Portsmouth

[gazan]

As for NF (interesting initials!), he's harmed the whole country and hangs about with some of the nastiest people around. To back that up, it would be necessary to consider some of his Eastern European contacts and some of those involved in the 6th Jan events in Washington.
However, not really (directly) a football topic bit you did ask!

[MikeSB]

Some here won't like the answer which is pretty obvious really and you would think the new Board and Chairman would see this and make a strategic decision to change the academy policy and leaving RH gives a great opportunity to do just that. If every other club in the lower leagues apart from one or two don't have and actually don't want a Cat2 academy why does our club want to go against what they do? Of course it worked for many years and was successful only because we were able to get millions in transfer fees and were able to attract some decent players like Dean Ashton, Rodney Jack and Luke Varney and before that David Platt who didn't come through the academy. When was the last time we transferred someone OK lets say for a million pounds? I can't recall now but it must have been at least 5 years ago and since that time we have spent well over 5 million on the academy and so is that value for money when we could have signed some better players and probably paid better wages with that money and still had a huge sum in the bank still and what is more important that few people realise and failed to answer is who outside of our area have we signed as kids that are attracted here only because we are Cat2 and won't because we are Cat3 or Cat 4 or indeed no FA academy?

Kids want to play football and so no matter what the level of academy we would attract the same kids only because parents don't have the time or the inclination to take their children to oher clubs outside the area and until some fans can answer that simple question, we cannot move on the debate..And we cannot sign players of decent calibre because we won't or cannot compete on wages with 99% of other clubs even those who have gates half our size like Accrington. Fans say ah its because the latest 'crop' are not as good and the next 'crop' will come along etc.....In the meantime? Well you get the picture. Wedded to an outdated academy policy will result in us getting relegated and almost back where we started and 20 millions passed through the books...To any reasonable person that is NOT progress but heads in sand thinking...I thought our new Board would be better than that and acted sooner and advertising for more and more coaches for the academy when they say we cannot afford 50K for a player suggests they never will and each manager and coach we have at the club is at the expense of a player and thus missing the whole point of what fans want from their football club....IMO as usual. If we have to pay for training facilities away from RH and money is draining away like it seems then the policy will have to change whether they like it or not...What is the point of one promotion only to get related one or two seasons later. That is NOT progress. And not one other club in football would keep a management team with our results and its probable they haven't because we cannot afford the redundancy payments. How much are the three new coaches going to cost the club? £50k?

[MikeSB]

I was thinking about the validity of the so called 'coaching' malarky thing which to me is a purely a job creastion scheme for ex footballers like the house of Lords for ex Politicians and to confirm this just look at the Portsmouth 3rd goal which we mentioned earlier on this thread. Their winger got the ball wide on the LHS and did our full back tackle him or close him down like any 'normal' player would? No, he stood their watching and waiting about 7 yards from him and all the winger did was to cross the ball past the fullback right onto the head of the scorer who was about 5 yards or less actually from the GK and he just stood there when it was his ball to grab out of the air etc...Now folks, if this is coaching for you at 760K a season then somebody is taking the p**s and the Chairman and the Board can see what we see and yet do nothing? Of course DA and KL will claim they should not be doing this or that and yet they keep doing it...I'm no coach but its very doubtful whether you would see such ineptness on any weekend amateur game and THAT folks is my case as a failed scenario where you were either good enough for Pro League football or not and I would suggest the evidence we see is they are definitely not! The Chairman and BoD could close down the academy tomorrow and send all the loan players back and would that really matter now we are down and looked like it for months? They are like fireman watching a fire burn and do nothing..

Actually its not £760K per season for the academy, its well over one million with the FA and PL subsidy...A million pound academy? Don't make me laugh!....More like making you cry and some...Put the bloody thing out of its misery, save the dosh for players that actually KNOW how to play the game..

[RedandWhiteSpartan]

Football success & disappointment swings in cycles.

Take away the Academy, we lose our U.S.P. and we become one of the smallest clubs in the Football League, no money bags Chairperson to bank roll the club.

