Quote Originally Posted by mickd1961 View Post
All of those players made the right decision financially.

Easy for us who are better off say rather than to appreciate what backgrounds these lads might consider me from and what family pressures they’re under.

Traditionally, we don’t play kids anyway so it’s been a no brainer for them.

Earn fk all at Albion or go to a big club on maybe £5k a week.

Total no brainer if you’re from a deprived background.
100% agree.

I would love to play for the Albion, but if I was a 17 year old kid at our academy and another club came in and offered me 10x, 15x or 20x what I was earning I'd move in a heartbeat - even if that was to Villa. Especially if they had a chance to set me up for life. Ferguson, Izzy Brown, Morgan Rogers all made moves that set them up financially for life, and I don't blame them at all.

And lets not forget, we talk about loyalty but it wouldn't work the other way if their form was to drop or they had bad injuries. We release plenty of young players every year.

It's a short career, they need to make the most of it. And that means financially. I'd rather not have to work again than make 150 career appearances at a lower level and then scramble around to find another trade when I packed up.