Saturday, January 10, 2009

David Prentice: Why Are Liverpool And Everton So Slow On The FA Cup Draw?

It’s all Everton and Liverpool fans have talked about since Roberto di Matteo plucked out ball number 28 last Sunday, but don’t expect players or officials at either club to wax lyrical in the build-up to the derby double-header.

Enquiries at both clubs this week were met with Basil Fawlty-esque replies: “Don’t mention the draw!”

Tony Hibbert refreshingly broke ranks to describe the forthcoming cup tie as “electric”, but since then a gagging order appears to have been put in place.

Perhaps it’s a symptom of the recent spats between the clubs – people are terrified of pouring petrol onto a powder keg – but can’t we be just a bit more mature about this?

This is an historic occasion. The words spoken before and after this FA cup tie will pass into the history books of the future.

It’s good to talk, you know?

If institutions as reassuringly familiar as Northern Rock, Woolies and M & S can be credit crunched, how long before our football clubs start to suffer?

The answer is, they already have – and in more ways than is immediately obvious.

We all know about stadium constructors downing tools on the new Anfield because of rising building costs, Liverpool’s American owners struggling to refinance their borrowings and Everton finding it well nigh impossible to attract new investors.

But there are other, stealthier, concerns brought on by the economic downturn.

Everton spent a club record transfer fee to bring Marouane Fellaini from Standard Liege.

But his signature may cost the club quite a bit more than the advertised £15m as a result of the falling pound.

Unless the Blues have hedged against foreign currency transactions – for accounting ignoramuses like myself, that means paying for a financial instrument that protects against foreign currency movements – the falling pound could mean a bigger transfer fee.

When Fellaini signed on September 1, a euro was worth around 81p. Then Alistair Darling said that Britain was facing the worst economic conditions in 60 years and the pound went into freefall.

Now a euro is worth almost as much as a pound.

Which all means Fellaini’s transfer fee could rise by a couple of million unless the pound recovers.

Then there’s the issue of wages.

Everton and Liverpool pay their players in pounds – even the ones who hail from Europe – which means their salaries, albeit spectacular, are still not worth as much back home as they were when they signed their contracts.

There is no suggestion that the issue is upsetting anybody at Anfield or Goodison, as it shouldn’t when you’re talking about such stellar salaries.

But it’s worth noting that Manchester United have circumvented any potential problems by paying for some transfers and some wages in euros.

It’s an increasingly precarious world out there, and our football clubs are suffering as much as everyone else.

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