Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has revealed his shock and disappointment over his old club cutting wages of non-playing staff.
As confirmed in a club statement on Tuesday, chairman Daniel Levy announced that Spurs would be using the furlough scheme introduced during the coronavirus crisis which would see the government pay 80% of wages to workers who have been left with no work.
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Paying the remaining 20% is then optional for the employer, but the statement above confirms that those affected will not receive a full salary with the scheme set to run over April and May.
Widely thought of as a scheme to help individuals and small businesses to avoid going under, it’s arguably not aimed at football clubs with significant revenue and playing staff earning huge salaries.
With that in mind, Redknapp has slammed his former club for the decision taken as he called on the players to take responsibility and help those in more need by taking a wage cut which in turn could allow finances to be directed towards the non-playing staff instead.
“I can’t believe it. Surely players should be taking a cut. This isn’t for big clubs like Tottenham,” he is quoted as saying by The Sun. “You are talking here about a club where their players earn £10-12million a year.
“Tottenham are owned by Joe Lewis, one of the richest men in the world, and his club are cutting the wages of all their non-football staff by 20 per cent. I can’t believe it.
“Here is a club where the average player earns £80,000, £90,000, £100,000 a week. And that’s average! Their top players earn £150,000 a week, maybe even £200,000 a week.
“Surely, players should be taking a cut. They can all afford to hand over ten per cent and I’d like to see the captain of every Premier League club call a meeting and say, ‘Come on, guys, we are all in it together, let’s donate to help our staff’.
“They can all have a meeting by phone. They all know the importance of helping out the staff and they will want to help — they know there are a lot of people struggling.”
It’s difficult to disagree with Redknapp’s assessment of the situation and his idea to resolve the issue, as it just seems staggering that the players will continue to get paid in full while others earning significantly less and who are more at risk during this time will take a cut.
The hope is that the relevant parties will get together at some stage in the coming days to work out a fairer solution, as this particular decision has seen Tottenham and Levy receive a widespread backlash from pundits and fans alike.
Newcastle United also took the same decision, and given the response, it would be a huge surprise if something didn’t change to ensure that non-playing staff are prioritised instead in what is a very difficult time for many people.