Newcastle United have begun to insist that new players have a clause inserted in their contracts which sees their wages reduced in the event of relegation, according to the Chronicle.
The regional newspaper report that several Toon stars did not have such clauses written into their deals when the club were relegated in 2015/16, which massively contributed to their £97.8million wage bill last season, an EFL record.
The Chronicle claim that every player who remained with the team after their demotion earned the same wage in the Championship as they did the previous season, with their title-winning bonuses actually meaning they raked in more come the end of the campaign.
OPINION
It is absolutely ridiculous that Mike Ashley and the club hierarchy had failed to write in such clauses to first-team contracts before their relegation in 2015/16. The club suffered relegation under his leadership in 2009, so for them to neglect the possibility of it happening again seems extremely foolish. The failure to do so showed in their EFL-record wage bill, and their massive operational loss of around £90million last season. It was a massive financial gamble that absolutely needed to pay off, and luckily it did. If it had not however, then the Magpies could have found themselves in some serious trouble. Looking at the bigger picture, this episode merely serves to illustrate the incompetency that reigns at the highest levels at St. James’ Park right now. Ashley must go, sooner rather than later, for Newcastle to continue moving forward. As long as he remains at the club, the danger of something like this happening again will still be lurking in the background.
