Afternoon all, had a chat with a mate yesterday about what we'd be like if we were professional footballers and the choices we'd make if offered. So lets take a scenario where you're an up and coming footballer, playing for a solid premier league side, who's attracting interest from a number of clubs. Bids have now been made for your services and your current club has reluctantly accepted the bids seeing as they're too good to turn down but naturally would love you stay and help the club push on to a new level where your services will be forever remembered, likely going to down in the hall of fame once your playing days are over. Lets say the teams are: A footballing powerhouse that are offering a great wage and to play for a team like that is guaranteed to win you trophies domestically as well as being side tipped to challenge for the Champions League. The fans and club will love you when your there but after your playing days are done, there's strong chance you'll be forgotten due to the new influx of superstars at the club who the fans now adore. AND A mega rich Russian side offering you a wage that blows your current club and the powerhouse out of the water financially. The football in Russia is naturally a step down from the EPL but there's a strong chance you'll be walking away with the RPL trophy at the end of the season but on a European front, will be nowhere close to winning the Champions League. Joining Anzhi however will result in you giving up a reputation throughout England and most of Europe, people will tend to forget about you regardless of how well you play out there and once your playing days are over, many will not even remember your name. So there's your choices: A) Stick with your club, reject all advances and strive to make your current side the best it can be, your efforts will be forever remembered, fans will love you after you've finished playing, you may or may not have a trophy to your name but you'll be a club legend. B) Join the powerhouse, boost your reputation, win trophies, earn more money though be cast aside once the new you comes along and steels the limelight. C) Take the money, you and your family will never need to worry about money again, you can deposit shed loads for grand kids and further generations, likely end up with domestic trophies though once your playing days are over, you've already been long forgotten about by the footballing world. All three have their pro's and con's, what would you choose?
They start out with A, and the hope that B and C will happen at their club. If it doesn't. and they are good enough, they hope for B and C. If they ain't, then at best C is all that remains for them. Sad that the dreams get crushed by the reality, but I don't judge too harshly most who start at A and end up going with B and/or C whatever they end up with.
Shoot me but I'd go for the money...I'd happily join a bandwagon like City's. if I did if would mean I'm good enough to or at least they thought I was.... Eventually the trophies come...look at City again to prove it. Not too bothered if I'm forgotten...because one is never forgotten by those who you matter to.
I think its very easy for us, as fans of the club, to take option A. But most players nowadays don't play for teams they've always supported or followed, of course players who play at a club for a number of years and/or win trophies at the club may feel a certain connection to the club after their playing days are over and thus be labelled as fans or supporters, but its not really the same. But I think its still a huge thing for a player to have that much adoration from the fans. I think only the epically greedy minority and players nearing the end of their careers would choose option C - money is huge in the modern game of course and although clubs like Anzi can offer huge wages etc. most players realise that they could transfer to a richer club but stay in Europe (at a Chelsea, Madrid, PSG etc.) and still earn more than they were previously doing while still challenging for meaningful trophies. I think for the majority it would boil down to A or B and it entirely depends on the player. Some players must realise that they're already earning an astronomical amount of money playing for a Premiership side - even of they're 'only' on £20 or £30k/week - and that there are some things money won't be able to buy them that they might be able to attain if they stay at a club despite sustained interest from a 'bigger' team. I actually said something very similar to this at the start of the transfer window when the Bale saga was in its infancy: that if he goes to Madrid no doubt they'll love him if he performs, but they won't remember him when he's gone in all likelihood. Whereas if he stays he'll still amass a huge amount of money, may well challenge for silverware in the future, especially given how much we've invested now, and that he will be forever remembered as a legend at the club because he COULD have gone, but didn't. Staying is a risk because there's no guarantee of serious successes like there would probably be at Madrid but if the gamble pays off then he could be a living legend for Spurs fans. But going back to your hypothetical scenario SoS...toss up between A and B. With my fan's hat on its A but as a player with little/no connection to the club I'm playing at it could well be B.
And mine. However I don't think a footballer craves that as much as us fans do for our clubs. You hear of these tossers going out splashing their cash after a defeat whilst the likes of me and you are sat here doing autopsies on why our team lost. Footballers talk rubbish, they can never admit its about the money...so they sell the trophy story.
Brutally honest, I'd go for C. I'd set up myself and family for life and I reckon that most people would want that security.
