That gap between reality and words.

Easier to understand than Bates programme notes.

Sustainability, not a word well known at Leeds United.

One of the annoying aspects of the regular twisted propaganda that is the programme notes of Mr KW Bates is the preposterous claims to be the advocate of a sustainable prudent business model. Putting aside for a moment how hollow that sounds to the hundreds of small businesses that lost out to the LUFC administration heist (not to mention the thousands of supporters who perceive Bates’s only business model to be bleeding them dry) the real issue is how little he and his cohorts understand what would be required for that spin to have any meaning. In order to ensure clarity I set out below the minimum required of any football club to be able to make what at Elland Road remain empty boasts.

We all know it, wages of players have become such a monster it is likely to consume the whole game soon. The figures beggar belief, £1.4b, yes billion pounds, spent in the PL on wages for footballers in 2009-10.

The wages to revenue ratio across all 20 PL clubs is 68% (all time high) but that also hides some extremes. Even in the championship we are talking figures of £357m, a staggering 88% ratio. Think about that, the second division had an average wage bill of nearly £16m for the likes of Scunthorpe United and Doncaster Rovers in 09-10, a figure that puts a different perspective on Bates’s “investment in Grayson” 11-12 £11m claim.

Wage increases are consistently outstripping any club revenues growth; Manchester City doubled their wage bill in one season! We all know what is driving all this, greed! The greed of players and agents, the greed, manifest in how they try to buy success, of clubs and the ambition greed of us the supporters. Given who are chairman is and how close greed his to heart its a wonder we havn’t had more positive outcomes from this age of greed!

No-one wants to be the first club to halt this pattern, they all claim that a direct correlation exists between wage levels and success, and in the top of the PL now that looks true. However from below the CL qualifying line all clubs are just paying out for expensive relegation avoiders and even then 3 clubs a season fail! We all praise Burnley and Blackpool for at least trying to be sensible but they also get relegated alongside those clubs, like Portsmouth, Newcastle United and West Ham United, that over stretch to breaking point.

So what will be done about it? Well in truth probably nothing. What could be done about it? Now that is a different question. It requires each individual club to commit to putting themselves on a path of long-term business stability (that’s “long-term” Bates). Once they do that then they can enact the standards by which they hold down wages.

Before I list those required actions I should point out that players just might find that being sensible themselves brings its own rewards. 15 years of average £25k a week builds up a nice nest-egg better than 2 years of £40k sandwiched by 6 years either side on £5k a week (although quite frankly £5k a week is still a bloody decent wage for anyone). Alongside wage restraint the clubs also need to practice personnel retention. How many different footballers have Leeds United used in the last 10 seasons? A frightening number over 200!

In order to both stabilise costs and to nurture a squad that can grow the following policies need to be put into place by every club:

• End individual negotiations and wage levels and replace with a three tier wage structure, developmental players (aged between 16 and 21), Squad players (21-31 years of age) and core group players (between 31-retirement). The balance of the squad should be 30% developmental, 50% squad and 20% core.
• The wages for each player with each segment to be exactly the same, no ifs or buts, no defenders less than strikers or foreign boys on more than locals, exactly the same.
• All contracts to state the wages for all divisions, what they go up to after promotion, what they go down to after relegation.
• Offer contract direct to player first, refuse to meet agent only in subsequent meetings always insisting player is involved. Talk direct to player, he can whisper to agent if he wants, do not talk to agent direct while player there. Be clear the club will not pay an agent, that is the players’ responsibility (save £300-£500k a year Bates).
• No extras other than achievement bonuses (and those should be the same for all and relate to end of the season not week in week out). No cars, houses, translators, flight tickets etc, clubs are employers not rich kids social services.
• All developmental players required to study as part of the terms of employment, all squad players required to so club/community related activity and all core players required to retrain for retirement.
• 5 year contracts as the norm for developmental and squad, some flexibility but only for exceptional circumstances. Core players to be on minimum of 3 years at start of contract.
• The progress of contract renegotiation to be thus; no discussion until existing contracts have under 1 year to run. At 9 months to go offer new contract (still within parameters set out above), with deadline of 6 months to run to be signed. If not signed by then, drop player out of squad and place on transfer list.
• No “big club” clauses, no buy-out clauses, no “minimum values”, in fact budget to never receive a penny in incoming transfer fees.
• No image rights discussions, they are your players they are already being paid for wearing the shirt!

Obviously in order for the above to work a club needs the following;

• A division between the manager and the person doing the contract stuff.
• A board that backs the manager in player conflicts.
• A long-termist approach.
• Good business sense to set appropriate wage levels.
• Patience.

You can see the problem at Elland Road with meeting that list of criteria but these are all minimum requirements if Bates outlandish claims of a sensible long term investment strategy are to pass mustard.

The problem with my suggestions is that for the first few attempts agents will just try and tout players elsewhere, but at some point, as more and more clubs cotton on to the reality the gravy train has to stop, players and agents will come to accept job security over greed as an acceptable achievement. It will be those clubs that act as outlined first who will reap the reward when the big crash accrues. Let it be soon please football gods, let it be soon. More importantly let it be soon for Leeds United under a different regime, one that has a relationship between its rhetoric and practice!