TODAY’S LUCKY STARS ‘HAVE IT ALL’

LOU MACARI reckons some modern-day players have no idea how fortunate they are. When Macari joined Manchester United from Celtic in 1973, he was on £180-a-week, his salary having crept up to £420-a-week by the time he left Old Trafford in 1984.

Macari and his contemporaries earned nothing like the multimillion pound salaries of today’s stars, with some in the Premier League commanding wages in the region of £500,000-a-week.

Against that backdrop, Macari said today’s players have nothing to be unhappy about and should recognise what a privileged position they find themselves in – particularly those playing for United.

“Nowadays, as we all know, the players are on sensational salaries,” said Macari. “They’ve got everything they could possibly want and they’re playing for Manchester United.

“There’s nothing they’re missing out on, they’re not being hard done by, they’re at the best club in the country – not in terms of results, obviously, but in terms of the best club to play for.

“For me, there’s nothing to complain about.

“The only thing that’s been lacking is those weekly results that means there’s a real buzz about the place. But they’re capable of doing that.

“One thing I’ve often thought about is how the big money the players are on today would have affected, not just me, but any of the players I played with. There was never anything like that sort of money available to us. The money, the facilities available to the players now, so much has changed from when I played.”

Macari, who has been running a centre for homeless people in Stoke for the past eight years, which he set up, added: “I was at United for 11 years because I wanted to be there.

“I wanted to play for the club, I loved the place and I thought ‘I can’t better this’ – and I was right.”