I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Lucas Neill joined my beloved West Ham in a cloud of mercenary madness. Turning down a move to warm Liverpool’s bench to captain a Premier League outfit and recent FA Cup finalists for more money. However, at the time it was a decision I supported: why not get more money and time on the pitch? Note “at the time” - the world has morphed into a considerably different animal since Lucas inked his deal with the East Londoners.
Let’s put a couple of early disclaimers on this blog. We’re talking about Lucas “reportedly” demanding more money from West Ham after their new contract included reduced wages. This is also not an attack on the talents of our country’s captain either. With that said, let me continue...
FourFourTwo Australia recently caught up with Lucas [December 2008 issue] and we asked about his current contract wranglings. “I’m on the last year of my contract and I’ve expressed an interest in staying as long as possible. There has certainly been some positive feedback from the board side of things. However, no-one's holding anyone to ransom and I’m not being pushed into a corner. Over time it’s going to sort itself out. For now, all I have to worry about is playing football.”
The more you read into that comment, the more the writing seems to be on the wall for Lucas’s West Ham career.
Reports this week claim (an essential paragraph starter for any journalist) that Lucas has thrown out a reduced contract offer from West Ham and is demanding an improved offer. Now the reports says his wages could be cut from £70,000 ($158,000) a week to £30,000 ($68,000) - point taken that’s a vast drop, but perhaps a realistic one.
One of our esteemed online readers commented of Lucas’ recent demands: “Don’t forget that football is a business, Lucas doesn’t owe West Ham a charity deal because they cannot afford to pay their players [the] market rate”. Within this ultimately fallible comment is a shard of truth: football is a business. The point loses it way because, at the moment, business is bad.
In companies across the globe, there aren’t employees knocking down their boss’s door demanding ascending wages. “Umm, I’ve been hearing about this 'credit crunch' malarkey and was hoping you could up my wages.” People are more concerned about being called into their boss’s office for the final time.
In terms of the “player’s market rate” – if you factor in Lucas’s average form as he marshalled a struggling West Ham defence to 24 league games without a clean sheet - the fact he's 31 in a few months, plus the current economical climate, then £30,000 is a realistic sum. Let’s not forget he's playing for a club whose Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is still reeling from the receivership of his bank, Landsbanki.
At the time of Lucas’s 2006 signing, when the economy was stronger, West Ham were in desperate need of defensive strengthening to avoid an even more crippling fiscal doom - relegation. The £70,000 was still far too much, but less of a risk at the time. As I said previously – the economical goalposts have since moved and Lucas’s wages may have to do the same.
Even the billionaire’s playground of Chelsea is feeling the squeeze. “The financial crunch has meant that Roman [Abramovich] has hit the financial brakes and asked us to cut deep,” said Chelsea’s Frank Arnesen. This included the exit of some 15 club scouts. Abramovich is worth $35.5 billion, but he’s tightening those purse strings all the same.
Lord Triesman recently warned that "debts in English football as a whole have probably edged to the £3 billion mark". Wages are normally around 80 percent of an EPL club's outgoings, so it’s natural that players’ pay packets will get hit.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao star Joseba Etxeberria has started playing for no salary in what president Fernando Gárcia Macua says is a “stunning gesture”. Etxeberria said: “These are tough times. The club means so much to me”. FSV Frankfurt's Youssef Mokhtari has also said he'll play for free. “These are hard times. Wages? Not for me. Give them to the poor.”
I wouldn’t expect any EPL player to do such a thing considering the huge degree of money generation in the English league, but it’s good to see there are some players willing to pull together in these testing times.
This year West Ham celebrate 50 years since the debut of the club’s greatest ever player and World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore. The late Bobby is no longer with us and he’d be turning in his grave that a player of such inferior talent to him (remember the earlier disclaimer) could deem £30,000 a week not enough for the honour of captaining such a club.
I’m not worried, if Lucas doesn’t like what’s being offered to him, good luck finding someone else to match his current wage at the moment. If he does go it will be a case of £70,000 a week saved, rather than a captain lost.
Let’s put a couple of early disclaimers on this blog. We’re talking about Lucas “reportedly” demanding more money from West Ham after their new contract included reduced wages. This is also not an attack on the talents of our country’s captain either. With that said, let me continue...
FourFourTwo Australia recently caught up with Lucas [December 2008 issue] and we asked about his current contract wranglings. “I’m on the last year of my contract and I’ve expressed an interest in staying as long as possible. There has certainly been some positive feedback from the board side of things. However, no-one's holding anyone to ransom and I’m not being pushed into a corner. Over time it’s going to sort itself out. For now, all I have to worry about is playing football.”
The more you read into that comment, the more the writing seems to be on the wall for Lucas’s West Ham career.
Reports this week claim (an essential paragraph starter for any journalist) that Lucas has thrown out a reduced contract offer from West Ham and is demanding an improved offer. Now the reports says his wages could be cut from £70,000 ($158,000) a week to £30,000 ($68,000) - point taken that’s a vast drop, but perhaps a realistic one.
One of our esteemed online readers commented of Lucas’ recent demands: “Don’t forget that football is a business, Lucas doesn’t owe West Ham a charity deal because they cannot afford to pay their players [the] market rate”. Within this ultimately fallible comment is a shard of truth: football is a business. The point loses it way because, at the moment, business is bad.
In companies across the globe, there aren’t employees knocking down their boss’s door demanding ascending wages. “Umm, I’ve been hearing about this 'credit crunch' malarkey and was hoping you could up my wages.” People are more concerned about being called into their boss’s office for the final time.
In terms of the “player’s market rate” – if you factor in Lucas’s average form as he marshalled a struggling West Ham defence to 24 league games without a clean sheet - the fact he's 31 in a few months, plus the current economical climate, then £30,000 is a realistic sum. Let’s not forget he's playing for a club whose Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is still reeling from the receivership of his bank, Landsbanki.
At the time of Lucas’s 2006 signing, when the economy was stronger, West Ham were in desperate need of defensive strengthening to avoid an even more crippling fiscal doom - relegation. The £70,000 was still far too much, but less of a risk at the time. As I said previously – the economical goalposts have since moved and Lucas’s wages may have to do the same.
Even the billionaire’s playground of Chelsea is feeling the squeeze. “The financial crunch has meant that Roman [Abramovich] has hit the financial brakes and asked us to cut deep,” said Chelsea’s Frank Arnesen. This included the exit of some 15 club scouts. Abramovich is worth $35.5 billion, but he’s tightening those purse strings all the same.
Lord Triesman recently warned that "debts in English football as a whole have probably edged to the £3 billion mark". Wages are normally around 80 percent of an EPL club's outgoings, so it’s natural that players’ pay packets will get hit.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao star Joseba Etxeberria has started playing for no salary in what president Fernando Gárcia Macua says is a “stunning gesture”. Etxeberria said: “These are tough times. The club means so much to me”. FSV Frankfurt's Youssef Mokhtari has also said he'll play for free. “These are hard times. Wages? Not for me. Give them to the poor.”
I wouldn’t expect any EPL player to do such a thing considering the huge degree of money generation in the English league, but it’s good to see there are some players willing to pull together in these testing times.
This year West Ham celebrate 50 years since the debut of the club’s greatest ever player and World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore. The late Bobby is no longer with us and he’d be turning in his grave that a player of such inferior talent to him (remember the earlier disclaimer) could deem £30,000 a week not enough for the honour of captaining such a club.
I’m not worried, if Lucas doesn’t like what’s being offered to him, good luck finding someone else to match his current wage at the moment. If he does go it will be a case of £70,000 a week saved, rather than a captain lost.