Thats my point junction, if you're earning £20k a week for 10+ years how much more set up do you want to be!? Considering that a) the quality of player I think we're discussing here will likely be earning 4 or 5 times that amount at any rate and b) opportunities for employment for a decent ex-footballer now are many and varied - theres decent money in punditry, coaching, management etc. Thats why I think its only the exceptionally greedy who will go for option C
But don't most footballers fall in category C! How many retired players from say 99/00 are in the media, TV pundits or coaching etc compared to how many who are completely out of football? There's plenty of examples of players moving for the money or threatening to move in order to get better contracts where they are. There aren't many examples of players who stay at the club and become legends/win trophies. 15 years ago it was far more common for players to stay at one club or move to progress their careers but now it's all about the money.
I see what you're saying Junction I really do, maybe I'm being a bit over optimistic on what players will be doing after they're done playing as well. But I still think that given free choice most players would move to Madrid rather than Anzi, for argument's sake. It strikes me that A and C are the extreme options - A being the one where truly extreme wealth doesn't matter to the player and they want something like job satisfaction, to be loved, and C is the one where all they want is to do is get as much money as possible and don't care about anything meaningful, be that challenging for a 'proper' trophy or being loved by the fans for their lifetime rather than just in their career with a club. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that footballers don't want to maximise earning potential, I just think that at the same time they still want to actually DO something in their careers rather than trot out every week for a meaningless league game and then get hammered in the CL.
I remember in the 70s/80s that retiring Spurs players mainly seemed to run pubs as their post-playing profession.
You don't start playing football for the money. We'd all give Spurs our life savings if we could play a season with number 9 on our backs. Is it really just about the money? "Once you have made your first million, money is irrelevant" - Alan Sugar As much as I dislike the man, you have to read his statement and take note. Once you have a dream house, dream car and all the other material possessions you might ever need, what else is there to spend the cash on? Giving money to family when you're dead is strange one to me. Going without for 50 years, as some people do, just to leave millions to offspring, who might well be a pensioners too, is something I can't get my head around. Where's the sense in it? Giving younger family an easy ride when you've had to do the hard slog doesn't sit easy with me either. I'd treat my mother and that's as far as it would go, and that would only dent a week or twos wages. Life is about being the best you can be. It's about doing things you enjoy. It's about surrounding yourself with people who make you happy. Choice "A" for me and my old head. The other choices seem bland.
"As much as I dislike the man, you have to read his statement and take note. Once you have a dream house, dream car and all the other material possessions you might ever need, what else is there to spend the cash on?" There is always something for the material muppets to waste their money on. And the problem is that poor advice and their muppetry means they don't realise that the money pit is not infinite. Look at the sad tale of Wacko Jacko.
A every time for me. It will depend on the individual and their personal imagination or lack of it. How MUCH money do you need! Many of us would stop if we had a million, any footballer in category A will amass much more than that, unless he's a complete head banger. I sold my business some years ago at a time when holding it would have earned me a lot more money. I decided that I had enough and time for living was much important than amassing more money with no time to enjoy it. The pro footballer in the PL can do both easily without selling his soul to the highest bidder. I remember Greaves do I care about Anelka!
Inda, All of us fans would pay to play for Spurs. It would be a dream come true for all of us. How many of our squad are actual Spurs fans playing for the pride of wearing the shirt? I'd say not many. My opinion over the last 10-15 years is that a lot of players and worst of all their agents are motivated by money and how much they can grab. Take QPR last May, how many of their players appeared upset on the pitch after they were relegated? A couple, maybe 3 at most. Compare that to Wimbledons players when they went down and on the full time whistle at least 6-7 were sat on the pitch at Southampton in tears. One lot cared about the club, the other lot cared about their bank balance.
Well, 'C' would be my absolute last choice, easy. I could earn more in my current job by going abroad, but i don't want to. So i'd like to think that the substantial wages i'm already on would secure me and my family for a generation or 3. The choice between A and B is tough. It would depend on a number of factors. Are my current club my boyhood team? If so, i would find it tough to join another team. If they weren't then i would probably go for the trophies and the prestige of playing for a bigger club, tbh.
You can be set up for life with options A,B or C. I would be proud to stay at Spurs on £50k pw and wouldn't be too bothered about moving to get an extra £50k. A 4 year deal and I wouldn't have to work again. Being where you are happy is too important. A.
Reckon Ledley would have been long gone but for the knee. And like Teddy before him, I would not have begrudged him the move (std disclaimer about moving to the Goons applies) .
