LIVE! Gary Neville & Jamie Carragher debate Premier League wage cuts & clubs furloughing staff

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good evening.
Jamie could even Gary.
Before we start this discussion, I would just like to convey our three, indeed, everybody at Sky Sports.
Sincere condolences to the Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, who suddenly lost his mother today to the Corona virus disease.
Her thoughts not just with him.
Indeed, everybody has lost a loved one at this time.
Of course, the Corona virus has affected the whole world, and it's affecting affect and rather football, too.
On how football is dealing with it is a matter of some hot debate right now, they're seemingly is no agreement at the moment, inside between players and clubs with regard to wage cuts or, indeed, deferrals.
Gary Up.
I want to start with you.
How much do you think that before talk the even taken place?
There was a bad tone set by the manner in which the talks were put forward by various parties?
I think it may look it's a complex issue, Jeff, I think for a start, I think for a start that were talking about football being stopped now for three weeks, I think football should have dealt with this a lot quicker.
Me, me and Jamie in the program.
I think 2.5 3 weeks ago, where one of the last programs that we did, where we said there was a huge opportunity if a football to set the tone.
It's such an important part in people's lives and sexual important part of what England transport around the world, billions of people watch it and there's a really strong the chance that a football set the tone than everybody else would follow and do the right thing.
I think what we saw at the end of last week was the star of Ah unsavory episode over the weekend.
I think the premier Li caught the players by surprise, put them in the back for asking for a 12 month reduction in pay at 30% without any pre warning.
The players, whilst maybe not the the finance experts of this country, that they understand a sharp enough to understanding Street wise enough to understand that they want the wool pulled over their eyes.
And I think that the players fall into a group of different categories.
You've got a group of players that a round of contracting three months who may be the last three months of pay they're going to receive before they probably have no income for the foreseeable future.
You've got a group of players who ah, potentially going to get relegated and would take significant wage cuts anyway.
Come July, you've got a group of players you would be looking at billionaire owners of clubs and thinking, Well, you bought the club for a low amount and you're going to sell it for a large amount and it would be a little bit of pain that you have to suffer.
So you should put your money in and then there may be a group of players who want to support their clubs.
Andi want to maybe do a little bit of weight reduction.
I think the first thing that I would say that players do want to contribute to the National Health Service to the lower leagues to the non playing stuff and ensure that money does go somewhere that is, that is helpful to the people that they want to support.
So I think that the Premier League, if you want to bring people on the journey with you to try and take a wage cut, you've got to learn that softly.
I think trying to bully them by announcing it on the mid afternoon on the Friday and then calling him into a meeting on the Saturday in front of their managers and owners is not probably the best way Thio longer blow as hard as that would have been to the players.
Jamie, one of your observations.
I think man is slightly different from from God.
I think a lot of players do a lot of goods.
Andi think a lot of them have their own charitable foundations and a lot of people held with things that we possibly don't hear about.
I'm not really can help the n hs or, you know, the foundation's help local sick kids or lots of different things.
It's not the job of Premier League players to form the any chess.
I know the situation we're in right now.
I'm not sure if the place we'll go together, Porter Flint together.
I'm not mourning to send to the any chest that that would help the any checks.
Right now, it might help the any chest in the future, but I'm sure at this moment everything that goingto get important in there to try and help me in the chest.
We never think it's an orphan.
The problem is they're not getting the equipment that you need fashion off.
I'm not sure the footballers can change that right now.
I think what's happened to blazes?
There's been talk of different footballers doing different things.
So we have a little Jordan Henderson, Maybe James Miller.
Matter of here.
Troy Deeney's name.
Kevin Deb Roy had a Maguire at Manchester and I said lots of different players getting mentioned about didn't say it in things.
Now that it seems to have come out to this payoff Amy and that the players, it upset that they would have to lose some of the money and the morning would go and in essence, back to the clubs.
I don't agree with that.
I think the money should in some ways go back there because you got to think how how the players get paid.
There's three ways players get paid.
It would be through the TV, the money from the TV, the money through the Italian style, not as much now as it was 2030 years old on probably advertising money.
All those revenue streams have stopped for football clubs.
Now the wages players again.
And now should I get a nearly 2 to £300,000 a week?
And this is not an ex professionally good, looked at, deserve everything.
We get both.
I don't believe that football clubs of football owners actually make hundreds of millions each season.
We see that in their accounts.
We see that basically all of them break even longer, loses money every year.
There's only Tottenham and little people actually attitude because they got the Champions League final, so I don't think it's It's too much to ask that players maybe do defense of wages to the later maybe turn.
I still actually contribute a little bit to the clubs.
