Everybody out

[Eddie]

"Cardboard box?"

"Aye."

etc

[Alph]

My instinct was to defend the players too, to be honest. 
It’s a weird one because there’s always somebody worse off and that’s no reason to just put up and shut up. That’s been a really dangerous thought process in mental health. 
 

Nobody should be afraid to speak up for better working conditions. 

[Loughborough Ram]

7 minutes ago, Alph said:

My instinct was to defend the players too, to be honest. 
It’s a weird one because there’s always somebody worse off and that’s no reason to just put up and shut up. That’s been a really dangerous thought process in mental health. 
 

Nobody should be afraid to speak up for better working conditions. 

Better working conditions? Seriously?

[Srg]

15 hours ago, Day said:

I sympathise with the players. I Honestly do.

It's not just 2 games a week, it's the training, the tactical information you're inputting, the travelling. 

They get paid mega money, I know, yet you can't buy energy. 

When you have FIFA and UEFA expanding tournaments, big clubs sending the top players out on PR tours in the US and Asia.

They will reach a breaking point and we could be close to that.

Managers have been mocked for complaining, yet when the demands for European and domestic success are so high, it's a relentless game where the players bodies are being treated as robots.

Take Man City, they have their next 3 games at home. After that they travel up to Newcastle for a 12.30pm kick off on the Saturday, back to Manchester for what would be a day off I would presume on Sunday as they will be flying out to Bratislava on the Monday for a game on the Tuesday. Back home on Wednesday and it's down to London for a game on Saturday.

After that, it's straight out to Spain for back to back games in 3 days for Rodri.

Yeah it's too much.

The players are not blameless here. When you have these players who are appointing agents holding clubs to ransom with wage demands, clubs need to fund those so these PR trips are needed for the extra streaming passes, merchandise, sponsorships etc.

Covid was the perfect opportunity to reset football, wasn't taken. 

 

Also this makes sense, but as fans, I lose sympathy when these top clubs that have these schedules isn't too dissimilar from lower league and semi-pro teams (bar the European travel, of course). Couple that with the bastardisation of multiple competitions (again, not player fault, but this is from a fan perspective) and finally, the sheer squad sizes and play hoarding these teams do. If they wanted to rotate, they could.

[Leeds Ram]

Players have boxed themselves in at the elite level with ridiculous salary demands. What they get paid probably isn't that far off what a CEO of a Wall Street firm annually once you consider their bonus packages, sponsorships, free cars, free clothes and watches etc. If that's the wage then I'm sorry but those CEO's on average work around 16 hours a day and do it 6 1/2 days a week. They give their life for their job and just like football miss significant events due to work. My uni mate worked on a trading floor for a couple of years before he got burned out and said most people have 5-10 years, earn a bunch of money and then retire early because they struggle to maintain that pace. It is crucifying and generally people do earn what they make in that kind of industry. 

It strikes me that some footballers want to be in a category all of their own. They want to make obscene amounts of money without the hardships that should go with it. Reminds me of when Jordan Henderson was crying over everyone judging him for being the money-obsessed p**** he is by choosing to go to Saudi Arabia until he came crawling back. There's a simple solution- players accept a more reasonable salary package and clubs can ease off on the scheduling. Of course, they won't do that they want to have their cake and eat it too. 

On working conditions, the players are given the best treatment money can buy. They have world-class medical teams travel first class for away trips, and the game has been adapted to become increasingly unfriendly to actions that can harm them. The issue is the amount of playing time which again is related directly to their pay. When the playing staff come out and accept at 60% reduction in wages in return for halving the number of games I'll stand right behind them. Until that time, they can either accept they need to earn their wages or find a new profession.

When I was a teaching fellow at my old institution I was contracted for 38 hours a week but more often than not I'd be doing 50-60 hours, I didn't even have time to take annual leave so I've ended up cashing my time in. I'd have to move regularly between answering student concerns, getting contacted by student support about mental health, writing reference letters, go do a lecture, write up a bit of my book, submit an abstract, sit in on meetings about policy, and have meetings with students about their performance. I also found the time to write regularly for magazines at weekends and in the evenings.

I got paid a good (not amazing) salary for this and had no job security beyond my year contract. I've just accepted another short term contract to go back as I've got nothing else lined up. I wouldn't go on strike because that's the nature of the job. I know what I signed up for. The players at this level know what they've signed up for and with full knowledge of the demands place on them have decided to do it. Could it be better? Yes. Could they sort this out quickly by accepting a more reasonable wage? Yes Will they do that? I highly doubt it.

