Quote Originally Posted by out0lunch View Post
Nobody is trying to stop you from posting it's just that the needle is stuck in the record (remember them?) You seem to be equating playing at the back of the park with professional football. There is a World of difference. I played back of the park and the odd league higher up at the same time as you and my scoring record was a goal every two games but I was nowhere near pro level I played with some guys who had had the odd game with a pro league team reserves. They were miles better than me, on a different planet even. I often wondered how good they would have been with some proper coaching instead of jog round the pitch now sprint etc. The job of the academy is not only to produce players but to prepare them for life without football. In you time Mike any youngsters who did not make it struggled to get a decent job as their time for an apprenticeship had passed. Can I suggest you try and take a trip to Rease Heath and see the set up!
Yes its tiring repeating the same stuff but you have nailed the situation actually. You saw the quality and lack of when playing the game itself BEFORE academies came along and saw the huge difference in quality of the Pro footballers compared with how we played back then. So can you reasonably argue that our academy graduates were better than in that day apart from the odd star we had? Today I think they would be fitter based on the gym and fitness experts but even then I'm not sure when you looked at the pitches available back then. Time does fly but 1966 when we won the World Cup is a long time ago too and vinyl records have come back into fashion. I watched thousands of league games over these years including PL or First Division as it was then and having played the game like you think the game has deterioated since then but that is my humble opinion. I think academy coaching is OK if we got rid of the coaches and let the ones with natural ability to play as they used to and the whole reason we are poor is the coaches shouting orders to pass, pass, pass and then we may only have one or two direct shots on goal in 90 mins. Its not how the game should be played imho anyway. It is a stuck record as that is my belief. Posters here don't have to read my posts but do think one liners on a discussion forum lacks meaningful thought. Just my opinion and sorry if that offends people.