Talking to The Game

Martin Samuel’s column in TheGame last week again had you writing and e-mailing your thoughts on the Chief Football Correspondent’s response to Gerry Sutcliffe’s comments about footballers’ wages. But another hefty postbag was sparked by TheGame’s selection of the four greatest Manchester City matches — the 4-3 FA Cup defeat of Tottenham Hotspur in 2004 was considered by almost all to be a glaring omission. Fair point.

E-mail your comments on the weekend’s matches, the issues, the irritations and the injustices to thegame@thetimes.co.uk or by post to TheGame, Sports Desk, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT.

Mediocrity rewarded

The questioning of the amounts paid in wages to Premier League footballers is appropriate and Mr Sutcliffe is not alone. Film stars and pop groups earn their money in a profit and loss-making marketplace. Most of the highly paid footballers play for clubs that are heavily in debt and are kept going only by benefactors who pour in millions of pounds of their personal fortunes.

The abolition of the maximum wage recognised that star players were worth extra because they attracted higher attendances at matches. Few individual players nowadays will add revenue at the turnstiles to equate with their high earnings, even though clubs charge their supporters exorbitant sums to watch their teams.

Football is not alone in rewarding mediocrity with high salaries. However, directors and managers of football clubs do not seem to be interested in running a profitable business but instead seek wealthy benefactors to ensure their survival. Perhaps an answer might be to allow clubs to pay no more than a set percentage of their revenues on players’ collective wages.
Frank Bainbridge, Harrogate

JT gives lesson in manners

A week before the England versus Israel match at Wembley in September, I noticed John Terry in Watford. My friend asked him for his autograph for her son. Mr Terry gave it willingly and was pleasant and courteous. We then saw him pose for a photograph with a couple who were passing by and recognised him. I suspect Mr Sutcliffe could take a lesson in manners from Mr Terry. In a week when the public has been horrified by the level of salary and expenses that MPs are creaming off from taxpayers, Mr Sutcliffe would be well advised to keep his mouth shut and be thought stupid than open it and leave no room for doubt.
Pamela Coren, via e-mail

Audience’s verdict

It was reported that Arsenal and Manchester United had a live audience of more than one billion. While there are a number of people contributing off the field, it is the players whom people pay to see. Surely they are the people who should take a good proportion of the money, especially because their careers are short and they often suffer in later life for their extremes of physical effort and any injuries they have suffered. Thank goodness a billion people have the sense not to want to see Gerry Sutcliffe on television.
Brian Leonard, via e-mail

A game of two Citys

The best Manchester City game ever surely has to be the 4-3 win away to Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. They were 3-0 down, Barton had been sent off and there were 45 minutes to go. It took grit, determination, a little luck and a never-say-die attitude for the team to do what they did. I still watch the game at least once a week, just for the memories.
Graham Cooney, via e-mail

Edited by Catherine Riley

Comments

[shai levi]

England is our frind and we love this contry
Russia is our enemy(they support all of the evils contrys around the world)
I can promise you one thing, we are not going to lose this game.
ps. watch Bark Itzhaky and Maor Bozaglo, you'll be surprised

[Harriet]

why does no-one comment on the lower league players wage packets? These players in league 1, even 2, are getting an unjustified hefty sum of money for playing unattractive school boy football where fans can easily enjoy the same specticle watching middle aged men over the park. These are the players we should be having the real 'beef' with. The teams in the premier league are almost playing a different sport, the level of play is that much incomparable. Their wages are insane, but football is a business and taking into consideration how well the business is doing, the employee's are entitled to their share of the fortune. Same thing happened to me. In my summer job with M&S the company was doing well, and my salary happily went up 10p. The footballing matter is just the same, but on a slightly larger scale