Nobody knows where the short fall was be it financially or otherwise so to try and pin point who deserves the blame for me is impossible (although I'm sure some will pretend to know). I don't believe we would have gone for cat 1 without being fully committed to it, maybe there is enough clubs already in that status so the goalposts are being moved to try to keep the big clubs happy...but as I say I don't know the ins and outs...
Maybe you could enlighten us all to what the truth is then Supers, because all I've seen is a lot of speculation and more than a few assumptions on both here and the TWTD forum as to why this occurred based on no real information. Classic Supers, turning conjecture into reality in a couple of posts.
as i know what happened with my own club during this process i can say with a little authority that the auditors are in constant contact with each club and therefore, any failure is down to a lack of attention and in your case, you've missed the boat by aiming for the lowest possible standard. if that were not the case you would not have scored what you have done. norwich were deemed 'touch and go' throughout yet passed with almost 85%. there was no pissing around, trying to do the bare minimum. they went for it on every aspect and got rewarded for doing so and i assume others did likewise. as for royle, i was disappointed by that but he left for health reasons (not his, his wife's i think) so i'm not going to get upset about that. family comes first.
not being funny supers, but theres probably a lot more to sort out getting cat 1 academy, then ringing somebody up in Italy to arrange a game of footie!
are you unable to read warky? i could not be more happy about this. it means even in the worst case scenario, ipswich will be two years behind norwich in terms of their academy at category one level. it might not seem much but it's a huge gulf between the two in terms of capability and coaching. that is why ipswich tried to get category one status this summer, because they've realised that they will fall dramatically behind clubs who do have it. as i said above, its a crap system, horrible - i wish it never happened but it has so you have to adjust. norwich have, ipswich haven't. we've got youth setups dotted around the country now and ipswich, well, haven't - because they aren't allowed to anymore under the system. if you aren't pissed off about failing the audit then maybe you should be. guru, of course there is more to it. norwich used a third party to organise their trip (i doubt they will again ); ipswich have invested what, £2-£2.5m to fail? in terms of comparing the two, norwich are a bit embarrassed; ipswich will be frothing at the mouth.
And all the good its done you so far mate! You cant even organise a series of friendly matches during pre season! Not forgetting the Steve Foley and Joe Royle debacle or did I just dream it!
yeah, i'm not sure a couple of friendlies are quite the same as dropping a full two years behind the nations youth plan but each to their own. if it doesn't bother you, why were you all so adamant that the club needed to be cat 1? why did so many fans try to fund it? i would be furious if the boot were on the other foot. and i think its early days as far as the programme is concerned but you'll find we finished high enough last season to claim a place at the very top table of youth football in this country for the coming season, have opened a number of academies around the country as well as bringing through two players who played in the premier league last season. its a start...
So the Foley and Royle incidents were just unfortunate and in no way indicative of how well your club is run!
JWM, the way you put your own spin on everything, you put Daily Fail journo's to shame, they don't make up half as much as you!
well the joke is on you regards foley cos you've still got the twerp! i have posted over the past couple of months my dissatisfaction at the route my club chose in appointing neil adams. i think it is an unnecessary risk at a time when there were safer candidates. financially we are run brilliantly but some decisions in terms of the playing side have been odd. hardly a badly run club though. i liked the appointment of royle but as i say, family comes first - not much we can do about that. foley is someone i worked with before and if you want a clown then he's fine, some of the younger players love him, but he gains little respect from those who want to progress in football. just my opinion but it is shared by others, not least the norwich board who thankfully vetoed his appointment.
supers, from what im hearing people are getting pissed with your academy because you lot are focusing more on getting kids from further afield than looking at some hidden gems in norfolk.
guru, having worked with the city academy before i can assure you there are very few gems in norfolk. those that exist still get picked up. its why our academy practically disappeared a few years ago as our main catchment area was in the north sea! traveling times also made it almost impossible. our club has always had a knack of snatching youngsters from underneath the prying hands of the bigger clubs, often from the west country and london and i'm delighted those two avenues are once again open to us. we are already picking up numerous kids from bedfordshire, one or two who are exceptional by all accounts. the whole point of the new system is to find all the best young players and develop them under the top coaches in the country.
