Whittaker signs new 5 year deal - Official

[calscot 0]

ERM, to me it seemed perfectly normal. Other teams were interested so he listened to what they had to say. Nothing wrong with that.

 

I don't think we should ever take this pilfering of fans wage packets as nothing wrong. There would be a difference in an environment where there is plenty of money and in a good economic situation. In a time when the club is struggling and when many of the people who actually provide the cash are taking pay freezes, cuts and increased pension contributions as well as having to absorb inflation, tax increases, high interest rates and the soaring cost of utilities and petrol, it leaves a very sour taste the mouth.

 

There used to be the excuse of a short, risky career etc but the riches and gap between the wealth of players and fans are now so embarrassing that to hold the club and therefore the punters to ransom to fund their next Aston Martin or whatever is positively quite grotesque, vulgar and insulting. Even far more so, when they are not even seen to be providing (pseudo) "value for money" in their own surreal environment - as Whittaker's popularity with the fans last season attests.

 

They may be able to earn more elsewhere, but avarice is still a sin or at least morally hollow in a great many cultures and philosophies. Thankfully, there are few individuals in normal life who work their ticket in this extreme way.

[Bears 0]

I don't think we should ever take this pilfering of fans wage packets as nothing wrong. There would be a difference in an environment where there is plenty of money and in a good economic situation. In a time when the club is struggling and when many of the people who actually provide the cash are taking pay freezes, cuts and increased pension contributions as well as having to absorb inflation, tax increases, high interest rates and the soaring cost of utilities and petrol, it leaves a very sour taste the mouth.

 

There used to be the excuse of a short, risky career etc but the riches and gap between the wealth of players and fans are now so embarrassing that to hold the club and therefore the punters to ransom to fund their next Aston Martin or whatever is positively quite grotesque, vulgar and insulting. Even far more so, when they are not even seen to be providing (pseudo) "value for money" in their own surreal environment - as Whittaker's popularity with the fans last season attests.

 

They may be able to earn more elsewhere, but avarice is still a sin or at least morally hollow in a great many cultures and philosophies. Thankfully, there are few individuals in normal life who work their ticket in this extreme way.

 

 

Not in my eyes. It's the way football is and it's not going to change, we either accept it or don;t go to games.

[calscot 0]

Not in my eyes. It's the way football is and it's not going to change, we either accept it or don;t go to games.

 

There are other choices. We may accept it happens for the time being but we don't have to condone it and can still at least frown upon it. The more acceptable it becomes the worse it will get and that greed above everything attitude could spread to the general populous.

 

The single minded and selfish pursuit of personal wealth at the expense of many others much less well off than yourself is truly an ignoble goal no matter how much it actually happens or how normal it becomes.

 

The world becomes a far worse place when everyone happily accepts and indeed compliments behaviour that is solely motivated by pure self-interest without regard to others.

 

"Greed is good" is a terrible mantra that is killing the world.

Edited July 4, 2011 by calscot

[Bears 0]

There are other choices. We may accept it happens for the time being but we don't have to condone it and can still at least frown upon it. The more acceptable it becomes the worse it will get and that greed above everything attitude could spread to the general populous.

 

The single minded and selfish pursuit of personal wealth at the expense of many others much less well off than yourself is truly an ignoble goal no matter how much it actually happens or how normal it becomes.

 

The world becomes a far worse place when everyone happily accepts and indeed compliments behaviour that is solely motivated by pure self-interest without regard to others.

 

"Greed is good" is a terrible mantra that is killing the world.

 

I'm sorry but the day Graeme Souness walked into Ibrox EVERYTHING changed. You could argue it was The Rangers that set this huge wage president in the UK when we started buying Butcher et-al. Remember mate Trevor Stevens was the highest paid footballer in the World for 2 or 3 years. MoJo would have been on silly money then the rest of the mob.

 

it seems you're late to the table on this one.

 

if anything the wages at Ibrox have come down as i know Trevor Stevens was on close to �£30K at Ibrox in his playing days.

[Zappa 0]

Have to say I'm delighted that we've managed to keep Whittaker. I don't think he'd be an easy player to replace by any means. I've had a real go at him at times when I think he's deserved it, but I've praised him when I think he's desrved it too and all in all I think he's been a cracking player for us over the past few years. He's played an important part in our successful team and trying to replace someone with his level of skill, versatility and experience would be a tough task if we'd only gotten �£1m or potentially zero for him. He makes mistakes as do all players, but at his age I think he will continue to improve over the next 2 or 3 years provided that he can stay free of serious injury.

[Bluedell 5,366]

The whole contract negotiations shenanigans have left a sour taste in the mouth about Whittaker - I hope he's not being paid a massive wage because he simply doesn't deserve it.

