One of the things us exiles feel is the attitude of other fans towards us. Now it is easy enough to say we dont care, but in all honesty it is great when you are talking to say a Forest fan, or Derby fan, and they things like saw your goals at the weekend and they were class, or who is this Rigg lad I keep hearing about. I have been an exile for near enough 35 years and there have been times when we werent even a footnote for clubs around this neck of the woods. We are bring talked about now and folk show an interest and it is because of things like goals and player reputation. Jobe is the talk of every other fan when they ask who I support. It is what is that Bellingham lad like. Then they cant shut me up. To an exile, that sort of stuff is nice.
I think we have to look at the younger players and give them a pathway to develop and improve, that way the money keeps coming in as they hopefully outgrow us and we use the money to improve the squad.
Good postExcellent question and thread.
I think for a club like us the sustainable approach is the right one. I think as a community we understand the need for being able to afford what you buy, if that makes sense. We are built that way.
There are several sides to the sustainable model too. First is the infrastructure. Ground, training ground, academy. These are real differentiators in the modern game. Players want elite environments to work in. Think Field of Dreams - If you build it, they will come. We are seeing that now I believe. Jobe, Browne, Isidor, Mepham are all likely examples of players who took account of the environment before deciding we were right for them.
Another element of being sustainable is the academy setup. In my opinion this is the most fundamentally important part of our club. We absolutely must take advantage of the regional talent we have. Long has the North East been considered a footballing hotbed. I honestly believe it still is. Get our academy right and we have a massive advantage. Brentford do not have that, Bournemouth and Brighton arguably less so too. If we are to return to being a top half prem side it will be off the back of academy success imo. The biggest cause for excitement currently for me is the academy lads in the first team. Patto, Neil, Rigg, Watson. Just brilliant. I openly admit I will give these lads more time and patience than those we buy in. The reason is we need to show how that pathway works. I have no doubt that seeing Neil get so much game time at a young age helped convince Rigg this was the right place for him. I also bet Rigg is talking to the next youngun about this being the right place. It is a virtuous circle when you get it right, and we are doing so. Long live the home grown lads being the core of the side for me.
Another aspect is coaching. You have to have a philosophy these days. A clear stlye throughout the club. We may not yet have nailed this, but I am always encouraged to hear Speakman talk about it. Murty is a massive cog in our wheel in my opinion. Quite a coup he is here tbh. Regis seems a good fit so far, and his trust in youth looks great. It would have been easy to take Watson out of the 11 against Sheff Utd but no chance as he seems to value the learning by experience element for young players. We must keep trusting the youngsters to learn. Watson could easily travel to the prem with us and be a key players if we let him hone his game now. Might be a £25m player when we get there too. Coaches have to be allowed to play a long game at times.
Lastly, before I send myself to sleep, is that selling is as important as buying. Brighton are the best at this. They sell a player only when it is right for them, and when they do they have the next lad to slot in seamlessly. They are masters at it. They sell their seeming best players, but then go on to be better. The lads like Speakman and Harvey are the ones resposnible for that side of the game. It is a level of capability way beyond my understanding to be honest. It requires so many folk aligned on the one thing, who will step in when such and such goes? The same for the coach, who will be the next coach if we lose this one. It is a tough gig for Speakman, but he seems to me to be a pretty good fit for us right now.
So bottom line, lets get to the prem, and compete, but with the local lads leading the charge and money from sales to bring in genuine talent that see what our area and club mean. Then we will be successful.
Or Kyril can sell to a Musk and we buy a team of Galacticos to conquer Europe. But only if Dan Neil can still be captain
Good post
But if Kyril was to sell to Elon Musk I would start supporting Reading
I would join you mateGood post
But if Kyril was to sell to Elon Musk I would start supporting Reading
Cracking post and just about how I see it. Not sure about the captain mind.Excellent question and thread.
I think for a club like us the sustainable approach is the right one. I think as a community we understand the need for being able to afford what you buy, if that makes sense. We are built that way.
There are several sides to the sustainable model too. First is the infrastructure. Ground, training ground, academy. These are real differentiators in the modern game. Players want elite environments to work in. Think Field of Dreams - If you build it, they will come. We are seeing that now I believe. Jobe, Browne, Isidor, Mepham are all likely examples of players who took account of the environment before deciding we were right for them.
Another element of being sustainable is the academy setup. In my opinion this is the most fundamentally important part of our club. We absolutely must take advantage of the regional talent we have. Long has the North East been considered a footballing hotbed. I honestly believe it still is. Get our academy right and we have a massive advantage. Brentford do not have that, Bournemouth and Brighton arguably less so too. If we are to return to being a top half prem side it will be off the back of academy success imo. The biggest cause for excitement currently for me is the academy lads in the first team. Patto, Neil, Rigg, Watson. Just brilliant. I openly admit I will give these lads more time and patience than those we buy in. The reason is we need to show how that pathway works. I have no doubt that seeing Neil get so much game time at a young age helped convince Rigg this was the right place for him. I also bet Rigg is talking to the next youngun about this being the right place. It is a virtuous circle when you get it right, and we are doing so. Long live the home grown lads being the core of the side for me.
Another aspect is coaching. You have to have a philosophy these days. A clear stlye throughout the club. We may not yet have nailed this, but I am always encouraged to hear Speakman talk about it. Murty is a massive cog in our wheel in my opinion. Quite a coup he is here tbh. Regis seems a good fit so far, and his trust in youth looks great. It would have been easy to take Watson out of the 11 against Sheff Utd but no chance as he seems to value the learning by experience element for young players. We must keep trusting the youngsters to learn. Watson could easily travel to the prem with us and be a key players if we let him hone his game now. Might be a £25m player when we get there too. Coaches have to be allowed to play a long game at times.
Lastly, before I send myself to sleep, is that selling is as important as buying. Brighton are the best at this. They sell a player only when it is right for them, and when they do they have the next lad to slot in seamlessly. They are masters at it. They sell their seeming best players, but then go on to be better. The lads like Speakman and Harvey are the ones resposnible for that side of the game. It is a level of capability way beyond my understanding to be honest. It requires so many folk aligned on the one thing, who will step in when such and such goes? The same for the coach, who will be the next coach if we lose this one. It is a tough gig for Speakman, but he seems to me to be a pretty good fit for us right now.
So bottom line, lets get to the prem, and compete, but with the local lads leading the charge and money from sales to bring in genuine talent that see what our area and club mean. Then we will be successful.
Or Kyril can sell to a Musk and we buy a team of Galacticos to conquer Europe. But only if Dan Neil can still be captain
Summer 2023 focused to much and the future and not enough what we needed. Summer 2024 was a lessons learnt window that addressed failures in the squad but also had 1 eye on the future.
Jobe and Mayenda are definitely still wanted, then I'd imagine Seelt will be as long as he has recovered properly. Really rate him personally.
He's going to have a hard time getting back in, probably harder as we signed Mepham.
Yeah I really like Aouchiche but I guess if RLB doesn't trust him then what's the point in him being here. Same for a few players that, we could really trim the squad in January and sign 2 players that would be trusted.
