Who says the Ibrox fan-base is completely loony?
I know I’ve suggested it a few times but not all of them are possessed of single digit IQ’s.
As their club prepares to hand debuts to their latest players, the over 30’s of Davis and Defoe, some cold reality is setting in over there.
Some people are starting to wonder where the money to pay these guys is coming from.
In particular, this question arises over Defoe and exactly how much of his Bournemouth salary the club is having to fork out. Nobody knows this for sure, but it’s not really in dispute that he’s coming to Scotland as one of the country’s highest paid footballers if not the man at the top of that particular tree. If you accept reports that he was earning over £120,000 in England, then even one third of that would be an enormous sum.
His earnings will almost certainly be in excess of £35,000.
Even in the event he performs well for them – better, anyway, than four goals in two years – that sort of spending is hard to justify when you’re a club in the financial position they’re in. This has been fairly obvious to most observers; only now are their own supporters beginning to grow a wee bit concerned, as the reality of what those sums mean sets in.
At a rate of £35,000 a week, and over the course of an 18-month deal, Defoe will cost them more than £2,500,000.
At £40,000 a week it’s nearly £3,000,000.
If you presume that he’s earning more than that – the £60,000 which some say is the true cost – and this guy, who will be in his 40’s when the contract ends will have sucked £4,300,000 out of them in wages alone.
That’s a lot of money, and if you assume that Davis is likewise earning big bucks you have to wonder how this is even remotely sane.
These aren’t Next Level players, no matter what the hacks might write. On top of that, if they don’t win the league this season or next then the move was a complete waste of cash. As much as I criticise our board and the lack of spending, I am well aware that if you’re going to give someone upwards of that kind of money he better be delivering more than just second place in the league. Without that, it’s a nonsense.
Look, most people presume that Sevco will be able to secure a European place. So that kind of spending on one player’s wages is only justified if he gets them to the Champions League. He has no re-sale value, so every penny spent on him is gone for good.
And with the club struggling for money, the lunacy of that has finally started to hit home. Their forums are talking about it, their manager has had to deny the crazier reports – but then he would, wouldn’t he? – and the media has finally got on the scent.
As I said in a piece last week, many of their fans are quite happy for the club’s future to be put at risk if it gets them the result they want. If. In the event this all comes crashing down – the far more likely scenario of the two – they will be wondering why this deal was ever done in the first place. The raptures and the joy that accompanied it will be forgotten.
That is their future, and some of them have realised it.
And boy, are they scared of what it means.
You can discuss this and and all the other stories by signing up at the Celtic Noise forum at the above link. This site is one of the three that has pushed for the forum and we urge all this blog’s readers to join it. Show your support for real change in Scottish football, by adding your voice to the debate.