumph in the play-offs despite their lack of finance, speaks volumes.

How does a 'rich' club lure the best players with a wage cap? Five year contracts as the norm? Hugely inflated signing-on fees? Massive promotion bonuses? The last two will be monitored by HMRC, so you'd risk retro-active fines and points deductions.

All I can think of is the long contract, and potentially some dead wood on your books.

Weybridge wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:00 am All I can think of is the long contract, and potentially some dead wood on your books.

Who was the player that we'd signed to a contract that would automatically be extended every season we struggled to get rid of. I seem to want to save Ivica Mornar but looking at the season that may have been too early as I thought it was around the time we went into admin.

Sam_Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:41 am

Weybridge wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:00 am All I can think of is the long contract, and potentially some dead wood on your books.

Who was the player that we'd signed to a contract that would automatically be extended every season we struggled to get rid of. I seem to want to save Ivica Mornar but looking at the season that may have been too early as I thought it was around the time we went into admin.

Kanu?

Weybridge wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:00 am Hugely inflated signing-on fees? Massive promotion bonuses?

The wage cap includes bonuses and signing-on fees, as well as agent fees, NI contributions and relocation costs. The only thing I can see that we could potentially do is the good old "image rights" thing.

ETA Promotion bonuses are excluded from the cap

The other unjust part of the proposals are that the £2½M applies to all clubs, regardless of geographical location. However, we all know that the cost of living is significantly higher in the south (and even more so in London) than oop 'tnorth, so effectively, a player earns more playing for a northern club than for a southern one.

Sam_Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:41 am

Weybridge wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:00 am All I can think of is the long contract, and potentially some dead wood on your books.

Who was the player that we'd signed to a contract that would automatically be extended every season we struggled to get rid of. I seem to want to save Ivica Mornar but looking at the season that may have been too early as I thought it was around the time we went into admin.

Prince Boetang