It’s not right that teams go bust with debts equal to a Prem star’s wages for two weeks
JOHN SHERIDAN thought he had seen everything in football until he parachuted into Wigan Athletic and found a club on the edge of existence.
In his midfield pomp, Sheridan played at the World Cup for the Republic of Ireland, scored the winner against Manchester United in a Wembley final and was sold by Brian Clough after one game.
And among the eight League clubs where he has taken charge, only Martin Allen’s multiple encores at Barnet can match his five spells at Oldham.
But at Wigan – in administration, without a buyer and given permission to kick off this season by the EFL only 48 hours before the curtain went up – he has taken a leap of faith that makes a bungee jump look like stepping off the kerb.
Sheridan is not impressed that clubs outside the Premier League are living hand- tomouth while the “big hitters” spend hundreds of millions as if the Covid-19 pandemic was a transient nuisance.
“Surely there must ust be a way more of the money oney can filter down to the he lower divisions,” he e said ahead of the e Latics’ first home game, against Gillingham.
“When you look k at the amounts still ll being spent in the he Premier League, and nd all the money you get for operating at that level, it doesn’t sit right with me that the FA Cup winners seven years ago are in this predicament.
“It doesn’t seem right that Macclesfield can go out of existence over debts of £500,000, which is probably two weeks’ wages to a topend Premier League player. And it’s ridiculous when you see clubs of Bury’s h history going to the wall, with everything tha that goes on in terms o of Premier League m money.
“In the foreseeable future, I fear there will be o others in the same b boat – fighting for the their existence while club clubs a r e spend ing millions further up the ladder. “Look at some of the teams in the Premier League ... they weren’t always that good, they’ve not always played up there. Some of them used to be down here with us in League One. As I said, it just doesn’t feel right.”
Sheridan ( left) had been at Waterford FC in Ireland for only 65 days when he answered Wigan’s SOS, mainly out of pure football curiosity.
“I might only be here for a month, two months or whatever, and the uncertainty is always in the back of your mind, but my eyes are not shut,” he said.
“I knew what I was coming into, but I looked at the calibre of players here and thought: We can really compete in this division.
“A lot of managers don’t last long, anyway.”
I might only be here for a month.. and the uncertainty is always in the back of your mind
Surely there must be a way that more money can filter down the divisions?
GARY ROWETT has warned Troy Parrott he may have to wait for his league debut.
Rowett’s Millwall side travel to Rotherham today and on-loan Spurs striker Parrott (below), 18, is itching to return after a pre-season injury. ry.
But while Lions boss Rowett t admits the teenage forward has a chance of making the squad, he insists he will not risk rushing him back too soon. n.
Rowett said: “There’s always a chance. He hasn’t joined in full training yet but he is working with the physios and looking sharp.
“He’s desperate to play. But we’re only going to do that when it’s safe for him.”