Edited Wednesday at 08:01 by Leeds Ram

[Mucker1884]

I'm all for progress and improvements etc, but there still remain former players, and early heroes of mine, alive today.  I strongly suspect (or know, in some cases), that they couldn't retire after their playing days thanks to their "obscene" bank balance.  We all know of at least one DCFC-famed postman, for instance!

Whilst that remains so, I'm not likely to be supporting today's players on this matter.

 

Bed made, etc!

[Alph]

1 hour ago, Loughborough Ram said:

Better working conditions? Seriously?

Yeah, seriously. And I’m typing this from a building site where every single person would say they’ll happily swap places with Rodri. (Although would die of heart attack with one training session) 

The idea that you can’t complain or be unhappy about aspects of your life if there’s others in the world that are worse off is fecking stupid. 
It’s what makes people bottle up and not seek support. 
 

You work a 75 hour week? Only state pension to look forward to? Zero hour contract with basic sick pay? You don’t know how lucky you are! Said a 12 year old Indonesian factory worker. 
 

Rodri is allowed to say he’s overworked. So are you. 

Edited Wednesday at 09:19 by Alph

[GB SPORTS]

19 minutes ago, Alph said:

 

 

9 hours ago, Eddie said:

"Cardboard box?"

"Aye."

etc

Luxury 😛

Edited Wednesday at 09:37 by GB SPORTS

[Animal is a Ram]

A bloated calendar is somewhat down to the authorities. In my lifetime there's been the Club World Cup, the Nations League, the split from two European competitions (Champions League/UEFA Cup) to three (Conference League), expanding both the World Cup and Euros.

Clubs are equally guilty, mind. Newcastle and Spurs played a post-season friendly in Australia, and the former then got thrashed 8-0 by an Australia and New Zealand all-stars team. In the same year as a Euros.

I don't begrudge players being upset about it. Football, while very lucrative for even average players at the biggest clubs, is a short career. Yes, it feels a bit 'woe-is-me' from Rodri who is earning a fortune, but I'm sure it's echoing concerns at lower levels. A decent couple of cup runs for a Championship or L1 team could easily clock 60 games. 

If players feel that this is causing unacceptable risks on their physical or mental health, that's fine - no amount of money fixes those. 

Edited Wednesday at 09:47 by Animal is a Ram

[Ram-Alf]

25 minutes ago, Alph said:

Yeah, seriously. And I’m typing this from a building site where every single person would say they’ll happily swap places with Rodri. (Although would die of heart attack with one training session) 

The idea that you can’t complain or be unhappy about aspects of your life if there’s others in the world that are worse off is fecking stupid. 
It’s what makes people bottle up and not seek support. 
 

You work a 75 hour week? Only state pension to look forward to? Zero hour contract with basic sick pay? You don’t know how lucky you are! Said a 12 year old Indonesian factory worker. 
 

Rodri is allowed to say he’s overworked. So are you. 

I represented some of the best paid workers in Derby...RR...and they'll tell you they didn't earn enough, Greed is the death of a 12 year old Indonesian factory worker.

No sympathy for those who earn a kings ransom and complain while others will go cold/hungry this winter...the world over, If you don't like it...leave and close the door behind you. 

[eddielewis]

17 hours ago, Day said:

I sympathise with the players. I Honestly do.

It's not just 2 games a week, it's the training, the tactical information you're inputting, the travelling. 

They get paid mega money, I know, yet you can't buy energy. 

When you have FIFA and UEFA expanding tournaments, big clubs sending the top players out on PR tours in the US and Asia.

They will reach a breaking point and we could be close to that.

Managers have been mocked for complaining, yet when the demands for European and domestic success are so high, it's a relentless game where the players bodies are being treated as robots.

Take Man City, they have their next 3 games at home. After that they travel up to Newcastle for a 12.30pm kick off on the Saturday, back to Manchester for what would be a day off I would presume on Sunday as they will be flying out to Bratislava on the Monday for a game on the Tuesday. Back home on Wednesday and it's down to London for a game on Saturday.

After that, it's straight out to Spain for back to back games in 3 days for Rodri.

Yeah it's too much.

The players are not blameless here. When you have these players who are appointing agents holding clubs to ransom with wage demands, clubs need to fund those so these PR trips are needed for the extra streaming passes, merchandise, sponsorships etc.

