Louis Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Chelsea's chairman Bruce Buck has recently suggested that he'd support a "wage cap" - being an American it's no surprise because I understand there are already such regulations in place in US sports. In the Football League there was a "wage restraint" introduced a few years ago which limited the amount clubs could pay in wages to 60% of its turnover. I don't know if that is still the case. Amazingly it was a former Tory Chariman who introduced the rule. Would you support this measure or a similar one in the Premier League? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 personally, i would give them a wage cap based on the league theyre in. Then, the club can offer the players big bonuses and so the players make their money that way. Cleansheets, goals, assists, no cards - the things that players need to do to be successful. If theyre on a massive wage but dont do anything, so what? Theyre still loaded. But, if you give them a reasonable wage and huge bonuses, make them earn their money, you know damn well they will give more so they can afford that gold plated jetski to go with their new yacht instead of it just being handed to them with their contract. Also, these bonuses could be linked in with the idea of a club "living within its means" to help get the system more 'fair'. Ive been saying this for years..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c1982 Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Isn't it illegal to have a wage cap in the EU? I was talking to someone a while back and he was going on about it couldn't happen because of this. There's a lot we could learn from the American model - I'd love to see a draft system employed where the worst teams get the best youth prospects - but we'd need a lilleshall type system back up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 What the football league have implemented is not a wage cap in that it does not directly limit what a player is paid. It is a regulation that prevents clubs spending over x % of their income on player wages (and bonuses). For example Mikel Arteta could earn double what he does now but Everton would have to offload other players to meet the criteria or face a punishment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Wouldn't it be bad for us then? I mean, our income isn't that high so we could end up losing our better players because we wouldn't be able to pay them fairly high wages as we wouldn't be living within our means? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 personally, i would give them a wage cap based on the league theyre in. Then, the club can offer the players big bonuses and so the players make their money that way. Cleansheets, goals, assists, no cards - the things that players need to do to be successful. If theyre on a massive wage but dont do anything, so what? Theyre still loaded. But, if you give them a reasonable wage and huge bonuses, make them earn their money, you know damn well they will give more so they can afford that gold plated jetski to go with their new yacht instead of it just being handed to them with their contract. Also, these bonuses could be linked in with the idea of a club "living within its means" to help get the system more 'fair'. Ive been saying this for years..... I kinda agree... But the problem with offering high bonuses as a way of evening it out is that it can easily catch out teams if they do better than expected. This way teams like Pompey could still go bust because team and individual bonuses will top the players back to their normal wages, although as you say at least the players might work harder for it. Also the big money teams would still attract the best players because they could just offer 100k a goal, 50k appearance fee etc. Isn't it illegal to have a wage cap in the EU? I was talking to someone a while back and he was going on about it couldn't happen because of this. There's a lot we could learn from the American model - I'd love to see a draft system employed where the worst teams get the best youth prospects - but we'd need a lilleshall type system back up and running. I pretty sure its not as I believe rugby league has a wage cap? The problem with a wage cap is that the players will go to where the money is. Therefore is england or europe has a wage cap then players will move to brazil/argentina/usa/Australia etc. If there is going to be a wage cap then it has to be worldwide. I think the USA model is brilliant although I also remember an idea by Moyes himself saying that you could improve the youth set up in all clubs by capping the amount of players they can intake. For example instead of Utd bringing in 10-15, only let them have 6-8. The ones that dont make the Utd cut trickle down to the other clubs and lower leagues bringing better youth who actually get games and dont just rot in the reserves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Churinga2 Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) will never be implemented. personally, i would give them a wage cap based on the league theyre in. How would that work? Edited October 25, 2010 by Churinga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 There's a movement in the USA at the moment to scrap the draft system and adopt a system like ours - from "free marketeers" typically. All of the lower tiers in USA use our transfer system. MLS was designed with longevity in mind but even that's being stretched with Donovan and Beckham being allowed at the same club. Romey - I think it's more beneficial long term, don't you? (Ratio is currently 62%) According to Lord Mawhinney who implement the rules into League One and Two; clubs overspend due to fan pressure. From an article: The idea of a cap, he admits, did not come easily to him. He says: "One club chairman said, 'If Margaret Thatcher were in her grave, she would be turning at the thought that one of her Cabinet ministers was seeking to impose wage control'." But clubs are spending money they do not have and he adds: "Many chairmen told me: 'Brian, we are not strong enough to deal with the problem'." