Originally Posted by
Timmy58
Of course we shouldn't get rid of the Academy. There are a group of players on the fringe of the first team right now and these players are actually saving money before we actually sell them on. The reality is that the good old days of selling a Dean Ashton or Ashley Westwood for millions are probably behind us, or certainly there won't be as many as we were able to sell a few years ago. That is not a negative about the Academy, rather a negative comment about the game in general. Even championship clubs are picking up foreign players and of course Premiership players are filtering down the leagues. Even down the road at Vale Park there are more European players than British. But there is still a market for our players if they prove good enough. Just not quite as lucrative as a few years back. But why should we opt to miss out on these developing players favour of paying higher wages to journeyman pros who are not really any better than what we have on our books. It didn't bring a lot of success pre Dario!!