Really, there's no way a print the Premier League, as one they're going to come together on everyone's going to agree on every club is difference in a different situation.
There's no way owners of the bottom of this division could afford.
I don't think certainly to just be handed out hundreds of thousands of pounds each week to sit in players, so I'm not saying it has to be 30% but think every club situation is different on May as a club have to get together.
Forget these conference calls and captains of each clubs that's never going away.
There has to be your own place of your own clubs off.
That's my crib.
If you like Jordan Henderson in the room speaking to plays and again, not everyone will agree.
But I don't feel it's right where, Maybe places saying Okay, we want our money to go to charity Listener.
That's fantastic if he wanted to go on to help people.
But there's a lot of groups witness even in the Premier League, and people may not believe it because of the money be Hey Bundy.
The bowels of TV D is who will find it difficult if this continues for a later time.
And, God forbid, if there is no games played this season and there's no TV money for these clubs, these clubs will be really, really struggling.
I'm sure even at the top, I just closed out to Jamie's point, Please.
I agree with Jamie in the sense that I think that it's reasonable that the players should to contribute to their clubs.
I'm talking about how you get to that point and how you deliver it to them, you know, releasing a statement publicly releasing it in a public statement on the Friday afternoon, saying, You know, will you all take a 12 month pay?
A.
30% is not the way to go about doing a deal.
So from my point to you, I agree with Jamie.
I think the clubs will need support.
I mean, every level clubs will need support.
I'm looking at it in two phases.
There is April, May and June, which I think the clubs will have had most of the revenues for this season accepting in the Premier League.
They're gonna have to finish the fixtures to get the broadcast.
Molly, I'll keep the broadcast money where I think it gets really bad quite quickly is that it goes into July, August, September October for clubs where that does become quite precarious on the finances of the football clubs will really suffer.
And I do think at that point it would be reasonable for the players to contribute to their own clubs, individual finances.
I'm talking here.
I don't think it was handled well publicly to be ableto to build.
If you like put back statement out on a Friday afternoon and call the players to a beating on the Saturday is, I think, the wrong way to go about trying to get those cuts from players.
Do you think there's also been a swell to a degree because of the profile off football mixing off emotions and messages here?
Because players taking wage cuts, which they would appear to be from a number of quarters a call for does not does not benefit the N hs.
The facts will wage cut it.
It's a less tax.
But in the grand scheme of things compared to what the government reported here, you know, hundreds of billions of pounds.
This is directly to do with the clubs on the way the clubs operate their business, the same as any other businesses in the world right now who are suffering serious financial difficulties.
This is not to do with so called players or I don't like to use the word gri gri pose not doing that or not helping the n.
H s.
How this has been conflated is is a real Miss Noma is ridiculous.
Jeff, I think what you've got to understand that you do understand that is that football has got to be, will be judged.
We want it to be judged differently because the power that it has to influence people is enormous.
Those lads that go out onto the pitch, those football clubs, those badges are steeped in history.
They mean so much that the hope enjoy of every single fan of those clubs every single weekend around the world.
So the idea that we don't want football to be judged differently, we do want football to be judged differently.
There was opportunity here for football to do an amazing thing on men.
Carol, we're on television two or three weeks ago saying Way Know that talks will be put in place between the different parties, stakeholders, the F l, the premier Li, the P F A l m A.
The supporters should be involved as well.
Obviously on there was an opportunity to do something fantastic.
What we saw on Friday afternoon was a collaboration potentially of a couple of weeks, but then I thought the Premier League went solo.
They didn't increase the funding for the F l and only clubs the advanced money's forward, but didn't give them any extra funding which those clips so desperately need.
They didn't give a £20 million contribution to good cause, which is welcome, but I think it could have been more.
They asked players for 30% pay Cook, which equated to around £550 million.
I think it was opportunity for the Premier League to stand tall and do a number of things.
One was to distribute good cause quickly to the It's a good cause to was to provide more funding for clubs that needed in the F l and Non League and and to increase funding to go to the players.
Andi have meaningful discussions with the captains of the clubs around how they could work together to support not just the local cars but the national cause and also the club cause, which is critical because the clubs need to survive and they've not been able that no one has been able to bring together football.
There hasn't been a leader that's been able to bring together football in this time to come up with the right solution.
But don't forget Gary.
When you talk about the Premier League, the Premier League is the 20 clubs.
It's not a mythical body that operates, then tells the clubs want to do it is the 20 clubs themselves and Jeff, What we're seeing is the main structural for in English football, where I called for governor in for government intervention for many, many years to reset English football so that essentially we have the most amazing Premier League.
