The Warm-Up: If even Daniel Levy listens occasionally, then anything is possible
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Updated 14/04/2020 at 08:07 GMT
Miracles do happen, kids. The crisis rumbles on, but we are reassured of one thing that has been keeping us up nights: Ivan Rakitic is not potatoes...
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Even Tottenham listen sometimes: anything can happen
There will be frequent moments throughout this whole nightmare where we will all sink into pits of despair, and think that nothing will ever be the same again, and there is no hope for anyone. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that is indeed the case, all is lost and everything is awful, but occasionally something happens that tells you in reality anything is possible: up can be down, left can be right, dogs and cats can live together.
That emotion occurred to us on Monday after Tottenham announced they had reversed their decision to use the government furlough scheme for their employees, after a couple of weeks of significant backlash from their own fans, supporters’ groups, the media and society in general.
Stone the crows, his great stubbornness himself Daniel Levy has listened! He said in a statement:
The criticism the club has received over the last week has been felt all the more keenly because of our track record of good works and our huge sense of responsibility to care for those that rely on us, particularly locally. It was never our intent, as custodians, to do anything other than put measures in place to protect jobs whilst the club sought to continue to operate in a self-sufficient manner during uncertain times. We regret any concern caused during an anxious time and hope the work our supporters will see us doing in the coming weeks, as our stadium takes on a whole new purpose, will make them proud of their club.
Much like with Liverpool, Tottenham don’t necessarily deserve any special credit for doing this, doing the right thing only after being harangued for doing the wrong thing, but at least they have listened. Which goes to show that clubs do listen sometimes, so when they’ve done something wrong, shout at them.
That said, while we shouldn’t give them excessive credit for this decision, perhaps we should praise Tottenham for essentially turning the gleaming spaceship that is their new stadium into a pseudo hospital, a sort of annex to the North Middlesex Hospital which is just up the road.
So hats off Tottenham. A little bit. Doesn’t it feel good to be good?
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'Change rules so penalties are easier for goalkeepers'
Arsenal players reportedly vote against pay cut
At this point we’re frankly a little confused about where to be morally, on the subject of Premier League players’ pay. Of course, it is unfair that footballers should be unfairly singled out by anyone when there are plenty of people who earn more than they need, and others are suffering with nothing. It is also a reasonable point that footballers should not be the ones financially saving their clubs.
On the other hand, these are fabulously wealthy people who could and are doing lots of good by donating a portion of their salary to people who need it more.
We’re not sure where Arsenal’s proposals that their players take a pay cut lies on those scales, but the Daily Telegraph reports that the Gunners’ players have voted against a 12.5 per cent cut over the next year, as the club tries to financially square the impact of this whole crisis, despite attempting to offer some sort of sweeteners to the deal.
Sam Wallace and Mike McGrath reported:
Under the proposed terms that were put to the vote on Monday afternoon, the club said that any player who was offered and signed a new deal in the future would – as a matter of course – be awarded the deducted balance in addition to his new salary. There was also another clause that any player subject to the cut and later sold for a fee would also receive all of his deduction back in full. That did not prove enough to convince the squad with the players only too aware that the transfer market is likely to be slow in the extreme this summer, and the value of any future contract in doubt, there were too few takers.
Who knows what to make of that. Is this a cynical ploy by the clubs to use this crisis as a way of saving money/their own skins? Or is this footballers refusing to do their bit in a time of crisis and blindly following the advice of the PFA?
Rakitic confirms he is not potatoes
Even though the world is coming apart at the seams and everything we once previously knew seems to be quite, quite wrong, the transfer mill keeps on turnin’, keeps on grindin’. And Ivan Rakitic provided some grist to that mill when he spoke this week about reports that Barcelona are trying to bin the Croatian midfielder off, with over a year remaining on his contract.
The suggestion is that Barcelona are keen to bundle Rakitic in with any upcoming transfer deal they might do, whether that’s sending him to PSG if they persist with their hare-brained scheme of getting Neymar back, or perhaps sending him to Inter as they sniff around Lautaro Martinez.
Rakitic, it seems, is not massively impressed with the idea that he is simply a tradable commodity.
“I understand the situation but I am not a sack of potatoes to do whatever you want with,” Rakitic told Mundo Deportivo in Spain.
“The most important thing for me is to be in a place where I am wanted, respected and needed. And also where both my family and I feel good. If that is [Barca], perfect, if not, it will be where I decide, not anyone else.”
IN OTHER NEWS
We all need something cheery these days, so how about the news that Gianluca Vialli, who has been suffering from pancreatic cancer (for the second time) for 17 months, has been given the all-clear.
“I am fine,” Vialli, who has been working with the national team under Roberto Mancini, told La Repubblica in Italy. “In December I finished 17 months of chemotherapy, one cycle of eight months and another of nine. It was difficult, even for someone as tough as me, both physically and mentally.
“The tests showed no sign of the illness. I am happy, even if I say that under my breath to be on the safe side.
“Regaining my health means seeing myself in the mirror again, seeing the hair grow, not having to draw eyebrows on with a pencil. In that respect, I feel very fortunate compared to many others.”
HAT TIP
Scottish football does not have a monopoly on toxicity. At times like these it just feels that way. In a period when serious discussions should be taking place about the recalibration of football post-pandemic open warfare has broken out. People with involvement spanning decades admit they have not encountered anything quite like the past few days.
It is all kicking off in Scotland. If you would like a handy explainer as to the nature of that kicking off, Ewan Murray in the Guardian has one.
RETRO CORNER
On this day in 1999 Ryan Giggs took off his shirt and the nation was apparently utterly stunned at the sight of a man with a hairy chest. Also, he scored a good goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final.
As we trudge on and on in this relentlessly grim new world we live in, there is at least one comforting constant: Ben Snowball will be here on Wednesday to offer some succour.
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