Media reports suggest that West Ham and Leicester are both interested in signing our young central midfielder Reece McAlear who is contracted until 2020
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Media reports suggest that West Ham and Leicester are both interested in signing our young central midfielder Reece McAlear who is contracted until 2020
It makes you wonder what the point is when you hear this. Not only do we lose any young player who comes into the first team and shines for half a season but we also lose youngsters who have never been near a first team start.
I'm absolutely scunnered with football just now.
I feel the same. We see a cracking player come through and half a season later he's off to Celtic. I know the club has to sell to survive, but we don't have to sell every time we get a decent offer in. We must have made a few quid in recent years. I know contracts have clauses written in them for this and that but we are getting nowhere on the field by employing this tactic and ultimately that's what I want to see.I couldn't give a toss about the size of a clubs bank balance but that's what it's all about these days. It's as if on field success doesn't matter any more but as long as we keep making money then we'll be ok. The Hastie thing is a different kettle of fish, he was offered a contract, didn't sign it and chose to go to pastures new, nothing the club could do about it so we move on from that. One thing of note, Dundee Utd sold a few young players in a fairly short period of time a few years back, Robertson, Armstrong, Mackay_Steven and another I think. Look where it got them, an elongated stay in the championship because they couldn't replace the players they lost.
Yes. I'm also scunnered with football.
Wellin totally agree with you, the problem nowadays is the player has all the power. All the have to do is refuse to sign a new contract like Hastie and they then the club can do nothing about it. Therefore the only option to a club like ours is to try to get the best deal for ourselves, in the present day football world that is not going to change any time soon I’m afraid no matter how disappointing it is to us fans. Only option I can see is you do what Jim McLean did and sign players on ridiculously long contracts but even that can comeback to haunt you if you sign a complete duffer or they end up with a long term career threatening injury.
We have won only one more major trophy in all of years of existence than we've had times when we've almost went out of existence altogether...keep making money!?! We do not, never have and never will make money in the conventional business sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by wellin
I agree completely that losing youngsters not even in the first team is a new twist which is thoroughly disheartening.
As for Dundee United...they are lucky to be in the Championship. They were so heavily in debt that Goodwillie's massive transfer fee went almost entirely to the bank and still left them owing nearly £4m. The alternative to selling who they did was not keep the clutch of players and challenge on the pitch, it was to watch folk turn up at the ground with warrants and padlocks.
Scunnered with football I get, everyone feels like that at times. But really, as Motherwell fan this is a comparative time of milk and honey. If you're not happy with where we are now quite frankly I doubt you ever will be.
What a compliment it is for our academy that other clubs are wanting to pay for them. In this Bosman era there is no way that we can hang on to players. Had Turnbull not done the decent thing and signed a two year extension he could have left without a transfer fee.
A fundamental plank of Motherwell's financial plan is the production and sale of young talent. Until we are able to better the wages paid by Rangers and Celtic and the like that will not change. Even then the riches on offer south of the border will still take players away from us.
Enjoy them while we have them.
They are all good points made by HD and jwok and all perfectly valid, but it's still such a boot in the balls seeing any decent talent we have move on so quickly. I appreciate that this is the way that it goes with clubs our size and indeed I have supported Motherwell long enough and seen many a player leave for bigger clubs so I know how it works. However we never get the chance to build a team these days, as was touched on the other day. If you think back to twenty five years ago when Phil O'Donnell left for Celtic, he had been a first team regular for five seasons and in that time developed his game to become an established Premier league midfielder with a big future (plus he'd helped us win a Cup). Nowadays we are lucky if our top talent hang around for an entire season never mind five and in some cases they are being poached away before some fans have even heard of them. I know the game and the economy has changed, but this certainly dampens any enthusiasm for following football in today's day and age.
Also true.
On the flip side of that, when you change team every season it's much easier to go from being dire to ok - we went from almost relegated to two cup finals which wouldn't have been possible with all that dross on three-four year deals.