Pat Nevin says Arsenal will be used as an excuse for other soccer clubs to show their true colours and lay off workers.
Nevin's comments follow 55 members of staff at Arsenal losing their jobs due to the financial impact of COVID-19, confirmed on Wednesday.
Speaking on the Football Show, former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said he can understand clubs are affected financially, but that Arsenal have no excuse for their actions.
“It is horrifying that 55 people were laid off. Now, if you’re overstaffed in some areas and there are tight times, you might have to shave off a little bit. That happens.
“55 is huge in a football club. That’s not shaving off a little bit. That’s not even what people do if they’re trying to get out of a crisis.
“I could understand if they were trying to make it a leaner organization, but it doesn’t sound like that at Arsenal. They don’t sound like they have an excuse.”
We spoke to @PatNevin about Arsenal's 'grotesque' behaviour, the scourge of diving and more!
All part of the OTB Podcast Network:https://t.co/TVvp09SF7p— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 5, 2020
Nevin said Arsenal have set a precedent for other clubs to follow suit and that the Gunners have cut costs in the wrong places at the club.
“If you look around, it looks like a lot of organizations are doing the same to decrease their budgets and decrease their staff.
“Now they will look at this situation at Arsenal and say ‘yes’ and use this situation to get rid of people knowing they will get people in who are much cheaper.
“Especially in a pandemic when we’re all trying to work together - it’s grotesque.”
Arsenal
The former Scottish player was once chairman of Motherwell and said he knows what it’s like to be in a situation where staff have to be let go.
However, Nevin claimed the Arsenal players should have taken a pay cut like Arteta did last April to keep people at work.
“You should go through everyone and find out why they are doing this to this individual. You need to do that. I had to do that, but I told everyone exactly why it was happening.
“In the end, Arsenal should go to the players and tell them to deal with this situation for a year and the players should take a little haircut in their pay.
"Everyone then would work together, and it would bring the club closer together. At Arsenal, are they really the areas they should be cutting back on?"
