That's what makes it so difficult. It's always easy to dump a lass who's a snidey pain in the arse but less so when she's loyal, dedicated & great company.
Spot on mate. Club has to come first and after failing year on year, I guess EVERYTHING is up for debate and change. The academy was a huge investment, a wonderful step forward for the club and it's future, and it's simply failing. Even the sales of Jordan, Leads & Waggy haven't come close to covering the build cost, let alone the running costs. If we do then lose Jack for nowt, then that's another kick in it's teeth. An issue is as well, if players don't come through, why would a talented young lad choose US over Boro, who bring stacks through just down the road? I think mixing them with overseas lads, like we did with Ba, Karlsson and Mavrias will benefit, we should stick with that, but I dream of the day we have a MAckem number 10 wearing the armband in a decent side, seems a pipe dream.
Sad to see but, as they say, needs must. Is it just Ball though? What about Ged McNamee? Anybody know owt about him?
I believe he`s Ballys second in command. He`s got his son in the development squad, whether that`s nepotism or a genuine talent I`ve no idea. Any of you lot seen him?
My wild guess is that the club has always been afraid to upset the likes of Cattermole, Johnson, Fletcher, O'Shea etc. I reckon Di Canio came in and immediately realised that the club wasn't being taken seriously enough and that it was a 'lads club'. It wouldn't shock me if Catts was the first to rebel at being ordered to buckle down, train hard and sort himself out. That all lead to the 'players revolt' and to where we find ourselves today. We can't keep allowing the club to be used as a retirement home for ex-United players or a stepping stone to other clubs.
Defo mate, It needs to be not only self sustainable but profitable. I can even accept only having a Jordan Henderson come through once every 4 years if we can at least produce half a dozen Waghorns a year. That at least bring in a steady income to invest into the first team. The Laing/Egan situation really boils my blood because even if they don't break the first team, they're worth a pro contract because they're going to be worth a couple of million a piece with a loan to the right club and a bit of first team training. It's pissing money down the gutter and it has to stop.
Barca, again, is a great example of this mate. Last summer as an example they sold Fontas & Thiago, plus several who went to Liga Adelante etc, making close to €40million from the sales. Now, I know we can't look to emulate Barca, but surely the Academy should at least be wiping it's mouth every year? I wonder as well why we rarely bring lads from the lower leagues to the academy, you see players like Gayle come through the leagues, do we even scout at this level?
Did we even scout at any level? From what I've read Pop did **** all. He went and scouted the Irish league ffs. Football is behind Hurling over there, hardly a fishing ground for footballing talent is it? We need a better network with some structure. Scouting in the right places, not one man with a flat cap slipping a few matches in while on holiday in Turkey and Ireland.
That'll explain it. When I was on that Laing link, not sure why but it felt "dated". And if what you're saying is right then that maybe reflects some sort of attitude to the U21s. Can you imagine Man U, Chelsea, etc not keeping their sites up to date? I'm 100% confident Gus is going nowhere. And I honestly believe ES will buy into Gus's plans for the future. I'm hoping for 4-5 quality players over the summer, and 1 signing thatwe'll all be wetting ourselves about! And I haven't even had a beer yet! But. If it does go tits up next season under Gus, the club will be sold inside 6 months!
I simply think Gus is using his current good profile to get what he wants from Ellis. Soon as that's done, he'll come out and say 'never entered my head to walk'. Good on him too.
Just sat watching the Roma game, and Matteo Destro, what a ****ing striker he's becoming (hasn't scored, but movement, touch...). Probs talking £20million like...
Hoping,like the rest of us, that Gus stays,and I'm sure that he will.I believe that Gus wants to keep our " first eleven"....which includes Borini,and to bring in a couple of players to strengthen our squad...no massive changes,just a little-bit or freshening up!I think that he wants to sign a number of the players that we had on-loan.re-sign Jack Colback,and to take-it from there.