But Jeff, if you've got the bottom club in the Premier League again in £100 million of broadcast money on the top club in the F l Leeds United, so Norwich City get 100 million and the top loading the F l get three million.
You must see the disconnect on the disproportionate financial, um, reward that basically put through football.
It needs resetting has needed resetting for 10 or 15 years and maybe out of this crisis.
That can be a government intervention to create a better game whereby if a crisis like this comes along again, football looks after everybody rather just looking after the 20 clubs which are voting for their own positions.
Jamie, when way talk about as well, there was potential to do lots of good.
How much do you feel amongst the wider public.
There is a mistrust in football in this matter, which in itself is hugely damaging.
Well, I think football is wages.
Always be a symptom of a stick to beat footballers with it.
Waas In our day I mean the wages have gone even bigger now on us.
As I said there, Lee before sunset.
Good.
Look to them.
This is people who earn lots of money and different areas.
Different sports, never mind different areas.
I mean the fact that someone's parents, the good will come out and sort of attack footballs.
And to be honest, I have a little bit of sympathy with them at first and that I think it was actually question and he gave it an sec, then followed up a few days later, which probably annoyed me more than anything because I thought it was possible that early on the first answer that he gave.
But he was asked the question.
He did answer.
But he said he followed it up on.
Do you actually think of some of the people throughout the contract?
We formed his own party.
You know what they did to actually help people really does this millions get insured about when there's there's an election on any time, so football's it always there?
I don't actually think him criminal matter cop in attacking football's actually hate football is that much.
I think it is probably a good thing for football's because so many people came out there and backed footballs and pointed the finger in different directions at something of the people within society and rightly so.
But it does feel now that is a focus.
We're talking about it tonight on what Premier League footballers are going to do, and I think Premier League footballers have got a great opportunity here on and what they can do now.
As I said before, I think they do have to help the club.
Yes, of course, that behaves in such a way financially, but this is a chance to do something good for the greater good off the country and plays being involved on whether you like it or not, Return wrote.
Football is a role models are there no role models that always comes up for the date.
Whether you like it or not, people look to footballers and I said very early on where when this pandemic started that we shouldn't be ashamed and saying We miss football, we can't wait for footboard, come back.
Was it so important?
And so many people's lives in mind?
Especially so football's lost after grass, that's all.
People will look to footballers and said, I've got an opportunity.
Everyone's in a different financial situation.
Gary mentioned at the start that someplace contacts not be option, plays it on more money.
Some people at the end of the creation people, the standard clear.
But we do have an opportunity here to put something out there and show that the nation or the weird.
Let's not forget Barcelona Match seven.
You into sin, Aldo it by immunity.
Appreciate doorman, beast clubs of old Scott Crable rolling there on.
I think a lot of football is the Blades have had almost pats on the back.
When I'm reading the press in these last few days about what's in place to do, No one's actually done nothing yet as as a group, so I think it is a great opportunity for them again.
I said it can will be the 20 clubs.
Each club's gonna be individual decided you know the top people at the club, but it is a great opportunity.
And, yes, I suppose it's a little bit a stick.
But they now have a great opportunity to do something good.
And I just feel it's an opportunity I've got to take on.
The longer this goes on.
What it's Gordon Taylor common against the Premier League, then it's the F eight, and it's the clubs and different forms of doing different things.
It just sort of isn't it doesn't look right.
This I know it's not easy.
Gary is probably involved in negotiations more than may be involved in a club boat.
This needs a resolution, I think, and then actually could so real, because the longer to prolong it, the more it will be good news.
The footballs don't pay any money, Gary, do you think also as well?
It's important to say the sun for boars?
Not all, not by any stretch of imaginations.
They are indeed high net worth individuals, the cops helping their cops and also helping the HSE or good causes or hospices are completely separate things, but they're also know mutually exclusive.
Play it like any employee and, you know we talk about the pleasure it must.
It must stress.
The whole time we talk about football's after is the industry way.
Work it.
This supplies virtually every industry, particularly high net worth individuals.
But look their circumstances in terms off business they worked for because all business has got to readjust on on the back of that, based on their position, will not.
They are in a position to do some good and help in a community which is clearly in crisis.
Right now, the two are separate things, but in a strange way it Jeff the very separate things.
But I said a few weeks ago, you look after the health and priority of the players.
The finalists, the staff that's now happening give give economic reassurance to the lower leagues, the clubs, the players on DDE.
That was the second thing, and then the third thing was trying do some good outside of what would be your own business, which is your football club.
In this particular case, there was an opportunity of a football to wrap a deal up on the Premier League, and that's what the Premier Li tried to do on Friday afternoon.
