Matt Le Tissier says Hancock was "wrong" to single out footballers
Monday 6 April 2020 14:16, UK
Gordon Taylor has expressed his astonishment at Health Secretary Matt Hancock's continued attacks on players as the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief executive called for clarity on club finances as pay cut talks rumble on.
Football has come under scrutiny as the coronavirus pandemic continues to escalate, with the Health Secretary quick to highlight the supposed lack of support being offered by well-remunerated players.
Hancock urged top-flight professionals to "take a pay cut and play their part" on Thursday, perhaps unaware Premier League captains were already in discussions about how players could help during the coronavirus outbreak.
Taylor told Sky Sports News: "It's not that they (the players) don't appreciate the seriousness of what we are in, it's that if their money is being effected they want to know what's happening with it, and they would like to have the choice of where it goes to.
"We have so many foreign players who come to this country and they know what it says on the contract they will get, which has not always been the case with them at times in different areas of the world.
"A lot of them also want to help out with their own countries and their own families and looking after their families and friends, the same as the players here. So they want a choice if their money is being affected, where that money is going, rather than it being imposed."
Wayne Rooney said the way the last few days had panned out have been a "disgrace" and the former England captain called into question Hancock's reasons for focusing on players at a time of national crisis.
But criticism from Rooney and other high-profile figures has not led to change of tack from Hancock, who on Sunday instead reiterated his call for players to do more.
Taylor told The Telegraph: "I found it astonishing that Matt Hancock could come out like that when he's got his own issues with trying to get the necessary protective health equipment for our NHS workers and didn't have the tests in place either."
Former Southampton midfielder and Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier agrees with Taylor and believes Hancock should not have targeted players.
He said: "I think it was wrong of him to single out footballers. I know he was asked a direct question but there would have been a far better way of answering it than the way he did.
"If he wants the wealthiest people in society to make a contribution towards to what is going on at the moment, then that should be done as a whole and not singling out one industry."
The PFA joined the Premier League, League Managers Association and representatives from all clubs on a conference call on Saturday.
Talks will continue this week and Taylor has implored clubs to give the detailed financial information they had been expecting in order to make sure money goes to the right places.
Taylor told Sky Sports News: "It's not that they (the players) don't appreciate the seriousness of what we are in, it's that if their money is being effected they want to know what's happening with it, and they would like to have the choice of where it goes to.
"We have so many foreign players who come to this country and they know what it says on the contract they will get, which has not always been the case with them at times in different areas of the world.
"A lot of them also want to help out with their own countries and their own families and looking after their families and friends, the same as the players here. So they want a choice if their money is being affected, where that money is going, rather than it being imposed."
The issue of footballers' pay has become a hot topic since top-flight clubs started placing some non-playing staff on the government's furlough scheme.
Liverpool became the fifth Premier League team to embrace that framework on Saturday, but Manchester City have confirmed they will not be furloughing employees.
