The spine of the team is made up of players in their mid to late 20’s players who know how to play the game and can lead, encourage and develop others both on the pitch and the training ground both as players and and people. Ideally, a midfielder and a defender with the potential to have a striker in the twilight of their career and a goalkeeper within the squad. Alongside this is the first layer of developing young players who are aged 23-25 who were signed at 20/21 year old with games in their legs and have been at the club a couple of seasons developing and achieving potential. These will either becoming close to marketing time or to be starting to progress in replacing the spine of the team who in turn would be sold on/retired. Supporting this will be the 20/21 years with games in their legs and have potential to improve alongside homegrown academy players. All contracts are staggered in terms of wages, wage increments and bonuses based on development and appearances. Contract lengths are always in the clubs favour to extend by a year or agree a renewed long term deal. Only two first teamers are allowed to leave per transfer window regardless of bids, unless the bids are too good to turn down. Eg sell Pinnock and Lindsey, retain Moore unless an offer above £7m came in until january. These sales would then be replaced by the second wave who step up or someone from the same age group externally who can go straight into the first team. The club for those players not deemed ready to step up into the first team squad should be sent out on loan to develop in competitive games with agreements agreed with local lower and non league clubs. The higher league position the club is the better quality of potential it can attract. This in turn will lead to greater resale value and therefore long term sustainability. It will also allow the directors to pay a reasonable dividend over time to cover their purchasing costs etc. How it works at the minute. The players are valued by the antiques experts on Bargain Hunt and fail to realise the hammer price disappointing the eager contestants. The antique experts recommend more products that are higher risk and that 50p vase which might be worth 50K gets dropped on the floor.
