Sydneyger65
Well-Known Member
CELTIC are preparing for wage cuts as they take the first big step towards protecting themselves against a massive coronavirus hit.
Next thing we heard is the SFA are doing the same. Surely Rangers have to follow suit shortly.
Unless Dave King left a giant pile of money as big as the gaping hole in football’s finances as he walked out of the door the Ibrox hierarchy have to be making a similar move.
If they aren’t, they must be the richest club in Europe and we just didn’t know it.
When Neil Lennon was asked the question about following the lead of Hearts in terms of clubs looking at wage cuts, it was not in the least bit surprising the manager confirmed it was on the cards.
Celtic have strong revenue in the bank but no one can just brush this coronavirus crisis off.
Harsh realities have to be faced and brutal decisions have to be taken.
This has to happen all over Scotland and all over the footballing universe.
When you hear Lionel Messi saying Barcelona’s squad are happy to take cuts in the current climate – and that even a club as big as that can’t withstand the shrapnel from the coronavirus explosion – you know this is serious.
It’s not just happening in Spain. In Italy, Juventus have gone down the same road. In France, it is mega-rich PSG who are leading the way with cuts and Bayern Munich, one of the original super clubs, are having to cut their cloth accordingly in Germany.
I am not daft. I do realise Messi and his team-mates at the Nou Camp or any of the guys at these bigger outfits aren’t going to miss a mortgage payment or be unable to pay their gas bill because they take a cut.
These guys are millionaires. It is professionals lower down the chain who are going to have to feel the real force of this. It is going to cause problems paying those bills and that rent or mortgage. No one is safe.
Now, I don’t profess to have any clever line into the finances of Rangers. I don’t know the exact figures of what they have and what they don’t.
But in November last year the club announced losses of £11.3million, revealed they needed a fresh cash injection of more than £10m to get to the end of the season and confirmed King and Douglas Park had converted a staggering £35m in soft loans into shares over the past 18 months.
So I can safely assume they simply do not have enough cash in the bank to just ride this out for six months as if it’s a couple of matches lost due to a waterlogged pitch.
It is not that long ago Rangers had a financial meltdown and ended up down the leagues.
That came about through blatant mismanagement and not doing things properly when situations arose.
That’s not just my opinion, that’s a fact given the way things turned out with the administration.
Hearts had similar problems and went close to the edge when finances fell apart under Vladimir Romanov.
Their supporters and Ann Budge managed to save the day and it was noticeable that, when this current situation started to unfold, she was the first one to come out with a definitive strategy.
Now not everyone would agree with the way she went about it. It was savage and ruthless and that did not court favour with a lot of people at the time.
But looking back, Budge was probably right. This is not a time for half-measures. The coronavirus pandemic is going to have a hugely damaging effect on the finances of all sports and she was first on the case.
It had to be severe and it was. Aberdeen were next to make their announcements about a black hole of £5m with no football right now and Hibs have taken steps to discuss deferrals.
I don’t want to see anyone have their pay cut but these are the facts of life at the moment. It’s going to happen to just about everyone in all businesses and any walk of life so football cannot ignore this fact.
The Premier League are clinging on to some hope they can get the season finished, yet it’s highly unlikely.
I’m convinced more clubs will have to follow the lead of Newcastle and start cuts when they face the reality. By close of business yesterday talks about deferrals had gotten underway.
Budge acted instantly in a manner which ensured her club was not going back to the bad old days and it is inconceivable the rest of the clubs who have not yet confirmed wage cut talks won’t do the same.
Clubs such as Kilmarnock and Motherwell are well run now but this is nothing we have ever seen before.
Maybe there is a prestige about it, a chest-out attitude, a show of defiance for those who haven’t done it yet to make it look as though this pandemic won’t affect us, we’re too strong.
It is not a sign of weakness to accept these cuts are going to have to happen.
But it is a sign of playing a very risky financial game if you do not.
As tough as it may be to tell their employees, Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, Hibs and others are doing the right thing to look at implementing cutbacks.
