Arry’s an architect of broken state of our football pay structure
The irony at Harry Redknapp calling out footballers for failing to forgo their wages was overwhelming.
That he chose to deliver his remarks on the exclusive ‘Arry Redknapp Podcast made it all the more laughable.
Hypocrisy knows no bounds in football but the man who famously beat a tax rap after opening a Monaco bank account in the name of his dog is surely taking the biscuit.
Having met good old ‘Arry a few times, his reputation as a pioneer of football profiteering was well-earned given the air he carried as a huckster.
Even his name has to be checked twice (he’s actually named Henry).
This isn’t to denigrate a man who has climbed above the greenback grabbers of the game to become King of the Jungle and that nauseating tag as a national treasure.
It’s to shine a light on the mock moral outrage over clubs using the government’s furlough scheme for non-playing staff while leaving the obscene pay of their squad untouched.
A national debate over the disparity between frontline NHS staff and the hefty salaries trousered by some individuals shouldn’t just be centred around footballers.
Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the PFA, wrote to his members advising them against accepting wage deferrals or reductions.
His annual salary is £2.2million, making him the highest-paid trade union boss in the world. Good work if you can get it but small change in the context of big business’ fat cats and chancers.
England’s 3500 highest-paid footballers collectively earn £2.9billion a year while the UK’s 3500 highest paid bankers collectively earn £8.75b a year.
Calls for the government to get tough on football clubs provided health secretary Matt Hancock with an easy target and conveniently took the eye away from disaster capitalists, hedge fund gamblers, millionaire MPs, exiles or other Tory donors.
The shame game has well and truly kicked off with some club staff having 20 per cent wage cuts while the on-field talent remains untouched.
Clearly it’s unfair for someone on £20,000 per year to be hit in the pocket while a £200,000 per-week star continues to take home his top line – but welcome to Britain 2020.
The repugnant state of affairs that sees a nurse who could save your life on the breadline while others prosper in a loaded economic landscape has been long in the making.
Whether this pandemic forces a recalibration of earnings for people who put themselves in harm’s way remains to be seen – but don’t bet your life on it.
For Scottish football it’s good business across the board.
Furloughing staff is a life-saver to many lower-league clubs and even some at the top of the pile in the Premiership.
Wages will also be slashed in an attempt to balance the books during the coronavirus crisis but our game’s a world away from the cash-rich EPL.
Clubs should use everything at their disposal to help pay their players and staff through the shutdown. And for big earners there should be a moral duty to do their bit.
But spare us the disgust aimed at footballers for an inbalance that has a striker earning more than a surgeon.
Ask ‘Arry where the blame lies. It was the dog wot dunnit.
Spare us the disgust aimed at players for an inbalance that has a striker earning more than a surgeon