Willian

220k a week and a 3 Yr deal at 32. A decent player but that's the very definition of 'dead money'.

I said similar when we signed Downing (on a longer contract and transfer fee🙄)

It's slightly obscene days after laying staff off. That said as stated 'welcome to football'. Apart from the clear ritches the prem brings for a team like Boro I've got little or no interest in it.

The lockdown showed what we probably already knew. Clubs out for themselves and thinking purely about money. Also showed how many clubs in the prem live had to mouth and just 2-3 months away from being in real financial trouble. Many have already spent the following seasons TV money.

I know the champo isn't as 'easy on the eye' but I prefer it. Football wise.
 
They still have Ozil on their books who refuses to take a pay cut on a massive salary and he is a bench warmer these days as staff lose their jobs at the Club. Football is morally repugnant yes.
 
Was reading about the Arsenal pay cut situation recently. Some of the players agreed to a pay cut thinking it would help retain non playing staff, the club then went and got rid of 55 club staff still.
The players who didn’t take a cut claim they wanted to see where the money saved would be spent and weren’t given any reassurances.
 
Arsenal's owner is worth £8bn. He can afford to pay Willian and Özil and all 55 staff.

Of course he can afford it, but chooses not to.

I had a really interesting conversation with a guy from MFC a few years back, who told me how "lean" the non playing aspects of the club were, and that for all the glitz and glamour (ahem!) on the playing side, it really is a penny pinching operation on anything else.

It wasn't news to me, and I think we can see that in a lot of the fan facing operations from MFC.
 
They still have Ozil on their books who refuses to take a pay cut on a massive salary and he is a bench warmer these days as staff lose their jobs at the Club. Football is morally repugnant yes.

It is unfair to blame Ozil for that, the club was daft enough to give him that contract so why should he now turn down their money? Remember the owner is worth about 10 billion, he could afford to pay those 55 peoples wages for life and not even notice it. Questions should be asked of him not the players
 
It is unfair to blame Ozil for that, the club was daft enough to give him that contract so why should he now turn down their money? Remember the owner is worth about 10 billion, he could afford to pay those 55 peoples wages for life and not even notice it. Questions should be asked of him not the players


I do blame a system when this sort of thing happens though. In fact I call it obscene personally but that just my opinion. Do I blame Ozil - well in these days of greed and self serving probably not. Yes you are right the way that football has pimped its way to oil billionaires and ruthless overseas owners then it is no surprise sadly.
 
Exactly the point. People can complain about obscenities like this but if you buy into it, you're part of the problem. For myself I don't so much miss the premiership but I'd love to see English test cricket. But I won't fund a company like Sky.

Where do you draw the line though? Most big business has an unsavoury element to it. Nike comes to mind as does the Ben and Jerry's recent virtue signalling faux pas.
 
I agree
Hope you are not helping to fund it with a sky subscription (y)
Bit virtuous this Finny. If you're watching it in the pub, subscribing at home to Sky (whether or not you add Sports to the package), subscribing to NowTV for one-offs, or Amazon Prime (or buying anything off Amazon), listening to commentary on Talksport, buying shirts, paying for a season ticket , you're part of the 'problem'.

But its not really a 'problem', its just an ever changing world we have to get used to until there's an economic revolution. Most large, privately-funded companies behave in exactly this way, not just football teams.
 
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I do blame a system when this sort of thing happens though. In fact I call it obscene personally but that just my opinion. Do I blame Ozil - well in these days of greed and self serving probably not. Yes you are right the way that football has pimped its way to oil billionaires and ruthless overseas owners then it is no surprise sadly.

Yes the system is a problem but financially Ozil will be worth a tiny percentage of their owner. Its not up to Ozil to take a paycut so their multi billionaire owner can save a few quid
 
The players are just playing with in the rules and parameters laid down by the EPL brand. EPL Rules designed to attract mega wealthy owners and investors (you probably wouldn't want to know how they made their fortunes) to make money for other mega wealthy brands like Coca Cola, Nike, Addidas etc etc.
 
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