Blues Cost-Cutting Measures

[Charco]

Scrum.com (http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/132679.html?addata=chromium)

Williams and Shanklin set for Blues exit</font>


Wales duo Martyn Williams and Tom Shanklin are set to be the biggest casualties as part of a major cost-
cutting exercise at Cardiff Blues.

Both players have reportedly been told they must leave the Magners League side when their contracts
expire at the end of the season due to budget cutbacks totalling £750,000. The Western Mail reports that
head coach David Young is trying to limit the damage to his squad by limiting the departures to those who
are coming out of contract but suggests they may even listen to offers for prize assets Jamie Roberts and
Leigh Halfpenny.

The 35-year-old Williams, capped 98 times by his country and a three-time tourist with the British & Irish
Lions, had planned to retire at the end of next season but may be forced into a re-think by this latest
news. Shanklin's playing future is also in doubt and in a further set-back the 31-year-old was yesterday
ruled out of the Six Nations because he requires knee surgery.

Young has refused to comment on the futures of Williams and Shanklin but has confirmed the financial
pressures he faces. "We decided to have one last crack at things with the players we have this season,
but it hasn't happened for us and next season we have to be sensible," he told the newspaper. "And being
sensible involves making cuts to get the cost of the squad down to a sustainable level.

"This season we've had the most expensive squad in history at the Blues and we knew that there would
come a time when it would be a stretch financially to keep it together. The board have handed me a new
two-year player budget which I have to stick to and it equates roughly to the salary cap in the Aviva
Premiership (around £4m). We have to reduce costs and try to build the squad with younger players."

[Valencia]

Can we have Jamie Roberts please

[Ruck]

Can we have Jamie Roberts please
I haven't seen much of him since the Lions tour, but anytime I have, he's looked fairly average. The thing with partnering BOD is that he makes everyone around him look better than they otherwise may be.

[Jackie Brown]

Shanklin (IF he could stay injury free) would be a good addition to Munsters team.

[redmist]

Shanklin would be a good, if not a great, addition. Cheaper
option perhaps too?

[Bitter As A Lemon]

Shanklin <S&#079;NG>(IF he could stay injury free)</S&#079;NG> would be a good addition to Munsters team.





Thats the key, Ican't remember a season where he hasn't been out for a sustained period of time though.

[Arthur Guinness]

Oops.Got this all wrong. Thought thread was about Leinster
fans no longer drinking in Kielys but taking their custom to
somewhere like Murray's on Bath Avenue where the Heino
might be a little more in keeping with these recessionary
times.

[rathbaner]

Maybe the Shanklin of three or four years ago, but not now.

[Cowboy]

Sad for the Blues, sign of the times though, and allied to
the fact they're paying megabucks to rent a gigantic
empty stadium every week it cant be easy balance the
books.

[Viigand]

Williams and Shanklin are too old, the average age of our team is too high as it is.

[Tobyglen]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/01/ (http://www.wales&#111;nline.co.uk/rugbynati&#111;n/rugby-news/2011/01/19/martyn-williams-and-tom-shanklin-axed-by-cash-hit-blues-91466-28011171/) 19/martyn-williams-and-tom-shanklin-axed-by-cash-hit-blues-9 1466-28011171/


At least Cardiff know when to give players the chop. There is no room for sentimentality in professional sports. Harsh but it's bloody true.

[Kerry-Exile]

PETER THOMAS has described the axing of Blues greats

Martyn Williams and Tom Shanklin as the toughest decision

of his rugby life.



The long-serving duo are being shown the door by the

region as part of swingeing financial cuts, totalling

£750,000.



Both men are out of contract at the end of this season and

are not being offered new deals.



Veteran flanker Williams, 35, has been at Cardiff since

1999 and captained the side for three years, while centre

Shanklin has been with the Blues since the inception of

regional rugby in 2003.





So chairman Thomas admits he found it far from easy to

call time on their careers with the region.



“This is biggest, hardest, toughest, worst decision I have

had to make in my 20 years with Cardiff,” he said.



“They are two of the greatest servants we have ever had.



“I have never met two finer people than Martyn and Tom.



“I think they are absolute gems, who have given us

everything.



