Not sure probably is, we have in the past brought along people like Spider didn't he come through the academy albeit as an older player 17 was it? Most of the foreign players, if you can call them that, usually come in at a later stage IE 16/17. I am on a sticky wicket here as am not too familiar with the players at the academy currently although I seem to remember our friend and yours, former chairman Lowe bringing in a couple of South American players that if memory serves me correct did not make the grade as well as a few others that also in the main did not make it either. Not sure if the policy of the current Chairman is to keep it to British youngsters or maybe European, being he is multi lingual himself.
2.5 a year for englands top acadamies is not enough personally our top clubs need to be pumping the same as barce put in and that costs 8mil a year
I am not sure, how many players do Barcelona have in their academy's? I think that also covers scouting fees as well. I cannot seem to get a reasonable answer to that question from my contacts about the cost of our scouting system nor any estimation which is a tad unusual. Nothing to write home about anyway. My opinion is it would not exceed a million but I might be way out. So I would have said that ã2.5 + ã1 million more for add ons is about right.
We've had a number of foreign players in the Academy under Lowe, this could be to do with having a greater number of scouts aboard and having Georges Prost in charge of the academy. None have them seem to progressed since leaving us, a select few: Andrei Pereplyotkin - Very highly rated when he was at the club, during the late 90s early 00s. Had problems with getting work permit, had a year in Ireland before heading to Latvia. Was on loan at Derby a few years back but failed to impress. Feli Condessa (sp?) - Again a highly rated midfielder, who as I'm led to believe thought a lot of himself. Rejected a new contract and moved back to Portugal (think it was Sporting) disappeared since. Cedric Baseya - Big striker from France, again turned down a contract to move. On loan at Le Harve from Lillie at the moment. Tim Sparv - In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes WGS made, letting this guy leave. Same youth team as Walcott, classy midfielder who impressed against the England Under-21s at the Euro Champs.
Schneiderlin was bought for the senior squad, so not an academy player of any sort. The current U18 team all have British-sounding names, but I guess that doesn't mean they necessarily all are British in this day and age. Out of interest, what are the rules on signing foreign players before they turn professional?
Something a bit more jolly than all this Adkins nonsense: Should we put James Ward-Prowse on the bench with the injury to Schneiderlin looking nasty? A cultured midfielder with an eye for a pass who gets a few goals in the U18s/reserves. None of Hammond, Chaplow or Gobern can really dominate the midfield from deep and be the catalyst to creating chances with their range of passing. Lallana and Chamberlain are the best in the league at controlling a moving ball and Lambert is pretty reliable too with a well-placed ball, so it may take a player willing to look up and make those sweeping passes for the team to play well. Could the kid play a part sooner than we might have expected?
Aaron Martin looks like possibly starting on Tuesday. Not from the academy, but playing college football before signing for Eastleigh. Ian Baird recommended him to us. A lot of football league teams use their contacts in the small time leagues to bring in players for very small fees to boost their squads on the cheap. Quite a few former Saints players from the 70s, 80s and 90s are now managing these small sides in the South. With so many players attracted to the big academies rather than the grassroots sides, will this system be affected? It must be a salvation for a few lucky late developers. I'd imagine it particularly benefits defenders. who tend to mature later than attacking players.
