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Who wants to be a millionaire?

Premiership Middlesbrough
by Robbo Robson (U5722413) 01 June 2007
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People - I say people, but they're envious ignoramuses - often write on this messageboard complaining about me getting paid to write whatever's on my mind.

I'm sure you'd be even more green-eyed when I show you the riches it brings. Oh I'm rolling in it, me.

And the only cost is the amount of eggs Man U fans toss at my 2002 Megane motor every week. (There are a lot of Man U fans in Middlesbrough, at least one for every empty seat at the Riverside each week, so there's 6,000 for starters.)

Still, when I had me trials for Hartlepool in 19**, my dream was to be at the top of domestic football and well on me way to a drink problem and the co-ownership of a dodgy boozer and a third-rate steeplechaser.

And I'd be doing what I loved best. For bog-all. Hartlepool turned me down cos I was too small. Maybe my recently acquired fourteenth stone might make them think again.

Any road, what's your point, Robbo? I hear you impatient little prattlers cry.

My point is that even if I was plying me very average stuff in the Premiership next season, like say Kieron Richardson, I'd be a blinking millionaire. A thick pub bore like me, rich!

This week some bean counters said Premiership wages are set to top Ł1bn but to me, it's brilliant.

There are them that'll tell you it wasn't like that in their day, when your footie heroes were your next-door neighbours.

And it's true that you used to be able to rip the mick out of them in the pub of a Saturday night to their stupid faces back then.

Nowadays, you have to scale a twelve-foot high electric fence and walk three miles up the gravelled path dropping lumps of fillet steak along the way for the slavering Dobermans if you want to get up to a bloody ordinary footballer's front door.

Now I've said before that I do favour a wage-cap, and I do. Partly because the better paid some of them are, the lazier they seem to get. Ballack springs to mind.

But it's not like it's the footballers' fault if people, increasingly American blokes, are falling over themselves to line these twenty-something dimwits' pockets - all because they can kick a ball nicely.

Obviously the clubs are always going to resort to the soft option when it comes to finding the cash.

Season tickets are going to get mighty hefty soon. Before long, we'll all be watching pay-per-view while the new stadia are packed out with suits, toffs, crayfish tails and rocket.

But by and large the players are doing it cos they love it, just like I would have done.

The odd fool, like Cashley or Rio, seem to have no idea how lucky they are, but in their position - mid-twenties, not a lot of GCSEs - what would you do?

Nah, I tell you what, make it 20 grand a week and I'll give the rest to the nurses. I think not.

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comment by davec1234 (U6936799)

posted Jun 3, 2007

Ar Gerrard and Henry really the biggest names to give?
----------------
unless i misunderstand your point you are implying there are lots of bigger name players in the EPL...
Gerrard and Henry... there aren't much bigger or are you talking the most points in scrabble like El Karkouri or Diagouraga or even Schevchenko with a tripple letter score on the V is probably a big one!!!

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comment by davec1234 (U6936799)

posted Jun 3, 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6650925.stm - if you want to read more

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comment by Captain Fabtastic - Son of Samir (U8139420)

posted Jun 3, 2007

figures are from gossip column so they could be true, or they could be off a bit I don't know

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comment by JohnnyRoolz (U8094657)

posted Jun 3, 2007

tennis players earn 100,000s of pounds every tournament but no one moans about them

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comment by Mealiff (U1032778)