They try to wrap a deal up.
They try to position a deal to the public, which in the initial phase got quite a bit of credit.
People praise the deal.
We're giving 20 million to good cause we're gonna give 125 million to the football league on.
We're going to aspirate.
What a 30% player reduction to allow us to be sustainable.
The problem they have is that they didn't bring the other stakeholders on the journey with them and they went out early publicly and for players they weren't brought along on the journey with the players.
I think if you went to them ah, lot of them would probably say, Yeah, I'll contribute to good cause and I will also contribute to my club at the right time.
But they went about it wrong.
Jack Carey.
Apologies, Gary.
Apologies.
I need to interrupt you some breaking use, Jamie, like your reaction.
First, Liverpool have reversed their decision to apply for the government furlough.
Escape your reaction to that because you were critical of the yes, it was on dhe.
Ah, my hope was that the vision of time that they would reverse this decision.
It was I was I was very angry when the decision came through.
I'll tell you why I was angry because I think at this moment it's fair to say you Liverpool are well, holders of the order paying corporate e top of the league in your world champion tick.
So many boxes were probably people who were not Liverpool fans.
Probably look a little cool now.
Is some sort of model just sort of try and replicate about how they've got about things the manager in the club and to get something so badly wrong?
I mean, I could not believe it because I don't think any football club should do what Liverpool did a couple of days ago.
I was embarrassed, his Liverpool fun.
I know there was two clubs before Liverpool, I think and spares in Newcastle.
In some ways I didn't like what those clubs did, but I expected it.
I think the football world expected it from probably Daniel Levy and Mike.
Actually, if I'm being totally honest but not from Liverpool who build themselves up since the last two years under these owners, this means Maur, the anthem of you never walk alone, always looking back to Bill Shanklin socialist values.
So I thought it was a shocking decision that we've made.
I'm actually delighted now that they have changed their mind.
I still think that will still leave a bitter taste with a lot of Liverpool supporters because what this did was it saved the club a few £1,000,000 which was nothing.
It costs the taxpayer fueling, apparently to the grand scheme of things.
I mean, when you think of the body and different things is not the biggest amounts ever but embarrassed Liverpool supporters throughout the country Manchester United Months, City and support that's also being getting all the time now almost laughing at Liverpool on, they've embarrassed themselves and Battiston on supporters.
So I'm delighted that you've changed the mind.
We had to change their mind.
There's no doubt about that.
I'm glad the source sense they've actually made mistakes before.
Liverpool zones in terms of ticket price and the subcommittee tried to trade my Liverpool so local street sellers couldn't sell Liverpool FC gear on what people was doing.
These owners and credit students, when they've made a big mistake they've pulled back in it and that was my hope I would speak the different people, some people, part of the club.
Ah, really close to the club.
Jamie let you let me read you part off the statement That's just come in today from Pete Smalls, which he says it is a direct result of extensive consultation, their own internal deliberations at various levels throughout the club that we have opted, defied all terms of me despite at eligibility supply the kind of Astro pretensions game we believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply the Corona virus retention scheme of furlough star do suspension primly football calendar.
And I'm truly sorry for that.
Our intentions were and still are, to ensure the entire work force is gonna as much protection as possible from redundancy on DL loss of earnings during this unprecedented period.
That's part of a lengthy statement by Peter More carries.
You got it from your job at the total.
Jeff, Did I just hear them that you said that they're gonna be making people redundant?
No, no, no, no, no.
It didn't ensure that they are not okay.
Well, I think Yeah, that's fair.
Look, picking up on Jamie's point.
I mean, I've been speaking to Jamie about this for the last couple of days on Dhe, there is no doubt that Liverpool were always going to reverse that decision.
I think that I agree with Jamie to get they get a lot of things right.
Did you get something's wrong?
Is every football clubs every business does what I would say, though it's symptomatic of footballs approach in the last three weeks that they are not in any way, shape or form capturing the public mood around football on what they need to do.
They need to health and safety, protect their own business.
But they need to make sure they set the tone for the whole country in doing good looking after each other.
Be kind.
All the messages that were here in the Queen last night football is not performing to the mantra of the country.
Football needs to give.
Football needs to suffer financially because it it can suffer financially on the reality of it is there are clubs in the lower leagues and in the non league that are going to go under here if they don't get props from the premier League.
The Premier League is probably in a position to be able to loan a £1,000,000,000 from somewhere or an advance from, you know, down the line.
You have to pay it back somewhere.
The clubs, the lower league, need more money.
The causes need good money.
They need to do the right thing and what Liverpool did on Saturday.
