ArseNole Podcast Episode 4

Yeah I told you there was going to be a podcast today and there actually is so that is awesome. I think it's pretty good but that's why I need people to listen to it, so it isn't only my opinion. I go over a lot of stuff in a little time, including Gallas, the injuries, a review of our fixtures so far this year, internationals, preview the Everton match, the salary cap situation and a couple of other things.

Remember to submit your emails for the podcast with whatever you want, good jokes, funny emails, rants about Arsenal or Sp*rs or some other twats, whatever you want. The best email that I read on each podcast will win some sort of prize from SoccerPro.com. So email anything you think is good to ArseNole@arsenole.com, but if it's garbage and spam then I'm going to block you and eat your children.

But yeah, leave your comments about the podcast, or anything else you want. The more feedback I get the better the next ones will be. Cheers.


You can listen to the podcast here or download the podcast here, or you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking here. Or you can even just listen to it right here in your browser by clicking play below.

Why Arsenal Fans Should Hope For a Salary Cap

Morning all. After quite a busy week I am back. I haven't missed much though because Arsenal didn't have a game for the last week. So what's been going on you ask? No you probably didn't ask that at all because there are 75,235,298,235 other Arsenal sites out there for you to get your lack of news from. Due to the financial issues though, there has been quite a lot of talk lately about a salary cap in football, and a lot of debate on both sides. I for one think Arsenal fans should be supporting this, if not just because it will be better for football as a whole, but also because I think Arsenal would be one of the teams least affected by it.

First of all, I don't support any form of a salary cap that isn't worldwide or at least Europe-wide. If you have a cap only for England then players will just go to Spain or Italy or Uzbekistan or wherever they don't have a cap and can pay loads of money. So if that is the case then a salary cap is a restriction on where you can work and would hurt the business of English football. Not good. Our beloved Arsenal would go back to a team of all Englishmen, and I mean not even the best ones. It wouldn't be like Theo Walcott, it would be like Craig Alcock and Andre McCollin. Not many people have ever even heard of those guys. And that would be who was playing for Arsenal if there was only a cap in England. So forget about that point because it needs to be a worldwide cap.

So let's look at what would take place with a worldwide salary cap. We'll start with the big 4 of Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal. As of last season, before the re-working of some contracts, Arsenal had none of the top 50 earners in the world of football. Chelsea, on the other hand, had 8 of the top 50, and still have 7 since the departure of Shevchenko. Manchester United have 6 of the top 50, and Liverpool have 3 since the addition of Robbie Keane. So out of the big 4, Arsenal pay the least in total wages, and don't have any really exorbitant fees (with the exclusion of Fabregas who I believe makes quite a lot now, and rightly deserved). So if there was a salary cap, and I don't know exactly how it would work, set at 100 million quid per year, a lot of those players would have to take drastic pay cuts or need to move teams to get the team under the salary cap and wouldn't just go to the highest bidder. You want club loyalty back in football? If Arsenal can offer the same as any other club then why would they want to leave Arsenal, who play the best football in the Premiership?

The youth squad would also become more important because very high profile transfers would probably happen a lot less. Arsenal just happen to be developing a world-class youth squad that is just lying in wait. Players like Wilshere and others out of the academy are young, aren't paid too much yet and can already contribute, but they don't really get much of a chance because we're playing against the likes of Ronaldo, Deco, and Torres all the time. With a salary cap though all those players would be a big hit in salary for their teams, a home grown youth player like Wilshere would not.

One of the biggest benefits of a salary cap from a Premiership fan's point of view is that match day tickets could feasibly go down quite a lot in price. If you have a look at this chart from Sport-Magazine you can see the income of the big 4 for the 06-07 season.


Since this was published the Arsenal numbers have gone up for Match Day revenue and the revenue will go up again next season due to the Highbury Square Flats being sold and opened. So Arsenal already have the least in salary of these clubs, and are right up there near the lead as far as income is concerned. So if you take away some of the wage bill because of the salary cap, (you would hope) that Arsenal could afford to drop the ticket prices some. If you read this post, we were the richest club in all of Britain last season as far as total turnover.

So it is an interesting thing to think about, but with the financial outlook worsening it seems that this may become an issue. If you are an Arsenal fan I don't see why we would have any problem with it, because clubs like Arsenal who make a profit and run a good business model are not the reason it would be created. Clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham are the reason, and who wouldn't love to see them relegated?

One last little piece for you all, and if you don't watch American football you'll probably not enjoy this part but the NFL does have a salary cap, and the salary cap works. It promotes parity among the teams and keeps teams from going bankrupt. If you look at each team's salary you'll see a few notable things. The Chiefs have the most room under the cap and are terrible, but the Lions have the least room and are also terrible. So spending the most money doesn't mean you are always going to win. It shows the value of scouting talent and making shrewd business moves, which is exactly what Arsenal does. Let me know whether you agree or disagree. I'm sure there are many differing opinions on this subject, but it could become a critical decision for the football bodies to make in the upcoming years, so it's something that should be discussed. Cheers!