I know i'm in a very small minority but i never understood why people complained about the clubs plans to use the Govt furlough scheme after all the staff were still furloughed it just meant the club paid 100% of their wages instead of 20% with the Govt paying the remainder .
Because it wasn’t really brought in for huge organisations. It doesn’t look great that you complain have to furlough staff (which lets be honest prob is a small amount of their actual expenditure) and then you go spend £50m on a player when the window opens. Furlough was to stop small organisations going bust. Smaller clubs 100% fine to be furloughed but the big clubs and organisations can afford it, especially as half of them probably pay half as much tax as they should which is where the furlough money comes from.
It was the idea that while the club were paying the players in full, they were prepared to use government money to pay the lowest paid staff. Instead of paying their wages fully, they were letting the government pay the majority and only making up the other 20%. It was the principle of the thing. Millionaires using a government scheme to get out of paying their loyal staff themselves.
all firms however large and profitable could access the scheme and happily did so without any public outcry . The difference between us and most other PL clubs is that we directly employ our matchday and catering staff so most clubs staff were furloughed by their employer as they were no longer required to provide staff due to the covid restrictions .
You raise a significant point here. Fans of clubs criticising us already had their shop and catering staff furloughed, just not by the club. It seemed those fans weren't bothered that their staff were furloughed, many on only the 80%, as long as they could say that their club hadn't furloughed anyone. It seemed less about the actual people struggling to make ends meet and more about point scoring.
The owners tried to push the boundaries as much as possible - the furlough decision, the ticket prices, joining the ESL. They wanted all of these things. IMO, just because they listened and back down doesn't mean that those same intentions aren't still there.
While it would be nice to have far reaching influence, I think the fans protesting were only interested in keeping our house in order. You should always start at home.
That’s their job mate. As an executive, your job is to grow and protect the business. Either through top line growth or managing your operating costs accordingly if you cannot. It’s will never change unless we become a rich man’s plaything or a country owned entity.
We should act on what we think is right, not on what others do. "Government pays" means taxpayer pays. Why should the public bear a burden that a massively rich company can manage itself? It's outrageous, quite frankly, that after all the disastrous effects covid has had on so many, that some football clubs have just carried on where they left off, with over-inflated transfer fees and wages. Has this happened with other industries? I don't know, but this is a football forum, so it's football clubs that we're discussing. What others do is a different argument. As jb says, clubs used to be seen as an integral part of their community, now they live in a cloistered world of their own.
See Ox (or his agent) is planting stories of a return to Arsenal. Wouldn't it be better for us if Newcastle paid funny-money for him? And Origi?
LFC are not a massively rich company in fact most football clubs exist hand to mouth . We as fans felt closer to the club years ago as it was normally literally close plus players were not that much richer than any other skilled tradesman however it would have been nice if the clubs reciprocated that feeling instead of expecting us to happily accept uncomfortable .unsanitary and plain dangerous conditions . Having said that like you i'm staggered by the fact football has just carried on as if nothing ever happened .
Joao Felix is considering leaving Atletico Madrid on loan in January, with Liverpool a potential suitor for the forward. However, it is likely Klopp would only sanction a loan if the deal included an option to buy, which may prove difficult. [Fichajes] I'd take him
Huge hype and massive fee when moved but hasn’t really lived up to it yet. Still young though and could be an option for wide role
Indeed, he should be happy that the pay cheque he wanted hits his bank balance each month. The grass is always greener and all that….