It's symptomatic of what the last three weeks has.
Bean, lack of leadership, lack of good decision making, lack of clarity, lack of communication on football is getting this really wrong at the highest level on it's a structural floor in the game, there is no single body within aligned interest.
Gary.
It's also been reported right now that Manchester United have told 900 people, but none will be put on government furlough scheme on all remaining for pay.
That's being reported right now.
Jeff, To be honest with you, what's happened here is let's be clear, some clubs a dip that so we setting in a soul puts it.
Ford meeting 10 15 days ago, we looked at the job retention scheme.
It saved us 350 ground over 10 weeks and we started to think about.
It's quite tempted at our level.
It's a lot of money is probably about probably more than 15 20% of our revenue at the club.
But we thought pay to live.
David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville.
Yeah, I can't do that.
Can't do that now.
We won't do that.
Surely, football three weeks ago four weeks ago should have been looking at these things two weeks ago, whenever it would have been the Premier League have regular meetings, they collaborate with the Football League to collaborate with the perfect with the lm A.
They just know getting this right, Jeff.
And ultimately, they've got an opportunity to do what Liverpool have done that can still get it right in the next few days.
Book.
There needs to be a collective deal from the Premier League that suits all stakeholders in the game.
It can't to suit themselves because the players won't be bullet.
Dear fellow.
Not gonna lie down on the funds and it got it, got it, got it.
If the play okay, go back to the players.
We keep saying your the Premier League when the £1,000,000,000 from somewhere, that just they just weighed what to stop me.
We're gonna get a £1,000,000,000 from it goes back to action.
You talk about what?
What can happen.
The players have got to be the one that these clubs I don't believe that these clubs are making the money that people think they are.
And it goes back again to the players and we being players.
And you talk about getting it right, I'll get it wrong someplace way.
Go back to the first answer.
They've not got it right from the very start, he said.
But it has to be a comet together.
Surely, where this money commission is the actual wages because the actual money that's supposed to be common in for clubs is not committed.
The revenue streams are not committed.
Jamie, maybe.
Look, I'm a club owner but also sat on the pier.
If a management committee for 10 years on, uh, my view is the ultimate players players will stick together.
Players won't be bullet.
They're not financial experts, but they're also streetwise, and they are, to be fair, smart when it comes to understanding things.
How lonely being bullied.
Well, I think when Jamie look, you were a player and I'm sure going to understand why you don't think I'm Friday afternoon.
If you were Saturday, almost Liverpool captain on you.
All of a sudden I heard an announcement saying that 30% of your wages will be caught for the next 12 months without anybody telling you in person.
It was announced in the press.
I think you're pretty peeved, and I would be So let's not Let's not beat around the bush.
We would put report poacher turned gamekeeper extraordinary.
A.
I mean to say that you wouldn't be annoyed with.
That would be an understatement.
You feel really let down that that wasn't communicated to you in person.
It might my problem with it all.
And it has been from the very start, and I said that you were at Old Trafford from the junction.
Tommy Kelly, Daglish Waas.
There's no way in the whale's you will get every club doing the same thing.
It's impossible.
So the fact that 20 captains are unsure a Skype call on until before they go to go back to the wrong clubs Now, whether there's no way it could be 30% across the board on, Of course, if you wanna play?
It seems that they have to be sensitive wages or forget a player in any business or industry that wages gone.
Of course, you know happy.
But every club situation will be different that the teams in the lower half of the Premier League some of them will be very, very close.
I actually, I actually Jamie, Look, I'm not.
I'm not quite sure the point that you make him because you're saying on one hand that you'd be very disappointed to you.
Keep saying what the premier, legal or people should be doing.
As you said before the trendy allegiance to 20 clubs.
It's not some mythical pears and Jamie, Jamie Jamie, but I believe the players should contribute towards the club's finances from July onwards in particular, I really do.
So let's be clear here.
I'm not saying the place.
What are you actually saying in teams on the way, there should be one body that isn't one body.
It's easy sell it, but there's no is the president is the air felt no sorry.
The premier Li were the ones who went for a collective agreement with the players of 30% reduction on Friday.
Not the players.
If the play Emily get announced on Friday, each global do its own individual negotiations with the players, then that would have been fine.
That's what you're saying they didn't do.
They said they wanted a collective position against the players of 30% reduction across the board.
You write.
Some clubs might meet 40.
Some clubs might need 10.
So my point is, once the Premier League made it about a collective position, the players that had to group together as a collective do not see that Jamie just just just one second there because you're going back and forth on a familiar an important point.
This world.
Wayne really wrote a really good column at the weekend, and it follows on the theme of one Size Does Not Fit.
