whats happened ?

[AlexLeicester]

In a nutshell Mike, I think you are suggesting that this is potentially the most frustrating season, or certainly one of, we have been through?

I can't disagree with that.

[bigroof]

Mike, I don't think the club have ever said that they wouldn't be a league club without an Academy. It's more a perception of a good many fans, that they would struggle to be one, without it.

The Academy Crewe has, would struggle to survive if the club slipped out of the league, that's for sure; but then its doubters could justifiably argue that it didn't do us any good anyway (apart from a certain matter of over 25 years' optimism, and some undreamt-of good times)!

Of course clubs can survive without an Academy of the quality ours possesses. Sometimes they go into administration, and come out again, but there is usually still a professional club for the faithful to support, even if it has to climb through the non-league pyramid to become so again. Sometimes they just trudge along in the bottom division, with the occasional 'boom' year, like Crewe in the 1960s.

The evidence suggests though, that a club with a well-run Academy, with resources committed to it, won't go out of business

[alexmick]

[quote="MikeSB"..

Of course its about opinions Mick but I happen to disagree with that statement that has been said so many times its unbelievable. What evidence do we have that we would not have survived L2 only maybe one bit and that was when Dario took us up the mountain of the Championship and down the leagues almost to non league and that was WITH the academy?

How many teams are now in L1 and L2 that are of similar size and gates and many a lot worse and don't have any Academy and 30 million quid in incoming transfer fees?

Its darn stupid that the Board have just taken in how many millions from Powell and Murphy and all the gate receipts of TV and wembley and we have to resort to the LOAN market like as though we were skint like a Rochdale or many others still surviving in these leagues.

Nobody is saying we should not have an Academy but I have al

[bonehead]

come on guys - were not asking for millions for a couple of players

i run a small business and budget for what i think i will get in

so sell a player to cover losses at the heath (Tick)

use club sales / 1st round cup money / ground boards etc /sponsor money - season tickets /etc

to sort wages -

so that is normal season

wembley / tv money / xtra shirt sales

thats BONUS - so use say 25% of that to sign players up

were not asking to break the pay scale - but theres a lot smaller clubs in championship that have done it WITHOUT our youth set up

if the directors dont want to put any money in - what are they there for -

bowler - dario not included

others - free lunch...

[MikeSB]

Great responses there and I did ask Dario about the changes to the status of the Academy and the additional costs involved and he said the FA contribute more if they can maintain the one we have. I know he is frustrated that the new system demands far more 'computer' logging time about each player and is tying up valuable coaching time as a result.

I accept the point about wages and of course we could never compete in the Championship and why it was an amazing time for fans. And most of the clubs in the lower leagues tend not to make it public what wages they are paying? Maybe there is nod and wink deals as well?

I think Mick has it spot on..

Frustrating season all round!...Especially beating Preston,Sheff Utd and Gillingham and then look like a different team next match?

I wonder if its more difficult to motivate players nowadays who are either think they are better than they are or we need a Roy of the Rovers like a Nick Powell to instill great performances and a belief like go

[MikeSB]

Mick, you remember having a wee at the back of the popular side? I still can smell the urine coming up at HT!

Were you among the 20,000 fans at Gresty Road when we played Spurs who were top of the league in 1960/61? And beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge the year after? It is a fact you know that since those halcyon days We have never beat a First Division Club in the FA cup since..

[bigroof]

were not asking to break the pay scale - but theres a lot smaller clubs in championship that have done it WITHOUT our youth set up

Well there's only Yeovil at the moment. S****horpe - similar to us - had a few seasons yo-yoing between Championship and the third tier. Are Doncaster smaller than Crewe?

When Crewe themselves were there, Gillingham, Rotherham and Port Vale had some time there as well.

After ITV Digital's collapse, the days were numbered when such 'small' clubs could sustain any decent time at that level.

My point is that the club HAVE invested in non-Academy players this season. The fact that some of them haven't performed as well as they might, is a different matter.

[DGFG]

^ correct, ten first team squad players brought in over last two summers and at this point only one (Pogba) could be haled as an unqualified success.

Two of them have already left the club.

Two are out on loan at clubs lower down the pyramid which is indicative of their success levels for us.

Two look very likely to leave this summer (Osman and Ellis) and, of course, there is still time for Oliver, Grant and Inman.

That's not counting the loan players who have been brought in - some successful, others not so much.

If Mr. Bowler was a classless egomaniac like many Football Club chairmen he might be tempted to go public and express his disappointment with player recruitment for the first team squad.

When people say they want investment in the first team squad, what they really mean is they want players guaranteed to improve the team at League One level - that won't happen unless we invest in eye watering wages.

So we'll continue to recruit with an element of risk.

The summer will