Chiefs and Indians

[VindePays2009]

I hope to be at Highbury to see the Alex open the season, but without any realistic expectations of a good result.

Because the Cod Army have a wealthy backer who ensures their success, and enabled them to outbid us for the likes of Vardy and Brodie, recently. And 'The Beast' would have been a useful loanee. I'll leave out Sarcevic, because he only ended up there, plus as a naive incoming manager Steve might have misjudged his attitude problems, if there were any.

This will never change until David Conn writes an article that busts open what has been going on at the Alex, and I am writing to him in the hope that as a near-youth player for the Alex, he might be prepared to do the necessary forensic research. Here's hoping.

Meanwhile, if we can't interest the right calibre of player in joining us, then we seem overly provided on the managerial tier of things.

We have Dario as director of football, SD as manager, Neil as his assistant, James Collins now as first team coach, in addition

[AmericanAlex]

I tend to be of the persuasion that investment into coaches and managers should be substantially more than the players. I'll give an example by using the college I attended in Hawaii.

It was a small school, fully accredited, with about 150 students. I loved this place. The students were fantastic and the faculty were there to work with and pour into you, not just as a student, but as a person.

As the campus was located in Hawaii it was never going to be massive but they attempted to endear themselves to new and prospective students alike by offering them new iPads. I, of course, gratefully accepted the gift. I didn't need it, of course, but I was more than happy to accept the generosity of the school. There was a mild increase in the student body and we grew another 30-50 students over the next year.

I'm two years removed from it now and the school has since fallen apart. Many of my teachers moved on because the school was only paying them $400 per class. In their place came newer

[somersetcrewe]

I happen to think Crewe have it spot on.
Pointless having the students (to use AA's analogy) if you don't have the infrastructure in place up front.

I also think it is one of the points that many Crewe fans (who shall remainless ) seem unable to accept. It is a huge investment for a League 1/2 club, of course it is, but it is a path we chose - and the potential rewards, as have been seen over the years, are endless!

It also goes some way to explain why Crewe never do "a Shrewsbury" (as an example this Summer) and replenish the squad with 7 or 8s. It's just not how we choose to do things.

Yes, 2014/15 is going to be tough but good on 'em for sticking to tried and tested principles.

[AlexLeicester]

Somerset and American seem to steal my thunder every time they post. X-D
I agree with the analogy and the sentiment.

It's just a thought, but for players and coaching staff, the 'Alex way' is a proving ground, so coaches will go on to bigger and better clubs, just as players do. We need a production line in coaches as much as players.
Perhaps one solution (very loose and temporary) is to keep the best for as long as possible by up-grading their title and, perhaps, putting a few more pennies in their pocket?

This policy will only work if we stick rigidly to the philosophy that Dario instilled in the club all those years ago. It will probably mean a struggle each season, but that has always been the case. If I want to see young lads working hard, coached properly, and playing exciting football, I know where to go; if I want to see a bunch of individual journeymen hacking and kicking, pushing and shoving, then I can see them a lot closer to home.

I now intensely dislike AmericanAlex! S

[bonehead]

i see it this way

steve davis / bakes / collins / lunt

no problem - weve first team / 21 squad / youth team and rest

Dario yes - but not on 100k a year -

few questions - everytime we sold a player it was to buy new aqua pool /covered full size pitch etc - all this went from sales - so now weve got all these in place - why does it still cost so much to run the thing

and what about the fitness coaches / diet people / physio staff - bet there all on top dosh

is Colin Little still doin coaching

dont get me started on the backroom staff

had gil palin . elaine and a few others before
bet theres 50 now

course as a shareholder i think half the problem is no one puts in - and Norman just takes out in rtn for useless shares in a company that the only customer is the Alex paying rent - unless im wrong

and the 2 new guys on the board - was it a dream i must of missed the supporters meeting to welcome them on

GET A GRIP - use your assets better - get some skylites for the pitch then you

[MikeSB]

Its always a topic that will polarize opinions. Vale say they will save 300/400K by eliminating their youth programme and so can sign Byron lol.

The new academy status we have means more and more staff and so that has to be born in mind. I would like to see the non playing staff budget compared with the playing staff and if that shows a huge difference then its a debatable and fair point to reconsider the options that could include paying better wages to the players and therefore attracting better players of which we all know are plentiful at all ages in professional football. It also means that we could look at the many hundreds of cast offs from the PL and CC that didn't make the grade there.

One thing is for sure and that is there is never a shortage of kids wanting to be coached and we could still do that in a centre of excellence. It doesn't mean we have to keep the status quo because even with all that expense of our academy we are still a L2 side according to the club and the

[MikeSB]

On the oft vexed question about Dario's wages apparently still on the 100K according to the last financial accounts that someone here reported. Just couple of comments.

I have never agreed with a so called 'Director of Football' position that many clubs have but seemed more of an appeasement at these clubs where they didn't want to sack long standing servants of the club and in some ways we can all see why. But these positions have and do cause conflicts between the team managers and coaches.

But Dario is a unique in this sense of all what he has done for the club and the time he still spends at RH and elsewhere and so what's in a title? It matters not in his case.

If he still gets 100K that is an issue for a small club like ours when money is being quoted by the club as reasons to do this or that etc. Maybe Bowler is too timid to make any changes?

Does Dario and indeed SD or any academy coaches get any part of an incoming transfer fees? Is this transparent in the club's accounts?

[somersetcrewe]

Oh it's kicked off now!

we are still a L2 side according to the club and then the question as always becomes what then is the whole point of doing all this ...

As I've said before - irrelevant.
L2 in size maybe but NOT in stature, league position, etc.
Don't be fooled into thinking there is no ambition. We could all see the scenes after the Preston game and what it meant to everyone.

I've said it before That any academy should support the first team and not become the whole focus and reason why our club exists.

But why not?
Do you honestly think the Walsall game was just a whim? I think it was more a case of "let's see how it works now" and then move on.
I'm not saying this is the club's ultimate aim, (I just don't know - but it could be), but I wouldn't mind betting they aim to achieve that sort of thing on a more regular basis in future rather than as a one-off f

[bigroof]

We do tend to 'go round the houses' on these issues don't we?

Going back to VindePays' original poser: perhaps these days, rather than thinking of us as a 'League One club' (which of course can be temporary), perhaps it's better to think of us as a 'Category Two club', as there is more permanence in that state.

Category Two has required more facilities and more staff in the past two years. I'm not sure if any more facilities will be required, to eat up a little more of the budget.

The club took the decision to aim for Category Two status, no doubt having looked into the economics of it. Their reasoning might well have been swayed by the fact that they've come so far down a path, it might be folly to rein things in a bit, and settle for Category Three, with its fewer requirements but also less hours' coaching for the boys, and therefore less likelihood of finding and shaping diamonds to sell.

(By the way, Mike, there are no 'centres of excellence' as such any more; they've all becom

[MikeSB]

Thanks for that Derek. Yes these things do go around and around and...

Dario did say to me earlier in the year.. Don't think its a problem to say on here but he said the FA does provide more money for the Cat 2 status and any 'extra' costs are relatively neutral for the club..

Now if they don't, maybe someone could explain more about all this stuff and staff costs and player budgets like some clubs do and so we don't have to guess as the accounts don't do that do they? Have they had a 'fans forum' this year like they have in the past? Great idea for Hassall as the major shareholder to come along to be asked a few questions as well? Has he ever spoken publically?

I think more worry for the status quo is the rules have all changed and any lad can go any distance now and not restricted to 40 miles or so I understand. Maybe that could help us with kids from Portsmouth and Saints but the sea view is quite compelling. And any real diamonds as you put it are plucked by others with