Players salaries/bonuses

[Barry the bird boggler]

All the information in the original post seem quite logical and along the lines of the things I would have expected to be offered to players while in the Premiership.

The most important thing of it all is that if relegation occurs then wages will be cut back accordingly and perhaps some players may have a cut price release clause in their contracts.

To compete in the Premiership these are the sorts of things that need to be on offer to players - be interesting to note how the likely wage structure and "bonus" values compare to the likes of Wigan, Fulham, Southampton, Swansea, Stoke, Norwich, West Brom etc. as the most likely clubs we'd be fighting against.

[bassavage]

Just a thing on the £1k a point bonus thing. If I've read it correctly then the 18 players in the match day squad gain a bonus of £1k per point, right? How about our sub keeper? If (which has happened this season) McCarthy/Andersen don't play a single minute but they are on the bench do they end up with a £40+k (hopefully) bonus?

[Ian Royal]

Where's the money gone!!!!

[soggy biscuit]

You will have to trust me with this one but I can reveal a little more into the salaries and bonus scheme in place.

Jason Roberts broke the wages cap at RFC last season (no great surprise there) and was on circa £27k pw including bonuses. Most of the players will be renegotiating their packages now that we are in the Premier League but the club will insist that the salaries drop back down if we get relegated.

The players receive bonuses for assists, goals scored, clean sheets etc depending on their position (no great surprise either) but they will get a £1,000 per point bonus in the Premier League. I am not sure whether this is scaled depending on whether you play but this is quite important as it only applies to the 18 included in the match day squad - this is very important if you are unsure of your starting place or whether you will be a regular in the 18 man squad (specifically new signings - GM as an example!). There is also a bonus pot of circa £1.5m to be shared out amongst the squad if RFC avoid relegation - I would imagine this is also scaled based on appearances etc.

The above should give you some guidance when potential signings and wages are discussed in the press.

If you wouldn't want your own wages published and discussed on here then you probably shouldn't do it to others

[Dare to Dr£am]

You will have to trust me with this one but I can reveal a little more into the salaries and bonus scheme in place.

Jason Roberts broke the wages cap at RFC last season (no great surprise there) and was on circa £27k pw including bonuses. Most of the players will be renegotiating their packages now that we are in the Premier League but the club will insist that the salaries drop back down if we get relegated.

The players receive bonuses for assists, goals scored, clean sheets etc depending on their position (no great surprise either) but they will get a £1,000 per point bonus in the Premier League. I am not sure whether this is scaled depending on whether you play but this is quite important as it only applies to the 18 included in the match day squad - this is very important if you are unsure of your starting place or whether you will be a regular in the 18 man squad (specifically new signings - GM as an example!). There is also a bonus pot of circa £1.5m to be shared out amongst the squad if RFC avoid relegation - I would imagine this is also scaled based on appearances etc.

The above should give you some guidance when potential signings and wages are discussed in the press.

If you wouldn't want your own wages published and discussed on here then you probably shouldn't do it to others

Says one anonymous poster to another.

[PieEater]

Surely all the players already have existing incentives in their contracts including what would happen in the event of promotion (or relegation), why would the club be negotiating new contract terms like this unless they publicly announced new contracts were signed with an extended duration.

Cast your mind back to Sidwell who was reported to have played the first prem season on Championship wages rather than extend his contract on new wages.

[gazzer, loyal royal]

In regards to subs getting bonus based on points, its common practice for players to have a match day squad bonus, hence why some teams don't name a full bench as they'd have to pay a bonus for a player even if he doesn't get off the bench.

[Ian Royal]

Surely all the players already have existing incentives in their contracts including what would happen in the event of promotion (or relegation), why would the club be negotiating new contract terms like this unless they publicly announced new contracts were signed with an extended duration.

Cast your mind back to Sidwell who was reported to have played the first prem season on Championship wages rather than extend his contract on new wages.

Most of the players renegotiated contracts at that time as well. That's why Sidwell was on so much less than everyone else. Because the club weren't willing to cough up what he wanted for a new contract he was on his old contract plus any promotion increase clause if the other's hadn't renegotiated their contracts, he'd have been on the same as everyone else. By the time we were willing to pay he was tearing up the Prem and knew he could go anywhere he liked.

I'd expect most of the contracts had better promotion increases written into them this time around, but I'm also sure the players would be mental not to try and renegotiate their terms at this point. And the club can also take the opportuntiy to renegotiate in relegation wage decreases in more detail,. and increase release fee clauses.

[redscot]

The problem with Sidwell was not that the club did not cough up what he was worth, but that Sidwell wanted to move on. (And up...) Fair play to him for that. He had already "teared up" the championship and plenty of Premiership clubs would have bought him on that basis only.

I wonder if one grand per point is much of an carrot. It might be better for the players to share part of the profit.

[Ian Royal]

The problem with Sidwell was not that the club did not cough up what he was worth, but that Sidwell wanted to move on. (And up...) Fair play to him for that. He had already "teared up" the championship and plenty of Premiership clubs would have bought him on that basis only.

I wonder if one grand per point is much of an carrot. It might be better for the players to share part of the profit.

He was in talks about a contract before the season started, we wouldn't pay what he wanted. There was even a quote from him somewhere that riled loads on here, something about needing to think about his family and making sure he could provide for them.

Only about 3 clubs in the Premier League make a profit. And even if we made £6m again. It'd need a big slice of that to be worth it per player. And we could make profit and still finish bottom, so it's feck all incentive. An absolutely horrific idea.

[redscot]

I still feel Sidwell wanted to move on to a bigger club, thinking he had hit the big time. Sadly it did not turn out that way at Chelsea, but he had a shot at it. Even if Reading equaled Chelsea salary, he would still wish to play for Chelsea.

