Has relegation crippled our current crop of youngsters?

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Alex take out DJ as he's under 16 and even we are guilty of going to lower teams and taking players of that age. Not much you can do if you have Utd calling.
Bett's is the odd one out of the four....he was in the first team a lot,so the argument about being blocked does not wash with him. The question is why has he not signed the offer he has?

The other three are/were all in the last great of contract. Also all in the same age group, so its a bit of a perfect storm that we find ourselves in this situation. All are internationals and highly rated.All had taste of first team football... Was it enough? Even fans can't agree that Roberts was ready or even if Dembele is any good. Hyndman is seen as classy but a bit lightweight by some.

Of the XI starters in the second leg of the youth cup we have lost Pat, and look like losing these two as well.Sambou also left after being offered a contract.
The rest are working hard in the u21/18 group still and progressing well.

The heads of these two have been turned, they want it now and we can't 100% offer that, either from a finance side or a playing side. I've said before the two of them for me would be in the 18 every game, but then my job is not on the line to get results, but I don't think even that would satisfy these guys.I'll go back to the point I've made in last 24 hours....its money.


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My point wasn't related to why said players are/might be leaving - it was more looking at our academy going forward and whether our relegation and subsequent handling of our academy players might have a knock on effect in terms of our recruitment of talent in the future and keeping good academy staff at the club.

I don't think it will,  if anything we are producing players who we can show to prospective parents/kids that we coach players who when ready can move to top clubs.

I agree. That our Academy players are sought after by the likes of Man. City, Man. Utd. And Chelsea possibly gives us an even higher profile than saying that Bettinelli and LVC are now playing for us in the Championship.

[MasterHaynes]

Alex take out DJ as he's under 16 and even we are guilty of going to lower teams and taking players of that age. Not much you can do if you have Utd calling.
Bett's is the odd one out of the four....he was in the first team a lot,so the argument about being blocked does not wash with him. The question is why has he not signed the offer he has?

The other three are/were all in the last great of contract. Also all in the same age group, so its a bit of a perfect storm that we find ourselves in this situation. All are internationals and highly rated.All had taste of first team football... Was it enough? Even fans can't agree that Roberts was ready or even if Dembele is any good. Hyndman is seen as classy but a bit lightweight by some.

Of the XI starters in the second leg of the youth cup we have lost Pat, and look like losing these two as well.Sambou also left after being offered a contract.
The rest are working hard in the u21/18 group still and progressing well.

The heads of these two have been turned, they want it now and we can't 100% offer that, either from a finance side or a playing side. I've said before the two of them for me would be in the 18 every game, but then my job is not on the line to get results, but I don't think even that would satisfy these guys.I'll go back to the point I've made in last 24 hours....its money.


Sent from my Lenovo A5500-F using Tapatalk

My point wasn't related to why said players are/might be leaving - it was more looking at our academy going forward and whether our relegation and subsequent handling of our academy players might have a knock on effect in terms of our recruitment of talent in the future and keeping good academy staff at the club.

I don't think it will,  if anything we are producing players who we can show to prospective parents/kids that we coach players who when ready can move to top clubs.

I agree. That our Academy players are sought after by the likes of Man. City, Man. Utd. And Chelsea possibly gives us an even higher profile than saying that Bettinelli and LVC are now playing for us in the Championship.

One good crop which became the top academy team which  helped attract a few more, like Roberts and Williams. I would question the assumption that we are following the Southampton model, none of the players speculated to be poached have figured in our first team players anything like the opportunity afforded to Southamptons young players profitably sold (none of whom went out on loan) is it purely they were all once in a generation exceptionally gifted talents or just the opportunities afforded them.

Neither are we 'cashing' in, the rumored fee for Robers, £5m+add ons, is nowhere near any of the fees received for the very young Ox, Walcott, Bale despite the rampant English player fee inflation since those players were sold, certainly not in the same ball park as Shaw and Chambers who were established first team players.
I'm depressed about the whole situation, losing my excitement for the coming season with whats going on in the academy at the moment, wish I could have MJG's conviction and faith in the clubs strategy and our 'saviour' Rigg but at the moment can't see anything that the club are doing to address the current decline other than keeping a lid o costs and investment.

[RPhillips]

I blame Jimmy Hill. He lead the scrapping of the maximum wage. From that time money has ruled the game. What on earth is the sanity of paying an 18 year old 1 to 2 million a year to sit on their backsides.
I´m sorry but I don´t think any player is worth more than a top heart surgeon. £200k per annum is plenty for a footballer to live a normal life.
After 61 years of watching football it won´t be long before the love affair ends.

Sorry, Granddad, but Jimmy Hill ain't the cause -- it would have happened anyway -- and the cold reality is that top-flight football is a global business in which players (even those of journeyman-level skill) can command multi-million pound annual salaries, because the clubs understand that like it or not, it's a cost of participating in a multi-billion pound industry. Your comment that "£200K per annum is plenty for  footballer to live a normal life" highlights the disconnect between your view and the current reality: top-flight football is NOT a normal profession, as the access is limited, the tenure is brief, and the economics of the industry are at the extreme. 

[snarks]

Just as an aside in the end Bale went for 5 million plus Tommy Forecast, and he had been playing in the championship consistently for Southampton, so had Walcott. As for Oxlade-Chamberlain he had played 36 times in a promotion winning side (from league 1).

Roberts isn't at that level yet, and his stature is something that may (just may) hold him back. Considering that he is a prospect £5 million plus add ons is a good deal

[ToodlesMcToot]

What is the point of a top quality yoof set up if the manager will not give them a proper run in the team?  :031:

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Right now? It's apparently additional income.