With no football being played right now, the debate surrounding the game has sadly, but not unexpectedly, got quite political.
And Liverpool as a club have done themselves no favours whatsoever with their decision to take advantage of the scheme designed to help small businesses – and furlough their non-playing staff so the government (or tax payer) pays 80% of their wages while football is suspended.
It’s gone down like a led balloon and may Reds feel let down by a club who have for so long under FSG pushed the ‘This Means More’ rhetoric via social media and claimed to follow the socialist examples Bill Shankly pushed for back in the day.
Stan Collymore, formerly of the Reds, made his feelings on the matter abundantly clear, as is his right.
“I don’t know of any Liverpool fan of any standing that won’t be anything other than disgusted at the club for furloghing staff,” he said, reported in the Independent.
“It’s just plain f****** wrong.
“Fellow football fans, furlough is for small business staff to keep those small businesses from going bump!
“Every Premier League owner has serious cash, and make money from skyrocketing values of clubs, so what aren’t you getting about YOUR owners dipping into THEIR pocket?”