Wages

[Abrak]

I saw this table yesterday which is the first time I have seen the collated wage data for all the EPL in the 09/10 season.

As you can see it correlates well with actual position of clubs during the year.

Perhaps the most staggering thing is to note the difference between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in the league. Wigan has about the smallest wage bill but it still accounts for an unsustainable 92% of revenues. Man U on the other hand has a wage bill of 132m but a wage to turnover ratio which is the lowest in the league.

You can also see how mightily incompetent Liverpool must be to have their wage bill and finish 7th. And recognize that Aston Villa will not be able to sustain a wage bill of 80m (as it is 88% of revenues).

Obviously Spurs were quite heroic finishing 4th with their wage bill but they will be unable to match the larger clubs (although they do have room to increase wages). Chelsea won the league with their massive wage bill but it is noticeable that if they reduced their wage to turnover ratio to say Liverpool they would still have an extra 20m a year to spend on wages. Both Man U and Arsenal can actually afford to increase their wage bill if their place amongst the top 4 is threatened. Man City where wages exceed turnover (and where wages have subsequently increased further will have quite a struggle to get their wages back in line with revenues in order to meet FFP requirements.)