Arsenal’s wage structure is all wrong (30/5)

[gooner.ed]

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=639

usual thread starter… I’m getting a bit sick of the club line, which wenger is in collusion with, that we can buy anyone the manager wants. They don’t want to tell the truth because they know it might affect people continuing to renew those expensive middle tier seats and boxes.

And the truth is this. Wenger knows he’s got some money, but not a lot. He decides to keep everyone’s wages at a decent level without great disparity, instead of paying some less and using the money saved for new players. When the highbury square flats money comes in things will improve with regard to his spending, but there will be more of the same this season and next summer, and then 2010 should see him have something to spend.

Until then, it’s getting bricks out of straw, as it has been for a while now. If the club were just a bit more honest, we’d take the news a bit better. It’s short term pain for long term gain.

[alanc]

06/07 accounts include 10 million on henry and 4 million on freddie yet i think their is a few lie's when it come to our wages

[alanc]

lets look at the united team that we are cough!! on the same level as when it comes to wages their big earners are rio 130k ronaldo 110k rooney 100k giggs 80k hargreves 80k tevez 100k and their squad players brown new deal 65k anderson 60k carrick 70k nani 60k and now ours

top wages are gallas 80k cesc 75k thats it ade gets 35k toure 40k aboue 30k and our squad player theo new deal 25k denilson 15k(new deal) bentdner 25k(so his agent/dad says) so someone is bullshitting us and united have as was well said a "way bigger squad" these figures dont make sense do they???

[Arse&Nose]

The figures show that we pay just below what Man utd pay, and Man Utd have bigger names, more experience, and have won 3 tropheys in the last 2 years

What right have our players to question wages when they have won nothing for 3 years?

[QuartzGooner]

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=639

usual thread starter… I’m getting a bit sick of the club line, which wenger is in collusion with, that we can buy anyone the manager wants. They don’t want to tell the truth because they know it might affect people continuing to renew those expensive middle tier seats and boxes.

And the truth is this. Wenger knows he’s got some money, but not a lot. He decides to keep everyone’s wages at a decent level without great disparity, instead of paying some less and using the money saved for new players. When the highbury square flats money comes in things will improve with regard to his spending, but there will be more of the same this season and next summer, and then 2010 should see him have something to spend.



Until then, it’s getting bricks out of straw, as it has been for a while now. If the club were just a bit more honest, we’d take the news a bit better. It’s short term pain for long term gain.

I agree with that view, we have to be patient for another two seasons until the extra funding comes in from the property deals, then things will start to change.

I am not bitter about it, it is just a consequence of building the new stadium.

[barrywebb]

Deloitte Touche, a pretty well respected company, provides the total expenditures on salary as part of their "Annual review of Football Finance". I cannot recall a single instance of a Premiership club disputing the figures leading one to believe the report to be there or there abouts accurate.

It has been widely reported that Arsenal has the 3rd highest salary expense, just a shade behind Man U. This figure has been quoted by both Wenger and, more recently, Fizman. They are either both lying or, as I think more likely, telling the truth. Fizman did reveal recently that there is perhaps not the range of salaries that are found at either Chelsea or Man U. I personally am very comfortable with this situation. You have to remember that in the world of football, enough is never enough.

I believe there is something deeper happening at Arsenal. Having changed both the style and quality of football, not only at Arsenal but in the rest of the Premiership, Wenger may well see Arsenal's example of prudent financial control as his next crusade. He knows that if the trend of every increasing player cost and salaries, the game we love will perhaps be irreparably damaged. The financial bubble that is the Premiership will not continue for ever. In a sea of excess, Wenger, along with the majority of the board, are doing their utmost to demonstrate there is a better way.

We all know about the damage Abramovich has done with his acquisition of Chelsea. For all those complaining about the cost of tickets and TV subscriptions, has their been a calculation of the Abramovich factor? Has not the ridiculous transfer fees and salaries paid by Chelsea not had a significant knock-on effect for all football clubs? What about the massively leveraged purchases of Manu U and Liverpool? Have both of these deals not cost football as a whole?

The Liverpool situation is especially bizarre. Arsenal have provided the blueprint for moving to a bigger stadium. But compare Liverpool's plans with the actuality of the Emirates. The last time I looked, Anfield Mark II was slated to cost significantly more to build in Liverpool than the Emirates did in London. Cost of land, cost of labour and cost of materials are all more expensive in London. This higher contruction and operating cost is offset by higher ticket prices. But Liverpool are still talking about spending more money building their stadium than Arsenal did. Plus, the return from re-developing Highbury will be significantly higher than from Anfield further adding to Liverpool's total cost. If they do build this stadium they need to share the cost (with Everton?) or, mostly likely, go bankrupt in the process.

The cost of borrowing has had a major impact on both Man U's and Liverpool's financial health. Who secured major re-financing before this current meltdown? Arsenal. Maybe good planning, maybe good fortune, probably a bit of both. But we have a magnificent new stadium and the means to pay for it. We know that Chelsea live in a financial dream world (break even by when?) and both Man U and Liverpool are not where they want to be financially. That leaves us of the top 4 in great financial shape.

What about VanPersie's comments about salary? Wenger took him on when no one else would touch him and continue to pay him when he gets injured playing for Holland. So, my advice to VanPersie and anyone else with the same attitude is piss-off or shut-up. As a player, be grateful that you play for Arsenal. Like millions of people around the world are grateful to support them.

