Not entirely relevant, but this article just reminded me of Andres Guardado's goal against Barcelona B a few weeks ago. [video=youtube;ZiXhWOBXZpk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiXhWOBXZpk[/video]
Interesting thought! However at the moment I can't see it being viable, the crowds would be an issue, aswell as top teams dominating the lower leagues. I do on the other hand, think the reserve and youth system's need reformed in some way to make them more competitive and also to draw more crowds.
Would be better if bigger teams made partnerships with smaller teams where the smaller teams got the youngsters etc. Like loans but for example all Saints reserves/youngsters would go to one team. like Plymouth maybe? or Brighton Can't be just Premiership it would have to be open to all, after all a team could get relegated from the Prem but still be big, still have loads of good youth/reserve players and not be able to loan them out. So bigger teams making 'ties' with smaller teams = fine by me. Big boy Reserves in the league? No thanks, that would put Lincoln City in division 9 The difference between English Football (British even) to that of Spain and Italy is the history, the heritage. Those countries do not have 5 leagues+ that are completely full time professional teams. The whole league plus the blue square prem plus a few more lower down are all completely full time professional. In some other 'major' footballing countries there a re some part time teams in the 2nd/3rd/4th divisions!!! In some of these 'major' footballing countries there are teams in the top league with stadiums of lower capacity than our Blue square Premier ones!!! (meaning under 10,000) Don't forget that the Championship id the 4th highest attended league after the PL, La Liga and Bundesliga. More people go to see games in England's second division than go to see 'giants' in Serie A (whole season cumulative figures) So no...............different scenario in England to other countries.
Seeing as nobody cares about the Carling Cup anymore and use it as an excuse to give their youngsters and reserves a kick about why don't we substitute it for some kind of competitive 2nd team league. Just a thought.
Thanks for you responses guys. It seems the consensus is that it would be a bad idea to introduce reserve teams to the English league system - It's a good job that I don't work for the FA isn't it! There are lots of suggestions that i'm sure would work, some interesting reading This comment is a little harsh, but i'm willing to accept your point!
I'm against the idea in principle, but if they were to to this then start by putting all the Premier League reserve sides in one division (League Three) with promotion to League Two and relegation to the Conference. In time things will even themselves out, but no-one would have to suffer from the initial onset
The loan system needs to be more accesible to clubs and young players. Before youth became big business, most players started their careers lower down the leagues, indeed many still do whether it's a loan or they have been poached.
I think one of the best things about the English game is the lower leagues. The support and passion even a league 2 side can create, its about being loyal to where you are from and being proud about it and it would be unfair to take that away. Would a premier league b team really generate that much support? Ok it might be better for the national team in the long run but not everything should be based on how well they are doing. Compare our lower leagues with Spain, do they get as much support for there lowest league clubs?
I couldn't disagree more. I don't agree with the concept, as I've already posted earlier in the thread, but it is a question that has generated some interesting discussion from Pompey and Saints fans alike. It is this type of radical or controversial thread that debating forums like this are for.
Man City are building an enormous new youth facility. Could they let bits out to the likes of Stockport, Rochdale, Bury and Oldham? That way the small clubs would benefit from the facilities and City would get the best knowledge of the talent.
I mean more a case of the lower league clubs developing ties with A larger club so that larger club gives the smaller club the players for that season which will be outside of it's main squad. Obviously there would be a facility to recall players which are needed or which the parent team believes have improved to that level but for example PNE could in theory have a 20 man squad comprising of 10 Man Utd youngsters/reserves plus 10 from their own books. This way wold also mean that these smaller clubs could have smaller wage bills whilst having an 'arguably' better quality squad? So for us in Lincoln maybe or tie would be with Notts Forest or Derby or Leicester etc. Would be better IMO for the youngsters as they would not be packed off a mile from where they were based. They would be pretty close to their parent club. Also would benefit the smaller club as they would then know who they have for the whole season (minus the odd recall) At the moment a team like Lincoln will have so many players for a month or 2 at a time from any number of clubs and the team is continually rotating with even the clubs own players never being given the chance to gel with their colleagues. This is very much a problem with the lower leagues these days. The wholly owned squad is in the main a thing of the past where these smaller clubs are pretty reliant already on loans coming in and out through the season. I just think that if it were this way it would also be a little fairer. You could argue that the team with ties to Man C or Man U or Arsenal for example would have an advantage over a team with ties to Reading or Brighton or Sheff Wednesday however it would mean that teams didn't do really well because of 1 or 2 outstanding players only for next season to not be so lucky with their loans and be back down again. It can often be a case of a team getting a couple of good loans for a month or 2, winning every game, then losing those 2 players and losing every game. This then distorts the league where they may end up beating all the lower placed teams in a 2 month run then losing to all the mid table teams thus being unfair to X team that they played this team at that point in the season where the team they are chasing didn't have this bad luck and it turns into an almost engineered 6 pointer!!! Andy
Could players under 21 sign a roaming contract where they are contracted to a club but behave like a free agent for the duration of the roaming contract? Deciding whre they went and for how long would be in the hands of players and agents rather than parent clubs.
Stupid idea,what about smaller clubs who would be pushed out of the leagues? Just makes the big clubs bigger.
Why not have 2nd team games just for fun!!, it would give fringe players the much better chance to play, combating the reduced subs problem. ie, if Saints were away to Leeds, then SMS could be a used for 2nd team/reserves, could have a league table or no points involved (just for fun) but a great shop window / experience provider / chance for fans who can not afford to travel all the time / reduced ticket prices increasing fanbase. If some teams think its a waste of time, then offer local teams the chance to play an exhibition match cherries pompey or BHA 2nd teams, could even be Totton. By putting 2nd teams in to the leagues, how many smaller clubs would have to make way? how many would fold due to Team x 2nd playing 10miles away.
Not a bad idea. It would provide some-where to go for those who prefer not to travel to away games and would bring in more revenue for clubs.
Allowing reserve teams to play in the league pyramid would only allow the top teams to further monopolise the footballing talent of the country. At least now, players get sent on loan to lower league clubs, spreading the talent, and benefitting more than just the parent club. With a reserve team in the league structure, every half decent player would end up at one of four or five clubs even more so than they tend to do already.
Spain & Barcelona are the current football kings so I understand looking at how they run their football might give us ideas to improve our own, but the reserve and B team is not the reason for the spanish success as this has been operating in spain for decades and going back as far as 2006 Spain were world footballs perennial underachievers on the international stage. As Peter Jones would say...It's a no from me.
