Agree, but it's their child and they have pound signs in their eyes and in their brain, lots and lots of them.Those people are idiots.
Agree, but it's their child and they have pound signs in their eyes and in their brain, lots and lots of them.Those people are idiots.
Ahem ! Our Academy IS Category 3 !!!While I agree with sturtz's feelings on this I'd also be devils advocate and remind that the very fact our students do move on to category3 academys is something that will tempt very talented young players to join. We will inevitably lose some but it gives us a better chance to find a keep a diamond. None of that excuses the premiershit shysters.
Maths was never my strong point CB!!Ahem ! Our Academy IS Category 3 !!!
How do we address that issue? We can't chase them round with pitchforks until they advise their kid to sign on.The parents know that the club gets screwed if their kid leaves before signing a contract at 16, yet still they go ahead. We need to address this issue first before trying to overturn the entire system.
I don't apologise for taking the same view that I always have which is the benefits of running an Academy are overstated. Sure when you are fortunate enough to see a player through his formative years and he signs a professional contract, you can see a real return on your investment. However, more and more kids are advised to milk the system and if they have real potential their agents move them on to bigger clubs who are happy to pay the pittance involved against a punt that the kid will make real money in the future. I accept that an Academy has social benefits, but I'm not sure that should interfere with a commercial judgement. A team of quality contacts (scouts) would be able to unearth a reliable supply of kids who have just missed out on making the cut further up the pyramid and are maybe now playing non league. The group of coaches we have should be able to turn these players into assets for the first team and long term commercial assets for the club. (I don't expect this view to be universally held)I'd love to see the EFL take another vote on EPPP now BUT this time to opt in to EPPP and take the annual money on offer or to stay out and receive nothing...and then negotiate fees for youngsters independently / set by tribunal if an agreement isn't reached.
Then clubs like us that want to run an academy properly should reap the rewards whilst those that don't can take the EPPP money.
How many would risk opting out? Would we?