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Rival fans take great delight that Saracens are set for the drop
By Josh Raisey
Many people have taken great delight at seeing the exclusive RugbyPass story about Saracens staring down the barrel of automatic relegation - and they have good reason to.
Ever since the revelation in November that Saracens had breached the salary cap over the past three years and were subsequently fined £5.36million and deducted 35 Gallagher Premiership points, there have been calls for harsher punishments for what many fans believe to be outright cheating.
The reigning European and English champions now have a matter of days to show that they are working within the salary cap for the current 2019/20 season or face expulsion from the league.
This has meant that some players are expected to be released in order to free up the wage bill. A number of names have already been rumoured to be on the way out, which includes Liam Williams whose return to the Scarlets may now be fast tracked.
This rather jubilant reaction from many opposing fans, who feel their clubs have been deprived of success during this period, was expected and is justified.
(Continue reading below...)
Saracens on brink of automatic relegation
However, many people have also looked at this from the perspective of the players and staff at Saracens who could be in danger of losing their jobs.
If players were to leave Saracens, either as a result of relegation or cutting costs, the bigger names will not suffer as they will be able to walk into any other team.
The ones on the echelon below, however, along with staff members could be deprived of their livelihoods.
Some people have also noted that the players would have been complicit in this and should therefore be held responsible as well.
That is not a view held by everyone, though, as players would often go to whoever gives them the best offer, not only financially but from a playing perspective as well.
The players did not orchestrate this, but some could pay the price, particularly if they lose their job midway through the season.
While there is always the inherent risk that cuts will need to be made in the event of a team being relegated, this may be different from cases in the past and fans have spared a thought for the players.
WATCH: Jim Hamilton discusses all the news of the week in the latest episode of Don’t Mess With Jim
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Latest Comments
Willis is decent in the lineout to be fair, but definitely lacking a heavyweight ball carrier.
I think between Underhill, Curry, and Willis there isn't a huge amount between them. Maybe Willis would be good enough to start, but he wouldn't massively improve the team.
Go to commentsI'm not sure he is getting there and I don't think he will. Progress has been glacial honestly. Our attacking structure hasn't improved at all, except that he's now picking Marcus Smith who is a one man attack at the moment... And our defence for obvious reasons is now awful. I would have faith in Borthwick if I had faith in his assistant coaches... But I don't think Wigglesworth is an attack coach and why would he be? He's never been an attack coach and he spent his entire career box kicking. Our defence coach has never been employed as a defence coach and is still the head coach of a second division French side with an awful defensive record. The fact that Borthwick appointed them both is a poor reflection. If we still had Felix Jones and we had Mike Catt/Nick Evans or someone in the attack coach role, I'd be content to be patient and that results will come. With Wigglesworth and Joe El Abd, I have no faith that we will improve and I've seen no signs that we are.
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