55 redundancies at Arsenal

[ClaretTony]

Announced this afternoon

https://www.arsenal.com/news/club-update-2020

[Swizzlestick]

£300,000 a week is allegedly the latest contract offer for Aubameyang.

It's insane.

[ecc]

Scandalous.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Ozil's new deal looks a great idea

[ClaretTony]

£300,000 a week is allegedly the latest contract offer for Aubameyang.

It's insane.

That was my first thought

[Swizzlestick]

That was my first thought

Something has to give, surely? When people's livelihoods are being wrecked by the same businesses spending absolute fortunes. Could this pandemic provoke a sea change? I don't know. It's outrageous.

They're not the only ones - Liverpool were prepared to put large numbers of staff on furlough until public pressure told. Then in the next breath, they're spending north of a million on a firework display for their title win.

[NottsClaret]

That's business I'm afraid. They still need to win games, so need players like Aubameyang. There aren't many of him, hence the £300k a week.

They don't need hospitality staff - or ticket office staff now - so those positions are gone. Doesn't really matter what fans think, as long as enough armchair viewers renew their subscriptions to Sky, the money will keep flowing from them to the likes of Aubameyang.

[Flying Without Ings]

£300,000 a week is allegedly the latest contract offer for Aubameyang.

It's insane.

As insane as it is, he's their star player. By not keeping him they will lose a huge amount of revenue in itself. I'm not trying to justify the wage offer but it will probably have a knock on effect if he leaves on a free in less than a year.

[bfcjg]

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the right foot.

[bfcjg]

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the left foot.

[BenWickes]

They're not the only ones - Liverpool were prepared to put large numbers of staff on furlough until public pressure told. Then in the next breath, they're spending north of a million on a firework display for their title win.

I had that in mind when Liverpool advertised on national radio the other week. Greatest Hits radio I think it was. They used the tagline 'You won't just be working, you'll BE PART OF THE TEAM'.

Of course I sent them my CV and salary expectations regarding a KP job. I wasn't being greedy I only wanted £50,000 a week but willing to relocate for inclusive accommodation. They were not amused.

[Swizzlestick]

As insane as it is, he's their star player. By not keeping him they will lose a huge amount of revenue in itself. I'm not trying to justify the wage offer but it will probably have a knock on effect if he leaves on a free in less than a year.

All fair, but I think the chasm now between these astronomic wage offers and people on the lower end is just too much now. As highlighted above, it needs affirmative action by people generally re Sky and so on. Perhaps a better example would be players who don't even see the first team who are still raking in £40 - £50k a week.

[joey13]

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the foot.

Could have just said feet

[tiger76]

All fair, but I think the chasm now between these astronomic wage offers and people on the lower end is just too much now. As highlighted above, it needs affirmative action by people generally re Sky and so on. Perhaps a better example would be players who don't even see the first team who are still raking in £40 - £50k a week.

Step forward Ben Gibson, i cancelled my VM subscription over a year ago, and TBH i haven't missed it.

The wages are obscene, but i can't see anything changing anytime soon alas.

There is a danger that football is in danger of losing it's community roots, and once that happens they'll find it hard to regain those roots.

[NottsClaret]

Honestly, some folk sound like it's a tax imposed on you from the government. Cancel Sky. The money will soon dry up, it's all from TV. Do you think the Arabs and Oligarchs would give a toss about association football in Northern England if there wasn't huge amounts of cash, exposure and advertising swilling around?

Go and watch local football, and obviously Burnley, when we're allowed to. Nobody is getting £50k a week on the back of what we're paying for season tickets. But otherwise, stop handing your cash to Sky to pass on to the likes of Aubameyang while whining about how they're paid too much. It's your money.

The redundancies are a separate issue. Arsenal is a business, and every business will be making the same calls now.

[mdd2]

It will only return to some sense when we supporters stop paying for TV coverage and stop going to watch it but then the last thing to go will be players contracts which have to be honoured-so it will always start with the less well paid. You have to question the players taking away oodles of money not forgoing some of it to keep some of the staff employed

[Jenny55]

Do we not think that BFC may do the same with the match day hospitality staff? Realistically it is unlikely they will be offering catering and lounges, even though the season packages have already been sold for next season. If they did have a limited hospitality offering it is doubtful that all of the staff would be required. As many of these are part time staff, if BFC do shed some of them it would be good if they could somehow give them priority on the match day jobs when,or if ever things get back to some sort of normality.

[jojomk1]

There is a certain time in the year where all Arsenal players donate a days pay to the Arsenal Foundation

It is portrayed by the club as a wonderful gesture

Although, to be fair, it's probably something that most players at other clubs don't do

[Paul Waine]

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the foot.

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the foot.

I see you gave it both barrels there, jg.

[bfcjg]

I see you gave it both barrels there, jg.

Well they are called the Gunners.

[2 Bee Holed]

Football is in danger of shooting itself in the foot.

What, both feet?

[Wile E Coyote]

That's business I'm afraid. They still need to win games, so need players like Aubameyang. There aren't many of him, hence the £300k a week.

