What is the point of having a lavish academy then?

[PAULCAFC]

If in the end we can't beat nor score against non academy clubs like Crawley, Accrington or Morecambe and we're struggling at the bottom of the fourth tier of English Football?

[jamesdad]

I feel there will be the usual couple of people supporting the academy and most saying its time is up but those who will make the final decision will still be silent as they sit in there ivory towers.

Nothing will change - its hard as a fan to see this club slowly sinking into non league football. I would love to be proved wrong but all the evidence is there for all to see.

[thnhouse]

I feel there will be the usual couple of people supporting the academy and most saying its time is up but those who will make the final decision will still be silent as they sit in there ivory towers.

Nothing will change - its hard as a fan to see this club slowly sinking into non league football. I would love to be proved wrong but all the evidence is there for all to see.

OK, just looking at it subjectively at our first team squad

The most consistent good performances have been:
Kiwomya, Cooper, Jones, Garrat, Guthrie and maybe even Turton and Zooms

That's four from the youth team

To me the players that have let us down are :
Lowe - Works very very hard but 4 goals
Dagnall - same but only 2 goals
Hollands - at times has looked like a good player but very inconsistent


All Davis signings and two of them are apparently undroppable.
I think the real shame there is that Lowe and Dagnall are both great players at this level but why we signed both of them is beyond me.

[itwasin]

OK, just looking at it subjectively at our first team squad

The most consistent good performances have been:
Kiwomya, Cooper, Jones, Garrat, Guthrie and maybe even Turton and Zooms

That's four from the youth team

To me the players that have let us down are :
Lowe - Works very very hard but 4 goals
Dagnall - same but only 2 goals
Hollands - at times has looked like a good player but very inconsistent


All Davis signings and two of them are apparently undroppable.
I think the real shame there is that Lowe and Dagnall are both great players at this level but why we signed both of them is beyond me.

Yes but if you had all those Kids under your feet you be the same,no one can perform while trying to bring kids on who are Just not good enough you can find better in the None League,Cooper can not score from the Penalty spot never mind in play. Who the hell is going to buy them !! Why this club keep them on the books when there going no where look at Saunders an example of waste of money. ? Like so many. The Academy is Crewe. A. ICEBERG.

[jamesdad]

OK, just looking at it subjectively at our first team squad

The most consistent good performances have been:
Kiwomya, Cooper, Jones, Garrat, Guthrie and maybe even Turton and Zooms

That's four from the youth team

To me the players that have let us down are :
Lowe - Works very very hard but 4 goals
Dagnall - same but only 2 goals
Hollands - at times has looked like a good player but very inconsistent


All Davis signings and two of them are apparently undroppable.
I think theKiwom real shame there is that Lowe and Dagnall are both great players at this level but why we signed both of them is beyond me.

For me Kiwomya , Garrat and Turton have under performed a lot. Cooper blows hot and cold during games and out of 90 mins we get about 30-40 mins or his creative play.Guthrie and Jones are the only ones playing to an acceptable standard for the club on a consistent basis. Zooms has had an injury hit season but is performing reasonably well also. Dagnall and Lowe are the two top earners but not finding the net and the young strikers under them in the pecking order have had so many chances but not taken them or shown any improvement in there game . Holland in my opinion will be released to free up money. I would be a brave manager and release /loan out those youngsters who have not shown improvement in there game and get in some fresh faces as mentioned in the media

[MikeSB]

The question for the board then becomes if the academy is only producing players at L2 standard and many even failing to do that, what indeed is the point? It is costing OVER one million pounds a year including the subsidy from the FA/PL and fans talk about some of the graduates show great promise but go into any league in the world including the amateur ranks and you will find that to be the case any day of the week. The idea was the academy was there to produce PL players and of course those good enough for L1?? and of course, the million pound transfers to recycle back into the academy and so which current player(s) are in that category? If Nick Powell hasn't made it yet despite him being arguably the best one we have ever produced, then what?

Surely the board are discussing these very issues aren't they? If four years have almost gone since the last big fee and so that's 3 million of the clubs money gone and that surely can't carry on for long. I still think the academy will be downgraded within the next couple of seasons and in my humble opinion won't make once ounce difference as far as coaching is concerned. Its far too overrated. What may is parents being more worried about sending their kids here and more especially if things come out during the enquiries!

[MikeSB]

Three million would have gone a long way to ensure we had some decent players that may have kept us in L1 but then in essence if the gates are the same no matter what league we are, even the National League, the board may well think the devil is better you know as a tried and tested model that in time will recover its costs..We'll see!

[thnhouse]

Three million would have gone a long way to ensure we had some decent players that may have kept us in L1 but then in essence if the gates are the same no matter what league we are, even the National League, the board may well think the devil is better you know as a tried and tested model that in time will recover its costs..We'll see!

It's worth remembering that the transfer revenue brought in hasn't always gone to the youth team, Hollands had money to spend and blew it on players we got nothing for (Elding, Zola, Donaldson), Davis was fairly well supported too and wasted money on loan signings and wages for players that were only effective short term or in cases not at all. It didn't help that we got hamstrung by a director bleeding the club for a bit either.

I think we've proved time and time again that the academy pays for itself and has given us some of the most exciting footballers ever seen at Gresty Road, what we need is a better transfer policy that brings in players that helps us develop those youngsters and wins us games.

[itwasin]

It's worth remembering that the transfer revenue brought in hasn't always gone to the youth team, Hollands had money to spend and blew it on players we got nothing for (Elding, Zola, Donaldson), Davis was fairly well supported too and wasted money on loan signings and wages for players that were only effective short term or in cases not at all. It didn't help that we got hamstrung by a director bleeding the club for a bit either.

I think we've proved time and time again that the academy pays for itself and has given us some of the most exciting footballers ever seen at Gresty Road, what we need is a better transfer policy that brings in players that helps us develop those youngsters and wins us games.

Pays for itself !! Those days are Long gone,try and keep up with the present day,as DG once said "The days of the Championship are long gone" so are the Academy but he has to admit it yet.

[Furberstreet]

I did not understand why we signed Dagnall. The drop to League 2 seemed a perfect opportunity to give Saunders a decent run in the first team, not least to confirm whether or not he can make the grade. If not, release him. Udoh was thrown into the deep end last season and did well. Now he cannot get a game for the first team despite scoring goals regularly for the U23s. We are only scoring a goal per game and the Lowe/Dagnall combination is clearly not delivering.

As for the Academy, I supported it wholeheartedly for years, but these days it takes a disproportionate amount of funding from the Club to the detriment of the first team and seems to be very much the top priority despite any relegation to non-league meaning its end. Other teams manage without one or make do with a Category 3 academy. Why not Crewe? Times have changed and the once and mighty business model is no longer worth it. A root and branch overhaul of the Club is required, and difficult decisions have to be made. Whether the present Board is capable of doing more than deciding on Bourbon biscuits or Custard Creams for their meetings is an open question.