Shrimpsvoices

Non football staff at MFC have been furloughed

No brainer. A small club like us has to survive and let the government pay the 80%.

Some Barrow players furloughed..... not sure they should do this as their business is not forced to close?

Many others may follow suit with large squads, not fair on the ones that have been prudent imo

marky No.1 wrote:Some Barrow players furloughed..... not sure they should do this as their business is not forced to close?

Many others may follow suit with large squads, not fair on the ones that have been prudent imo

Barrow are cheating. They have a squad of players that they could not afford without the furlough scheme (Jamie Devitt just as an example). Hopefully the EFL will impose a points penalty that fits the offence.

RapidShrimp wrote:https://www.thevisitor.co.uk/sport/football/morecambe-fc/workers-morecambe-fc-are-placed-furlough-2532131

They'd already taken a voluntary 20% paycut, which is incredible to hear. We should be really thankful for the dedication they've given our club at a difficult time.

Furlough was started in order to help business protect jobs if they are forced to close or are unable for their staff to work, either through drop in business or forced to close in lockdown.
Morecambe decided to Furlough their staff when we were in the last lockdown, quite rightly as they were unable to work until football returned, it could be argued that some non playing staff could still be furloughed due to their job not being available until the return of fans.
Barrow and football throughout the professional game is able to continue so therefore they have no right or should have no right to furlough players, given their recent transfer activity i find this a Joke and should be brought to task for this blatant abuse of the furlough scheme, the players cant be entitled to furlough purely because there is no change to their employment and that their employers employed more people (Players in recent weeks)

if Barrow get away with this then they have stuck a middle finger to other clubs in the league

Dover have placed every member of Staff on furlough and will not play another fixture this season. The NL is in a right mess, staying up last season was probably one of the biggest things to ever happen to this club.

Southport intend to do something similar. Liam Watson gave a in depth interview last week, worth a watch if you can find it.

In fairness to Barrow there was an article in the Athletic that said a number of League Two clubs have furloughed players. The piece went on to say that those that hadn’t were in the minority. I’ll try to post the article.

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/can-foo ... 9hy1zmbk6n

Not illegal...

Wonder if our club has taken up the option......

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/sport/ ... d-17988533

redrobo wrote:https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/can-footballers-be-furloughed-are-they-still-getting-paid/11xaxcgzaj28h13l9hy1zmbk6n

Not illegal...

Wonder if our club has taken up the option......

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/sport/ ... d-17988533

Its not the fact that Barrow have furloughed personnel, more so that they have used the scheme to overhaul their squad IMO - tactically so to speak. Had Barrow not furloughed their players that are now seemingly surplus to requirements, surely they would've had to:

A). Paid for the existing players under contract in addition to that of the new players - 9 of them, including Jamie Devitt. Surely that is not feasible at a League Two club(?).
B). Loan out or sell the the existing players to make way for new additions (I have sympathies here - as there isn't currently a market for this, with most leagues below the EFL not operating effectively).
C). Settle the contracts of the existing players to make room in their playing budget for new additions.

As it stands, effectively the government is contributing towards the severance of these unwanted players - who will no doubt be released at the end of their current contracts. I don't think there is technically anything illegal in doing this, but surely it is not morally right to bring in new employees whilst you still have personnel on furlough? I don't think this is what the scheme was intended for, although like most government policy it seems to lean heavily upon individual interpretation.

I've no doubt other teams are using the scheme as a way of cutting costs (Chesterfield are a good example, and now Dover) - perhaps we have/are already doing this.... hence the 'confidential reasons' behind recent player absences? For example, Ajay Leitch-Smith hasn't featured in a squad since January 10th. I know he is injured more than isn't, which is a shame because when fit he is probably one of the most talented players in the squad, but if he isn't injured - he's surely good enough to make the bench?

According to the Bluebirds Fans Forum they are not happy about some of the squad being furloughed and some are ashamed of being associated with the club.

Quite a few more players will be on Furlough tomorrow as the National Leagues North and South have been declared null and void.

It has come as a surprise but can’t blame the majority of teams voting for this. The government finance is changing from support to loans, and clubs such at Chester, which are Supporters Trust owned and run, have said they cannot afford to take out the loan to survive and then next season expect to repay them and stay afloat.
Fylde commented saying the owner was willing to bankroll if necessary, but they were in the minority.
So given the implications, it seems like common sense has prevailed, live to play another day, when hopefully paying customers can return!

With the National Leagues North and South season's effectively finished I wonder if this means that players with a 1 season only contract are now effectively free agents and if so I wonder if any of those affected would be of interest to DA on a short term contract as they would be classed as free agents and therefore allowed to sign for another club...

Players such as Jack Redshaw could do a short term job for us as he currently is a York City player who play in National North where their season has finished.

redrobo wrote:With the National Leagues North and South season's effectively finished I wonder if this means that players with a 1 season only contract are now effectively free agents and if so I wonder if any of those affected would be of interest to DA on a short term contract as they would be classed as free agents and therefore allowed to sign for another club...

Players such as Jack Redshaw could do a short term job for us as he currently is a York City player who play in National North where their season has finished.

Good point, or even instead of free agents it could just be a loan? I imagine NLS/N clubs would be happy to loan us players to keep them training and playing rather than furloughed.

And yet, does bringing in players from two leagues below really fit the Goodbye little old Morecambe vision? We did it with Jordan Slew but to my mind he is still a work in progress. Have we got time to bring others from that level up to speed before the end of the season?

Shrimp Girl wrote:And yet, does bringing in players from two leagues below really fit the Goodbye little old Morecambe vision? We did it with Jordan Slew but to my mind he is still a work in progress. Have we got time to bring others from that level up to speed before the end of the season?

Exactly. Jack Redshaw may have done well with us, but since he left, he hasn’t set the world alight in League football since, with injuries and runs of poor form plaguing his last few years. Last season he didn’t have a particularly good time with Halifax and has ended up in the 6th tier. Ultimately, we are not Jim Bentley’s Morecambe any more, we don’t need to be bringing former players back in (Cole, Miller, Alessandra etc.) when we are aiming for a better future for the club.

I’m not against the prospect of fishing around in the lower leagues for some prospects (e.g. the one and only CMG!) but re-signing a 30 year old 6th tier striker isn’t it.