Showing posts with label Pay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pay. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2014

A breakdown of what QPR were paying players


You may have seen that QPR paid 78 million pounds in wages last year, which was more than Borussia Dortmund - but let that sink in for a minute.... that's well over $100 million dollars, and by well over, I actually mean $130 million.

Think about that for a second. I'll do this in pounds, but it's more than half again if you want the dollar conversion (1=1.65, but this isn't a maths or currency website!).

Let's say there is a squad of 30 players (most of who were very average players at QPR last year) each earning an average of 50,000 pounds a week.

That's 50,000 x 30 players x 52 weeks of the year.

That totals 78 million pounds.

Are you kidding me?

Not one of those players was worth 50,000 pounds a week - $80,000 a week is more than what the majority of MLS players earn in a year. And most of them couldn't have been worse than Armand Traore, Jose Bosingwa, Bobby Zamora or Stephane Mbia.

Looking at that whole squad from 2012/13, maybe Loic Remy and Julio Cesar (possibly Chris Samba) could expect more than 50,000 a week, but none of the others could. And the fact is QPR paid 30 players an AVERAGE of 50 grand. There are only 25 players on that list too (although I bet they paid for Joey Barton and Djibril Cisse to go on loan).

I am guessing the most a ticket can be at Loftus Road is 50 quid, so if a fan goes to 20 home games (19 league, 1 cup) then that's 1000 pounds from the average punter. A programme, beer and pie maybe, but not much more. Do the maths, or don't. It takes 50 fans a whole season to pay one player's wages for a week. 50 fans a SEASON, for 1 PLAYER for 1 WEEK!

TV and sponsorship may pay almost all the bills these days, but it's no surprise QPR are 177 million pounds in debt.

They won't be the only ones to go broke if this stupidity continues.


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Is bonus money the way to go?


The FA may be asking Vincent Tan to explain his bonus offer , but maybe the Cardiff owner has a point - even if he has no idea what he is doing or saying most of the time.

Premier League players (more than most other leagues) are getting paid ridiculous amounts of money to play and not necessarily perform. Wayne Rooney is reportedly getting 300,000 pounds a week for the next 5 years, and what does he have to do for it? Nothing. I'm sure there is some legal language in there that says he has to play in 50% of games or show up for training, but what incentive is there for him to really do well now?

Yes, it gives other players the incentive to do well and hopefully get a contract even half as big as Wayne's, but shouldn't players have to work a little harder for their money?

These players do get appearance bonuses, goal bonuses, clean sheets, assists, and other add-ons, but shouldn't they be made to work a little harder for the basic money they earn?

The Cardiff players can't solely be blamed for them being bottom of the league, but they should shoulder some more of the blame, and you have to hit them where it hurts - in the wallet. Because there is no loyalty to teams anymore, players jump ship as soon as the going gets tough. Maybe they should be forced to stay a season if the team is relegated, or forfit some of their pay - I know it would never happen, but clubs can't fire players for underachieving.

I don't know a solution, but Vincent Tan does at least open the discussion. Players should have to work a little harder for their money - especially as someone like Wayne Rooney now wakes up every morning 15,000 pounds richer - because that's what he earns every night while sleeping.

Monday, February 24, 2014

It's even harder to like Rooney now


Wayne Rooney can play, there's no doubt about that. Is he in the same conversation as Messi, Ronaldo or Zlatan? Not in a million years. And even if he was, he just comes across as the type of guy that you'd struggle to really like, yet alone love as a footballer.

Does he deserve almost half a million dollars a week? No, no-one does, but that's a different argument.

Rooney comes across as a petulant, spoiled kid who thinks he's bigger than everyone. He can say he didn't ask to leave Manchester United, but he probably did. Fergie has no real reason to lie. And now David Moyes knows he desperately needs him to try and rebuild Manchester United around. Wayne and his agent held all the cards, as you can just imagine Jose Mourinho buying him just to spite United and their board. He wants to be the main man, and believes everyone should treat him that way.

The same with England. He mocked the fans for booing him and the England team after the 0-0 draw with Algeria at the World Cup in 2010. He doesn't care about what people think, paying to bang 50 year-old grandmothers while married proves that.

But as I said, Wayne can play. His performances for England in Euro 2004 were fantastic, some of his goals are the best I've ever seen, and he's won just about every domestic honor a player can win.

Yet, there's a look in his eye as he signs that huge contract. He's got everything he ever dreamed of. He obviously cares about winning, making money and being a big shot, but you don't sense he really connects with real life. Maybe he never had to experience that as he made his professional debut at 16 - yeah, you can say he had a tough time growing up in Liverpool, but who doesn't have a tough life growing up?

It's unlikely he'll ever play for another club team and will go down as a United 'legend' as he'll no doubt be their record all-time scorer (something he's likely to be with England too), but I'd bet most fans - United and otherwise - will never rate him as a great of the game. It's not because he's not talented, he's just very hard to like.