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Thread | Views on The Wages Debate
at 18:14 23 Dec 2012
Unlike Norwich and Swansea City we decided to go down the route of spending big to maintain our premiership status. Its okay for Warnock to be objective, but once the purse strings were loosened after the departure of Flavio Briatore he was happy to bring in a player called Joseph Barton who automatically would be on the wage of 3-4 times that of our Championship players. I was surprised at the time, that did not cause more controversy then it did with the players or indeed the fans. This signing gave the signal to agents that we had money to spend and it would not be long before other agents notably Kia Joorbachin could see that a quick buck could be made.
In one swoop we had split the championship spirit and the team ethic that we had established. We were now in the big time and were willing to spend big. Warnock had won 3 away games and managed to keep the so called premiership and Championship players together though that was showing to show signs of strain nearer the end of this tenure. When you are winning games, no-one says a word, the moment you start losing a degree of natural jealousy must start to develop. If you are on 20k a week and you are watching someone on treble get sent off or not put in the same effort, you are inevitably going to question the situation.
The championship winning side was slowly being dismantled and all the hard-work was being undone. The profile of the club goes global when in the Premiership and it quickly became apparent that a name like Mark Hughes would heighten the profile and we had to probably prevent ourselves from being relegated.
With Hughes comes an agent like Kia Joorabchian who could see that from the signing of Barton that we were willing to pay high wages and it was not long before predictably he would be recommending players to the club. Add Mike Rigg to the equation then you have 3 people who were if you turn the clock 4-5 years were there under a pretty similar situation at Manchester City A club that had come into money and willing to spend to achieve great things. It also fits our profile of wanting to be a global brand, for example what better way then to bring in the former captain of South Korea to heighten your profile in a massive market of Asia. Not going to be the same, if you are modelling players like Helguson or Dj Campbell out there.
The Championship players would almost certainly by now feel aggrieved and yet if I asked you who are our best players, the answer would be those very championship players and a central defender who came here expecting to be 4th choice centre back. That's the big difference you cannot buy character and commitment, you don't get that if you are picking up a great wage for doing the same as someone else. Do you think a player like Clint Hill would act in the same way of Jose Boswinga for example? The trouble is, we as fans need to be excited and we are partly to blame. The signing of Nelsen was treated with sceptism by many and hardly a signing that would have got us queuing down the streets of South Africa Road. Yet, those are the very players we need and the balancing act between the fans and board is hard to maintain. The club is treated like a business and you can have all the affection in the world, but you also know if you sign players like Hill AND Neilsen, then you will not have a demand for tickets or indeed get a global market interested in your club. I feel that TF and Co want the best for our club and seriously felt the recent approach was the best way to go, yet I can see a more cautious board in the future. This season becomes vitally important we stay in the Premiership with the SKY payments increasing significantly, I also think its vital for the clubs future. It is okay saying that you will stay with the club through and through and I do not question the boards commitment, but with relegation comes hardship. We as fickle fans will quickly turn on them and if we had a season like Wolves or Blackburn are enduring this season, then it will be even harder for the board to stay interested. You do not get global branding if you are stuck in the Championship. You quickly become forgotten and reliant on your core fan base which at best is 12,000 fans who would go and see us regularly in the Championship. The whole global branding quickly goes out the window
Talk is cheap and number of players I am disappointed with this season including Esteban Granero. A player who has a market value of 9 millions big ones who on recent performances would make Steve Palmer look world class. I do not like blaming players as it takes time to acclimatise but he looks more and more disinterested every time he plays. At the end of last season Cisse was on fire but the loss of pace is very noticeable and he simply is not concentrating. Against Newcastle, he couldn't even pass the ball 5 yards. He is so much better than that and cannot blame the lack of confidence, as i thought he had a fine game against Fulham. The big problem is we need fighters to have any chance of staying up. Who in our current side would put up a fight? Well, it goes back to the Championship players who got us here in the first place !! A lot of money spent and yet we have no-one who betters the skill of Adel Taarant or the effort of Jamie Mackie. Harry Redknapp is indeed right and you could argue that these players are on free transfers, but ultimately they are free transfers for a reason. The reason is, no-one wants to spend money on them !! We need to try and build a team ethic along the lines of WBA and Norwich who between them have no real superstars, but you know win, lose or draw you can rarely fault the effort. Roll on WBA and Liverpool games because I feel now that Harry has come out publically and gave his views, he will revert( if he can) to the team he played against Fulham, which contained only 2 outfield players that we bought into the club this summer. [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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Thread | Update on Ben Harrington (Bennyboyr's)
at 11:41 3 Sep 2012
Just a quick update. Ben is flying home on Wednesday morning. I will keep people updated on here, as he knew many fans across all forums and a good friend to many.
I have spoke to the family and we will have a fundraising event for Ben's family on Friday 21st September at Low Country Basement 4 Fulham High Stret which starts at 8pm.
I will have the tickets printed this week and will be available at the Chelsea game. Alternatively, if I don't see everyone you can come on the evening no later than 9.30pm. The cost of £10 per ticket will go directly to his family to help out at this despairing time.
When i hear about funeral details I will let you know. I am not sure yet if this will be family only or open to others, but I will keep everyone posted.
[Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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