Footballers will see salary capping, Mawhinney

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Footballers will see salary capping, Mawhinney The outgoing Football League chairman, Brian Mawhinney, stated that it is inevitable that salary capping will occur because the current business model of England’s professional football league cannot be sustained without change.

Mawhinney stepped down from his position of chairman on Friday to Greg Clarke after seven years with a harsh warning that the clubs are spending more on players’ wages then is actually in their budget.

He continued to say that the business model is broken which can be seen throughout the administrations and that some clubs actually spend around 85% of their income on wages, which is not a sustainable business model in any setting.

In terms of a salary cap, Mawhinney stated that the Championship clubs are not ready to commit to the idea but it will need to happen down the line because it simply will not be sustainable in the long term.  He strongly campaigned for the introduction of a cap throughout his tenure as the Chairman of the League, which he concedes that many did not approve of him due to the fact that he was so vocal on the matter.

In particular, Mawhinney was questioned about Stockport County whose club has faced administration since the month of April last year, and there is still no resolution.  If they do not figure out a way to get out of the whole by next season the team will be in breach of Football League regulations.  He stated that if he were a fan of the team he would be quite concerned.

Manchester United V Arsenal in 3D on Sky

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Manchester United V Arsenal in 3D on Sky Sky will feature a live Premier League matches that will be broadcast to nine UK pubs over the weekend to kick off its introduction of the UK’s first channel to air 3D television.

The match can be viewed in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Dublin and will feature the match between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Sky plans to add its Sky 3D channel to customers who subscribe to its Sky+HD plan by April.

The Sky 3D channel will feature documentaries, movies, entertainment, and sporting events.  In order to view the content provided in 3D viewers will need to pick up a pair of 3D glasses.

3D has grown massively in popularity since cinemas started to show films in 3D such as Avatar, although 3D ready televisions will not be available on the consumer market until later in the year.

Director of strategic product development for Sky, Gerry O’Sullivan, stated that due to the fact the public has embraced 3D in movie theatres, the company is confident that there will be a high demand for their new television channel.

Other 3D events that will be filmed include the 2010 World Cup and two of the Six Nations championship matches.  The latter will be shown in cinemas around the UK.

Sky also has promised to air a Premier League game once a week on its 3D channel once it fully launches.

Director of Sky operations, Darren Long stated that when television moved from black and white to colour there was an amazing spark of excitement which believes will happen once 3D television truly hits the market.

Anger at Northern Rock’s Newcastle sponsorship

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Anger at Northern Rock’s Newcastle sponsorship The State owned Northern Rock met with public disapproval yesterday following the announcement that they will spend around £10m to sponsor the Newcastle United football team.

Campaign director of the Taxpayer’s Alliance, Mark Wallace, stated that although he is a fan of Newcastle, the proposal is ridiculous because a bank that needed money from the government should be more focused on repaying the tax payers and not helping out a football team.

Wallace continued to state that even if they planned to spend the £10m on advertising alone there are still better ways to spend the money that would help increase the value of the investment.

The Northern Rock deal is worth around 500 times more than what an average Northern Worker makes, which is £20,000.

In fact, the offer is even more than other football clubs receive and some of those clubs are larger and more successful teams than Newcastle.

For example, yesterday Birmingham City, which is in the Premier League, signed a five year deal valued at about £8m.

The Northern Rock was bailed out in February of 2008 after the panic that caused customers to line up down the street in an attempt to withdraw their money before the bank went bankrupt.

However, chief executive of Northern Rock, Gary Hoffman maintains that the promotion is appropriate because it gives the bank a link to the community, and helps to promote the further development of the institution.

Where is Patrick Vieira moving to?

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Where is Patrick Vieira moving to? The rumour mill has long tended to a list of tell-tales signs that show others are failing to see small warning signals.

This is not to say that the Mill is about spreading rumours or being picky about others, but at times it does spread a good rumour that will get people talking.

The latest rumour comes from the Daily Mail and involves Patrick Vieira being 90% positive that he will soon join the Manchester City team as part of a six month deal that will loan him out beginning next week.

At the same time, the quick prediction may be delayed given the fact that the Inter team has a great deal of injuries on its line up at the moment.

Other rumours include the exchange David Bentley the Spurs will get Maxi Rodriguez.  This may be hard to make happen however given the fact that Rodriguez is also wanted by Villarreal, Liverpool, and the prep school from Argentina Boca Juniors.

Also exchanging spots is assistant manager Mike Phelan of Manchester United who will take over Owen Coyle’s spot at Burnley.

English clubs in financial dream world

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English clubs in financial dream world Even though English football has long been known as the richest club game in the world, this week the financial sheath was revealed showing that there is not as much as thought from the top Premier League, let alone the others.

It is expected that soon Sven Goran Eiksson will stop associating with the Nott’s football club.  The prospect comes in combination with news that Portsmouth may be falling into administration, and that there will be another takeover, which is thought to be only the first step towards the point when many clubs will start to collapse.

Of course, there is more to the rumours with Sir Alex Ferguson forced to deny last week that Manchester United is a financial crisis since deciding at the last moment not to sign Adem Ljajic for nine million pounds.  This is thought to be the result of the clubs debt to the Glazer family that totals up to about £70m.

Even with Ferguson’s claims, it will be hard to believe him until the money from the £80m sale of Ronaldo is actually spent by United.

United is not the only club in possibly in trouble, with Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stating that the new priority of the club is to pay off their debt, which totals up to £300m.  In order to raise the money it is possible that Fernando Torres could be sold although Benitez has threatened to resign if this were to happen.

Even the most budget conscious clubs are worried as clubs such as the successful Everton announcing that it calculated it will have substantial losses at the end of the season.