First point, he advocated funding the Wembley development in a very similar way to the way NUFC have funded the recent expansion. So it must be a decent way of doing it, especially with all those government and financial advisers!

Second point, on the issue of players bonuses. At Chelsea they get a certain amount at the END of the season relative to where they finish or what they win. They do not get win bonuses or draw bonuses. This scheme was introduced to Chelsea by Graham Roberts who had it at Rangers. Win the championship or you get nothing.

Which would you prefer our players to be on?

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

Answers

>>Which would you prefer our players to be on?<<

A spike, some of them. Neither - the £15-30K a week they get and wearing our colours should be motivation enough.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

Tricky. It ushers in the problem that 20th-7th makes no difference. Once the chance of winning the league is beyond them they stop bothering. Our lot have behaved like that this season despite no danger of losing their bonuses, so God only knows.

Most reports I have read claim that financial incentive only works up to a certain level (i.e. filthy rich is filthy rich, doubling it makes no difference) which obviously annoys the crap out of me through being at the wrong end of the scale (spread it around if you don't want it!). It certainly doesn't seem to inspire our players to play anything like as well as a pub side with their lasses watching. My philosophy would be to announce a pay package for the club for the season and get the season-ticket holders to vote on a series of criteria (attitude, application, workrate, temperament, clapping;-)) and apportion half the money based on the votes. A standard NUFC contract will be 15k and you get a tilt at a potentially huge bonus.

Lazy shitehawks wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole which tells you as much as you need to know about them.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

The Chelsea players who were at the club when Roberts suggested this radical new scheme didn't want any of it, because they did not think they had a chance of winning anything.

The current crop of Chelsea players voted in this scheme at the start of this season, presumably confident of success, yet their performances have actually improved once they were out of the championship picture.

If you had offered it to our lot at the start of the season they wouldn't have touched it.

How do we know there isn't a clapping bonus scheme in place already? Surely it's the only reason Barton would walk up to the crowd after some of his performances this season.

I'M JOKING SOFTIE!!

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

If you were an NUFC player at the moment , would you bust a gut to ensure that you get into the Inter Toto cup, knowing that you'll have to play matches at a competative level, instead of going on a nice trip to Japan to play some friendlies?

Not saying that some of the established players might just be going through the motions for the next few games like.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

If they're that fickle they'd be looking at the potential bonuses on offer for a good European run.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001

Our lot have found excuses to 'go through the motions' at the end of at least the last 3 seasons. And with Shearer guaranteed missing until at least the start of the season, they can probably kiss goodbye any chance of a glamorous overseas trip. At least to Asia, cause they seem to only want teams with 'big stars'. Look at the fuss a few years back when MoanU wasn't going to play Beckham.

Maybe instead of bonuses for league placement, winning, etc, why not dock wages for losing, especially when it's due to lack of effort. Same goes for those who find the treatment table more comfy than the playing field. Adding riches on top of riches might not mean anything to them, but I bet they'd be quick to notice any cut in those riches!

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001