Re: Martin Offiah : Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:30 am  

The issue with the cap isn’t that it’s stayed low. The finances of the sport demanded that. There’s no point comparing the cap to average uk wages without also comparing it to club incomes that have stagnated at best.

We need a cap that incentivises the things we want. So some sort of relationship to club income (not including director or any other loans) plus some incentive to grow a clubs infrastructure.

Maybe something like:
- 50% of clubs income
- above £3m a club must also spent a certain % on marketing and a certain % goes to grass roots.

Obviously the figures and rules can be debated but some kind of system that incentivises financial and infrastructure growth of the club itself. It doesn’t prevent a wealthy owner from ploughing money in to get success but means they can’t load the club with debt and loans. And also allows wealthier clubs to spend more but are essentially taxed to help the wider game?

Re: Martin Offiah : Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:57 am  

The cap has it's place when used in the right way. For a while it brought a level of financial certainty. Unfortunately the cap did not change and so became a disincentive for investment and innovation. Brash though he was, Koukash was willing to invest and certainly improved our image. Now we have a game sliding towards semi professionalism that cannot find enough new stars because the wages that we offer are equivalent to those earned by shop workers whilst the risks are off the scale.

Re: Martin Offiah : Sun Nov 07, 2021 8:43 pm  

Levrier wrote:

Brash though he was, Koukash was willing to invest.

Hmm....I don't get this.
Koukash, like Argyle talked a great talk, but does anyone know who was on the marquee ticket at Salford? Does anyone believe SBW saw 1% of his supposed contracted wage?

This is from wiki...so pinch of salt required...but

Salford Red Devils
In 2013, Koukash took over the loss-making Super League club, Salford City Reds. His interest in rugby league began when he went to watch St. Helens matches with his family. He was encouraged to take ownership of Salford by the Rugby Football League chief executive Nigel Wood, who had met Koukash on a flight to Dubai. Koukash aims to make the club the biggest in Super League, rebranding them as Salford Red Devils in 2013 and signing 14 new players.

National Rugby League
In 2014, Koukash made public his ambitions of purchasing a team in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) before the 2015 season. The NRL is considered world's most competitive rugby league competition, in a country where rugby league is more popular than rugby union.

In 2016, he also announced his plans to take an English team (the "British Bulldogs") and have then (sic) play in the NRL in Australia, with the help of airline and hotel sponsorship.

Here we are in 2021....Salford are looking a fair bet to be involved in a relegation battle in 2022, are possibly on the move to a 5k capacity stadium and other than a shiny new badge, haven't much else to show for his "supposed" investment....a Grand Final hammering, followed by 2 covid seasons and now potential relegation with a coach who knows all about the championship....

Back to the cap. It is doubtful that at least 7 of the current SL clubs aren't at the cap.....raising it will just inflate wages and make the other 5 clubs grip pn the comp stronger.

However, REMOVING IT, would level the playing field dramatically......Koukash could then get re-involved and show us the money he claimed he wanted to invest and Argyle could come back and maybe settle some of the debts he left behind

Re: Martin Offiah : Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:27 pm  

Best of luck to Salford, and I hope they prove all the sceptics wrong. Rowley is no mug, and I want him to do a fine job at Salford.

Re: Martin Offiah : Mon Nov 08, 2021 8:22 am  

Cokey wrote:

Best of luck to Salford, and I hope they prove all the sceptics wrong. Rowley is no mug, and I want him to do a fine job at Salford.

Agreed, best of luck to the club, hope the ground move lightens the financial burden, old fans return and new ones give them a go in the new stadia.....