Good to see the academy doing well, however anyone who thinks a 6/7/8 year old should be groomed towards being a footballer is sad, kids should be allowed to grow up and enjoy their youth without pressures.
Speak for yourself mate. Doesn't gladden my heart. I'd prefer it if every south coast club could be in the Premier League.
He does say that he wants them to come out smiling. I think the character development side is very good...even if you don't make it as a player, it could do them good in other areas of their life. Patience, hard work, team work, and self control are great assets to have.
I know not everyone has Sky, but because they have so many channels to fill, they do cover minority sports and are putting a big effort into women's sport...having daily sections and monthly awards. They also have Sky Academy, which provides grants for youngsters in various sports (able and disabled) to enable them to train. Although football gets most coverage (with declining coverage as you go down the leagues) it is not totally EPL orientated. They did cover Pompey's announcement about their finances for example.
Go on then, plus both the Bristol teams. And Exeter and Plymouth. That makes half the Premier League up with teams from the South and South West. If we throw in Eastleigh, Totton, and Sholing, plus Paulton Rovers, that leaves space for one club from each of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle and two from London. Sorted.
Yes, but none of them starters because they aren't better than what we have. Do they have the potential to become better? I don't know. If we were still in the lower leagues we'd have found out by now. As I said, its much harder to bring players through at tho level. Shaw was forced on us to a degree. Chambers admittedly, did manage to do it.
In a couple of decades we'll be looking back at this strategy as being the norm. The big clubs by then will be selecting parents with intelligence, athleticism and spacial awareness who can be bred to produce future academy stars!!
Ye shouldn't have gotten in such financial trouble in the first place...would be nothing to report then Silly Pompey
