If not Bell, who (or what?)

[whosbrianwilson]

I'm sorry to disappoint the majority of posters but the facts over the last several years are that the current academy status does not appear to justify the expense laid out. Last year was the fruition of our best academy for the last decade and what did it achieve.
Owen Dale refused to play for us because he considered he was being paid peanuts ( just like most posters think is a sound scenario) and as we don't know the transfer outcome, I assume we got peanuts as well.
Wintle and Lowery our best products left for nothing.
We got transfer fees foe Kirk, Ng and Pickering, but apparently insufficient to avoid the club making a loss.

How come, Accrington, Fleetwood, Morecambe, Forest Green, et al, can survive and prosper on lower gates than Crewe in a higher division with a bigger fund to draw on???? Not to mention Salford, Barrow and others in league 2.

I'm afraid unless the academy is mostly financed by the FA/EFL, then I have to agree with Mike SB that the academy as it is, has run its course. Since the premiership clubs hoovered up and had FIRST CALL on anyone with real talent even if they had been at crewe for several years.
The football at Crewe has been appalling for a number of years interspaced with the admitted talent we had during the last promotion, but even that couldn't save the club from making a loss.

All of which is undermined somewhat by the fact that in the year to 30th June 2021 (the last published results), the club made a profit of nearly £900k, all down to sales of ex academy graduates.

[Freddie Creweger]

If we made so much money last year then there should be no problem in recruiting new badly needed players when the transfer season re-opens . Perhaps also an ambitious new manager who desires a modicum of success and doesn't want to just play the Southgate way.

How come, we just hear that the playing budget has to be cut again, and that the budget was kept at last seasons (DERISORY) level to maintain stability???

[gazan]

When you say DERISORY, what do you mean? It's an extremely subjective term with no meaning without context. You can't spend money you haven't got unless you are called MAN CITY or Bury. It's a shame as MSB said, your previous post was well argued and supported (although I suspect what he really meant was that you agreed with him!).
Also, you give 4 examples of 'low-finance' clubs who are, currently, more, successful than the Alex. For a start, Fleetwood and FGR have significant local backers and came up through a low-cost history which will eventually catch up with them. Morecambe are coming back down and will continue to struggle. That leaves Accrington, who, fair play, have done a tremendous job and I congratulate them. However, their unique success cannot be used as an argument against the Alex.
In terms of saving money, we could sell the ground and downgrade to a Barrow sized stadium. That would save a huge amount in overheads. Yes we could sack loads of coaches (though of course, that would cost an awful lot in the immediate future) but that would undermine our status of 'better-than-Liverpool' as an academy. Of course, this is the factor that leads to parents driving their kids from Manchester, Liverpool etc (NOT the other way around!!).
There are all sorts of schemes that could cut back non-player expenditure but there would probably be long-term consequences. And this is the crux of the matter. Social media has made everybody into 'experts' who want everything and they want it now. Unfortunately, social media is not the real world. The real world has context and consequences and this will not be improved by quick and easy spur of the moment 'solutions'.
If we all really support our club, then we need to put our minds to readily achievable gains we can help with, including constructive criticism where due. Also remember we are all fallible and make mistakes and shouldn't expect screams of vitriol for our errors.

[Freddie Creweger]

I mean derisory, in having by all accounts possibly the lowest budget in Div 1 because of, hey presto, the Academy, and fast forward to this year competing for the lowest budget in Div 2. Just trying to put into perspective that over the last decade the Academy has not, or perhaps cannot produce enough competent players to justify its existence under the present academy category. This is possibly no fault of the personnel but more so that the top clubs are able to hoover up those youngsters that show any ability. How many satellite teams do the premiership clubs have in the area tells you that.