http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-at-end-of-a-very-costly-tunnel-10024753.html Matt Butler: QPR chairman Tony Fernandes sees the light at end of a very costly tunnel please log in to view this image He has come to a realisation that an academy system is a good idea MATT BUTLER please log in to view this image Wednesday 04 February 2015 PRINT A A A Tony Fernandes seems to have seen the light. Or at least he has made headway on the steep learning curve that comes with owning a football club. In the three and a half years since he took over at Queen’s Park Rangers, he has been of the belief that he can buy success; that he could gain some semblance of an established Premier League club with a wave of the chequebook. And that he could navigate the murky world of football agents as he could with business contacts in his other ventures. But after saying goodbye to Harry Redknapp – who, let’s face it, is hardly one for playing the long game when it comes to procuring, let alone nurturing, players – he has come to the realisation that a fully functioning academy system might be a good idea. QPR’s last successful academy product was Raheem Sterling – and he was sold to Liverpool at the age of 16, having never featured for the first team. And Fernandes wants to see more players coming through the ranks. Contenders to be next QPR manager 1 of 5 please log in to view this image Next please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image He has admitted he has made “mistakes” with his transfer policy. And it is far from difficult to figure out what he means. Jose Bosingwa, the £65,000-a-week player who infamously laughed when walking off the pitch once relegation was confirmed in 2013, springs to mind. As does Christopher Samba, whose £12.5m transfer fee was a record-breaker for the club. And as such he has his eyes on a head coach who will work under Les Ferdinand, the director of football, and help bring through talent. As he said today: “We will hire someone who cares, thinks long term, wants to be involved in developing the academy, has coaching skills, will play young players and is a winner.” The idea of resurrecting the QPR academy is a good one on two counts. Apart from the obvious long-term financial gains – or at least savings, as bringing in a hungry player from the youth ranks is far cheaper than purchasing a 34-year-old approaching the end of his career – it will no doubt be a huge boost to Fernandes’ plans to build a stadium in west London’s Old Oak. As things stand, the owners of the plot where Fernandes wants to build a 40,000-capacity ground are digging their heels in. But the QPR owner can convince the local council that the club would be a welcome addition to the area more easily if they boast a successful youth set-up. Apart from the practicalities, Fernandes seeing the value in nurturing talent is a welcome development for fans – after all, Tottenham supporters know how good it feels when one of their own, Harry Kane, scores the winner. Even if success takes a few years, fans can feel they have their club back. Now all Fernandes needs is a head coach who shares his vision. Good job that Tim Sherwood is available.
A decent article until the very last sentence......I'm just not sure about Sherwood being the type of coach to work on a long term project, he always seemed a tad "chippy" when interviewed.
I'd day his mistakes have been far greater than just transfer policy & the idea that can just resurrect an academy system whilst will be good to have is not the answer to all things. For a start you need the right coaches, a decent scouting system & then if we start today how long before we realistically expect any youth players to come through & press for claims for inclusion in the first team 3, 5, 10 years? So there needs to be a far greater plan than this, for a start we need the right manager ideally youngish & hungry who's going to be given long enough (5 years?) to develop his team & setup including coaches etc. That manager should then have his budget & reasonable expectations set for the following seasons so knows exactly what he has to work with, part of those expectations alongside league position should include player development, age of squad etc so isn't purely short term promotion/relegation etc but also stability. We should be looking at teams who have similar levels of support, budget & see what can be learnt from them. Do get the feeling that the '5 year plan' is just about to start again after what has been a wasted period.
Lol, it looks like the majority of us are not too keen on Tim of Sherwood forest being lined us as our next coach/manager. The vibe I'm getting is he would be a younger Harold without the need of a mobility scooter... please log in to view this image
Hoddle was on Talkshite this morning saying he reckoned there's at least two or three youth players who would make Premier League quality within two years - pity Harry never gave them a chance in pre-season or the cup games to show what they are capable of (he didn't give any names!)
