Hypothetical Situation: Sheffield United or Manchester United?

[Whiston Blade]

Did anyone actually read the question properly?

1969

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Top 4 and £20million. That could set me and my family up for life. £1million wouldn't.

If it was closer. Say £5mil vs £10mil, I'd probably accept the smaller sum to play for United.

 

[TJB.]

You've never played professional football before, this is your one and only chnace but regardless of who you play for, you'll be forgotten about when you leave.

So I'm Jordan Slew?

 

[Westran]

So I'm Jordan Slew?

Except for the fact that you're a world class footballer for two years.

 

[BushBlade]

Man U. I wouldn't want anything to do with the Blades as a professional in the modern game. It would hurt too much when we lost and I wouldn't like being booed by my own. Fuck that, play for Man U, get rich and not care whether the mancs liked me or not.

 

[Kenilworth]

Man U. I wouldn't want anything to do with the Blades as a professional in the modern game. It would hurt too much when we lost and I wouldn't like being booed by my own. Fuck that, play for Man U, get rich and not care whether the mancs liked me or not.

I'd do the same and then after the two years was over and the magic had vanished then I could do whatever I liked following the Blades home and away and have the dink to set the family up for their futures.

 

[BushBlade]

I'd do the same and then after the two years was over and the magic had vanished then I could do whatever I liked following the Blades home and away and have the dink to set the family up for their futures.

I'd also use the money to set up a business, then sponsor us. Or, if I found I was better at it than the one I'm currently doing, invest. But only if it was game changing.

 

[SwissBlade]

I'd do a stint for United to start with then move on. Anyone who gives up on career progression has limited or no ambition.

Depends if your ultimate ambition is money driven or something more than that, playing for your home town team.

Money isn't everything and there are certain jobs which aren't as prestigious but I'd take less money to work on them

 

[SwissBlade]

Did anyone actually read the question properly?

No I read the bits I wanted to then made my own conclusion on what the actual question was.

Or indeed should be

 

[dazzlingblade]

as a half man half biscuit fan, i'd sign for dukla prague, just to get an away kit


really though it was my dream as a kid to pull on the red and white and score in front of the kop. hours spent playing footie with mates pretending to be keith edwards or deano, no amount of money in the world would stop that from still being my dream today

 

[bromtom]

If it started tomorrow I'd help proper United get promoted, beat Wendy 12-0 home and away and win the FA Cup on normal wages, but on the back of my individual success get fuck loads of sponsorship deals from Adidas, Monster etc to set me up for life.

In my second season I'd cement United's place in the Premier League, maybe getting us top 6/ Champions if McCabe and the Prince can augment me and bring in some others. All the while still getting my massive sponsorships.

This would set United up in the league, investment would come in for a successful team, we'd be steady in the league.

Assuming we're talking calender years and not seasons, I'd let United do a deal where they agree to sell me to Man City £80 million up front, with 10 to add on.

In the close season as I'm about to pack up and leave, my skills would disappear and my chronic back pain would return and I'd use that as an unexpected injury and eventually my excuse to retire from football.

United keep most of the money because injuries happen, but give some back in good faith.

I return to United on my retirement and act as a folk hero, the tragically short career of one of the best there ever was, sitting with fans and getting them behind the team, working with sponsors (using my still massive fame) to further improve the health of the club.

I use my millions to set up a new company, and I sponsor a new Kop with the best bogs you've ever seen.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Depends if your ultimate ambition is money driven or something more than that, playing for your home town team.

Money isn't everything and there are certain jobs which aren't as prestigious but I'd take less money to work on them

As I said I would do a stint for United to tick that particular box then move on. Why should football be an exception when your ultimate ambition is to be as good as you can working for the best there is around? It doesn't have to be all about money, although that will come to you as a result of realising your ambition rather than as a driving factor. Maguire is a perfect example, he's managed to reach the England squad and money has come to him as a result of his endeavours rather than him going around chasing it like a whore.

 

[SwissBlade]

As I said I would do a stint for United to tick that particular box then move on. Why should football be an exception when your ultimate ambition is to be as good as you can working for the best there is around? It doesn't have to be all about money, although that will come to you as a result of realising your ambition rather than as a driving factor. Maguire is a perfect example, he's managed to reach the England squad and money has come to him as a result of his endeavours rather than him going around chasing it like a whore.

I don't know that many people that have the attitude of being "as good as you can working for the best there is around" most people take a job and develop within that job or stay for security. That's why most people don't move jobs that often

 

[TarquinDelouche]

Why should football be an exception when your ultimate ambition is to be as good as you can working for the best there is around?

Best for who?
I'd rather work for a company I care about.

 

[snootyfenooty]

I don't know that many people that have the attitude of being "as good as you can working for the best there is around" most people take a job and develop within that job or stay for security. That's why most people don't move jobs that often

OK then, lets rephrase the OP. Would you rather work for Poundland or John Lewis?

I've lost count of the number of jobs I've had, and like you it's taken me all over the world. It's not too difficult once you get the hang of it (and have the balls for it) and the rewards make it worthwhile. Money was never the main driver when I set out on this path but I did get my rewards in the end, albeit minus a few zeros when compared to premier league footballers.

 

[BushBlade]

I don't know that many people that have the attitude of being "as good as you can working for the best there is around" most people take a job and develop within that job or stay for security. That's why most people don't move jobs that often

As an ex-employee of a large professional consultancy my experiences are the polar opposite of that. And in my specialist field I can think of only two or three people out of literally hundreds thst I know personally that haven't changed jobs fairly regularly.

 

[SwissBlade]

As an ex-employee of a large professional consultancy my experiences are the polar opposite of that. And in my specialist field I can think of only two or three people out of literally hundreds thst I know personally that haven't changed jobs fairly regularly.

