8 Honourable Men

[NiceRed]

I agree with most of the points above, even the ones which seem to oppose each other. A few points:

As mentioned above, not all players are lying, cheating, money grabbing scum. David James forfeited several large payments when he signed for us in order to help Pompey and many of their players chipped in last season to pay for non-football staff. Many players contribute to charity - Didier Drogba has built schools/hospitals in Ivory Coast. Linvoy Primus, Darren Moore and that Kiwi guy (Fallon?) who always scores against us set up a christian charity. There are many more examples that I/we don't know about.

As for the many players who are money grabbing scum, well, can you blame them? I'm sure no one on here has ever refused a pay rise. If I thought I could storm into my Chairman's office and demand £200k per week for doing exactly the same job I'm doing now, and I'd get it, then I probably would.

The argument that someone doing a job that saves lives or contributes to society such as a nurse or soldier, should earn more than someone who kicks a ball around of course sounds like it makes sense. However, throughout history morality has never been a factor in how much people are paid. Footballers are paid ridiculous sums because there are millions in the game, thanks to you, me, Sky subscribers and a few Arab Sheiks. Combine this with the fact that footballers' jobs are so specialised, that almost no one else on the planet can do them, then it's a simple question of supply and demand.

The problem with there being no one specifically to blame for all the money floating around the game (Sky are just responding the our demand) is that this means there's no easy way to fix what's wrong with the game. I guess eventually the market will sort itself out. Some clubs will go bust, billionaires will grow bored and move on, then when there is less money in the game, wages will start to fall. At the moment, the wages being paid are unsustainable, which logically means they can't go on like that.

[CliftonCliff]

I agree with most of the points above, even the ones which seem to oppose each other. A few points:

As mentioned above, not all players are lying, cheating, money grabbing scum. David James forfeited several large payments when he signed for us in order to help Pompey and many of their players chipped in last season to pay for non-football staff. Many players contribute to charity - Didier Drogba has built schools/hospitals in Ivory Coast. Linvoy Primus, Darren Moore and that Kiwi guy (Fallon?) who always scores against us set up a christian charity. There are many more examples that I/we don't know about.

As for the many players who are money grabbing scum, well, can you blame them? I'm sure no one on here has ever refused a pay rise. If I thought I could storm into my Chairman's office and demand £200k per week for doing exactly the same job I'm doing now, and I'd get it, then I probably would.

The argument that someone doing a job that saves lives or contributes to society such as a nurse or soldier, should earn more than someone who kicks a ball around of course sounds like it makes sense. However, throughout history morality has never been a factor in how much people are paid. Footballers are paid ridiculous sums because there are millions in the game, thanks to you, me, Sky subscribers and a few Arab Sheiks. Combine this with the fact that footballers' jobs are so specialised, that almost no one else on the planet can do them, then it's a simple question of supply and demand.

The problem with there being no one specifically to blame for all the money floating around the game (Sky are just responding the our demand) is that this means there's no easy way to fix what's wrong with the game. I guess eventually the market will sort itself out. Some clubs will go bust, billionaires will grow bored and move on, then when there is less money in the game, wages will start to fall. At the moment, the wages being paid are unsustainable, which logically means they can't go on like that.

Well said. Very balanced summary of what is a complex issue.