Covid was the perfect opportunity to reset football, wasn't taken. 

 

It would be good for these 'top' players to also realise that alongside the heavy work load that they are complaining about with the upcoming club world cup adding to the schedule that they also strike for a better standard for the fans which will help their cause because right now as some of the responses on here have shown it's all a bit crying in the ivory tower.

We've seen massive increases in season ticket prices, car parking, shirt prices the lot. There's the ever-present threat of foreign league matches. There was that ridiculous claim from the Real Madrid president to shorten matches. 'Dynamic' pricing has entered laliga matches. These are all real threats to the game we love. The players have the power to change this but will they? ... I doubt it!

 

[Day]

36 minutes ago, eddielewis said:

It would be good for these 'top' players to also realise that alongside the heavy work load that they are complaining about with the upcoming club world cup adding to the schedule that they also strike for a better standard for the fans which will help their cause because right now as some of the responses on here have shown it's all a bit crying in the ivory tower.

We've seen massive increases in season ticket prices, car parking, shirt prices the lot. There's the ever-present threat of foreign league matches. There was that ridiculous claim from the Real Madrid president to shorten matches. 'Dynamic' pricing has entered laliga matches. These are all real threats to the game we love. The players have the power to change this but will they? ... I doubt it!

Not sure the players even have the power to reduce the number of games. All these decisions are boardroom decisions. 

Players, managers, fans, we’ve all been complaining for years about the issues in the game. All falls on deaf ears.

[Mucker1884]

45 minutes ago, eddielewis said:

We've seen massive increases in season ticket prices, car parking, shirt prices the lot. There's the ever-present threat of foreign league matches. There was that ridiculous claim from the Real Madrid president to shorten matches. 'Dynamic' pricing has entered laliga matches. These are all real threats to the game we love. The players have the power to change this but will they? ... I doubt it!

 

Don't shout too loudly against dynamic footy ticket pricing, yeah!  

We'll only get more points deducted!  👀

 

[Loughborough Ram]

3 hours ago, Alph said:

Yeah, seriously. And I’m typing this from a building site where every single person would say they’ll happily swap places with Rodri. (Although would die of heart attack with one training session) 

The idea that you can’t complain or be unhappy about aspects of your life if there’s others in the world that are worse off is fecking stupid. 
It’s what makes people bottle up and not seek support. 
 

You work a 75 hour week? Only state pension to look forward to? Zero hour contract with basic sick pay? You don’t know how lucky you are! Said a 12 year old Indonesian factory worker. 
 

Rodri is allowed to say he’s overworked. So are you. 

Rodri is entitled to say what he wants but he'd also entitled to ask his manager to leave him out of games, both at club and national level so he is truly the master of his own destiny. 

Does anybody really think that asking players like Liam Thompson, Tom Barkhuizen and Eiran Cashin for instance, to go on strike  because Rodri is playing too many games, is the only logical course of action left? 

[Tamworthram]

2 hours ago, Loughborough Ram said:

Rodri is entitled to say what he wants but he'd also entitled to ask his manager to leave him out of games, both at club and national level so he is truly the master of his own destiny. 

Does anybody really think that asking players like Liam Thompson, Tom Barkhuizen and Eiran Cashin for instance, to go on strike  because Rodri is playing too many games, is the only logical course of action left? 

Exactly. It might not be very well received but a player could always say he’s physically/mentally exhausted and needs a short break. Football (in general) is meant to be concerned about mental health or is this one of the few remaining industries where employers only play lip service to the wellbeing of their employees? 

[Tyler Durden]

I think that Alisha Lehmann does the same job as Douglas Luiz 

[Anon]

On 18/09/2024 at 17:43, Tyler Durden said:

I think that Alisha Lehmann does the same job as Douglas Luiz 

Douglas Luiz constantly posts thirst trap videos of his arse on social media too?

[Ted McMinn Football Genius]

Keep it simple!

A player tells his club “I’m tired I don’t want to play this week boss!”

Club should be allowed to respond “ok that’s no problem, we won’t be paying you for this week then. We will call it unpaid leave! That ok??”

Lets see how they like those apples 🤪🤯

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Ted McMinn Football Genius

[Day]

6 hours ago, Anon said:

Douglas Luiz constantly posts thirst trap videos of his arse on social media too?

Just looked, nope. A lot of topless ones though. Not my kinda thing.