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Sustainability

Sustainability

I

Ibahjanner

Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
311
I am on quite a few forums and one of the things that most go on about is sustainability and the ffp rules where some seem to be bending them more than others. As I look on us as similar sized clubs in attendance etc I am wondering what you consider is an average salary that should be paid to players to ensure the club remains sustainable
 
I’d say a couple of top earners around the 12-14k mark. We seem to have been stung bringing Sinclair in on god know what and then giving DJ & Browne 18k a week. Others now expect this, Whiteman a prime example and we now need a bit of a wage bill re-structure. Should then have a core squad between 6-8k
 
We have a relatively large wage bill (Peter, who is in charge of it, says "it has drifted") but we don't pay great wages, or have lots of Championship-quality players hanging around the place - maybe our alleged innovative way of accounting for signing-on fees etc. by treating them as wages has something to do with it, who knows.

Our owners are very big on sustainability (and hope we are too), and actively try to keep our turnover lower than it might otherwise be (see the bit on "matchday commercial and stadium income") - so whereas other clubs try to game FFP to allow themselves to spend as much as possible within the rules, we do the exact opposite.

We don't have much reliable data on individual player wage levels. For a long time DJ and Browne were claimed to be on huge wages (for us), therefore some fans demanded unflinching 9/10 performances from them every week, but we've recently heard that Freddie Woodman and Liam Lindsay are also on very big money (for us), but somehow their performances don't attract the same scrutiny.
 
The short answer is that we're not sustainable because we rely on the family to plug the gaps in revenue. However, burden has been significantly reduced in the past two years, with off the field revenue increasing.

The reality is our senior squad is the smallest it's been for decades and at the moment that is helping to make the club more sustainable - but it's not without its risks.

The next 12 months will be interesting - the contract offers to Browne and Whiteman will signal the club's intent and for long term stability Woodman needs to be offered a new deal in the next 12 months. Whilst I often highlight Woodman's faults he can practically ensure safety with a half decent defence in front of him.

A wage cap of £15k p/w for us would be sensible. Would mean that promotion would be a pipe dream but better scouting and selling players for a profit when their stock is at its highest would still be the way to go forward.
 
A cap on wages isn't realistic and doesn't take into account inflation. I remember when we had a cap of £10K a week when Trevor was funding us, which went on about seven years too long.
 
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