Not wanting reignite the old Warburton argument, but I reckon he must have really pissed the board off.
This is disappointing. https://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr...c&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
Actually quite a refreshing read and gives some clarity. We always need a scapegoat in times of strife and SLF is usually it. Should make this a pinned post.
The £ and other benefits package of any new contract being offered is no doubt the important bit for Barbet. The rumours were that it was a derisory offer as they are often said to be for players out of contract. True or not? I doubt the sources of such rumours and that more than a very few will know.
I try to keep an open mind and my feet firmly on the ground. We have done bloody well all things considered. The Board has been guilty in the past of short-termism as have a lot of the fans but it's clear, and Les' article shows, that lessons have been and continue to be learned. By the the Board. Fanbase? This juror is not convinced. although the signs are promising judging by some measured and sensible hopes and expectations expressed on here. The progress has been defined. Develop players. Play attractive football. Anything more than that is a bonus. There will come a time where the Board will have to invest by relaxing the purse strings. I'm sure they will but I don't blame them for not doing so in the past two seasons
Is that down to him or Ramsey's coaching skills ? You'd have to question others in the youth set up too, maybe they have been dud choices ?
That's harsh imo. There are a few who have come through from a young age with us and are now playing League Football -Furlong, Kakay, Lumley and Bowler come to mind. As Ferdinand says there are more who we have brought in during there late teens, or older, who we have developed further and are now far improved players playing for us, or higher up the ladder - Eze, BOS, Chair, Dieng, Willock who looked a hugely improved player to me before his injury this last season from when he first joined us the season before. I think Ferdinand is probably right when he says the Club is in a better place than when he came in. It could be we are a more attractive proposition for young football players than we were in the decade before he came, as well.
Bowler started off at Fulham and then spent 2 years at Aldershot's academy before he came to us, so not really from our youth set up although we improved him alot. He was superb for Blackpool last season and now with their manager departing I wouldn't mind us putting in a cheeky bid to bring him back here !
Chair joined when he was 19, Dieng when he was 21/22 and Willock when he was 22, Eze was 17/18 and BOS was 23...with the possible exception of Eze, all too old to really say they have vastly developed under our watch.
It’s fair to say we are in a better place than we have been for a long time. It’s a slow process and patience has been the key. The fact we have brought in young footballers who have experienced youth football elsewhere and developed them is as much a strategy as anything. You know more about them as developing characters as well as their football. Absolutely nothing wrong with this approach in my eyes; and nothing to criticise about it. You’ll win some and you’ll lose some. If it’s a ‘finishing school’ for players who haven’t found their best yet, it’s OK with me. And it will attract other young starters in too as they see those players develop and move up the ladder. Patience, determination and the best coaches you can get!
Yes, I refered specifically to players of that age who imo have developed/got much better than they were when they first came to us, however you want to describe improved significantly. Players don't just develop when they are 8, 12, 15 years old, they do and should develop at 20, 25, 30, 35 years old or as long as they can stay fit enough. Ask the likes of Ronaldo and Messi! Don't you think they have/ did Dave? I'm surprised! Eze went from someone who was struggling to find a League Club that would employ him when we took him on, to being sold for £20 million to a PL Club. BOS went from a man struggling for a start in the lower level Championship Club we were when he came from Blackpool, to playing European Football with a Turkish top level team. Chair, Dieng and Willock are still with us. I'm convinced they have all improved significantly during their time with us, Willock dramatically so. If you don't believe me, take a look at each of these 3's dramatic value rise on transfermarkt.com markets over time graphs for each of these 3. Each show a very steep rise during their last 2 or 3 years with us. Chair and Dieng have both become Internationals at Senior level.
Does anybody think that at least one of the reasons we chose Beale is to get his expertise on youth and academy coaching? If we are not doing well enough here Beale could be that catalyst for improvement. Personally I want Ramsay, Eustace, and Niel Banfield to stay if possible. They know our senior and younger players well and I am sure they are all capable of getting to be better coaches with Beales input and guidance
Maybe instead of academy, it should be called finishing school... Your point about improvement is well made.
The one really negative note from the Ferdinand interview is that it confirms yet again just how hamstrung by FFP we will always be. A small but ambitious club used to be able to take financial risks in order to grow just like any other business but now the cards are hopelessly stacked in favour of the clubs with a bigger historic fan base or who are on the parachute payment merry go round. This is how the 'big' clubs always intended it of course but I find it hugely frustrating that our owners in particular never felt able to challenge this hugely anti-competitive stitch up.
Agree with you in all that, but the original point was regarding players who have been developed and come through from the academy... Maybe I wasn't clear, but what I meant was that those players who have joined and have improved, didn't improve whilst part of the youth academy system, but part of the senior squad.
Given that we have thousands of empty seats most weeks, I'm surprised they don't do more 'kids for a quid' or similar deal. Once they're hooked then you reel them in to the ST machinery. Bit long term I agree but still better than having empty seats I would have thought.
