The gulf between rich and poor clubs will be evident up and down the country on Saturday as the third round of the FA Cup gets under way, but nowhere more so than at Kenilworth Road.
Luton Town will play host to Liverpool in a repeat of the 2006 tie which saw the Reds triumph 5-3, but it is here that the comparisons end. While Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is lining up transfer targets, Luton manager Kevin Blackwell is more concerned about if his wages are going to be paid.
Players and staff members went unpaid in November, and only received half of what they should have done in December.
Indeed, Blackwell admits that one of his jobs recently has been to appease the wives of some of his players who have phoned him in tears worried about when their husbands will receive their wages as they're struggling to pay the mortgage.
It is because of this that Blackwell has voiced his frustration that more has not been done by the Football League to help Luton in their time of need.
"We are in administration and I daren't go and ask to sign anyone [on loan] but I thought I could at least keep the ones I had got - they said I couldn't," he told the BBC.
"I thought the Football League had spoken about a family of football and trying to help when a family member is in trouble but at the moment all I see is them kicking us when we are down."
However, a good cup run could ease the financial worries - at least temporarily - before a new investor is found, so Blackwell and his team are focussing on an upset.
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21 October 2010
21 October 2010
21 October 2010
20 October 2010
20 October 2010