All players don't want to be seen to be questioning cops about being means tested.
But how can players arrive at a number of percentage, which they think is acceptable?
And you mentioned you could talk the summer Jamie that some of the bottom climate Norwich compared to net?
What do they take into account that they take into account the status of the owner the status of the Atkins.
How do they do this?
Jeff, I got He was involved in this as well.
It's certainly not on the scale.
What would sort it out right now?
But I want 10 or 15 years ago, there was something from the any chess about nurses not getting off pay.
I'm Premier League football or donate in A.
I think there's a day's wages to remember it.
Well, yes, so so basically means Stephen Jenna.
I go into the dressing room, and this was on a cool biker basis, if I remember rightly means Stephen Jen.
I went into the room with the 20 odd players in there on some plays, refused to pay on dhe 45 digestion.
I'm sure it was the same exact thing happened down the corner.
See, a lot of them were foreign players.
They couldn't understand what they were paying this money for.
Wide Wayne.
This is right much infidels.
I've got me own charities, all these different things that are probably coming up now.
I realize it's a lot bigger now, and that's what I said at the very start.
You won't get every Premier League with everyone's situation is different.
Everyone has a different order.
But players within those dressing rooms, as we did then it was slightly different and certainly a lot less, Ah, money that we're talking about right now on.
We couldn't all agree within that dressing room, but the majority of those God, if you like it across the line in in our club's perspective, I'm sure every other club did in some way that I think that's what it's got to go.
This is as I said, there's bigger funds and fold players and in a much bigger wages.
Now, the way they're going to be taken 25 50% of wages, not a day's wages.
So it is completely different, but it has to go back to the clubs and that was my point at the very start.
But that, for me, is the only way I see if clubs are struggling is that players will have to accept the court's whether that's stating whether some crumbs is 10 25 whatever it may be, because again, the three revenue streams that have stopped a TV advertising people through the gates have stopped and you can't just expect whether these owners are with wondered the millions to be right now checks for millions of pounds, every beaches to pay players, wages when the players are getting paid for something that they're not actually human right now.
Now, God, he goes back to What?
If you wanna play, you would like it, of course, ones, and no player is going like this what's happening right now.
But if every plays the same or every play within a club is the same, doing the same thing sometimes have to bite the bullet and acceptance.
I mean, the cops of that.
The commander Garrett you'll know again with your club owners.
Hats on the actual commercial viability or football clubs is clearly at stake here at to varying degrees.
So they got to have these conversations on.
It is very different, going to a player and sign.
Look, we need to come your salary because if this continues without business here, there's just nothing in the shop, nothing on the shelves.
Jeff, if I want to.
The reduction from if I want to reduction in way is with the solvent city players.
I would communicate with them first.
Now that I would ask them to get representatives that would look at employment law.
That would look a financial expertise for them.
And I would sit down with their financial experts and there, employment law experts on I would basically show them the club's finances on an open book basis is say, Look, we're suffering badly, particularly from July onwards.
Can we ask?
Because all you can do is ask, by the way, you cannot ask a player to rip up his contract or not pay.
A model should be in breach of its.
So ultimately it you are requesting some support.
There is a way to do that.
I wouldn't announce Salford City's pay cuts in the Soul Food Advertiser on the Friday and then call them to a meeting on the Saturday That is not the way you do things.
So from my point of view, I totally accept that football clubs need to go to their players either collectively or individually, as Jamie say's Individually might be the way forward.
If you can't agree the collective position, I'll come back to why I would I would push for a collective position if I was in part of the Union after hours a Premier League player in a minute.
But going back to it there is a way to go to your players.
You've got to disarm them to start with, say, Look, this is just a request for a meeting.
I'd actually to employ a well, we'll employ them.
Our cost unemployment lawyer and they a finance expert on would like just to show you our books to be able to bring you on the journey with us.
You softly land information like this.
You can't just do it on a Friday now, in terms of my union hat on as I was a P F A Union Management Committee member.
The reason.
If I was a Premier League player and I'm not sure it'll happen, I do agree with Jamie.
I think this lead that being individual negotiations club by club in the end.
But the reason that I would fight there's a Premier Li captain with Jamie.
If he was a Premier Li captain with me for a collective bargaining position would be, I would say, for the 1st 3 months I think it's gonna be difficult to get any courts agreed with the players because of the reasons that someplace where our contract someplace gonna get relegated.
Some players don't want to do it.
However, from July own words, I think we've got a look at the club's finances because they will suffer economically.
