Barrow

[OzMozz]

We could not afford Ryan Lowe and not sure why he resigned after one game..

I have been consistent about the academy and Dario did perfectly well without needing one and signed some good players at the time and RH has cost a bomb and fair enough we got enough in transfer cash to keep it going and in some ways now we have players in the PL being transferred for 80 million then you would think that would help us at Crewe BUT the PL want great players NOW and not ones who may fit in a few years time...Its what money does..

We had some very good players here over the years and 99% of clubs in L1 and below won't have Cat2 academies and so I want to ask the Chairman how much money we could save by downgrading it or getting rid of it all together etc....We spend half a million on the academy and so where does that money come from only the Directors who good on them for doing that but now the big transfer fees incoming has dried up and almost no PL or Championship grade players here for at least 10 years then should not the club think of a better alternative.

We still get a load of cash from the FA and sponsors and so we would do what almost all the clubs in L1 and L2 do, we transfer good players in and pay them better wages than we seem to do...ie compete like all the other teams do...It should be older players we can attract who actually are far better players than almost most academy graduates and so again lets change the system and change the manager and play like we did for the last 100 years when the gates were a lot higher than now and it was dirt cheap to watch the games....Yes, I know, an impossible strategy now but you have to have plans for change and our club hasn't got any...

I thought that Dario started the academy to get more young players here.
Most of the 99% would want to have a Cat 2 academy though ...
You already know how much money we would save by getting rid of the academy .... remember ?
The cash from the FA is to support the academy !
Correct ... impossible strategy .. would certainly lead to relegation.

[lukcour]

Please accept and understand that we fully accept that the Academy is going to continue in its present form. This has been made abundantly clear in the recent comments from Charles Grant. We would be extremely naive to believe otherwise. So we have no disagreement there.

What I am extremely worried about is the standard of coaching at our Academy. They are not producing young men capable of physically competing in League2 professional football. They are producing little boys. IMO unless we have a clearout of the existing coaches the future looks bleak. After our youth cup game against Arsenal the manager David Vaughan said we could not compete physically with Arsenal. He went on to say this has to change.

But that is not the only problem. For the past 2 seasons the under21 team based upon its results is not fit for purpose. They too for some reason cannot compete physically.

Then we come to our 1st team. Post Christmas and including our first 2 games our team has been so poor and negative it is beyond belief.

Is this not a recipe for disaster. I do not want to be knocking our team. I want to be praising them. But based on what I am witnessing I fear for our future.

[MikeSB]

Please accept and understand that we fully accept that the Academy is going to continue in its present form. This has been made abundantly clear in the recent comments from Charles Grant. We would be extremely naive to believe otherwise. So we have no disagreement there.

What I am extremely worried about is the standard of coaching at our Academy. They are not producing young men capable of physically competing in League2 professional football. They are producing little boys. IMO unless we have a clearout of the existing coaches the future looks bleak. After our youth cup game against Arsenal the manager David Vaughan said we could not compete physically with Arsenal. He went on to say this has to change.

But that is not the only problem. For the past 2 seasons the under21 team based upon its results is not fit for purpose. They too for some reason cannot compete physically.

Then we come to our 1st team. Post Christmas and including our first 2 games our team has been so poor and negative it is beyond belief.

Is this not a recipe for disaster. I do not want to be knocking our team. I want to be praising them. But based on what I am witnessing I fear for our future.

Hello my friend..I accept what you say about the Chairman's comments and the academy etc..

I go on and on about this because imo academies are for kids, they are after school football thing and the coaches are being paid out of money that should go on the first team even though the FA pay half of the cost and so that's half a million we are paying for kids to be trained up with nobody knowing how they will be in 10 years time. I also played this game to a decent level and was far better when I was over 21 than ever I was in my teems for obvious reasons...physical strength. Coaches CANNOT teach natural football skills and if our under 21's with 10 years coaching cannot make the grade, they should be got rid of and spend the money on the hundreds of players around the world not just the UK....

Academies are the play thing of the FA who know sod all about football..the PL spend tens of millions on them and one day they will abandon them...Just my opinion....The coaches are just second rate footballers and know less than meabout the game..