Ex-players blasted Liverpool for their move to
furlough non-playing staff on Saturday as Premier League clubs held talks over
possible pay cuts for first-team staff due to the coronavirus crisis. The
Anfield club said they would top up the public money made available from the
government to ensure staff received their full salaries. It follows similar
moves by Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich to take advantage of the
scheme, under which employers can claim for 80 percent of furloughed employees’
wages. But former Liverpool players Jamie Carragher and Stan Collymore strongly
criticised the move by the European champions, who in February announced
pre-tax profits of £42 million ($51 million) for 2018/19. “(Manager) Jurgen
Klopp showed compassion for all at the start of this pandemic, senior players
heavily involved in @premierleague players taking wage cuts. Then all that
respect & goodwill is lost, poor this @LFC,” tweeted Carragher. Collymore
was even more forthright, tweeting: “I don’t know of any Liverpool fan of any
standing that won’t be anything other than disgusted at the club for
furloughing staff.” Liverpool said staff would be paid 100 percent of their
salaries to ensure nobody was financially disadvantaged. A statement from the
club said: “Even prior to the decision on staff furloughing, there was a
collective commitment at senior levels of the club — on and off the pitch —
with everyone working towards a solution that secures jobs for employees of the
club during this unprecedented crisis.” – Premier League under fire – Clubs
were due to speak with players’ representatives on Saturday over a combination
of pay cuts and deferrals amounting to 30 percent of annual salary. The Premier
League has been seen as lagging behind other European leagues in its response
to coronavirus and was accused by one British lawmaker of operating in a “moral
vacuum”.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich have taken pay cuts
while the squad of Italian champions Juventus, including Cristiano Ronaldo,
have agreed to have their wages stopped for four months. But Danny Rose, on
loan at Newcastle from Tottenham, told the BBC that players were “keen to make
something happen”. “I can only speak for myself but I would have no problems
whatsoever contributing some of my wages to people who are fighting this on the
front line and to people who have been affected by what’s happening at the
minute,” he said. On Friday, a hospital in London identified Rose as the
individual behind a £19,000 donation. Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson has
led talks between Premier League club captains over what action they could
take, a move that began before Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Thursday joined
those singling out footballers. “It was just not needed for people who are not
involved in football to tell footballers what they should do with their money,”
added Rose. “I found that so bizarre.” Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has
backed players and managers to “do the right thing” by taking a pay cut and
said any decisions made should be taken in a united way. Bournemouth manager
Eddie Howe and Brighton counterpart Graham Potter have both taken voluntary
wage cuts. Burnley issued a stark warning on Saturday about the potential
financial fallout from the coronavirus, warning they would face a shortfall of
up to £50 million ($61 million) if it were not possible to complete the season.
“It’s a completely unprecedented situation that we and other Premier League clubs
face and which we could not have foreseen in any way only just a few weeks
ago,” said chairman Mike Garlick. “It’s now not just about Burnley or any other
individual club any more, it’s about the whole football ecosystem from the
Premier League downwards and all the other businesses and communities that feed
from that ecosystem.” The Premier League said on Friday that the 2019/20 season
would only return when it was “safe and appropriate to do so”. The league
agreed to provide a £125 million fund for the English Football League and
National League and pledged £20 million in charitable support for the National
Health Service and other groups.
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