I do think we should support the clubs on the reason that I would go for a 10 15% reduction in wages and agree that with the league would be to protect my lower league colleagues who could be getting asked for thirties and forties and fifties and sixties, where it really matters because they're on 45 600 quid a week now.
That's why I personally as a Premier League captain, would stand on making sure that I fought not just for my Premier Li colleagues.
I would fight for my lower league colleagues.
My non league colleagues out fight my non play, no known playing staff members because the players have the power here.
The clubs could not report the contracts.
They've got to fulfill the contract, but there is a deal to be done because the club's needs support.
But it's got to be done with I my opinion with a little bit more science than just releasing it on a Friday afternoon publicly Jamie Part the PF a statement was very much solidarity that word was used.
There are looking natural, Gary's try and trying to put forward there as well.
Do you accept that that is important issue here as well in negotiating any paper or indeed cut solidarity Realistically, from the top downwards, That's the most important thing before the lost very, you know, close, close to a guy's heart is actually spoke to a friend of mine.
Ryan lowers Manager Up Limited and the situation there because I didn't wanna just speak about prophecy.
I mean the Liverpool bubble, if you like and speaking to people through Liverpool and you want to know what's going down, we're going on down the Atlantic.
They are most important things.
I think the problem of the Premier League against being this fair lord situation is actually in the lower leagues.
You would just say we'd accept it.
It's actually probably a necessity for a lot of clubs and maybe even with the actual players as well, because you don't want to see teams go on Bush because the money that these clubs now lose an ounce on there in the Premier League.
It's probably is more much about the TV money as anything else that is lower down your gob.
It's probably more about Gately seats, really, So that is the most important thing.
Andi, I think Gary mentioned about making sure lower league plays, nonleague plays, also maybe not played staff.
That has to be a necessity in the Premier League and that's why I've got no time for any club who put any of their staff on fear, low payments on auction with a struggling.
But I think that should be paid that it should be again going back to the place if they can help in in different situations.
But as a set, I don't think even Premier League players, whether the no negotiations, whether this will take 2 to 3 weeks to find a solution with any way you want to stop or no help teams longer down.
Lots of these plays in the Premier League have come from those positions.
A lot of these players in the Promenade and I will probably manage in these divisions as well, so if you're actually probably what is the most important thing to come out of you know, the Corona virus pandemic and I was affected.
Football is actually the fact that no club goes to the wall on.
Obviously, the lower down you go.
There's more chance of that happening.
I've said we've seen this season with Berry.
Have you?
Do you think that they will be unity amongst owners?
I'm just thinking, playing Devil's Advocate talking to two former players here.
Any club owners in these negotiations.
They understand what you're saying about going forward to understand what you're saying about the football pyramid.
But right now, this club out club is hemorrhaging.
Money hemorrhaging money away are fighting for our survival.
Is this the time to re negotiate those allowances?
Those rules?
The football club chairman of the ones that have signed the contracts?
Jeff.
They're the ones that have given the players the money.
There's no player ever walked into a Premier League managers offices are a chairman's office and said, You must give me that contract and you must put that number in.
So let's be clear here.
The owners knew what they were doing.
The sensible that some of the biggest and best businessman in the world room Premier League clubs.
Let's not start feeling sorry for them because they've signed contracts that they now count.
Fulfil.
What I do have real sympathy with them on is that this is unprecedented.
It's an economic tragedy as well as a health tragedy on there.
They would be reasonable in asking their players for support.
However, there is a way to go about it on.
I'll give you an example that I heard the other day from from a player.
If you bought a football club for 253 £100 million take Liverpool on now it's worth 2.6 billion or two billion and they sell it in five years for two billion on they made £1.7 billion profit.
But they had to put an extra 50 million in off 30 million in in these next few months to subsidize the velocities.
Is that really a hardship?
That's one end of the story.
Then there is the other end of this story, which is that flubs too.
To be fair, I haven't got the super wealthy on is the way the clubs are worth more than they paid for it.
The lower league clubs will need to follow all their non playing stuff.
I'm playing stuff.
They will need to do it to survive and they should do it and they should be supported in doing it cause they need that income on.
They need that job retention scheme relief.
However, there are clubs at the top of the league who, to be fair from a point of view of Do we need it?
It's a nice, too hard, but they didn't need it on its ear.
You talk about Sof, the wealthy owners of the Premier League clubs.
I do you think the players should support, But I think the way in which the whole thing's been handled from day 134 weeks ago has been a mess.
I don't think it's been quick enough.
I think ultimately it just shows the lack of leadership that we've got in football at the moment.
To come together and say capture the mood of the country, the very upstream, the leader of the country, Absa absolutely go.
