Gold hits out at wage demands

Ronaldo: Gold criticism

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Birmingham City chairman David Gold has hit out at the excessive wage demands of Premier League players as the country faces recession.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo comes under particular criticism from Gold, who believes club loyalty should be a player's priority.

Ronaldo has allegedly insisted that he deserves a pay increase as his agents confirmed he is set to have talks over a new deal at Old Trafford.

"There is a recession for the people who watch Ronaldo play," Gold told The Times.

Servant

"They are all feeling it, they are turning off their lights a little earlier, they're all driving a bit slower. They are in recession.

"For the United fans, sure, he's a hero to them and deserves every penny he gets. But to the non-United fans. He wants more money? Yes, they may well despise him for that.

"If I was his dad or his PR or his agent I'd be saying to him that this is not the route we want to be going down. They should be building his image as a loyal servant. I'd like to see players kissing their badge more, not their wallets."

Realism

But Gold believes that the current economic climate has added 'realism' to football despite admitting that many Championship clubs are only just surviving.

"As painful as the crunch may be, though, it has also brought a degree of realism to the game," added Gold.

"You have to balance the books and clubs are doing this aggressively.

"Going around the boardrooms as I do, there is no panic. Everyone is being realistic.

"But when they go to their banks now to increase their overdraft from £10million to £12million, they're being told, 'No, reduce it to £8million.'"