In order to sign-up for this forum you have to answer when Arsenal was formed: 1886, 122 years ago. Here's to another 122 years. But this can only happen if we have sanity in the board room and common sense and understanding from the supporters.

[Graham Wilkinson]

I'm very glad the author of this piece isn't on the board.

In the interests of short term gratification he'd sacrifice the history and stability of the club.

We've got a new staidium to pay for and a world recession looming which is likely to reduce the value of the various property redevelopments the club is engaged in. The deloitte study also shows we are one of the highest wage payers already.

But what the hell, go for it.

Splash out money on big name signings despite the cost (or the fact that young unknowns have generally worked best for us)? Hell, yes!

Increase everybody's wages? Yeah, why not!

Tear up the wage structure and create discord in the dressing room? Absolutely

Spend money like water in the belief that it will all pay for itself if we win lots of trophies? Sure, that a solid business plan.

There's actually a clear model for what the author of this article wants us to do. It's called Leeds United. they made all these mistakes at the turn of the millennium. And they're now two divisions below us.

[QuartzGooner]

Deloitte Touche, a pretty well respected company, provides the total expenditures on salary as part of their "Annual review of Football Finance". I cannot recall a single instance of a Premiership club disputing the figures leading one to believe the report to be there or there abouts accurate.

It has been widely reported that Arsenal has the 3rd highest salary expense, just a shade behind Man U. This figure has been quoted by both Wenger and, more recently, Fizman. They are either both lying or, as I think more likely, telling the truth. Fizman did reveal recently that there is perhaps not the range of salaries that are found at either Chelsea or Man U. I personally am very comfortable with this situation. You have to remember that in the world of football, enough is never enough.

I believe there is something deeper happening at Arsenal. Having changed both the style and quality of football, not only at Arsenal but in the rest of the Premiership, Wenger may well see Arsenal's example of prudent financial control as his next crusade. He knows that if the trend of every increasing player cost and salaries, the game we love will perhaps be irreparably damaged. The financial bubble that is the Premiership will not continue for ever. In a sea of excess, Wenger, along with the majority of the board, are doing their utmost to demonstrate there is a better way.

We all know about the damage Abramovich has done with his acquisition of Chelsea. For all those complaining about the cost of tickets and TV subscriptions, has their been a calculation of the Abramovich factor? Has not the ridiculous transfer fees and salaries paid by Chelsea not had a significant knock-on effect for all football clubs? What about the massively leveraged purchases of Manu U and Liverpool? Have both of these deals not cost football as a whole?

The Liverpool situation is especially bizarre. Arsenal have provided the blueprint for moving to a bigger stadium. But compare Liverpool's plans with the actuality of the Emirates. The last time I looked, Anfield Mark II was slated to cost significantly more to build in Liverpool than the Emirates did in London. Cost of land, cost of labour and cost of materials are all more expensive in London. This higher contruction and operating cost is offset by higher ticket prices. But Liverpool are still talking about spending more money building their stadium than Arsenal did. Plus, the return from re-developing Highbury will be significantly higher than from Anfield further adding to Liverpool's total cost. If they do build this stadium they need to share the cost (with Everton?) or, mostly likely, go bankrupt in the process.

The cost of borrowing has had a major impact on both Man U's and Liverpool's financial health. Who secured major re-financing before this current meltdown? Arsenal. Maybe good planning, maybe good fortune, probably a bit of both. But we have a magnificent new stadium and the means to pay for it. We know that Chelsea live in a financial dream world (break even by when?) and both Man U and Liverpool are not where they want to be financially. That leaves us of the top 4 in great financial shape.

What about VanPersie's comments about salary? Wenger took him on when no one else would touch him and continue to pay him when he gets injured playing for Holland. So, my advice to VanPersie and anyone else with the same attitude is piss-off or shut-up. As a player, be grateful that you play for Arsenal. Like millions of people around the world are grateful to support them.

In order to sign-up for this forum you have to answer when Arsenal was formed: 1886, 122 years ago. Here's to another 122 years. But this can only happen if we have sanity in the board room and common sense and understanding from the supporters.

Exactly!

The board have put things in long term perspective.
By all means modify things a bit, bring Kroenke on the board as a "global" partner.
Put in a some extra funding, but nothing that will
cost a fortune in interest to repay.

Avoid the oligarch takeover model, because even if all money given by said person is in form of non repayable donation, which is a "nothing to lose" scenario, there will be dire consequences when that funding dries up.

Finance must be sustainable, ongoing, carefully planned for the medium to long term.

[Red Gunner]

The problem is the board and Arsene not being completely honest with us. Our football club charges more for tickets than any other in the world so I think the fans should have the right to know what is going on. What our prospects are and what players we can attract? Why we don't spend and what are our wages' limit? And give us an explanation, only then valid arguments could come out of it.

[EC3]

I think Arsenal's wage structure is based on paying someone what their true value is.

You don't get to keep players such as Henry, Viera, Pires, Lundberg, Seaman etc if the pay is totally unreasonable.

Arsenal make a judgement call on a player........fair enough there will normally be another club prepared to pay more for a certain individual and in the case of Milan with Flamini if the papers are correct then they have really pushed the boat out.

Arsenal's offer of £55k seemed fair enough to me.

Apparently Evra has just agrred £55k at Man Utd and this for a player who is arguably one of the best left backs in the world.