I'd say that's quite unusual. Most people i know, outside of the project/ contract environment that I work in tend to stay in their jobs until something drastic changes, but these are generally changes which are out of their making (redundancy, restructuring, relocation etc)

 

[PokerBlade]

Did anyone actually read the question properly?

Yeah, but contrived hypotheticals with little relation to reality don't often interest me very much. So then people rewrite the hypothetical to their own convenience. As the most basic objection, we have to imagine someone with the mentality to make it as a pro athlete at the top level who also doesn't have the eagerness to win things and progress.

Reality is that you don't become a pro footballer overnight. And when you grow up as someone with the talent and drive, that then breaks into a team, your life goals and ambitions are a product of your actual life experiences.

If I could spend two years as a pro footballer at any club I'd jump at the opportunity. And maybe there's some footballers who wish they were smarter than a dormouse, but it ain't gonna happen and our ambitions are relative to our actual position in the world and ability to rationalise it.

Here's a question: how many top class footballers (as in, good enough to start in a Champions League winning eleven) spend their careers at Championship level or below out of sentimentality? Aside from the odd Whitehouse, who turns down a slight move up, or a Sharp who takes a pay cut for first team football, what you actually get is players that, no matter how much they profess to love their home club, want to progress their careers.

Even ignoring the money, you'd want to know how far you could go, what you could win, and play in the biggest games around the world. People take financial concessions for happiness all the time for other forms of utility (job satisfaction, family) , but they do it relative to their position in the world.

 

[PokerBlade]

I don't know that many people that have the attitude of being "as good as you can working for the best there is around" most people take a job and develop within that job or stay for security. That's why most people don't move jobs that often

Yeah, this is about competing goals and that, while money is very important, there's more to utility than that. Job satisfaction, family and social life, travel, a degree of safety and comfort with the known etc. etc. The reason most people don't change jobs that often is because the increase in utility in money may increase while the others decrease either short or long term e.g. the job is 150 miles away and you'd have to buy a new house, move your kids to a new school, and your wife would also need to find a new job. So in order to change jobs you might need a number of other factors to also be satisfied to make up for the marginal utility of an extra £5k (or more) a year. But I imagine, and I don't have stats here unfortunately, very few people are turning down huge pay increases with little detriment to other areas.

And there's also a difference in optimal mentalities for different occupations. If you want to work in a care home for the elderly, you need endless amounts of patience and compassion. What you don't need is a drive to be at the very best care home in the world. I think it probably is a very important, or at least useful, mentality to succeed in sports to be of the type who needs to be the very best they can be.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

United (shouldn't have to say which one as we were the first)

If I was that good the chance to become a real legend at the club I love would out weigh the financial benefit of being just another one of many top players at Manchester United.

Helping to win one FA Cup or one Premier League title at United would live in the memory forever. Doing it every other season at the Manchester version of us would become a bit meh.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Best for who?
I'd rather work for a company I care about.

That's all very altruistic, but as much as you'd like to think otherwise, they don't give a fuck about you. In the job market you look after No. 1.

 

[georgebernardshaw]

That's all very altruistic, but as much as you'd like to think otherwise, they don't give a fuck about you. In the job market you look after No. 1.

ALTRUISTIC ALERT!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TarquinDelouche]

That's all very altruistic, but as much as you'd like to think otherwise, they don't give a fuck about you. In the job market you look after No. 1.

And if you care for more than only money, you look for other reasons for working for someone.

 

[snootyfenooty]

You're telling me the club wouldnt give a fuck about a world star on their books for ten grand a week?

They'll give more of a fuck about how much they can sell him for. Can I live in your world?

 

[TarquinDelouche]

They'll give more of a fuck about how much they can sell him for. Can I live in your world?

I had already edited my post, to give you more of an insight into my ("the real") world.

 

[snootyfenooty]

I had already edited my post, to give you more of an insight into my ("the real") world.

Not before I replied you didn't otherwise your original post wouldn't have been quoted in mine. Nice tactic though, a good lesson in how to shift the goalposts hoping someone doesn't notice.

 

[TarquinDelouche]

Not before I replied you didn't otherwise your original post wouldn't have been quoted in mine. Nice tactic though, a good lesson in how to shift the goalposts hoping someone doesn't notice.

I edited it before I saw your response because I thought of a better point to make. It has nothing to do with hoping anyone doesn't anything.

 

[BushBlade]

That's all very altruistic, but as much as you'd like to think otherwise, they don't give a fuck about you. In the job market you look after No. 1.

There are plenty of people who are altruistic, they tend to work either in the public sector or for charities. I'm quite cynical of anyone who works in the private sector and isn't chasing either a job they really love or a big pay packet.

 

[snootyfenooty]

There are plenty of people who are altruistic, they tend to work either in the public sector or for charities. I'm quite cynical of anyone who works in the private sector and isn't chasing either a job they really love or a big pay packet.

Maybe you can explain why the Chairpersons of some of the major charities earn upwards of £200k p.a. then. I don't give these buggers a red cent and much prefer to give to local charities such a St Lukes & St Wilfreds.

 

[BushBlade]

Maybe you can explain why the Chairpersons of some of the major charities earn upwards of £200k p.a. then. I don't give these buggers a red cent and much prefer to give to local charities such a St Lukes & St Wilfreds.

No, I can't. Why should I have to? How does that detract from my point? Not everyone who works for a charity or in the public sector earns £200,000 p.a. Most of them don't. Chief execs in the private sector earn a lot more than that. The head of my department, that's department, not company, 'managing' around 100 people, was on £2m a year when I left.