They don't need hospitality staff - or ticket office staff now - so those positions are gone. Doesn't really matter what fans think, as long as enough armchair viewers renew their subscriptions to Sky, the money will keep flowing from them to the likes of Aubameyang.

you're right its business, but even though there's been silly money in the game for decades, there'll surely come a breaking point.
The wealthier clubs are only where they are because of the structure beneath them, once that begins to fail it will have a knock on.
Clubs in the lower leagues are in danger more so than ever before.I get it that fans want success and will ignore the colossal wages if their team is doing well, but one day all this will come back to bite them.

[Stayingup]

£300,000 a week is allegedly the latest contract offer for Aubameyang.

It's insane.

If they don't keep him whose going to score for them?

[claretburns]

Fortunately I have never been made redundant, so not sure how the process takes place, does the company need to express a reason for the redundancy taking place?

I imagine it will be due to "lack of work" because of no fans being allowed in and therefore matchday staff will not be needed for the foreseeable. However if a reason is due to "money issues" due to Covid-19 and then a contract is offered to Aubameyang on £300,000 a week, plus all the other player wages the club/business of Arsenal pays, would the staff being made redundant have a legal option to sue the club/business of Arsenal due to the hypocrisy of the "money issues" reason?

[Quickenthetempo]

Arsenal players not happy with 55 staff being made redundant. They agreed 12.5% wage cut in April after receiving assurance nobody would lose jobs. Yesterday’s news left squad angry & they plan to raise it with #AFC bosses. With @gunnerblog @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/OWotcinKhh

[Dyched]

Each section in a football club has to be run like a business. The club shop should be run as a normal clothing store. The catering side of things should be run like a restaurant. The income Arsenal receive from tv money etc is the playing side of things and so the money is used for players. If each section can’t sustain itself then unfortunately people will lose their jobs. People whinging about player x, y, z is weird. Imagine us selling Tarks cos the club shop can’t sustain it self. It’s ******* daft.

[ClaretTony]

Fortunately I have never been made redundant, so not sure how the process takes place, does the company need to express a reason for the redundancy taking place?

I imagine it will be due to "lack of work" because of no fans being allowed in and therefore matchday staff will not be needed for the foreseeable. However if a reason is due to "money issues" due to Covid-19 and then a contract is offered to Aubameyang on £300,000 a week, plus all the other player wages the club/business of Arsenal pays, would the staff being made redundant have a legal option to sue the club/business of Arsenal due to the hypocrisy of the "money issues" reason?

Companies don’t make people redundant but the actual jobs. There is then a period of time when they cannot recruit into those positions.

[ElectroClaret]

Gunners now grabbed Willian from Chelsea.
The 32 year old signed a three year contract worth from £180,000 to £220,000 per week depending on who you believe. Chelsea would only offer a two year deal.
(Sun/Mail/Guardian)

Money to burn it seems apart from paying backroom staff.....should go down well.

[tiger76]

It would help Arsenal if they could get Ozil off the wage bill, but he's sitting out his contract, which of course he is perfectly entitled to do, but you'd have thought at this stage of his career he'd be looking to move just to get some first team football, as Sanchez did by taking a big drop in wages to get his move to Inter.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53763257

[Quickenthetempo]

It would help Arsenal if they could get Ozil off the wage bill, but he's sitting out his contract, which of course he is perfectly entitled to do, but you'd have thought at this stage of his career he'd be looking to move just to get some first team football, as Sanchez did by taking a big drop in wages to get his move to Inter.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53763257

Drop in wages?

Man Utd paid Sanchez 9m to move.

He will of received his full contract off United while on loan with Inter paying United whatever they agreed.

[tiger76]

Drop in wages?

Man Utd paid Sanchez 9m to move.

He will of received his full contract off United while on loan with Inter paying United whatever they agreed.

That may well be true, but nobody forces the clubs to offer these crazy contracts, and you'd think examples such as the 2 mentioned would be warnings to club owners not to offer silly money, but I somehow have my doubts.

[Quickenthetempo]

That may well be true, but nobody forces the clubs to offer these crazy contracts, and you'd think examples such as the 2 mentioned would be warnings to club owners not to offer silly money, but I somehow have my doubts.

Sponsors who pay big bucks demand big player signings to sell more shirts and advertise the brand more.

[tiger76]

Sponsors who pay big bucks demand big player signings to sell more shirts and advertise the brand more.

Even if those signings prove to be gash on the pitch, the game really has gone mad.

[Rileybobs]

Players salaries have no bearing on people being made redundant. Do you expect Arsenal, or any other business, to pay people to do a job that doesn’t need doing?

[Conroysleftfoot]

Players salaries have no bearing on people being made redundant. Do you expect Arsenal, or any other business, to pay people to do a job that doesn’t need doing?

So if Arsenal paid him 'only ' 150k a week instead of 200k they wouldn't have any money left over to pay the staff?

[Rileybobs]

So if Arsenal paid him 'only ' 150k a week instead of 200k they wouldn't have any money left over to pay the staff?

Why would they pay staff that they don’t need?

[Conroysleftfoot]

Why would they pay staff that they don’t need?

