Just for your info .. There is a special report on Sky Sports News tonight at 7.30. It's about the new academy rulings and how it affects smaller clubs ... Nick Cox is one of the 3 people discussing it with the lovely Georgie Thompson ..
Steve Parish spoke a lot of sense. Very interesting, and hugely depressing. We are really going to suffer with these new rules. I can't see how we can keep the best players.
Dan, it made for very depressing listening. Basically unless the rules change, we will have no say about who goes...the kids will earn more money, we will get far less, and the big clubs can steal our best commodities and nobody can bat an eyelid. Steve Parish pointed out that no business would let their competition into their workplace, find the cream of the crop, and then offer a pittance for it, knowing it has to be accepted. Life is not like that and nor should football be. It seems our gripe, and that of Crystal Palace, and probably other clubs in our position, is the financial loss we will suffer as a consequence of the new rulings, to the point that many clubs will not bother with having an academy, because it will only leave them with players that aren't 'good enough' for premier league football.
Well that is bollocks!!! Why should the clubs who are looking after their kids and trying to be self-sufficient be the ones who get screwed?? If a club has spent the time, money and effort investing in a sustainable academy then they should be rewarded for that, not be poached for their best players. The powers bring in one good rule regarding the % of income spent on wages, and now they shoot everyone out side of the premiership in the foot then rape them for good measure!! How can Sky and Fifa and the FA dominate the sport like this!?!? They will be the death of it one day!!
The way I see it, 6/8 months ago this wouldn't really have effected us a great deal. We had a manager who was playing the kids, and the youngsters recognised that staying with us was their best opportunity to break into the first team, knowing a couple of years down the line, we would still sell them to a big club which would profit us, adn they would have good experience. We have had a few of the Academy players already reject moves to bigger clubs. The worry with our current policy of bring in the older players, is that Dyche now has to play these at the expense of the kids. While I agree we needed much more experience in the first team squad, it has become detriment to the progress of the youngsters. The new 5-sub rule hasn't helped as this gave that bit more flexibility in being able to have a couple of youngsters to throw on to get that experience! Now the youngsters who are going out on loan may just start thinking why not just go to e bigger club, get more money and maybe a better standard of training, but still go out on loan to these lower-league clubs! If I was Baz/GT, I would be having a word with Dyche and telling him he needs to start rotating some of the youngsters or he'll start losing them... Obviously on the flip side... if no-one is seeing them play, no-one can covet them!
The trouble is Kev, that the big club scouts are having to be allowed to go into the Academies to watch training, so they'll be spotted whether they're playing or not. I get your point, and it's a valid one...either way, we're in a lose/lose as far as i can see, with these new rulings.
Maybe when the scouts come around, we can just put some of the office staff and others on the pitch, then once they are gone, bring out the real kids!! But I agree... it all just stinks and is another way of the rich getting richer and the lower teams getting poorer! They say this will benefit the England team... But beyond the top 30 or so clubs, no-one will bother with academies, so all the big academies will be flooded with this talent and it will be harder to flourish, and potential quality players will just quit the game because they get dropped, and smaller teams may not pick them up or youngsters may feel they are 'better' than them! Obviously this may benefit us in other ways, as we may scout lower teams than us... but with our academy, it is just about the worst thing that could happen!
I was wondering if the teams with academys and a belief in bringing on the kids ,would have any grounds to legally challenge this ruling?
Good point. I wonder if they can 'disband' from the club, as such, so they are a seperate entity and not have to abide by these rules (call themselves Harefield Academy, and affiliate themselves with Watford?). Maybe the lower-league academies can form their own league, such as the Premiership has done, and just play each other. create their own competitions etc... Just not sure how it would work because of funding from the clubs! Another thing I was thinking... if it is possible to 'affiliate' yourself with another club. For example.... Could we go to Arsenal (due to proximity) and say to them they can have first choice on our youngsters, but in return we can maybe play a annual friendly, take a couple of loans each year, and first choice of any of their 'cast-offs'.
That I suppose could work Kev , by another name become Arsenals feeder club!, We could do a lot worse I suppose , but would we start to lose our own identity?
That's the worry NW, but another worry is we may lose our youngsters anyway... Was just trying to think of a way we can benefit from it in return. I can't see it being lots of players going each way, but rather than just losing a £1m youngster for £100k, we at least get something in return! Obviously the big clubs won't care about the miserly £100k every time they take a player, but if they can get first choice on an academy that produces, it will give them an advantage as well... But then, not sure if 'first choice' would work either, as it boils down to the kids choice!
I suppose Harefield academy as a separate entity with a "business"link to WFC much as it is now really , might be able to argue that it is not affiliated to the club , thus ducking the new rules!,Flipside is then they could sell to highest bidder! which wouldnt be us! I dont know this is going to take some thought to suss out! Rules are made to be broken , we just have to get a little "cute"!
As an outside viewer who wants our boys to leave to play and learn and benefit the natonal team I cannot see the arguement that by pulling the footballers to a place where they will get good training but no matches is a good thing. If they play in proper matches they learn a lot and being in Arsenal, Chelsea or whoevers third team they will never see a competitive game and not get better and not have a chance of playing for their country.
