Top players sacrificed as Clough Credit Crunch takes hold

Eto'o, Tosic, Moutinho and Arshavin. All top players that would no doubt be an asset to any club currently fighting for glory in their respective leagues in the UFFA. Yet the managers that currently look after these stars aren't trying to hold on to them. They're trying to get RID of them (or already have) as they battle against crippling wage bills and stadium costs.

Erdington Villans manager Richard Birchall is keen to offload Samuel Eto'o, despite the striker grabbing a hat-trick in a high profile match against Chester Rats in a high profile Gold Cup match a few days ago. But with the Cameroonian star's 65k pay packet accounting for a substantial chunk of the club's 240k wage bill, it's clear Birchall needs to streamline:

I have so much debt I will probably go bust so I have no choice to be honest. I need to find £5 million from somewhere in next 3 weeks to pay my debt before I go bankrupt.

When the Cloughite asked Birchall how he had such a high debt he replied:

I had a £4 million pound debt but needed a £9 million stadium.

So are these managers simply paying the price for their own financial stupidity, or are they genuinely victims of so-called 'Clough Credit Crunch'? There is no doubt the dramatic slow-down in the transfer market has hit clubs hard. But it can also be argued that managers had ample time to account for the financial impact of the stadiums.

Manager of DeeJayOne FC James Hargreaves says he hasn't been irresponsible:

My problem is that I didn't play the markets beforehand - I got a squad and stuck with it. That coupled with the uncertainty over actual costs for stadiums led me to believe I was being responsible. I knew the stadiums were coming, but there was constant uncertainty in the forums as to costs (which were changed several times) - by the time I realised there would be an issue, the markets had frozen. I was a day or two late on capitalising on the increased market before 'the big crash'.

A quick glance at DeeJayOne's finances reveals a reasonable wage bill with a sensibly planned stadium that matches the club's ambitions, so Hargreaves may indeed have a point.

One thing is for sure - the transfer market needs to get moving again for UFFA managers to have any chance of managing the financial crisis and to avoid being forced to let their top players go for relatively low acquisition fees.

However, manager of the Moles Shaun Meakin remains a voice of optimism:

I feel that, with this current fiscal situation, the market will make a steady rise within the next couple of seasons. It will never reach the dizzy heights it once was but it will return to a sensible level where players will sell for around their Market Value.

If Meakin's prediction does come true, then maybe one day we'll return to an era where top players (on reasonable wages) will continue to ply their trade in a fitting stadium for those loving managers who have the financial means in place to keep them there for many seasons.