Hot off the Presses..! Yes, I know it's the Online Mail, so you should take everything written with a huge pinch of salt [they can't fabricate too much here though] and I know I should be asleep, but I thought you late finishers, like me, and the early birds, might like to read this little article, before you either toddle off up the wooden hill, or get the breakfast. Enjoy this first: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ing-create-new-golden-generation-England.html
Thanks to Twitter, I've just come across this article in the Mirror - an interview with Lallana. Nothing too revealing, and not as decent as the above article, but still it's yet another positive article about us. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...emier-League-promotion-bid-article829681.html
"Reed, along with Saints’ Swiss chairman Nicole Cortese, and academy manager Matt Crocker" Is Cortese our Swiss chairman?! Only taking the mick, good read!
just as I said - our golden generation equivalent of Man Utd's - i was scoffed down for saying that tough interesting read though - thanks for posting
I wonder if everyone will be so excited after the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan which comes into force in April. For anyone interested, there is a good article about this in this month's "When Saturday comes." ALthough I had heard of the scheme, I was unaware of the implications but, to put into a summary form, each club will be placed into four categories with fees for players snapped up from club academies by higher "banded" teams meaning potentially minimal fees being paid to purchase top talent. Effectively, this would mean the likes of the sums of monies being paid for the likes of Walcott and AOC being reduced to a potential level of circa £150k. Big clubs would buy all the better youngsters knowing that at £100k each, for example, they would be able to buy the equivalent of 120 Theos! As the article hints, it is difficult to predict at which level an academy like Southampton's will be banded but the upshot will no doubt be that although the smaller clubs will get additional funding to bring players on, the reduced transfer fees that the Football League clubs have traded in lieu of this will mean that the larger clubs will quickly snap up the best quality younger players since they can afford to take more risk now that the sums being proposed will take effect. The essay illustrates the case if 14 year olf MK Dons player Oluwaseyi Ojo who signed for Chelsea a week before the vote for the introduction of the EPPP shceme took effect for a figure of £1.5 million. Whilst the author suggests that this will benefit the youngsters with better abilities as they will all end up with the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal, it is certain that this will benefit the Premiership clubs to the disadvantage to the other three leagues. Clubs like Peterborough are already muting the wisdom of investing in academies if their better players can be snapped up so quickly. As a Saints fan, I am worried about som of the younger players like Prowse - Ward and Luke Shaw being poached for nominal fees by the likes of Arsenal. This will happen - it is not speculation. The era of getting £12 million to the latest scarlet seem to be on their way out. Anyone else aware of this change?
Southampton are rumoured to be category 1, along with many Premier League clubs. Seeing as we have, or will have a superior academy organisation to anything in the PL [possibly apart from Man City, when their's is built], we can hardly be categorised lower.
The Scond Stain Cheers ~ I thought that we might be ranked quite highly due to the academy's reputation but I would suggest that it is unlikely to be the cash cow that it hase been over the last 10-15 years if the fees being suggested are anything to go by.
ian we have one of the best academies in the country, we wont have to worry about the new academy rules and regs.
JWP turned 17 shortly after the Palace game and I believe he now has a professional contract. I'm pretty sure Shaw is on a pre-contract. AOC was a year into his 3 year professional contract when he left, so wouldn't have fallen under the EPPP. The tradition is to keep under 16s very quiet until they graduate into the u18 team as very young players have always been cheap.. Cortese is shelling out for a top-bracket academy because he sees it as a big part of the club's future. The £2.3m per annum outlay sounds alot but is fairly modest compared to the potential rewards. The EPPP doesn't spell bad news for us, but I do worry about the consequences lower down. Not even the big boys are immune from getting players snatched. We took one of Chelsea's best, George Mells, earlier this year.U16s move all the time for small fees and nobody bats an eyelid..
don't know anything about Harrison Reed, is he the new Scholes because of his non stop play- or his he crap at tackling
he is one of our brighter prospects - comparison is because they are similar players in how they play
