This is a very interesting article. The best I have seen discussing the wage cap at l2 level.
In the second part of our update from chief executive Nigel Clibbens he talks about the potential for salary capping going forward and how CV19 issues directly impact Carlisle United.
www.carlisleunited.co.uk
The big challenge is obvious- clubs have already gone through their retained lists, are letting players go, are signing or keeping players and in some cases now bringing people in. Yet the talked about wage cap does not exist- the cap is not set, transition rules are not set including when moving between divisions, who qualifies as a "senior professional" is not set and so on. Yet the EFL wants to bring in for a new 20/21 season starting Sept 12th. As always with the EFL progress is absolutely funereal, and of course clubs need to agree (been here before me thinks).
And what happens to clubs who already have a number of players way above the max squad size, and a much higher wage bill, through ongoing longer term contracts above the cap. In football you can't just cancel player contracts part way through because the EFL has changed some rules. PFA are against it and muttering about "legal issues".
The definition of "senior professional" for us will be key. It is obvious that most players who qualify and play for the U23s can't be "senior professionals". If they were with a squad of 20 you simply could not put out a first team and u23s. So most u23s you would have to assume do not count as "senior professionals". We are in a position, however, where we have a large number of u23s who also now play first team football. Most clubs at L2 level have one or two. And most of the the u23s cannot count towards a wage cap otherwise this would be a massive disincentive to have an academy and benefit those who don't have an u23s or got rid their u23s?
There again if u23s can be excluded from the squad size and cap, won't you get clubs bringing in high performing u23s to get around the cap- in which case do you get the "home grown" definition to manage- another layer of uncertainty.
The squad looks like 27 but it might be only 7/8 are falling in the senior professional definition currently and the rest will alternate between the u23s and first team- how will this be covered?? In L2 our relatively substantial investment in the academy and such a high number capable at first team level, and offered new contracts, is this a masterstroke under the proposed new rules or potentially a nightmare. This could potentially leave us far more room to bring one or two, or keep one or two, we would not otherwise afford?
Will the EFL lead or will clubs again vote purely for the definitions that will suit them individually? Or will the EFL say we have listened, can't please everyone, this is what it is vote for it?
The clock is ticking
