An interesting article for anyone who has even a passing interest in the state of the game (and worthwhile if you're bored at work) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/20/football-league-parachute-payments
It was an interesting read KOPR. It was good to see the actual figures and values of parachute payments (PP's) and how it affects the championship. Everybody knows my feelings on the whole PP system and I would rather it was abolished completely. Being rewarded for failure is ******ed. You could of course argue that it is a benefit for getting promoted in the first place but that certainly isn't my view. The way I see it is that the Premier League just want teams to spend as much as they can on the best quality they can in order to keep them at the top of the footballing tree. Gone are the days of clubs being solely responsible for their own budgets and whilst PP's are now naturally factored into a prem clubs budget it no doubt enables them to spend more than if they didn't exist. A wage cap could go some way to evening the playing field out at championship level but what happens if you have players in your squad who (combined) earn a lot more than that when you do get relegated? Do you then have to decimate your squad, keep a couple of high earners and fill the gaps with lower paid players. I really can't see it working in practice. It is an unfair and poorly thought out system that only favours the PL and says screw the rest basically. From my point of view, if a club goes into administration through poor management at boardroom level then so be it, you make your bed.... you have to lie in it. As contradictory as it may sound, as long as PP's exist then I would of course love ITFC to benefit from them but it doesn't mean I agree with the system.
I agree with your point SD, though not sure how I feel about a wage cap, I think clubs should be sensible enough to factor in for certain things. Although perhaps it could be used as a temporary measure. I think on whole FFP is a good thing but it won't work unless the PL has to abide by the same rules. For me the PL is the biggest problem in football, it's a bit like the financial crash, we depended to much on the banks which just wanted to make the quick buck and in the end isn't sustainable and unless the wealth is redistributed it will only get worse. The financial pressure to get to the PL is ridiculous and it means clubs are making so many short term decisions and gambling on their futures!! PP would certainly have helped us when we came down, I on the whole think we were pretty unlucky to get relegated when we did in terms of finances, the situation we found ourself in certainly wouldn't have happened now and I'd imagine Sheepy would still be in charge. But until there is a rebalancing of finances from the PL to the Championship I think PP are needed otherwise relegated clubs will have to get rid of their whole team, although really I geuss if you didn't have PP clubs would have to factor this in.
The PL is indeed to blame. The skyrocketing wages at that level mean newly promoted clubs have to pay more in wages just to try and be competitive. In the US the professional sports associations have wage caps. I think the way it works is that there is a set amount that can be paid out in wages but it is up to the team how they distribute that money. I've also heard that some leagues, maybe the MLS (not sure if it's them or all pro sport leagues NBA, NFL etc) are allowed to have one player who's wages are NOT factored into that budget. It means you can have one star who is not subject to the wage cap. Before the birth of the PL clubs kept their own houses in order and things like administration were rarely a problem but now that we have two different entities (the PL and the Football League) with seemingly different agendas things have gotten out of control and need to be reeled back in. The FA/football league are at the mercy of the PL as shown when they flexed their muscles and threatened to cut PP's if the new academy system suggestion wasn't agreed to. The PL is a money hungry cash cow that could eventually be the end of some lower league clubs if there is not a breakaway. Clubs could merge just to give the region something to support and increase the fan base/revenue.