posted Jun 3, 2007

Arsenal – 3 players Theo Walcott, Thierry Henry, and Justin Hoyte
Aston Villa – 2 players Steven Davis, Ashley Young
Blackburn - 23 players including David Bentley and Morten Gamst Pedersen
Bolton - 22 players including Nicky Hunt and Kevin Nolan
Celtic – 1 player Neil Lennon
Charlton – 8 players Matt Holland, Luke Young, Hermann Hreidarsson, Ben Thatcher, Darren Ambrose, Darren Bent, Marcus Bent, Scott Carson
Chelsea - 0 players, donation from club to Mayday for Nurses Hardship fund
Everton - 8 players on board including Alan Stubbs
Fulham – 28 players, the entire first team squad Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Brown, Jimmy Bullard, Philippe Christanval, Simon Davies, Clint Dempsey, Papa Bouba Diop, Simon Elliott, Ahmad Elrich, Adam Federici, Heiđar Helguson, Claus Jensen, Collins John, Zat Knight, Jan Laštuvka, Brian McBride, Robert Milsom, Vincenzo Montella, Antti Niemi, Elliot Omozusi, Ian Pearce, Mark Pembridge, Franck Queudrue, Tomasz Radzinski, Liam Rosenior, Wayne Routledge, Alexey Smertin, Moritz Volz
Liverpool - 12 players Craig Bellamy, Jamie Carragher, Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Mark Gonzalez, Harry Kewell, Dirk Kuyt, Jermaine Pennant, Pepe Reina, John Arne Riise, Bolo Zenden
Man City – 6 players Michael Ball, Joey Barton, Richard Dunne, Georgios Samaras, Nicky Weaver and Micah Richards
Man Utd – 2 players Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs
Middlesborough - 0 players, manager Gareth Southgate on board
Newcastle - 12 players Titus Bramble, Celestine Babayaro, Pavel Srnicek, Nicky Butt, Stephen Carr, Damien Duff, Shay Given, Stephen Harper, James Milner, Scott Parker, Peter Ramage, Nolberto Solano
Portsmouth – 1 player David James
Rangers – 2 players Gavin Rae and Barry Ferguson
Reading – 27 players, the entire first team squad Mikkel Anderson, Alan Bennett, Andre Bikey, Oliver Bozanic, Aaron Brown, Bobby Convey, Ulises de la Cruz, Kevin Doyle, Michael Duberry, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Marcus Hahnemann, Greg Halford, John Halls, James Harper, Stephen Hunt, Ívar Ingimarsson, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Dave Kitson, Leroy Lita, Glen Little, Shane Long, Péter Máté, Graeme Murty, John Oster, Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Ibrahima Sonko
Sheffield – 23 players
Tottenham – 20 players including Paul Robinson and Jermaine Defoe
Watford – 28 players, the entire first team squad including Malky Mackay
West Ham - 26 players, the entire first team squad including Nigel Reo Coker
Wigan – 1 player Arjan de Zeeuw


Additional Supporters:
(Those whose playing days are over, and other footie type people who have also commited their cash and got our thanks.)
Steve McClaren, Aidy Boothroyd, Gareth Southgate, Terry Venables, Chris Coleman, Sir Alex Ferguson, Martin O'Neill, Sam Allardyce, Glenn Roeder, Gianluca Vialli, Freddy Shephard, Graeme le Saux, Jamie Redknapp, Andy Gray, Clive Tyldesley, Adrian Chiles, Geoff Shreeves, Tim Lovejoy, Ramon Vega, Terry Byrne, Alastair Campbell, Craig Cohon, Mohammed Al Fayed, Mike Forde, and the agents and advisors Sky Andrews, Tony Finnigan and Rob Segal.

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comment by Esteelo (U3624276)

posted Jun 3, 2007

What's even more outrageous is that only 225 of the 556 premiership footballers donated a days wages (only 1 DAY).
Not a single Chelsea player donated any money.
.............................................

I dont know if this statement is true or not, but what i do know is that over the course of the season various chelsea players have been involved in charity initiatives. for instance peter cech recently donated a substancial sum of money to the workers at the hospital in oxford after his injury for their treatment of him. Furthermore, Chelsea are the first club to visit Africa as part of the Right to Play inititive, helping poor children in the continent.

Secondly we can criticise the footballers but if there was a similar scheme nationwide i wonder how many people would forfeit a days wages for nurses...probably a very low sum

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comment by Captain Fabtastic - Son of Samir (U8139420)

posted Jun 3, 2007

well done mealiff!

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comment by Captain Fabtastic - Son of Samir (U8139420)

posted Jun 3, 2007

Did the West Ham players donate a baby bentley?

laughlaughlaugh

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comment by HammerJoe83 (U7237162)

posted Jun 4, 2007

Cant believe he gets paid to write this stuff.

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comment by DoctorBoroLove (U8303026)

posted Jun 4, 2007

I can't believe West Ham are still in the Premiership.

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