West Ham must pull their finger out over Green contract

Well, it was only a few days ago I was singing the praises of Robert Green and then I read a headline from the Guardian website about how he is un-happy about his contract.  Uh-oh, I thought to myself, this seemingly humble lad has turned into a big time Charlie overnight.  And then I read the article and thought about it and actually, he hasn’t and the club need to pull their finger out over this one.

Green’s issue that he is one of the lowest paid players at the club and that leaves him wondering how much the club value him.  It is not a ‘make the biggest paid player at the club’ rant, nor is it ‘make me equal best paid’, it’s more like ‘show me some respect, I’m a top class keeper and I’d like to feel you value me but upping what I’ve got, because I sit here and look at my ten colleagues and they are all earning more than me’.  And as someone who has worked in an office all my life, it’s a statement of intent I cannot disagree with.

We’ve all been there I imagine, some PA lets slip on how much someone else is on, and you are left to feel incredulous about the dis-patrity between their earnings and yours.  Robert Green must look around the dressing room at players who contributed nothing to last season, like Boa-Morte and Neill and be thinking to himself, how are you on double/triple what I am?

Green is a quality goalkeeper, he was not mainly even to blame (in my view) for the 12 goals we conceded in 3 games, most of the back four were responsible for that.  He is the type of player we should be building the club around, not hoping to pay on the cheap (in footballing money terms).  I for one back Green’s call for an improved contract and hope the club take note.  It’s not his fault we gave over the odds contracts to Ljungberg and co, as one of our outstanding performers last season, Green deserves more and I hope the club take note.

Comments

[Dave Hall]

So why he did he sign his last contract not that long ago, no one put a gun to his head to sign it. I like Green and he is a talented keeper, but the last thing us fans need is to be unsettled, especially at this stage in the clubs progress. Whether what has been said has been misquoted,and these rags do this alot, is another matter. So Green should come forward and say what is true or not concerning these issues.

[SLC]

he has made an agreement with WHU in 2007 about his contract and they will talk about again in 2009 Rob green agreed this and he should stick to it instead of going crying to the press and stiring up trouble all he wants is the fans to get on the boards back so he can have more money. He signed a 4 year extension to his contract in 07 and an offer from the board to re-look at his contract 2 yrs later in 2009 is very generous,

[steve]

i reckon he's easily in the top three keepers in the league so why doesnt he deserve top dollar.
kept us up the other year and had a blinder last season. easily our best player

[Dave Hall]

He will get his top dollar,he will be getting this, 2009 check out WHUFC. We don't want any more unsettled times ahead,he should have thought of this in the contract he signed. All he has to do is wait,its not that far away.

[Kennyhammer]

Whilst there may be a degree of spin put on Green's quote there are actions by WH that make his outburst understandable. Ashton got his rise after having a year on the treatment table and very few games.Green was transfered in to WH as an injured player and his new contract last year was reward for us staying in the EPL and his contribution.
He was satisfied to sign the contract last year and the review in 2009 would look to be fair.He was aware that proven EPL players were paid excessive wages when he signed and accepted his level of salary.Having said this I rate Green highly.
The debate over the summer has been about the validity and value of any contract between player and club.
Why can't contracts between both parties have provision for an annual review and any increase or decrease be based on a players performance over the season. In most walks of life employers have the right to guage an employees worth to their company. If a player does not like his reduced wage he can then buy out his contract based on the reduced value and move on to another club.
Let's stop the media and agent fueled ballsh** and pay players on their seasons performance.
Green on merit does not deserve to be the lowest paid first team member. Other players are sitting out their fat contracts and contributing little to the success of their team.
The FA need to take a firm hand in contractual matters between club and players and produce a contract system that all clubs and players should deem fair.

[jgsirons]

Lets put all this nonsense to one side. Never mind what he signed when he signed it who gets paid more. The basic fact is Robert Green is fundamental to our success next season. If Duxbury cant see that he does not deserve to remain in post. Do you think the top four would allow this to happen to one of their top players?

As fans we know the value to our team of Robert Green so lets spend a lot of time at our preseason games chanting his name letting both him and the Board know just how much we want to keep him.

[john]

Green should stick with the terms of his contract, it would be total meltdown if every player was requesting a new deal every 12 months, and come on, this our sports newspapers we are talking about here, and as some said earlier it's mostly bullsh.Just think back to how long every paper ran the story about Reo Coker throwing down the captains armband, when he past to the next player coming on , facts, papers never let them ruin a good story.

[John J]

Rob Green's performance last season has raised his value and prompted some interest from the Arse and other clubs. I appreciate that he's only just signed a long term deal, but it must be gauling to play alongside lesser players who are pulling in 2 or 3 times the amount he does.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, we need him to be focused on one thing only at the start of the season, and obviously that's keeping the ball out of the net. The board should probably cough up an interim increase to keep him keen until 2009.

[Dave Hall]

Then he should have thought of this before he signed the contract,when he signed and what he signed is not nonsense jgsirons, it's an agreement that he agreed upon.