jonny1403

He wont' really be doing anything like that. A general counsel is just another name for in-house lawyer. He'll be negotiating the legals on any club contracts but he won't actually be negotiating anything commercially.

Imagine quoting Barca as an example of how to run a football club

Everton clearly do, they've lost their best player because of FFP.

Certainly doable. But West Ham aren't a top 6 team.

It may not be a pipe dream but it's certainly not "more than realistic". We are behind West Ham as it stands let alone the top 6.

Our form in the second half of last season was almost perfect. It's not sustainable or realistic to suggest we will maintain top 3 form throughout an entire season. We are competing against Man U and Arsenal for top 6, not West Ham and Leicester. That's a huge gap to bridge in one transfer window.

It is not realistic in the slightest to suggest that we should be challenging the top 6 next season.

Started today against us

True, but it would be stupid not to acknowledge that Lampard might have an advantage here with his previous Chelsea relationships.

100%. Regardless of what happens this is a direct result of relying on Championship players for far too long.

It's incredibly ironic that you're calling me naive when all of these unwanted players are still here and we're struggling to shift them. Luton mustn't have got round to offering their 10k a week contracts yet. Most of the people in this thread are disagreeing with you, might be good to have some self awareness This has massively derailed the thread so will leave it there.

Why is retiring to spend more time with your family different to seeing out your contract at NUFC because you want to spend more time with your family instead of moving away to Stoke? Let's face it, this all comes down to people wanting more money for NUFC to spend on players without acknowledging that the players themselves have their own concerns. Nobody really gives a shit about Clark "making the most of his career" by playing a couple more seasons in the Championship.

But it's the same point. You've said multiple times players should play as much as possible in their career and that should be the only consideration. Mark Noble could easily have got a Championship contract but retired to spend more time with his kids. Therefore I assume you lack respect for him as well? How is Ciaran Clark, 33 in September, nowhere near retirement?

You've said it multiple times: It's incredibly odd that you refuse to acknowledge that a footballer might be settled in a particular area of the country and not want to move his kids/be away from his kids to play in fucking Luton.

I mean you can't guarantee that at all can you? You have no idea if Shearer would have wanted to play in the Championship. What are your thoughts on Mark Noble retiring to spend more time with his family instead of playing in the lower leagues?

But you said the main aim for any footballer is to play as many games as possible. So why would a player like Shearer retire when he could have played another two seasons in the Championship? After all, you've already said you lack respect for footballers who put family life first.

Eh? Shearer announced his retirement before the season started. He got his knee injury in April the following year.

This is a mental argument. Ronaldinho isn't a professional footballer any more. And why are you ignoring the 100s of professional footballers who choose to retire at 34/35 instead of playing in the lower leagues? Do you lack respect for Alan Shearer as a result? He could have played for a few years in the Championship if he loved the game so much.

So when Ronaldo eventually leaves Man U or Chelsea or whereever he ends up at the age of 40, you would expect him to want to play in the Championship for Stoke if they offer him a 1 year deal at £30k a week? Because he's dedicated his life to the game and wants to play it as long as possible?

Exactly "But it's my love of the beautiful game pet"

Also, I imagine footballers see more of their kids then most workers. They finish at 2pm most days ffs

My point is that there are a range of factors to consider. You're completely right that playing as much football as you can is a big factor, but it doesn't automatically override others such as finances, family life, injury concerns etc. If playing football was the be all and end all why does every PL footballer not end up playing in League Two at the age of 38? A couple do but most retire at a PL/champ team because playing away at Northampton Town with cloggers smashing you every week probably isn't as appealing as you seem to think it is.

So your argument is that rich people shouldn't care which job they take because even if they lose half their salary they'll still be rich and won't care? That's insane Obviously people want to earn as much as they can in the short career they have. People don't stop caring about their finances when they become rich. Football players should care more in fact when they turn 30 because it's one of the only professions where you know you will be taking the biggest pay cut of your life in a few years anyway. Exactly this. But HTT seems to be saying he should be happy not to see his kids grow up 90% of the time to spend a year at Stoke in the Championship because he "can't think of anything worse than not playing".

Such a simplistic argument. It's like any job consideration. What if his wife loves the area or his kids are happy at school/about to take exams and he doesn't fancy moving them halfway across the country? What if he's worried about an injury and only being offered a 1 year deal at Stoke or Wigan? What if he just fancies an easy 1 year training and seeing out his contract, before then considering options next year. None of us have any ideas into his mindset and it is clearly not the case that the preferred option should always be "play as much football as possible all the time"

It says nothing about the type of person they are other than that they are sensible and financially responsible. I'd imagine he'd take a 50% pay cut in the Championship. It's such a simplistic argument to say "oh he's rich anyway, he can easily take a cut". Would you take a 50% pay cut in your job?