In the last year and a half or so we have got Bale, Modric, Huddlestone, Dawson (off the top of my head) to sign new, improved long extensions to their contracts. I very much doubt that we would have got them to sign those deals for £40 - £65k a week if Ade turns up out of the blue and is given £120k (at least) a week. I mean - I know what you mean to an extent. There's no hard evidence that dressing-room disharmony will result or that we simply couldn't tie players down to deals that they know are fractions of what others are getting. It's just that wage-spending (unlike transfer fees) is a very far-reaching and slippery slope. And those wages are legally set in stone for the duration of the contract. Three or so years ago who would have argued against Keane having a contract that guaranteed him parity with any top-earner? So even if you have the CL windfall one year you can end up paying someone like Keane £5m every year of his six year contract. Simple fact is that we don't have the income levels (or sugar daddy) to really compete, wage-wise, with Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal or City.
Senior players are presumably all paid a fairly similar amount. Fringe players and youth players would expect to be paid less. Pissing off various member of your first XI by paying them far less than others is a bad idea, which is why nobody really does it.
Bear in mind too, that a fairly modest (in the crazy world of football) pay increase of £20k a year for, say, 15 of our squad would cost £15m a year extra. And that's not talking about increasing our top earners from £65k to £100k+ as they would be in any of the four other teams we're looking to over-take.
(My post above should read "£20k a week", not "20k a year"). Ensil - I know exactly what you're saying regarding the utter lack of solid facts that we have regarding wages/structures/contract clauses but the solid facts that we DO have are that the teams above us spend not just a little bit more on wages but a LOT more. Because their incomes are a LOT more: Sorry - can't find the more up-to-date link cos I'm in a hurry: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...ague-turnover-wages-debt?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
I'm all for goal, assist and clean sheet financial rewards. There was an article on the BBC about a club somewhere in Europe that only paid them if they won. I wouldn't go that far, but bonuses are the best thing for me
1 - Top earners seem to have contract clauses to ensure that this is the case on quite a regular basis and I'm sure that their agents boast about these deals to each other, even when it's not the same agent representing various players. 2 - Really? You seem to gloss over this point when mentioning that different squad member are paid different amounts. 3 - This sentence is gibberish. Please clarify.
City are trying to cut their losses on Adebayor and I think we have a clause of around £10mill don't we? Give him a lower wage but with an extra 5/6mill for signing and we've still got a £30mill player half price. It seems feasible but I'm not sure whether he would accept. Eitherway, if we get into the Champions League for the second time in 3 years I can see Levy loosening the purse strings a bit and us having a couple of players on around £90k pw.
1 - I know it as a fact, as I've heard them discussing it on the radio. 2 - That's the fact of the matter, but it doesn't mention the reason that there's such a discrepancy between earnings, which my comment did. 3 - Players' wages aren't that confidential, as various people at the club know what they are and various other agencies are involved in processing those wages. The reason that I used the word really is that there are clubs that make exceptions, like LA Galaxy for Beckham and Anzhi for Eto'o. Here's what John Arne Riise was being paid at Liverpool: please log in to view this image
1 - I believe that two agents discussing the details of deals on the radio are actually doing exactly that, yes. 2 - No, it clearly didn't. 3 - Anzhi are European. Is the wage slip authentic? Well Liverpool investigated it's theft, so you'd have thought so: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...n-arne-riise-wage-slip-email-100252-20039108/
1 - Unless both agents were lying, then I'd be right. As I'm not privy to their thoughts and they'd have no apparent reason to lie, I'm going to presume that they were telling the truth. 2 - Maybe you should. 3 - They play in the Russian Premier League, which is a UEFA competition. The NI number, as well as a couple of other details, were digitally blocked out to protect Riise.
Both..... that's a achievement even for you mate Arsenal's weekend ? - Terrible, we're starting to get used to it now
Without prior stipulation to one or the other and simply stating 'yes' in response, one can surmise that it's yes to both. Which the evidence would support too
Yes Ensil - that's the one I wanted to post. I just think that it puts into stark contrast the massive difference, financially, between us and the four teams we're trying to overtake (have you worked out which teams these are yet?). Even Liverpool FFS! £121m wage bill compared to our £67m (2009 - 2010)! I don't want to sound hugely unambitious but we have to accept that the real gems we get in will be the Berbatovs, Modric or Sandros that have yet to prove themselves at the very top level and to whom coming to Spurs will be a step up financially. We can pay better wages than Leverkausen or Dinamo Zagreb but just can't compete wage-wise with clubs such as City, Arsenal and a few European ones. Not til we get a new stadium at any rate. (Though, as you're implying, semi-regular CL qualification will help too). Anyone ever seen any financial figures for European teams? I mean - how rich are teams like Dortmund, Ajax, Roma etc? Or even the ones like Milan? Do they pay the same sort of wages as Chelsea or Man Utd? Bottom line is: Would I break the wage cap for Ade (assuming reports of there being one are at least semi-accurate)? Yes - but not by much. And only in such a way that about five or six players can get that too. We do have to spend more on wages than Aston bloody Villa if we're really going to push on, don't we?
Unfortunately, Ensil, the more successful we are, the more recognised, and sought after by other rival clubs, our top players will become. The simple fact is, that if we are to retain top talent, and attract more of the same, then we will have to, sooner rather than later, start paying what these players can attract elsewhere. If we don't, then what happened with Modric this summer, will only be repeated several more times, with him, and others, like Bale.
Obviously, looking at the figures you showed, the new stadium is a matter of urgency if we are to compete at the top level. Let's hope we can somehow retain the nucleus of our squad, until then.
The stadium would almost certainly have to be heavily sponsored. I would imagine that Levy has already got some likely candidates lined up - at least, I hope so. Obviously, the sponsor would want naming rights etc; but, if it gets us the stadium we need.....I'm sure that, no way are the board planning on paying the entire bill from our own coffers.
Rightly or wrongly, I imagine Levy and friends have been working on a plan to get the stadium Spurs need for remarkably little, just as they seem to have gotten the players Spurs needed for very little--and that the plan is moving along reasonably well.
