Our find a footballer template..

...is not flexible enough.

And is too simplistic.

You cannot go out and secure young lower league players, cream of their own crop though they may be, and expect the vast majority of them to be magically turned into mature footballers capable of competing at the level we are currently mixing it at.

If we are in the business of making money then all well and good. We can be an upmarket Crewe Alexandra, except that instead we get the decent players to develop after they've passed puberty rather than before. There definately is an argument for catching the talent earlier than we do, given that we have this academy. Except for defenders, we struggle youth development wise.

Anyway.

If we want to reach the highest possible league position (which the January 2017 sales do indicate as not being a priority, but I'll crack on) then we need a strategy that:
a - signs up players beyond the cattle market mentality - not players that are 5th on our wish list. The strategy is so narrow that we are liable to end up with turkeys simply because our wish list criteria is so limited. If the first one or two are too expensive or not otherwise available, move on.
b - signs up players that are good - Brian Clough wasn't bothered about how old or where they came from. He knew what he was looking for and if it means sticking an old pro in there to do the job, then do it. In other words, be prepared to ignore age. You need a measure of experience Shirley.
c - is not obsessed with some sort of wage ceiling - if you're paying £1m for a league 2 player (plus wages of say £5k), then if there's a better player (see b. above) going for free then at least consider a 15k wage, if you think it will do the trick.

There's millions to be kept by avoiding relegation. And pleasure to be had by watching good football.
I watched good football last season from start to finish. Except that we couldn't finish...by the errrr..finish. The classy football was still there.

Anyway, Hecky knows all this and many more millions of things too. And chuckles at what we don't know.

 

I think we are in between a rock and a hard place with our current situation. Financially we are a rich League one team but a poorer Championship side. Problem is now with parachute payments, there are so many teams that have Premier League type money that are in the Championship. For us, if our players grow faster than the club does we will lose them and for us to grow financially we need to be contending for promotion. I hope this is the ultimate aim as the years/decades pass on.

I think a good start to this is the new 3 year deal structure; we obviously have good scouting and history of bringing lower league players up the ranks so if we do that we need to take the gambles and sign them to longer contracts so we can either get a larger selling fee to re-invest into the squad OR preferably keep these players with us. Problem is- if these players don't come good we will be struggling to retain our championship status.

Ultimately, the only way for us to grow as a club is to attain a playoff spot and get promoted without risking over-spending (AKA a Portsmouth). By doing this we essentially become a rich Championship club with the Premier League TV money and/or parachute payments. If we don't blow all of that money and come straight back down even; we will be in a great position to grow again.

Who knows, if this pipe dream were to ever happen it would even make us much more attractive to be purchased and have another stream of income.

Anyway, that's just me day dreaming but you never know!

 

I must say I don't know why this strategy can't incorporate a bit of flexibility to have a bit of a blend of youth and experience. Surely these young lads would benefit from a bit of experience around them and thus enhance their value?

 

Sorry but I rarely comment like that but just gone through that 3 times and haven't a clue what you are talking about or the point you are trying to make.

Our next step imo should be to move onto the higher quality of player but have the same criteria.

 

That would seem to be the right thing to do to me also though this years recruitment shows no real sign of attempting to achieve this. Rather we have gone back to familiar targets. There is of course still time.


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Well I'm sorry about that.

I apologize for posting drivel.

I would never accuse you of doing the same.

 

I would like to put this to Gauthier when I get the chance but on the two occasions, he was chatting to either Whitey or James Cryne.

 

I submit a 4 week ban would be an appropriate punishment for such a rebarbative and nonsensical post.

Do you plead guilty or not guilty?

 

I know we sometimes disagree but on this I think you are right. If you don't adjust your targets and strategy as the plan progresses you will only go backwards. If we aim to emulate Southampton rather than Peterborough you have to adjust. I guess the striker/forward recruitment may show a change in player potential. It's too early to know right now.


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Only if I can pick my own punishment.

Which would be to have to listen 5 times over to the worst album anyone has ever heard.

My own punishment would be hard to beat - Metal Machine music by Lou Reed

Beat that then.

 

What is "this" ?

Is it flexible enough?

 

Two Virgins by John Lennon. Cost me 100 quid and a drive to Glasgow. It's absolutely unlistenable. Where's Gordon Ottershaw to back me up when I need him?


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That would mean increasing wages.

Something which clearly is a stumbling block in progressing further than the plan and spreadsheet as it stands

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Plans for the immediate and future.

I think that we are on the right path. But it's about levels and this would be something the club can only answer. So far all the media questions seem to be very fluffy. I picked something out on the club one or maybe a few things that I would like to ask a question about.

 

The increase in wages shouldn't be a problem if the club rises in a way that this process can. The wage budgets only a risk if the current level can't manage that.

 

I agree completely.

I just don't see a desire to spend on wages despite the amount we have brought in recently.

It's the most obvious and opportune moment we have to try that next level.

I just don't believe it will happen though

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I would argue we have done that to an extent in the last 2 years. To list a few: Moncur, Bradshaw, Mowatt, Isgrove, McCarthy, perhaps even McGeehan would probably not have signed for us if we were in League One.

The problem is we cannot really sign the best Championship youngsters in our remit and compete with others wage wise

It would be great to do this but given the success of someone like MacDonald signed from non-league, imo you can clearly see why the club want to continue with the same policy. We have undoubtedly signed players on fees we could not have done 2 years ago; the question I suppose is how much further we can take this. Hopefully the foreign marker will bear fruit!

 

The club has to be honest. People will say it's Mr Cryne's business and he can do what he likes. Okay that's fine but the fans aren't stupid and even a ballpark figure can be put out by a lot. The club be honest and we will get behind them. The club try and bunker or sweep things under the carpet things can happen and the negativity off the field quickly affect things on the field like at Coventy and Blackpool and things spiral badly.

 

As has been said before, there is no correlation between the current strategy and on the field success. Or off the field development.

We are simply an academy which plays in the football league and develops players for the benefit of others.