We have to apply perspective at all times as the very top we talked about the sad lost Pep Guardiola suffered today back to the reality of the situation.
That is what is happening.
So this is very, very secondary.
But by the same token, football is a business and has to try and get his house in order.
It's like criticism of club sort when what to do when football starts playing again.
We don't know when it's gonna happen, but at the same time, clubs, like all businesses, can't just sit around and wait for lock down to finish everything go back to normal, but got to try and come up with some congenital contingency plans.
We've covered what's happened, how it's been said in their space, that made there what has happened now from.
But I'll start with you first.
Jeremy, what do you believe has happened now?
In order for this situation to be resolved on, for football to move forwards?
Well, I think first of all this place think I said earlier on this probably needs to be sort of the next week.
So bodies, I think, probably mentioned that it wasn't on quickly enough for the stars.
But I think last week you talked about that.
You can expect players to do this so quickly, so that's the sum.
There's no time for him.
I think Forget this thing of 20 Premier League clubs doing the same thing that is not gonna happen.
Yes, everyone is in this situation and some ways together.
But also every club will be looking at their own finances.
I'm looking after their own situation.
Symbol fail.
Oh, someone Liverpool have changed their mind, spares on new cash in and change the mandible.
The club's doing it a cz Wellington actually reaches.
They have to look after their own.
But I think the main thing right now is to make sure the football clubs right throughout the country.
But seeing the the Premier League, is that what we're talking about?
Make sure that nothing really serious can happen financially on again.
People may not believe it's a trembling in the morning when I speak to cure.
I'm sure God is speaking to people in different clubs that are clubs.
This is gonna really hit when they cannot be with signs of this.
So I think the main thing is clubs.
Get your own house sorted with your own players and come to some sort of agreement.
God, he's mentioning about players may be enough to contract some planes, maybe at different ages.
There's lots of different things involved, but every club in some way has got to come on, make an agreement and in some ways, look after themselves.
Some crooks may need more money, Proves May need last morning raid.
I think that's the face thing, really, to make sure the clubs, from from, you know, the top of the family to the to the bottom of the f L R, basically structured right and could be looked after in these next few months and then and only then.
Then you can start thinking okay, football could start there, and then we can get it going.
One of yourself to see the the health situation is a lot better in a situation that we're in right now.
Gary, just putting financed one side for a second.
Fans are actually emotion invested in their football clubs.
To what degree do you think they will judge their own football clubs with the crops conduct During this period?
I think they will judge their own football team something.
Jamie said that before he was obviously for oceans in his criticism of Liverpool in how they handled over the weekend and obviously then they reversed a decision.
So I think you understand how fun would look out for book club from amongst you, 90 points of governments, United Fund.
I'm so disappointed.
I'm disappointed.
It's taken three weeks for months United to come out with what would be a a meaningful statement.
I think months united to me, the most famous club in the world the most the biggest club in the Premier League, from revenue point of view, should be setting the tone and should be pioneering should be leading from the front and I'm not sure that I've seen that yet, but maybe it will come.
But if you ask me the question that you asked him before about what football can do, it can create a deal that would be suitable unpalatable to all stakeholders so that they can get on with it.
The second thing would be to change the direction of the mood towards footballers, football on the Premier League in general and just simple things.
You talk about the fans, Jeff.
I look, there are there have been some players who have done things over this sort of last three weeks whilst we've been in lock down, but I'd love to see a fitness session from a Premier League fitness coach with five Premier League players from that club.
I'd love to see Jurgen Klopp doing a fitness session every day with James Milner with Coal cellar with For me no, I'd love to see hurry Maguire the one with Rashford and pop for Marciel.
I'd love the fans to be able to join him with that session.
I'd love that to be some connection between the players, the clubs, the fans, the people who support the game, who looked again, the heroes to everybody that even doing the simple things Well, I've seen Marcus.
I told James Milner do something the other week, where he did a 442 formation with different things in his house.
It was really nice to see I saw it.
Sergio Aguero playing in the garden with his child, doing some skills.
But there's such simple things.
You see all the chefs on television, all the singers doing listening parts for albums and see all the chefs doing cooking demonstrations.
Why are football players connecting with the fans?
Why aren't we seeing content every day?
Simple content that could be thrown out there into our homes.
That would lift people that were going through difficult times, whether it be through health with three mental health, with through difficulties of child care and looking after vulnerable people.
Surely there's better ways in simple ways of doing this than basically being at each other's throats, which is what football looks like.
It's been for the last four or five days, slow in reacting, been in each of the smell's not been able to get to a collective agreement, can't agree for the reversing decisions that they're making publicly that's making them look silly.
And th