“Tom has kept his knee together since the Lions tour of

2005 and put his body on the line year after year.



“And Martyn is a legend who deserves to become a

centurion for what he has done for Welsh rugby. He is one

of this country’s finest-ever players.



“But Old Father Time catches up with everybody.



“They are both coming out of contract and part of the

cutbacks are that people who are out of contract can’t be

retained because other people are in contract.



“Over the next two years, when players come out of

contract their positions will have to be scrutinised and

reviewed very closely.”



The playing budget will be cut by £600,000 – from £5m to

£4.4m – for next season, with a further £150,000 of

savings to be made off the field.



Thomas said he had no choice but to reduce the spending
</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">in the wake of the Blues’ failure to reach the quarter-finals
</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">of the Heineken Cup, which he estimates has cost them at
</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">least £500,000.
</span>


“Over the last few years, and this season in particular, we

have thrown the financial kitchen sink at the squad,” he

said.



“Our squad cost for this season is £5m. We have gone for

the best in Dan Parks and Michael Paterson and retained

Xavier Rush.



“On paper, it’s by far the strongest squad we have had.



“A lot of people have taken huge decisions to support this

and we will continue to support it.



“But the reason for the budget reduction for next season is

quite simple. It’s the cost of failure.



“We failed in the Heineken Cup and we have to face the

consequences and pay the price.



“We didn’t get the income we were projecting from Europe.

As a consequence, we are cutting back.



“It doesn’t mean we won’t be competing for the Heineken

Cup next year. Our ambition has not faltered at all.



“We want to be there at the top end of European rugby,

competing in every game and every event.



“We are not destroying this team. We are not going

backwards, we are going forwards.



“We have to be realistic. We have got an ageing side. We

have only got one guy in our pack under 30.



“We have to look to the future and we have got a lot of

new, blood coming through in people like Sam Warburton,

Scott Andrews, Andries Pretorius, James Down, Sam Hobbs

and Kristian Dacey.”



Thomas continued: “Although there is going to be a

reduction as a result of failure, we will still be paying top-

dollar.



“Our budget cap for next season will be £4.4m, which is t

[Hugonaut]

If I were a betting man, I would put money on Martyn Williams will go to Wasps. They have a habit of picking up high-profile quality older players and wringing a few extra years out of them [Ibanez and Betsen are the ones that spring to mind, although I/m sure there have been others].

[Sian24]

Rumours on Radio Cymru over here this morning that one if not both of the players could be signed up by the Dragons - but depending of course on cost

[LeakyBoots]

No sentimentality there, could do with a dose of that ourselves.

[Kerry-Exile]

Yep, they're doing the right thing for the squad and for
themselves to be fair. Would be a good move for the dragons
to bring in experienced players like that

[Red October]

No sentimentality there, could do with
a dose of that ourselves.

+1

[Red Hand Hero]

If I were a betting man, I would put money on Martyn Williams will go to Wasps. They have a habit of picking up high-profile quality older players and wringing a few extra years out of them [Ibanez and Betsen are the ones that spring to mind, although I/m sure there have been others].


Still doing a decent job with Simon Shaw. Issue is that Williams needs closely monitored due to his age added to the fact Warburton is already at the club and is a more physical, Pocock style player wheras Williams is the link-man.

I don't think Shanklin will have a problem getting a contract either from within the ML or further afield. He might not be the player he was in 2005 but he's still a damned good player.

Have no sympathy for the Blues after the Rush affair, hell slap it up them.smileys/lol.gif

[lawrence]

we could have done with making some of those decision a year or two ago, nothing that can be done about it now but at the end of the season there will have to be some players given news that they didnt want to hear but probably knew was coming.,

[Rocky]

It’s the cost of failure.

..........


Thomas firmly rejected any suggestion that the cuts were a

consequence of costs incurred through moving to the

Cardiff City Stadium from the Arms Park.


..........


“That is a lot of nonsense,” he said. “If we hadn’t gone to

the new stadium we would be in a far worse financial

situation.

..........

Everything is going in the right

direction.”


It's the cost of failure, but it's all going the right way. "This is progress, don't be dinosaurs." Yada yada.