So, The FA's comission to address the flaws in the English game and at The FA, especially in terms of coaching, development and nurturing of young players is now in place. The members are as follows... Greg Dyke - Chairman of the Football Association Roger Burden - Vice-Chairman of the Football Association Greg Clarke - Chairman of the Football League Dario Gradi - Former football manager/coach/academy director Ritchie Humphreys - Chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association Glenn Hoddle - Former player and manager Howard Wilkinson - Former manager Danny Mills - Former player - (why is he on it?) What are people's views on this? DTLW
Something needs doing to address the shortfall in the basic skill levels of young English players compared with those from Europe. Whether this is the right group of people to do something about it, time will tell. Glad Glenn Hoddle's there, he certainly recognises the problem going by some of the things he's said recently (he can be trusted with the media now).
What's the connection between all the people on that panel? None of them could get a job at a decent club, hence why the FA only employs rejects. As for Hoddle, hasn't he backed out of his Youth Academy for rejected players? Because it was a failure with only a couple of his players getting picked up by lower league clubs. Certainly none of them by Prem clubs and having any value (I expect to make it pay, Hoddle was expecting to pick up a slice of future transfer/agent fees?) So, it will be a talking shop, full of big ideas that everyone will ignore. FA has to be seen to be doing something, but they themselves know they are utterly powerless at effecting the Professional game. Prem clubs rule football in the UK and that grip will only get stronger. If the England team suffers, so be it. Hardly been bloody excelling in the last 40 years anyway!
This is a panel to discuss the future direction of English football, not a football club. The fact they "couldn't get a job at a decent club" is pretty irrelevant I'd say, since few clubs have embarked on a similar mission to the FA. Having said that, I don't expect them to really come up with anything radically new, and it's a shame the premier league declined to be involved considering that's widely seen as the biggest part of the problem.
So why was the England team mostly crap before the Premier League started? I'd also suggest that the spending & effort on ENGLISH youth team coaching via Premier League clubs eclipses anything done in the past by the FA or FL.
When I heard this last night I actually laughed out loud. The last thing we want is a commission run by 'football people' who will look after their own, guaranteed. It is incredibly simple to get more English players playing in the Premier League. Make clubs play at least 8 or whatever number is deemed acceptable. The clubs won't like it, the standard will drop but eventually they will have to start developing more home-grown players. (Of course, this could just hasten the exit of the top teams into a Platini Euro league but I'm convinced most supporters prefer the cut and thrust of a local derby rather than playing some obscure Russian side or worse. Not every game would be against Barcelona!). This commission will have lots of all-expense nights at posh hotels and in 6 months time come up with a complete fudge.
Well yeah, being right all the time must also get pretty tiring. Issues around coaching and development go way beyond the remit of clubs btw, so their co-operation may not be needed for this commission to have an effect.
Think the BBC article (and The Times?) said that Dyke was impressed by a paper that Mills wrote on what should be done with the England team.
Why do we want a successful England team anyway? So the tabloids can be full of jingoistic nonsense for weeks on end? Feel good factor? Yeah, that would last all of a week. Make more kids play football? Already have more nippers playing in this country proportionally than rest of Europe.
No, no it doesn't. Clubs are signing up and coaching kids from the age of 7. Unless the FA want to start toddler football coaching, I really can't see how it will change a thing. The daft thing is, if (and this is a major massive big flipping IF) England somehow fluke their way to winning the world cup next year, all this will be instantly forgotten! Everyone will be banging on about a "golden age" of english football. I guarantee it.
Remember Italia 90? Bit lucky to get past Belgium and Cameroon, but we were the better team in the semi, and probably would have won the World Cup had we got past Germany. Or Euro 96, when we didn't just beat the Dutch, we completely outclassed them? That's why. Edit: No danger of England fluking a World Cup any time in the next 20 years btw,
