Just looking through the PL transfers and noticed Southampton (similar model to us) picked up 4 players aged 20 or under all from Man City, so these lads are out there, just a case of selling the dream to them.
It is good for us,but,without knowing the nature of the contract,it's hard to say that it's Spurs loss. If they get a substantial part of any sell on fee,or,have the ability to buy back at a pre agreed price....both of which are entirely possible.....they may reap a no cost financial benefit from the development work we've put in on a couple of players they didn't feel were yet ready for their first team. Daniel Levy is no fool.....and,I have to say,it's looking like KS isn't either. This could be a win win for both clubs and both players.
The kid tackles like a train mind. What a player he is. Top drawer. Him and Clarke have got a really positive and growing understanding. Clarke has clearly worked on his left foot and has gone from being too predictable in terms of cutting in on his right and lacking the desire to help out defensively to becoming an excellent outlet who also carries a potent goal and assist threat and gets us up the pitch so quickly. Really excited about Michut and Ba. If I’m being honest whilst Michut has the higher profile and looks excellent in his own right, Ba looks like an absolute beast in that France v Romania YouTube and what a pass for the goal. We’ve given the lad a 5 year deal so hats off to the recruitment team. Not seen anything of Diallo but was in Manchester yesterday with work and talking to United fans and they said whilst he’s not done it for them he’s not really had too much in the way of opportunities. Bennettes YouTube wasn’t particularly flattering but it looks like the kid is going to the WC so hopefully he grows with us. Hurricane of fresh air after seeing us sign the likes of Graham, AOB, McFazdean etc. Special mention to Gooch, 09, Batth and Evans who have been excellent in recent weeks. Looking forward to getting Ballard back who looked the real deal before his injury and also hopefully Huggins who I’ve only seen on a stream so far but also looked excellent. Delighted we’ve avoided cashing in on Stewart and hopefully we get him sorted with a new long term deal as he thoroughly deserves it. I’m 57 and this is undoubtedly the most exciting group of young players I’ve seen us have together at the same time. Can’t wait to see them growing together.
A few people mentioned when we were bringing Mowbray in as Head Coach that it may be with a view to him ultimately handing over to a younger manager (Manning/the lad from Chelsea perhaps) and taking on the Academy role whilst also providing support to the new man initially. That sounds like a very sensible idea to me.
I think Leicester got the balance wrong. They've gambled too many times and they're starting to feel the pain now. The reality of the Premier League now is that 7th place is the ceiling that any club not seriously bankrolled can realistically aim for. There's a good chance that becomes 9th place when Newcastle and West Ham find some consistency. Anything above that is an incredible season that clubs should not look to build on because it can't be maintained. Clubs should be content finishing between 8th and 15th in the top flight and as long as they're not in danger and still following their model, they should carry on. We see a daft need for clubs who finish 12th to insist they need to finish 10th next season. It's ridiculous in my opinion. Stick to a profitable model, put acceptable upper and lower limits on your season and give everything in the cups. Leicester were gambling on the Champions League. They missed the opportune moments to sell Vardy, Tielemans and Maddison to try and seize the moment and it is backfiring. Vardy is now winding down his career at Leicester and they've wasted a year of development of Daka. Tielemans is in the last year of his contract and we'll be sold at a loss in January or go for free at the end of the season. Maddison was linked with £70m moves last year but only a £50m one this year. He has a contract until 2024, but you can imagine him being unhappy with the current situation and Leicester will have to cash in next summer with £35-40m being the absolute peak of what they can get. I think Southampton have our model right. It's probably not what everyone wants to hear because it doesn't look ultra successful (16th, 11th, 15th & 15th in the last 4 seasons) but they're profitable as a club due to player trading, they didn't panic and sack their coach after a slight backward step and they've focused on consistency in approach from the 1st team down to the academy. They sell players at a high mark up and replace them with cheaper players to develop and start again. This year they've allowed Oriol Romeu leave (200+ appearances in 7 years) as he's 30 and replaced him with an 18 year old prospect, who might take 18 months to get to that standard. This summer, I think they've had an under the radar exceptional transfer window. I think we'll see Bella-Kotchap in particular bringing in Van Dijk kinds of money for them in a year or 2.
Aye all fair mate. Leicester maybe punched a bit and as such deviated and reached too far. I still think they have a better all round result than Saints though and we are a bigger club than both. I don’t ask for the moon and stats I just want a club to be proud of like we had under Reid. Europe once will do me!
Exactly what I had been thinking. Shows them a pathway, which hopefully our more talented youths will want to follow as well
Yep me too mate and the three of them were excellent for us. This current crop could be seven or eight strong in time. Fingers crossed.
Apart from the obvious challenge of finding the right kids it seems to me the most difficult part is maintaining a good team bond . Selling on players sounds great as long as the replacements fit in. Letting Winchester go as an example looks like we have lost a character and thats a loss to the changing room. Exciting time though .. the last 6/7 years have been the worst in decades.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0cy229t Great insight from TM and how he wants his team to play. Definitely not a dinosaur.
I think that would be my dream team. I love seeing lads come through the ranks. There are few good uns in the under age groups now as well.
