Club policy on wages in Times

[Huntley & Palmer]

indeed, it wasn't a coincidence Sidwell ended the season with no contract, it was all planned from the start of the last season if not before - more likely from the day we got promotion unfortunately.

Him and his agent took a huge gamble the season before we got promoted when the original offer was on the table. It paid off in this instance and fair play to themx

And to the club, who took great advantage of the situation.

Quite apart from not giving into his wage demands which would have resulted in the whole squad demanding similar increases. By keeping Sidwell on a lower contract and in a position where he knew he was in the shop window, he was challenged to prove to other clubs he was worth the money. We won from that as much as he did.

Wholeheartedly agree with you, it was win/win for both parties. I suppose the only slight sour point is that we were unable to recoup any compensation for his services over the years from a financial standpoint. It still makes me laugh when fans get in such a hissy fit about these types of scenario

[TVPRoyal]

Interesting comments from Nicky Hammond on the OS -- paraphrasing..

"We would love to bring in a couple of star names, that people would sit up take note of" ... "The Group (players) would accept players coming in on high wages if they were quality players" ..... "We are looking for a couple of players that would improve the Team not the squad"

Looks to me as if we will be happy to break our wage structure if we can find Qualitity players that want come to Reading over Villa, Everton, Boro etc

[Huntley & Palmer]

I think pitching ourselves against them is very pleasing and good to hear, if a little over ambitious. I don't think we would stand much of a chance of taking players away from them if the valuation of the player is met by all parties

[RoyalBlue]

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t blame the players.

Oh yes, you can blame one or two who got greedy and wanted more. Steve "I have got a wife and a kid to think about" Sidwell is a perfect example.

Actually, The problem is clubs willing to pay stupid wages.

If Steve Sidwell wasn't able to find a club willing to pay him £50k a week he wouldn't be on £50k a week.

I suspect you Mr Cruiser would be more than happy to leave your present employers if an identical position came up offering double your present salary, even if you did not need the extra cash.

Maybe not if they said he wasn't allowed to spend his day posting on HNA!

And if we cap wages, we would just see a hell of a lot of premiership players start heading towards La Liga and Serie A etc. I could happily live with that but unfortunately it's a vicious circle. The 'stars' go, attendance and viewing figures drop, revenue slows and all the work the Premiership has done over the years is gone. Never gonna happen.

But would be lose that many to other leagues? I thought our wages were already some way ahead of many of the European leagues. And would that many people stop watching, just because some of the top stars left?

As for the work the Premiership has done, have they been working in the best direction/interests of the English game as a whole? Or have they really just been working for the benefit of the approved members of their exclusive club?

[Forbury Lion]

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t blame the players.

Oh yes, you can blame one or two who got greedy and wanted more. Steve "I have got a wife and a kid to think about" Sidwell is a perfect example.

Actually, The problem is clubs willing to pay stupid wages.

If Steve Sidwell wasn't able to find a club willing to pay him £50k a week he wouldn't be on £50k a week.

I suspect you Mr Cruiser would be more than happy to leave your present employers if an identical position came up offering double your present salary, even if you did not need the extra cash.

Maybe not if they said he wasn't allowed to spend his day posting on HNA!

Plus they'd make him wear a different coloured uniform.

[SpaceCruiser]

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t blame the players.

Oh yes, you can blame one or two who got greedy and wanted more. Steve "I have got a wife and a kid to think about" Sidwell is a perfect example.

Actually, The problem is clubs willing to pay stupid wages.

I think it works both ways really. The club might offer silly wages because they are desperate to have/keep the player, but on the other hand players do make greedy demands and then all other players follow suit. A club has to decide whether they can afford it. If they ignore it, then it's their own fault for ignoring their own budget to satisfy the player's demand. Then again, there is that example by Dirk Gently about Seth Johnson going to Leeds and them offering him loads of cash without bothering to ask what he wanted.

[No Hoops]

I wonder how much Mr M paid himself a week

[Top Flight]

But it was available - JUST NOT AT READING!!!!!!

How oxf*rd difficult is it????

You need to calm down.