I find it inconceivable bordering on reckless that Rangers won’t do the same thing.
Next thing we heard is the SFA are doing the same. Surely Rangers have to follow suit shortly.
Unless Dave King left a giant pile of money as big as the gaping hole in football’s finances as he walked out of the door the Ibrox hierarchy have to be making a similar move.
If they aren’t, they must be the richest club in Europe and we just didn’t know it.
When Neil Lennon was asked the question about following the lead of Hearts in terms of clubs looking at wage cuts, it was not in the least bit surprising the manager confirmed it was on the cards.
Celtic have strong revenue in the bank but no one can just brush this coronavirus crisis off.
Harsh realities have to be faced and brutal decisions have to be taken.
This has to happen all over Scotland and all over the footballing universe.
When you hear Lionel Messi saying Barcelona’s squad are happy to take cuts in the current climate – and that even a club as big as that can’t withstand the shrapnel from the coronavirus explosion – you know this is serious.
It’s not just happening in Spain. In Italy, Juventus have gone down the same road. In France, it is mega-rich PSG who are leading the way with cuts and Bayern Munich, one of the original super clubs, are having to cut their cloth accordingly in Germany.
I am not daft. I do realise Messi and his team-mates at the Nou Camp or any of the guys at these bigger outfits aren’t going to miss a mortgage payment or be unable to pay their gas bill because they take a cut.
These guys are millionaires. It is professionals lower down the chain who are going to have to feel the real force of this. It is going to cause problems paying those bills and that rent or mortgage. No one is safe.
Now, I don’t profess to have any clever line into the finances of Rangers. I don’t know the exact figures of what they have and what they don’t.
But in November last year the club announced losses of £11.3million, revealed they needed a fresh cash injection of more than £10m to get to the end of the season and confirmed King and Douglas Park had converted a staggering £35m in soft loans into shares over the past 18 months.
So I can safely assume they simply do not have enough cash in the bank to just ride this out for six months as if it’s a couple of matches lost due to a waterlogged pitch.
It is not that long ago Rangers had a financial meltdown and ended up down the leagues.
That came about through blatant mismanagement and not doing things properly when situations arose.
That’s not just my opinion, that’s a fact given the way things turned out with the administration.
Hearts had similar problems and went close to the edge when finances fell apart under Vladimir Romanov.
Their supporters and Ann Budge managed to save the day and it was noticeable that, when this current situation started to unfold, she was the first one to come out with a definitive strategy.
Now not everyone would agree with the way she went about it. It was savage and ruthless and that did not court favour with a lot of people at the time.
But looking back, Budge was probably right. This is not a time for half-measures. The coronavirus pandemic is going to have a hugely damaging effect on the finances of all sports and she was first on the case.
It had to be severe and it was. Aberdeen were next to make their announcements about a black hole of £5m with no football right now and Hibs have taken steps to discuss deferrals.
I don’t want to see anyone have their pay cut but these are the facts of life at the moment. It’s going to happen to just about everyone in all businesses and any walk of life so football cannot ignore this fact.
The Premier League are clinging on to some hope they can get the season finished, yet it’s highly unlikely.
I’m convinced more clubs will have to follow the lead of Newcastle and start cuts when they face the reality. By close of business yesterday talks about deferrals had gotten underway.
Budge acted instantly in a manner which ensured her club was not going back to the bad old days and it is inconceivable the rest of the clubs who have not yet confirmed wage cut talks won’t do the same.
Clubs such as Kilmarnock and Motherwell are well run now but this is nothing we have ever seen before.
Maybe there is a prestige about it, a chest-out attitude, a show of defiance for those who haven’t done it yet to make it look as though this pandemic won’t affect us, we’re too strong.
It is not a sign of weakness to accept these cuts are going to have to happen.
But it is a sign of playing a very risky financial game if you do not.
As tough as it may be to tell their employees, Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, Hibs and others are doing the right thing to look at implementing cutbacks.
I find it inconceivable bordering on reckless that Rangers won’t do the same thing.