Have a look at what has happened to bigger clubs than us (certainly in terms of attendance & income) in the last few years. S****horpe, Oldham about to drop out of the football league. Grimsby only just back up, Wrexham, Stockport & to a lesser extent Chesterfield many years in the National League. Notts County, Southend look to be spending a few years there as well.

What makes us different to those clubs?

Get rid of the Academy at our peril.

[MikeSB]

Football success & disappointment swings in cycles.

Take away the Academy, we lose our U.S.P. and we become one of the smallest clubs in the Football League, no money bags Chairperson to bank roll the club.

Have a look at what has happened to bigger clubs than us (certainly in terms of attendance & income) in the last few years. S****horpe, Oldham about to drop out of the football league. Grimsby only just back up, Wrexham, Stockport & to a lesser extent Chesterfield many years in the National League. Notts County, Southend look to be spending a few years there as well.

What makes us different to those clubs?

Get rid of the Academy at our peril.

I refer you to our current league position and my comments re the full back and GK who would never get a game in non league, they are that bad and so what good has coaching done them or indeed most of the current squad who are headed for non league anyway...Fans here and the Board seem wedded to an outdated idea costing over one million pounds per season and I can bet that will come to an end sooner than later and so why not now and save money? If Cat2 academies were the answer then don't you think most clubs in L1 and L2 would have one and then ask them, why don't they? In one word...the cost and they get local kids in anyway and so what is the point?

ALL clubs league and non league have acadamies but 99% of them outside of the PL would never dream of spending what we do...WHAT is the point of 10 years coaching when you can never know how they will turn out and yet there are literally thousands of players around ready made who would come here on better wages..

You know non league is really OK as they can get bigger gates than us and and play more local derbies...Football only matters in the PL today and proven by the empty grounds on match days in L1 and L2...Look at ours and tell me this is success story? How are all these clubs able to pay better wages in almost every league and non league than us and again ask why? Money dear boy, money! We spend it a wing and a prayer and they spend it on ready mades...How does Accrington pay better wages with half our gates? Another sugar daddy?

[RedandWhiteSpartan]

Accrington perhaps the exception that proves the rule, though I have no knowledge of their finances. I ask again, what would make us different from Notts County & Southend, without our Academy?

[gazan]

Also, MSB, you fail to mention that the new BoD came into being just months before Covid happened. Hence, any immediate plans they had were instantly curtailed in order to tighten our strings while there were no crowds.
Further, if academies are such a waste why do all the top clubs have them? It's the real world not Roy of the Rovers or Bernard Briggs.
If we didn't have an academy, how would we afford to pay all these incomers that we would need. You always seem to forget about the economics of the supply line from the academy. Without the youngsters to cross-subsidise the likes of Chris Porter, we wouldn't be able to afford him, never mind all these 'better-paid' players we keep hearing about.
But then I outlined this argument only a month or so ago. Why am I having to repeat myself???

[MikeSB]

Evenin gazan, had to go to Cheadle yesterday and what a pain that was to get there and so many road changes over the years and I mention that as think you said you live in that area..

I think I've said all I'm going to say on this topic as its boringly repetitive..and the Board will know more than we do what steps they will need to take..

[Terry Harkin]

Paraphrased from Radio Stoke Artell reckons you are ignorant if you dont realise that the they heading in the right direction.....Oh well thats that then.................What is it 9 losses out of 10 ?

[Wartman]

Also, MSB, you fail to mention that the new BoD came into being just months before Covid happened. Hence, any immediate plans they had were instantly curtailed in order to tighten our strings while there were no crowds.
Further, if academies are such a waste why do all the top clubs have them? It's the real world not Roy of the Rovers or Bernard Briggs.
If we didn't have an academy, how would we afford to pay all these incomers that we would need. You always seem to forget about the economics of the supply line from the academy. Without the youngsters to cross-subsidise the likes of Chris Porter, we wouldn't be able to afford him, never mind all these 'better-paid' players we keep hearing about.
But then I outlined this argument only a month or so ago. Why am I having to repeat myself???

But does it have to be Cat 2 ?