The real problem is the players motives. The good ones know they can move to another club. (Like Hunt/Kitson etc) The bad ones know they will have a job the next season anyway. So finding an incentive is difficult. Maybe one grand is enough, but I do not think so. A share of the TV rights or other income, might be more of an incentive as they might get more money. It is the players whom generate the income, so only fair they get to see some of it.

[Ian Royal]

Even if Reading equaled Chelsea salary, he would still wish to play for Chelsea.

Of course he did, but that happened significantly later through the season, not before it started.

The players get more than enough, and again you're talking about them getting a bonus without having to perform in the slightest with your idea.

[grey_squirrel]

The problem with Sidwell was not that the club did not cough up what he was worth, but that Sidwell's wife wanted him to move on.

Probably had a lot to do with it

[redscot]

Even before the season started Sidwell had an inkling he was on the up. He took a gamble of not signing a good offer. He did of course not know he would end up at Chelsea, but he had an agent and did read newspapers....

It is difficult to motive players whom only play for money, as they will only want more. At the same time, for some players it does not matter if the team goes down as their future is fixed.

[Millsy]

Thanks for the info CR.

You are clearly in the know some other way than hearing things in public.

My guess is that if i was to accidentally come across any info the club would rather I stayed quiet because if they want to tell everyone something they will when theyre ready. Otherwise it may jeopardise things. So some of us stay quiet. Not saying you should, but it may be something you or other people think about for the benefit of RFC.

[rhroyal]

There was even a quote from him somewhere that riled loads on here, something about needing to think about his family and making sure he could provide for them.

I remember that clearly.

Great respect to how he played out his contract with dedication, but what a ridiculous thing for him to say. He could have said "Premier League players earn more than me" or "I think I'm worth more" and I wouldn't have been happy with it, but it would have been more rational than "I need to support my family."

If I remember properly, he was being offered 15k a week; he would have been on more in a fortnight than my Dad got in a year and my parents supported me okay when I was growing up. When fans were making a big commitment for tickets on a fraction of the wages that he was being offered, it was an outrageous thing to say.

Still very pleased with the way he saw out his contract though so I will let one moment of idiocy go.

[Ian Royal]

There was even a quote from him somewhere that riled loads on here, something about needing to think about his family and making sure he could provide for them.

I remember that clearly.

Great respect to how he played out his contract with dedication, but what a ridiculous thing for him to say. He could have said "Premier League players earn more than me" or "I think I'm worth more" and I wouldn't have been happy with it, but it would have been more rational than "I need to support my family."

If I remember properly, he was being offered 15k a week; he would have been on more in a fortnight than my Dad got in a year and my parents supported me okay when I was growing up. When fans were making a big commitment for tickets on a fraction of the wages that he was being offered, it was an outrageous thing to say.

Still very pleased with the way he saw out his contract though so I will let one moment of idiocy go.

I thought it was perfectly reasonable, if perhaps never going to ome across well to many. He was always going to have a relatively short career, so had to maximise his earnings while he could to make sure he could look after his family in the manner he wanted to for the rest of his life. It's not like we were talking about the obscene £70k+ a week salaries.

[Woodcote Royal]

He will always command respect for not "Doing a Shorey" but, as was painfully obvious from the day he signed on the dotted line, he was the worst player in Chelea's squad. That's no disgrace when you're surrounded by world class performers but it highlights what a ridiculous move it was for a player with limited ability compared to many in the top flight.

What is more surprising is how little impact he has made since making more realistic moves to the likes of Villa and Fulham.

Regardless of how his most ardent fans rip up their keyboards in a desperate attempt to re-write history, Sidwell's departure from Reading and, more importantly, it's manner, was an unmititaged disaster from which he seems destined never to recover.

Whilst I'm sure he's done well enough to provide for that family of his, I believe he could have earned as well if not better whilst enjoying a more rewarding career had he not tried to be too clever by half.

[Mr Angry]

I can't think of a single player who was in the 106 squad that after leaving Reading went on to bigger and better things; ok, some played in the Premier League after we were relegated, but no-one lived up to the reputations they gained whilst playing for Reading.

It just shows that our success was based upon the sum of parts rather than a specific individual.

[Royal With Cheese]

He will always command respect for not "Doing a Shorey" but, as was painfully obvious from the day he signed on the dotted line, he was the worst player in Chelea's squad. That's no disgrace when you're surrounded by world class performers but it highlights what a ridiculous move it was for a player with limited ability compared to many in the top flight.

What is more surprising is how little impact he has made since making more realistic moves to the likes of Villa and Fulham.

Regardless of how his most ardent fans rip up their keyboards in a desperate attempt to re-write history, Sidwell's departure from Reading and, more importantly, it's manner, was an unmititaged disaster from which he seems destined never to recover.

Whilst I'm sure he's done well enough to provide for that family of his, I believe he could have earned as well if not better whilst enjoying a more rewarding career had he not tried to be too clever by half.

Wow - what a load of old codswallop.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the manner of his moving. Of any player I've seen pull on the Reading jersey and even when he knew he was moving the man never gave anything less than 100% in every game he played. I don't know what more you could have asked from a player.

As for the move to Chelsea, I was as surprised as anyone that they wanted him. He tried, he failed. I don't blame him for having a go. Since then he's been at a lower level and is established (save for hernia issues) at Fulham with an extended contract.

Of all the bad tastes we have had to endure, from Pardew to McGhee, from Shorey to Hunt, Sidwell conducted himself in an upfront and honest manner off the pitch and impeccably on it. He is as good as it gets in modern footballing terms.