Are we mugs?

[qabiri]

Do you not think its a disrupting influence when this could quite possibly be one of our most important seasons in a long,long time.
If both get their wish our spine is shot out which is what other big clubs in Europe would love,so much for caring about the team.

[rudedog]

A couple of further points having now read the thread in full. Alonso is complaining about 30% due to currency fluctuations. Whenever he signed his latest deal the Euro was much weaker against the pound than it now is, and so from his perspective (I assume being Spanish in his mind he converts everything to Euros the way we, when on holiday, convert prices from the locval currency into GBP to allow us to understand pricing) he has experienced a big drop in salary. That is not the tax man's fault. In as far as anyone can be blamed responsibility for that lies at the door of Brown, Darling and the Monetary Policy Committee.

Yes, I was a bit surprised when he highlighted that. Obviously currency movements are a concern, but given the cash these guys are on you begin to wonder how f*cking removed from reality they all are. Also, in Spain, the government (lobbied by Real Madrid) recently introduced tax law which means "top" players are skilled artisans or something, meaning they are subject to an incredibly low tax rate. Being unemployed, I look forward to the day when players wages are reduced to some sort of normality. Everyone else is expected to take pay drops etc in this economic climate but, if anything, players are becoming even more greedy.

I'm pretty sure that Xabi was mainly refering to Browns 50p in the pound tax hike - he said that this coupled with the weak pound could put players off wanting to come to the UK. Wenger has also said the same thing.

[BG1973]

Has anyone been to Madrid? It's really nice - nicer dare I say than Liverpool. Xabi has given us some great years and it's perfectly reasonable to want a change, to go home. Macherano less so but if living in England is causing him personal problems then again it's understandable. If it came down to someone I loved or my job then the job comes second.

As long as we make a tidy profit on both players then they have served us well enough.

This sounds more like anger at your own situation which is completely understandable and I wish you the best of luck getting that sorted. You will get it sorted.

[mersey86]

FatTony - while they may be overpaid, greedy, whingeing, ungrateful scum - while they still have the red shirt they are our overpaid, greedy, whingeing, ungrateful scum and I won't hear another word against them.

They're not ours though are they? They answer to nobody but themselves. They take our money and wear our shirt only until something more rewarding comes along.

We could offer them the Earth and they'd only stay until someone offered them the moon as well.

That was tongue-in-cheek. I completely understand your sentiments. Its human nature to always want more . They feel they can get better wages in a sunnier climate. For the common man with concerns about paying the mortgage and taking care of the family, its hard to empathise.

[FatTony]

To Tony. Great post and really sorry to hear about your circumstances. I am in an almost identical situation. A mate of mine was too but recently got sorted out. Hopefully you and I will too. Good luck mate.

Top man, cheers

[rudedog]

That was tongue-in-cheek. I completely understand your sentiments. Its human nature to always want more . They feel they can get better wages in a sunnier climate. For the common man with concerns about paying the mortgage and taking care of the family, its hard to empathise.

Your right, it is hard to empathise. Likewise it would be hard for someone coming from a third world economy where everyday is a struggle to survive to empathise with our concerns about paying a mortgage.

[dww]

Few people complain in the same way about other entertainers getting paid huge salaries. It's not something that is particularly gratifying or in any way adds to the game but equally I don't feel any more or less about football due to the money. It is always good to see players who obviously love playing for their team like Carragher but as Neil Young pointed out the other day as often as not you a professional rather than a passionate fan in the team will do better.

I would like to see changes that made football more of a level playing field long term and increased the competitiveness and to a degree romance of the sport but most people on here argue passionately against such measures. My main problem is that most such structures would mainly serve to make owners rather than players wealthier which seems worse and not better to me in most cases.