MENTION ’BONUS’ AND YOU CAN SEE A RESULT

AT MY old club Notts County, success has come at a price. According to owner Alan Hardy, the Magpies are paying out £40,000 a month in bonuses. “You get bonuses for being top of the league, bonuses for top three,” he said. “And that's why players are scoring in the 96th minute, because it all goes towards motivation.” Alan, who is doing a great job, is spot on. In the lower league, players will run through brick walls for a bonus. Don’t get me wrong. Those lads have professional pride. But, when I played, we thought about our bonus money all the time as nobody down there was blessed with a lot of dough. Even today, it’s a massive incentive. There’s a misconception among people outside the industry that all footballers, regardless of what level they play at, are rolling in cash. They see lower league footballers giving it the big ‘un with their Mercedes and their Louis Vuitton shoes and think ‘he’s loaded’. But, when it comes to the crunch, those players are living month to month. They’re often in debt. They’ve got these cars and designer clothes on knee-cap finance. They go ‘Oh, I’ve got a £500,000 house’, but they haven’t really. They’ve just got a mortgage they can’t afford because they’ve been living beyond their means – like I did as a young pro. They’re mates with a lad in the Championship on £10,000-a-week and they’re trying to keep up. For them, a big bonus can be the difference between being skint and paying your bills. If you want to look at it cynically, I have known instances where an injured player declared himself fit just because he needed the appearance money. There will always be abuses. But, by and large, I think any system that makes a player think, ‘Right, there’s £500 quid extra for me if we win this game’ is a good thing.