Last week the Premier League voted to impose spending limits on their members in a bid to reduce the chances of other clubs ‘doing a Portsmouth’.

Clubs like QPR are spending more money than they can possibly earn

There was opposition to the plans from a few clubs including (here’s a surprise) Manchester City, who have been known, on occasion, to max out the corporate credit card.

Nevertheless, the motion was passed by the necessary majority and the rules will come into place from next season, coinciding with the league’s new £5.5 billion (€6.4bn) television deal.

I won’t go into all the specifics of the spending restrictions because, quite frankly, they are rather convoluted and complicated. But the general gist is that clubs have a cap on the total wages they can pay and are only allowed to make a £105 million (€122m) loss over a three-year period.

Failure to meet those criteria will result in the offending clubs facing a points deduction, fines and maybe even a spell on the naughty chair.

Although I don’t think the restrictions go far enough – surely making any sort of loss is not a healthy way to run a business – at least the Premier League are trying to curb the financial free-for-all that currently exists.

And if you were in any doubt that the current situation is out of hand, then let’s use Queens Park Rangers as an example of why spending regulations are desperately needed.

Bottom of the league and seemingly destined for the drop, in the January transfer window they splashed out more than £22 million (€25.5m) on just two new players – Loïc Rémy and Christopher Samba.

At first glance that might not sound like too much considering other clubs have spent more money on less players in the past. In some cases a lot more on a lot less.

However, the difference is those other clubs have the size, stature, supporter base and infrastructure to justify such spending. QPR don’t.

Not only are they relative newcomers to the Premier League, more importantly they are not what you would describe as a big club: their ground only holds 18,000 supporters, nothing in comparison to the big boys.

And that means their income is severely limited in areas like merchandising, sponsorship and, obviously, gate receipts.

Let’s take the latter as a prime example. If you consider that they have 19 home games over the course of the season and their average ticket price is, say £40 (€46), you are looking at total league gate receipts of less than £14 million (€16m).

Yet the deals for Samba and Remy, including transfer fees and wages over the terms of their contracts, are estimated to be costing the club £80 million (€93m).

So, essentially, every single penny the club earns from its league gate receipts over the next four seasons (assuming QPR stay in the Premiership) would need to go towards financing those two players. And they would still be £24 million (€28m) short.

Yes, of course, there is sponsorship, cup matches, merchandise and, most importantly, television money, to add to the pot.

But there are also the other first-team players, the youth teams, the coaching staff (Harry Redknapp is not going to be working for peanuts), the administrators and the general running costs of the club to take into consideration.

You don’t need to be a qualified accountant to realise those figures don’t add up.

Clubs like QPR are spending more money than they can possibly earn in their desperation to remain in the top flight. That’s fine while owner Tony Fernandes is prepared to make up the difference, but what if he has financial troubles of his own?

What if they get relegated and the television money dries up? How long before Fernandes loses interest at that point? Funding a loss-making team amid the glamour of trips to Old Trafford and Anfield is one thing. But when the trips are to Brighton and Barnsley then I suspect his enthusiasm will soon wear off.

QPR, or more accurately, their owners, have effectively gambled the very existence of the club on Premier League survival. Their desperation to keep themselves in and among the riches of the top flight has meant they have taken business decisions that make absolutely no sense.

To make matters worse, last week’s 3-1 defeat at Swansea (a club which is run sensibly and lives within its means, by the way) hammered another nail in QPR’s relegation coffin.

I’m no QPR fan in the slightest, but I certainly don’t want to see them suffer the same fate as Portsmouth. I don’t want to see any club suffer that fate, not even Manchester City.

And that’s why, ladies and gentlemen, the Premier League was absolutely right to push these spending restrictions through sooner rather than later.

Of course, there are loopholes in the new rules, just as there are in the Uefa equivalents. And I am sure those clubs with the stupid-rich owners will be the first to try and exploit these loopholes.

But at least the first step towards getting football back on its financial feet has been taken. Hopefully all the clubs will embrace this new reality and realise it is, ultimately, for their own good.

Setting the scene for round two

Over-hyped football matches rarely live up to expectations. And you don’t get much more hyped that last week’s Real Madrid vs Manchester United Champions League clash.

It seemed like the entire world was fascinated by the idea of two of Europe’s heavyweight teams and two of the game’s greatest managers slugging it out.

Normally, when that much attention is given to a single game you are left wondering what all the fuss was about. But this game, at least to a large extent, actually managed to buck that trend.

It wasn’t one of the all-time classics by any stretch of the imagination but it was an enthralling game in which United goalkeeper David de Gea finally came of age.

In all honesty, if it wasn’t for him then Real would probably have been out of sight and the second leg of the contest would have become a mere formality.

As it is, though, the game is nicely poised for the return match at Old Trafford with United undoubtedly content with their away goal but Jose Mourinho equally confident that his team will be able to find the back of the net in Manchester.

And it is during that second leg that I think this tie will really reach the heights. The first match, as so often in these situations, just sets the scene for the second.

A winner-takes-all situation involving two managers who are not overly familiar or entirely comfortable with the concept of losing. Now that is worth hyping up.

Not even better than nothing

As always, there are plenty of contenders for the title of worst player of the season, and I am sure many of you will have your own particular favourites.

But for me, one player stands head and shoulders above the rest in this season’s contest – Andre Santos.

Last week, the Arsenal left-back was sent out on loan to Turkish side Fenerbahçe as Arsene Wenger tried to get him as far away from the Emirates as possible.

Rarely has a player failed to live up to expectations in such spectacular fashion as poor old Santos. When he arrived at the club in August 2011, Wenger said: “Santos is a quality player, with the ability to both defend well and get forward.”.

Yet, over the course of the last season-and-a-half he has shown no sign of being hampered by either of those two skills; nor any other that could feasibly be considered as football related.

He has been so embarrassingly bad that his mere presence on the pitch was enough to give Arsenal’s opponents a morale boost. He was their 12th man.

How on earth Santos has played for Brazil is entirely beyond me, especially when you consider this is a nation that produced a certain Roberto Carlos in that same position.

The recent injury to Keiran Gibbs effectively meant Santos was the only fit and healthy left-back at the club. Yet Wenger was still prepared to let him go to Turkey, which says it all really.

Just goes to show that £6.2 million (€7.2m) doesn’t go a very long way in football these days…

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade