Good Morning Everyone, Although exaggerated, there WAS a real threat in the last 12 months that Cellino would have closed or downscaled the academy if he could have. He currently pays £600,000 per annum for the rental of Thorp Arch. Why didn't he? A few reasons.... The lease does not give him the right to just walk away. He recieves 500k grant as category two status It would cost 15m to build a new one elsewhere He is certainly warming to the academy, and talks positively about it. Cellino's biggest gripe with the academy is clubs like Citeh helping themselves to the cream of the crop, and having to only pay back 100k in compensation. Thoughts? Danish club Brondby have snapped up Rudy Austin. I am sure we all wish him well. Another ex Leeds player still without a club is Michael Tonge. Surely a League 1 team would snap him up? Should football players be on social media? What effect does it have on them, if any? If you were a sports star, would you be on social media? Jake Livermore, the Hull City midfielder, is expected to avoid a ban from the Football Association after testing positive for cocaine. The midfielder, 25, is believed to have taken the drug shortly after the death of his newborn baby, with the test carried out after the 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in April. The FA has considered the evidence and accepted that Livermore was suffering from severe depression and is to show leniency by allowing the England international the opportunity to resume his career. (They have instead decided to dock Leeds Utd 15 points)
Livermore is a scumbag, a weak scumbag at that may i add, to use the death of his child as a reason for being a druggy is poor on his behalf, if it had been one of ours.............god help them. Tonge, Austin not really bothered where or what they do. It is vital we bag 3 points on Saturday, if so the bandwagon is rolling, the team shall start believing, cofidence shall grow, happy days MOT
If we get six points in the next two games even I will believe.... I think Ipswich mid week is massive. If we can't beat Brentford we can forget going up.
Afternoon all, I wish Rudy well at his new club, looking forward to the proper football starting again, it feels longer than 2 weeks.
Doesnt it just! I see JA606 are having a bit of a melt down themselves, must be the international break.
Got nothing against Austin, glad to see him at another club, he was hit and miss for most of his time here, but he did better in his last season. He also seemed to be a genuinely nice guy who loved the club. I'm glad Livermore has not been banned, for a start I don't see how cocaine addiction would make you a better player anyway so it's hardly a performance enhancer. Taking away his livelihood wouldn't have helped anyone and not would it have been a deterrent so all in all I'm happy with it but only if he stays clean and only if he is willing to work with the FA to stop others falling into the same trap
Evening all. Ithink the biggest reason why Cellino isn.t getting rid of TA & the Academy is what we have a number of ex Academy players have made it to the first team, thereby saving him money as we progress towards the PL. I also think Pearson might be having an influence.
Hope Austin does well at his new club. Still cannot work out why he isn't able to get a permit to continue playing in England. He's a full international. Always gave 100% but sometimes his quality was lacking. Tonge, don't worry mate. Kill time for a few years and Millwall will start calling for ya. Livermore. Not that I care, he's completely overrated but I think the FA made the right call on that.
Agree about Austin. He did little wrong for us, & I still think he has plenty to offer. That said, if we keep our loanee & put him on a permanent deal, that woul represent progress