I'm just thinking of players who have the attitude of "Pay me more or I'm off". Sidwell was admirable in seeing out his contract and playing with full commitment despite turning down the contract offer. All too often players threaten to leave if they're not being paid more than what they currently earn and can't get more than what the club offer - ie. holding the club to ransom. It's a bit unfair when Reading offers Sidwell the top wage they can possibly offer and Sidwell smacks them in the face with the comment "I have to think about my wife and kid". What else can the club do? They not going to offer £50K a week. So I have no problems with him going to Chelsea to further his career ambitions, but to leave because we couldn't pay him more is not nice, is it?

You're never gonna get over that one comment from Sidwell are you Space Cruiser.......

[SpaceCruiser]

But it was available - JUST NOT AT READING!!!!!!

How oxf*rd difficult is it????

You need to calm down.

I'm just thinking of players who have the attitude of "Pay me more or I'm off". Sidwell was admirable in seeing out his contract and playing with full commitment despite turning down the contract offer. All too often players threaten to leave if they're not being paid more than what they currently earn and can't get more than what the club offer - ie. holding the club to ransom. It's a bit unfair when Reading offers Sidwell the top wage they can possibly offer and Sidwell smacks them in the face with the comment "I have to think about my wife and kid". What else can the club do? They not going to offer £50K a week. So I have no problems with him going to Chelsea to further his career ambitions, but to leave because we couldn't pay him more is not nice, is it?

You're never gonna get over that one comment from Sidwell are you Space Cruiser.......

Nope, it was a disgraceful comment!

[Woodcote Royal]

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t blame the players.

Oh yes, you can blame one or two who got greedy and wanted more. Steve "I have got a wife and a kid to think about" Sidwell is a perfect example.

Get a life Spacey. He was offered more money and took it. No person is going to turn round and say "What? That's per week? I couldn't possibly accept that much, please pay me less and keep the rest"

I thought I was supposed to be the one who was obsessed by Sidwell yet every time, without fail, that someone posts anything less than complimentary about "the best midfielder we've ever had" you're in there like a rat up a drain pipe

Thank God we saved 25k a week in wages for someone (Shorey) whose performances more than justify that kind of wage.......................and if Spacey needs a life , so do you.

[floyd__streete]

Thank God we saved 25k a week in wages for someone (Shorey) whose performances more than justify that kind of wage.......................and if Spacey needs a life , so do you.

Although isn't Hughes > Shorey according to you in a previous life?

[ReadingFlan]

Listen to yourselves talking about money and how much we have offered so and so to stay etc etc . It makes me sick !
The top 6 will disappear into a European League very soon and we will be left with whats left. Football is ruined forever ! Thank god for chairman like Madjeski who still believe in principles. For God & Ulster

[floyd__streete]

Thank god for chairman like Madjeski who still believe in principles. For God & Ulster

And fair play to you too for displaying your own principles (sic.) so clearly at the end there on this increasingly pathetic and farcical message board.

[Dirk Gently]

Listen to yourselves talking about money and how much we have offered so and so to stay etc etc . It makes me sick !
The top 6 will disappear into a European League very soon and we will be left with whats left. Football is ruined forever ! Thank god for chairman like Madjeski who still believe in principles. For God & Ulster

Let's hope they do disappear, because it'll be the saving of football - real, competitive football, where every team has a chance to win the trophy. OK, we may not see the megastars any more, but we'll see passionate competitive football.

And when the big teams come crawling back a few years later because no-one will be interested in watching Arsenal v Sparta Prague in a meaningless mid-table, end of season, clash, we can start again.

[RoyalBlue]

Listen to yourselves talking about money and how much we have offered so and so to stay etc etc . It makes me sick !
The top 6 will disappear into a European League very soon and we will be left with whats left. Football is ruined forever ! Thank god for chairman like Madjeski who still believe in principles. For God & Ulster

Let's hope they do disappear, because it'll be the saving of football - real, competitive football, where every team has a chance to win the trophy. OK, we may not see the megastars any more, but we'll see passionate competitive football.

And when the big teams come crawling back a few years later because no-one will be interested in watching Arsenal v Sparta Prague in a meaningless mid-table, end of season, clash, we can start again.

Well said sir!