 

Useful player but no more - just have to hope he justify's Ally's astonishing faith in him.

 

I'd prefer if these negotiations were done behind closed doors. the fact that the information as to the level of his wages is being leaked, presumably by Whyte's PR guys, means that many fans are now left with a bad feeling against a player who has committed ghis future to us.

 

These negotiations have probably happened a hundred times before with players playing hardball, but they normally don't get made so public.

 

That leaves me with more of a sour taste rather than a player trying to maximise his earnings.

[calscot 0]

I think the trouble is that Whittaker is pretty much of an age where he should be at the peak of his career. At the moment that's a bit disappointing...

[Bears 0]

I'd prefer if these negotiations were done behind closed doors. the fact that the information as to the level of his wages is being leaked, presumably by Whyte's PR guys, means that many fans are now left with a bad feeling against a player who has committed ghis future to us.

 

These negotiations have probably happened a hundred times before with players playing hardball, but they normally don't get made so public.

 

That leaves me with more of a sour taste rather than a player trying to maximise his earnings.

 

I read it that it was his agent playing in the press?

[calscot 0]

I'd prefer if these negotiations were done behind closed doors. the fact that the information as to the level of his wages is being leaked, presumably by Whyte's PR guys, means that many fans are now left with a bad feeling against a player who has committed ghis future to us.

 

I disagree that he's committed his future to US, he's committed it to his huge wage packet. With players wages so high and inextricably linked to the welfare of the clubs and taken from the financial commitment of people who are not fairing well in the economic downturn, I would welcome far more transparency for players' wages.

 

 

These negotiations have probably happened a hundred times before with players playing hardball, but they normally don't get made so public.

 

I don't get the logic that the fact that something has happened before and that people have gotten away with it before automatically means that everyone should be let off scot-free from now on. I don't even see how it makes a difference to a moral viewpoint. If something is distasteful, the fact it has been done in secret or not noticed or highlighted, does not make it less distasteful.

 

I also think things have escalated dramatically in the last 20 years and gotten so out of control it will eventually kill the game as we know it. You can't easily compare Whittaker on 20k a week with Trevor Steven on 10k a week as UK's highest paid player. In an economic downturn it's much more in your face. It has already ended the careers of thousands of footballers who are the casualties of cuts made elsewhere - look at the current size of our squad. It has also almost put our club to the wall.

 

The game is sick due to the greed just as the banking world was sick but until there is a huge collapse for someone else to bail out, too many people think everything is rosy and fine with greed driving an industry.

 

That leaves me with more of a sour taste rather than a player trying to maximise his earnings.

 

I think that's because you have your purely business head on rather than something like your philanthropic one.

[calscot 0]

I'm sorry but the day Graeme Souness walked into Ibrox EVERYTHING changed. You could argue it was The Rangers that set this huge wage president in the UK when we started buying Butcher et-al. Remember mate Trevor Stevens was the highest paid footballer in the World for 2 or 3 years. MoJo would have been on silly money then the rest of the mob.

 

it seems you're late to the table on this one.

 

I don't think I'm late and if I am, I can't see how that matters. Maybe I was a bit late for my enthusiasm for recycling and composting, but I don't see why that should stop me now.

 

But I don't think your comparison stands up. Players wages were far lower then and that was for some of the best players in the UK. We could also afford those wages, without huge increases in tickets to a level where fans feel priced out the game, and at a time of economic boom. Rangers' finances were healthy and in the black, so the wages were not causing us to limp along and worrying about damaging losses or administration.

 

We are now crippling the club to pay much higher wages to mediocre players while losing targets to England's second division while many of our fans are being made unemployed or suffering from a reduced disposable income and personal wealth.

 

I fail to see how you can compare the two scenarios in this way.

 

It was not a great position before but you have to draw the line somewhere, and I think the line is now so far away, the Hubble telescope would have trouble resolving it.

 

if anything the wages at Ibrox have come down as i know Trevor Stevens was on close to �£30K at Ibrox in his playing days.

 

I personally recall Trevor becoming the UK's highest paid player on 10k a week. That also reflected his reputation as the UK's best player who would have befitted any top CL team. We're now talking about 20k for players who are targets for the likes of Cardiff City and Bursaspor.

 

Even now, I'd bet the wage bill is around double that of the Souness era. If nothing else I'm sure it is still now higher but with about half the playing staff. Would you care to compare the standard of player?

 

To me it's a bit like saying you're happy with the price of a tank of petrol compared to 20 years ago and would still be if the quality was dramatically reduced and the size of the tank halved.

 

Tell you something, I'm not happy with it. Doesn't mean I can do much about it but people trying to justify it doesn't make me feel any better about it either.