Ken Bates told the football world that the days of excessive wage demands are over, however surely his comments are idealistic at best.

Bates' tough stance at Leeds over wages has arguably seen Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny move on to pastures new, whilst Leeds reportedly failed to meet the demands of Preston keeper Andy Lonergan and reports frrom Newcastle on Friday suggested Leeds are not in the running for Alan Smith due to the players excessive wage demands believed to be £55,000 a week.

However with "silly money" seemingly still awash in football, are Bates' comments simply in isolation? Is he as a sole owner of a football club one of the last of a dying breed. For example Leicester's Thai owners are spending like there is no tomorrow and even before a ball is kicked, it is unlikely that Leeds will have the resources to finish anywhere near seventh in comparison to the riches of the Foxes and other sides freshly relegated from the Premiership like Blackpool, Birmingham and West Ham.

Bates told the Sunday Express that the "crock of gold is almost empty" - is this really the case?

It is a difficult balancing act, we know better than anyone else how silly things can get, for example Peter Ridsdale left us with Mark Viduka earning £65,000 a week and Seth Johnson on a ridiculous £37,000 a week.

However fast-forward 2011 and the wages in the Championship are nothing like those heady days of the Prem and Champions League. The worrying angle from our point of view is we are not competitive in the wages market. The evidence of this surely exists if Kilkenny's demands can be met by an outfit like Bristol City and we cannot even secure the services of Preston's reserve goalie!

Photo: Action Images

Sniffer added 20:20 - Jul 17 I've heard that one prospective signing initially turned down the amount he'd been offered, but then came back and said he'd accept the original offer. Ken then sent him away, just to teach him a lesson. Ken, it's called negotiation!
0

leedshippriest added 00:08 - Jul 18 Why pay excessive wage demands for Preston's reserve goalkeeper ? The words stick in my throat, but in case of Lonergan I agree with Bates. Worrying if Max wants £25k per week as has been suggested. Keep talking to God/Jesus Max, you've got no chance of Bates paying that. I'd guess Johnson wanted more, and ultimately got it, but Bates wanted to pay Kilkenny less. No way Bristol City paying more than Leeds.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Derby County Polls