It's ironic that having waited so long to get to the promised land, more than a few of us have realised the neighbourhood isn't anywhere near as attractive as it looked from the outside.

[Stranded]

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t blame the players.

Oh yes, you can blame one or two who got greedy and wanted more. Steve "I have got a wife and a kid to think about" Sidwell is a perfect example.

Get a life Spacey. He was offered more money and took it. No person is going to turn round and say "What? That's per week? I couldn't possibly accept that much, please pay me less and keep the rest"

I thought I was supposed to be the one who was obsessed by Sidwell yet every time, without fail, that someone posts anything less than complimentary about "the best midfielder we've ever had" you're in there like a rat up a drain pipe

Thank God we saved 25k a week in wages for someone (Shorey) whose performances more than justify that kind of wage.......................and if Spacey needs a life , so do you.

Right back at ya big guy.

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

indeed, it wasn't a coincidence Sidwell ended the season with no contract, it was all planned from the start of the last season if not before - more likely from the day we got promotion unfortunately.

Him and his agent took a huge gamble the season before we got promoted when the original offer was on the table. It paid off in this instance and fair play to themx

And to the club, who took great advantage of the situation.

Quite apart from not giving into his wage demands which would have resulted in the whole squad demanding similar increases. By keeping Sidwell on a lower contract and in a position where he knew he was in the shop window, he was challenged to prove to other clubs he was worth the money. We won from that as much as he did.

Wholeheartedly agree with you, it was win/win for both parties. I suppose the only slight sour point is that we were unable to recoup any compensation for his services over the years from a financial standpoint. It still makes me laugh when fans get in such a hissy fit about these types of scenario

I would on the whole agree with the above as well, though the lack of transfer fee for Sidwell still frustrates me a little. He could have agreed our offer and put himself in a position where a fee was required for his services. In a situation similar to Thierry Henry he could have then decided to move on to pastures new the following season with the knowledge that Reading would get a fee for him. Theres no secret that players will not always seek to honour their contracts in todays environment so player loyalty is not really an issue here, rather the fee we deserved for nurturing his talent. I suppose Sidwell's arguement against this would be that he had the interest from clubs there and then and didnt want to miss the opportunity, but a player of his ability should keep clubs interested no matter what contractual status

[papereyes]

indeed, it wasn't a coincidence Sidwell ended the season with no contract, it was all planned from the start of the last season if not before - more likely from the day we got promotion unfortunately.

Him and his agent took a huge gamble the season before we got promoted when the original offer was on the table. It paid off in this instance and fair play to themx

And to the club, who took great advantage of the situation.

Quite apart from not giving into his wage demands which would have resulted in the whole squad demanding similar increases. By keeping Sidwell on a lower contract and in a position where he knew he was in the shop window, he was challenged to prove to other clubs he was worth the money. We won from that as much as he did.

Wholeheartedly agree with you, it was win/win for both parties. I suppose the only slight sour point is that we were unable to recoup any compensation for his services over the years from a financial standpoint. It still makes me laugh when fans get in such a hissy fit about these types of scenario

I would on the whole agree with the above as well, though the lack of transfer fee for Sidwell still frustrates me a little. He could have agreed our offer and put himself in a position where a fee was required for his services. In a situation similar to Thierry Henry he could have then decided to move on to pastures new the following season with the knowledge that Reading would get a fee for him. Theres no secret that players will not always seek to honour their contracts in todays environment so player loyalty is not really an issue here, rather the fee we deserved for nurturing his talent. I suppose Sidwell's arguement against this would be that he had the interest from clubs there and then and didnt want to miss the opportunity, but a player of his ability should keep clubs interested no matter what contractual status

I just don't think the player has any duty to the club to sign a contract merely so the club will get a fee for him.

He honoured his contract and he moved on. It has happened in the past and it will happen again.

[Millsy]

Absolutley no probs with Sidders moving on for more money.

Yes I suppose techinically it is greed, but to be fair it's no more greedy than anyone else - who here wouldn't want more money for the same job if offered it? We're all greedy, but not in a bad way.

Leave Sidders alone. I'd have done the same as would every single other person with half a brain cell.

[nivek elyod]

Its strange how many threads get back to Sidders still. Some people really need to move on...