[Citizen J]

I have generally been against the idea of a salary cap in the Premiership. why? because I was under the impression that it would dilute the quality of the league. If players know that they cannot obtain a certain wage here then I feel it is inevitable that they would play their football elsewhere. At the moment I believe the English league to be one of the most exciting leagues in the world and arguably we have the strongest "top four teams" in Europe. Introducing a salary cap may destroy this as players may not be inclined to play in the UK especially if countries like Italy and Spain still had the option for negotiated salaries based on no cap.

However since the sorry Portsmouth saga I have been gradually changing my view. Portsmouth have payed huge amount in transfer fees yes, but they have also been handing out large weekly wages to the likes of Defoe, Muntari, Glen Johnson and Crouch. If for example there had been a salary cap and the players within "the big four" were at the limit i believe the players at Portsmouth wouldn't have been getting so exorbitant payments; as they really couldn't justify being payed the same as a top four club in wages. I believe it would bring a hierarchy to football in terms of pay that would offer better stability - if you are within the "top four teams" then being nearer the wage cap would seem conceivably fair as their income would be higher due to Champions League etc, other players for "smaller" clubs then couldn't hold so much clout to demand high wages.

Another reason why I have changed my view is the following article:

Vast wages at the heart of Premier League's £3.5bn mountain of debt| David Conn | Sport | guardian.co.uk

Essentially what the article states is that the English league is the most lucrative but is also saddled with the most debt, more than ALL of Europe put together . This is totally unacceptable IMO and something needs to be done, perhaps a salary cap doesn't go far enough - limit the amount of money teams can spend on transfers based on the turnover perhaps? Even if a salary cap was to be introduced what level should it be set at? £20,000 a week? That is another issue which would spark debate.

What are your opinions on the issue, I simply think the way football is going in about 20 years time some top flight clubs that we see today will simply have gone liquidation if things continue and fans will be left to pick up the pieces, thoughts?

[Coffin]

The problem I see with a cap is that modern football is so 'corrupt' as it is with all this talk of agent fee's and the manner in which players are approached that it would not surprise me at all if the cap was circumvented one way or another which would only lead to more back handedness. On top of that there is barely any real loyalty left in the game on the players behalf as they are often so easily seduced by money.

For example let's say Pato of Milan becomes available after a cap in this country is in place and Milan offer him to Real for £50m and City or Chelsea (the two richest Clubs over here) for the same price. Can you really imagine a Russian oligarch or a billionaire Sheikh not doing 'whats necessary' to ensure that player signed for his Club? These men are not used to taking "no" for an answer and will be renown for handing over money, through whatever means necessary, to get what they want

[mabo]

In principle yes it's something i'd like to see, but if Barca/Real continue to hog the TV money from their own league, which will no doubt continue to increase, then i can see a point whereby EPL teams won't be able to compete for the best players.

In my view it has to go hand in hand with equal sharing of TV rights money and linking expenditure to turnover across Europe. Doing any of the above in just one country will likely harm that league's chances of signing the best players or winning European cup competitions imo.

One thing is for sure, it will take one of the bigger names to fall into real trouble before football's governing bodies bother to actually do anything.

[Greg]

A salary cap would only be viable if it was worldwide. Restricting salaries in the premiership would just see the best players go overseas to Italy or Spain. Thus reducing the premiership to a second rate league.

[thelegendofyrag]

I think a 60k cap would be a start but would need to be world-wide then ease it down every few years not sure what the limit should be all a matter of opinion i guess.

And would it be before or after tax? If a player is offered 60k in Spain and offered 60k inc tax here he's more likely going to choose Spain?

[dazza74]

It would never work imo, the big clubs would simply form a super league to protect their interests. Is a nice idea, I'd have a team salary cap so you could only pay out so much a year overall in wages. That would in theory disperse the talent amongst the league. Would have to be a worldwide thing as "Greg" suggested. I'd do away with transfer fees as well amongst top flight clubs.

[kopchoir]

No there is always another team/league with more cash which in turn means the majority of top class players will go there.
I know certain clubs can attract certain types of players that others cant but money talks and at the end of the day there will be other incentives wrote into contracts to boost earnigns anyway

[dazza74]

Originally Posted by kopchoir

No there is always another team/league with more cash which in turn means the majority of top class players will go there.

On the other hand the top players often earn huge money outside of the game so could afford to take a pay cut to play for the club of their choice. I bet Rooney would stay playing for united on say 20K a week as opposed to joining Wigan and getting payed £100K a week. This in turn though could create a problem if all the top players decided to go to Barcelona and take reduced wages. I think Kobe Bryant is talking about staying with the Lakers even on reduced salary as the Lakers need to make cut backs on salary next season.

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by kopchoir

.

I think Kop's account has been hacked.

[Woody26]

Somethings got to give at some point. We all know about the situation at portsmouth and this could be the first of many. Most clubs struggle to make any turnover. Can you imagine if chelsea lost ambrovich now or man city their sheik? Man utd and Liverpools combined debt is what £1 billion? Its a ridiculous sum of money, how will it ever if ever get paid back!