Do they need Willan? I would have thought they need a better defence if they want to challenge the top six?

[Rileybobs]

Do they need Willan? I would have thought they need a better defence if they want to challenge the top six?

They need footballers, yes. If they chose not to sign Willian it wouldn’t change the fact that they have a number of people under their employment who aren’t required. It would be really bad business to pay these people to sit at home watching tv.

Arsenal aren’t making redundancies because they can’t afford to pay their staff. They’re making redundancies because they don’t need their services. Willian is completely irrelevant.

[bfcmik]

So if Arsenal paid him 'only ' 150k a week instead of 200k they wouldn't have any money left over to pay the staff?

The money saved would have been used to entice another player by adding 50k per week to their wage. £2.5M is not huge when your turnover is somewhere above £300M per year. None of it would have been paid to people they didn't need though, such as catering staff.

[Conroysleftfoot]

They need footballers, yes. If they chose not to sign Willian it wouldn’t change the fact that they have a number of people under their employment who aren’t required. It would be really bad business to pay these people to sit at home watching tv.

Arsenal aren’t making redundancies because they can’t afford to pay their staff. They’re making redundancies because they don’t need their services. Willian is completely irrelevant.

I thought we were all hoping that the Covid pandemic would force a change in the way football, especially the Premier League, conducted itself, but no it will still carry o n paying ridiculous amounts per week. 200k a week is absolutely obscene.

[Rileybobs]

I thought we were all hoping that the Covid pandemic would force a change in the way football, especially the Premier League, conducted itself, but no it will still carry o n paying ridiculous amounts per week. 200k a week is absolutely obscene.

I don’t know why anyone thought that Covid would have any affect on the popularity of football and hence the wages that the top players earn. It never made sense to me.

It is an obscene amount of money, as is the amount that other top sportspeople and entertainment stars earn. What has that got to do with Arsenal making redundancies?

[Conroysleftfoot]

I don’t know why anyone thought that Covid would have any affect on the popularity of football and hence the wages that the top players earn. It never made sense to me.

It is an obscene amount of money, as is the amount that other top sportspeople and entertainment stars earn. What has that got to do with Arsenal making redundancies?

It will have an impact on the popularity of football. People will find, and have found, different things to spend their money on. You only need to look at the people who have posted comments on this board.
I just feel sorry for the people who have lost their jobs at Arsenal and could well be struggling to put food in the table.

[Rileybobs]

It will have an impact on the popularity of football. People will find, and have found, different things to spend their money on. You only need to look at the people who have posted comments on this board.
I just feel sorry for the people who have lost their jobs at Arsenal and could well be struggling to put food in the table.

Of course. I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own. But that has nothing to do with Aubameyang or Willian. In the same way that someone losing a job at Vue Cinema has nothing to do with the amount that Tom Hanks will earn from his next picture.

[Juan Tanamera]

Is Tom Hanks employed by Vue Cinemas these days?

[Rileybobs]

Is Tom Hanks employed by Vue Cinemas these days?

I’m not sure. If he is I expect he’d be a damn good employee. Heroic yet modest no doubt.

[Conroysleftfoot]

Of course. I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own. But that has nothing to do with Aubameyang or Willian. In the same way that someone losing a job at Vue Cinema has nothing to do with the amount that Tom Hanks will earn from his next picture.

I'm not blaming the players, I'm pointing the finger at the person who decides to give them £30million over the next three years. I was hoping, stupidly it seems, that what has happened over the last 6 months might bring about a rethink about how football moved forward.

[Rileybobs]

I'm not blaming the players, I'm pointing the finger at the person who decides to give them £30million over the next three years. I was hoping, stupidly it seems, that what has happened over the last 6 months might bring about a rethink about how football moved forward.

But what is actually wrong with the world’s best footballers earning enormous amounts of money? What about Anthony Joshua, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray? What about Ed Sheeran and Tom Hanks?

These people are paid a lot of money because they are extremely talented at what they do, people pay a lot of money to watch them do it and companies pay a lot of money to be associated with them. What’s the issue?

[Juan Tanamera]

I think the point that conroysleftfoot is trying to make is that the ridiculous amounts of money paid to the likes of Aubameyang and Willian is by the same company making 55 people, lower down the pay scale, redundant.
Quite sh*tty really.

[Rileybobs]

I think the point that conroysleftfoot is trying to make is that the ridiculous amounts of money paid to the likes of Aubameyang and Willian is by the same company making 55 people, lower down the pay scale, redundant.
Quite sh*tty really.

I know, I understand the point and totally sympathise with the people losing their jobs. But would you expect any organisation to continue employing people to sit around twiddling their thumbs? It wouldn’t happen in any other business where the people at the top will also be earning top dollar. In some organisations it may be the higher earners whose jobs become redundant whereas the lower paid keep their jobs.

[Jakubclaret]

I think the point that conroysleftfoot is trying to make is that the ridiculous amounts of money paid to the likes of Aubameyang and Willian is by the same company making 55 people, lower down the pay scale, redundant.
Quite sh*tty really.

It's absolutely appalling in every shape & form.