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Tottenham reverse furlough decision for non-playing staff

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Admin
Oct 1, 2003
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Tottenham have reversed their decision to use the government's furlough scheme for some non-playing staff during the coronavirus crisis following criticism from supporters.

BBC 13 Apr 20




OS 13 Apr 20 Club update – COVID-19
 
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mawspurs

Staff
Jun 29, 2003
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The full club statement here....

 

spud

Well-Known Member
Sep 2, 2003
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While everybody - particularly the media - is concentrating on the club's (possibly) ill-advised decision to take advantage of the government's furlough scheme, nobody has mentioned what the club is actually doing to help during this crisis.

The club statement details a long list of work that should receive more media attention. I, for one, am extremely impressed with the efforts that the club has made, and continues to make, to contribute to the good of its neighbours. I am willing to bet that there are few, if any, other clubs which are doing so much.
 
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JC-Rule

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2005
1,993
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While everybody - particularly the media - is concentrating on the club's (possibly) ill-advised decision to take advantage of the government's furlough scheme, nobody has mentioned what the club is actually doing to help during this crisis.

The club statement details a long list of work that should receive more media attention. I, for one, am extremely impressed with the efforts that the club has made, and continues to make, to contribute to the good of its neighbours. I am willing to bet that there are few, if any, other clubs which are doing so much.
It’s naive to think that good works mask or cover over opportunistic moves.

bad news travels faster and further than good news.

to be one of the 1st premier league clubs to furlough, was bad optics for the club.
 

spud

Well-Known Member
Sep 2, 2003
5,850
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It’s naive to think that good works mask or cover over opportunistic moves.

bad news travels faster and further than good news.

to be one of the 1st premier league clubs to furlough, was bad optics for the club.
Alternatively.....
It's cynical to think that good works can't be simply a wish to improve the lot of others.

Bad news travels farther and faster than good news because the media exits to perpetrate bad news in order to provoke outrage and thereby get more attention.

To be one of the first clubs to furlough was good financial management and ensured that 550 workers received full pay. If the government can't set the rules properly for its own scheme it's 'bad optics' for the legislators (unless the media say differently).
 

JC-Rule

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2005
1,993
1,285
To be one of the first clubs to furlough was good financial management and ensured that 550 workers received full pay. If the government can't set the rules properly for its own scheme it's 'bad optics' for the legislators (unless the media say differently).


the government rules allowed for Spurs to take advantage of the scheme, so to the letter of the law you are right, no one could argue with you on that.

I guess it didn’t sit right with a significant number of our fans, nothing to do with media spin, it just felt wrong.

guess it comedown to the letter of law verses the spirit.

And agree with you, our players and our foundation does an amazing job for charity, and we don’t hear enough about that.
 

spud

Well-Known Member
Sep 2, 2003
5,850
8,794
I guess it didn’t sit right with a significant number of our fans, nothing to do with media spin, it just felt wrong.
You may be right, but I think it's a little naive to believe that the media reporting had no influence on the perception of what the club did.

It was portrayed as 'big bad Tottenham exploiting a government handout intended for small businesses'. That a 'greedy' football club with a turnover of nearly half-a-billion pounds was taking money away from more deserving recipients. 'How dare they?' was the feeling that was being created. 'They ought to be ashamed of themselves.' How dare 'greedy' Tottenham take money intended for more deserving recipients; taking food off the table of others and perhaps even damaging the NHS fight against the pandemic.

On the other hand, it could have been reported that the club was taking advantage of a government initiative because it has zero income during this crisis; thereby ensuring that 550 workers who might otherwise have to be laid off continued to receive full pay. That the club was doing any number of things for the local community - including providing facitlities to ease the burden of the local hospital - and could continue to do so because of this subsidy. It could have been pointed out that the government subsidy was open to all companies and that other large companies - many far bigger than Spurs - were also taking advantage of it. But that wouldn't have been such a 'good' story, would it?

Would it have felt so wrong then? Maybe, but maybe not.
 
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