[dazza74]

The only concern with Chelsea & Man City is players wages if they lost their current owners, the club debts been written off by Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour. Man United will always make money because of who they are imo, they're a stick on for top 4 every year so no real concerns. Liverpool a different kettle of fish, they could really do with getting together with the blue half of merseyside and build a stadium together. Time for some common sense to overcome old rivalry imo.

[QuietRiot1983]

I'd prefer to see a ticket price cap, or at least restructure first. Let's think about who makes football what it is..the fans.

£47 quid for the Bridge and £49 for Craven Cottage is ludicrous for the working man. That's before travel/beer/food etc.

[FZR400RRSP]

Originally Posted by QuietRiot1983

I'd prefer to see a ticket price cap, or at least restructure first. Let's think about who makes football what it is..the fans.

£47 quid for the Bridge and £49 for Craven Cottage is ludicrous for the working man. That's before travel/beer/food etc.

That is expensive, but it needn't be like that.
I was down at Bolton v Tottenham (Spurs end) and ticket was £24.
That's very reasonable, considering I can easily pay that for a bloody SPL game.
I know Bolton v Tottenham isn't exactly the CL final, but compared with any SPL game it is.
Even in that game, you're seeing talent the SPL can only dream of.

[dazza74]

Originally Posted by QuietRiot1983

I'd prefer to see a ticket price cap, or at least restructure first. Let's think about who makes football what it is..the fans.

I think the armchair brigade make it what it is myself, they keep the whole league in business.

[clockworks]

Football is entertainment, same as movies, TV or music - would you cap those as well.
I say just let them get on with it. If a few clubs fail, so what?

On the other hand, if all the "star" players left because the wages were capped, maybe we'd have more home-grown talent and better national teams.

All in all, I don't care much either way. It's just a game.

[Miyazaki]

I read today that the PL clubs are in more debt than all European clubs combined. I personally think that is a complete disgrace.

Something needs to be done and needs to be done now.

[Oggie]

There will never be salary caps ....... unfortunately. Reason is, in Spain footballers only get 25% tax on their salary unlike 50% here in England. Therefore English clubs have to pay above to get top players to come here

[arthurdentpc]

Yes, yes and 1000 times yes.

But .......

1/ It needs to be done UEFA (at least) wide

2/ It needs to be done at a squad level - so you name 25 players for your league squad, who can't total more together than y% of your income.

[dazza74]

Originally Posted by arthurdentpc

2/ It needs to be done at a squad level - so you name 25 players for your league squad, who can't total more together than y% of your income.

Trouble for me is 50% say of Man U's income will comfortably drawf 50% of say Wigan's income. Personally the only way I feel to control it is to say that a team can only spend on players a certain percentage of the TV money and the TV money is divided equally amongst all league clubs at the start of the season.

[mabo]

Originally Posted by dazza74

Trouble for me is 50% say of Man U's income will comfortably drawf 50% of say Wigan's income. Personally the only way I feel to control it is to say that a team can only spend on players a certain percentage of the TV money and the TV money is divided equally amongst all league clubs at the start of the season.

What about money generated by ticket sales, merchandise, sponsorship? If they could only spend the TV money then why would teams bother to build a sustainable business model in these other areas? Whilst i'd advocate a more even playing field, penalising clubs who have larger followings and make more money from their business dealings shouldn't really be considered imo.

[dazza74]

Originally Posted by mabo

What about money generated by ticket sales, merchandise, sponsorship? If they could only spend the TV money then why would teams bother to build a sustainable business model in these other areas? Whilst i'd advocate a more even playing field, penalising clubs who have larger followings and make more money from their business dealings shouldn't really be considered imo.

How otherwise do you attempt to create a more level playing field though, you make good points in this "mabo". With regards incentive for me what a club would do is invest heavily in their youth academy's, Barcelona are where they are from adopting this strategy as opposed to their Spanish rivals who constantly throw hundred's of millions of Euro's at it.

[mabo]

Originally Posted by dazza74

How otherwise do you attempt to create a more level playing field though, you make good points in this "mabo". With regards incentive for me what a club would do is invest heavily in their youth academy's, Barcelona are where they are from adopting this strategy as opposed to their Spanish rivals who constantly throw hundred's of millions of Euro's at it.

Fair point, investment in youth academies seems to be sorely lacking in many EPL clubs.

I'd still favour a percentage of turnover though to be spent - i'd like to see bad business habits tackled first so no more clubs end up like Pompey and then perhaps look at making things more even. This way there'd at least still be an impetus for clubs to grow their fanbase. I'm just not sure how much can be invested in youth programs as there'd be a hell of alot of cash the big clubs would have left to spend.

[Gazelle]

Originally Posted by clockworks

Football is entertainment, same as movies, TV or music - would you cap those as well.

You do realise that this would never have been said even 20 years ago.

No wonder football is on its ar**. If it is viewed as entertainment then it will die when a newer better form of entertainment arrives.

shakes head in utter disbelief

[clockworks]

Absolutely. It used to be sport, now, at the "higher" levels, it's entertainment.