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Aussie Rules has both a salary cap and and a draft system based on best to worst performing teams. It works well as no one team can sustain dominance for longer than around 3-5 years. And, provided teams draft well, no one team will have sustained periods of poor performance. Basically the drafting works that the bottom team from a season gets pick 1 in the national draft, second bottom gets pick 2 and so on. Players cannot be drafted before the age of 18 and play in an Under 18 competition which has no affiliation to professional clubs. There are a few reasons though why a salary cap and draft system will never be implemented in EPL. The draft wouldn't work due to the promotion/relegation system. Aussie Rules is one national competition so it is simple to work the draft. With almost 100 teams across EPL down to league 2 it would simply be unworkable. The current youth system works well IMO - perhaps something they could look at is capping the amount you can pay a player under 18 year of age? The salary cap is a great way of ensuring all teams have an opportunity for success. The fact is though, it is illegal. If a player or manager here in Australia took the AFL (Australian Football League) to court the salary cap would be thrown out in 2 seconds flat. It is a restraint of trade. I'm pretty sure if the EPL tried to introduce it Wayne Rooney's agent would be the first in the court room... The other problem with a salary cap is the number of leagues around the world. If the EPL placed a cap on wages, all the good players would just go and play in Italy or Spain. And if Europe joined forces, there would be investment in some other part of the world and the players would all flock there. It is a great idea, and works well in Oz. But I think due to football being a world sport a salary cap would be a very difficult thing to introduce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troy8 Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 No. I've said it before in a previous thread, something like this in the Premier League will never work. As buddy said, it works here in Australia for our sporting competitions, but that's on the basis that most of the clubs have a similar income structure, unlike the Premier League where one club's funds may be significantly more than others. Even with some form of structuring the cap based on a clubs income, I just can't see it ever working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 (edited) How would that work? Maybe it doesnt have to be depending on the league, would have to be in accordance with the clubs "within their means" budget. Off the top of my head, a percentage of the teams income set aside for wages could work. Edited October 26, 2010 by Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogs Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Whatever the pro's or con's of a salary cap something has to change. before Jimmy Hill in the 60s players had no power whatsoever and were treated like cattle by very wealthy clubs, scrapping the salary cap then was a necessity. Now it has swung completely the other way and players are holding clubs, and to an extent the entire foundation of professional football, to ransom in the pursuit of obscene, investment-banker type wages. We've seen in the past week in Rooney, the supposed darling and saviour of English football, that actually the game has created a monster, a greedy, fickle, disloyal, arrogant ego on legs who is manipulated and controlled by an even greedier, arrogant, manipulative wanker. The Times apparently broke Rooney's new salary package down the other day and worked out that it will take the revenue from the first 6,000 people into Old Trafford every other week to pay Rooney's wages - the idea of handing that much power over an international institution to a petulant, immature 25-year-old with a penchant for expensive hookers, and a fat vacuum cleaner salesman from Warrington, is pretty ridiculous. It's not about a restraint of trade - players are now being paid above the value they bring to the game, above what the market can sustain in the long-term, and that will cause massive problems down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeO Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Whatever the pro's or con's of a salary cap something has to change. before Jimmy Hill in the 60s players had no power whatsoever and were treated like cattle by very wealthy clubs, scrapping the salary cap then was a necessity. Now it has swung completely the other way and players are holding clubs, and to an extent the entire foundation of professional football, to ransom in the pursuit of obscene, investment-banker type wages. We've seen in the past week in Rooney, the supposed darling and saviour of English football, that actually the game has created a monster, a greedy, fickle, disloyal, arrogant ego on legs who is manipulated and controlled by an even greedier, arrogant, manipulative wanker. The Times apparently broke Rooney's new salary package down the other day and worked out that it will take the revenue from the first 6,000 people into Old Trafford every other week to pay Rooney's wages - the idea of handing that much power over an international institution to a petulant, immature 25-year-old with a penchant for expensive hookers, and a fat vacuum cleaner salesman from Warrington, is pretty ridiculous. It's not about a restraint of trade - players are now being paid above the value they bring to the game, above what the market can sustain in the long-term, and that will cause massive problems down the line. Great post . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilweevil666 Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 (edited) MLS was designed with longevity in mind but even that's being stretched with Donovan and Beckham being allowed at the same club. A better example would be the Red Bulls btw, who have Marquez and Henry, both as wildcards. Donovan is not actually a designated player. EDIT: nvm, apparently as of 2010 he's considered a designated player. That's a fair example then. Edited October 26, 2010 by evilweevil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogs Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Great post . *takes a bow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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