1-0 to the railwaymen

[jimmyboldon]

Ditto for me...am certainly not going to respond.....but certainly will continue to attend every match I can.

Thanks.
I should have said, “I will NEVER refuse to attend”

[gazan]

Last response for MSB: look up the definition of fact. It mean an impression you have. Several of your "facts" contain several statements- none of which are facts.
Okay end of, now. Rant away, kid yourself you are talking facts. I am limiting myself to taking part in rational and reasoned discussion, as well as going to all home matches and as many away games as I can

[MikeSB]

Last response for MSB: look up the definition of fact. It mean an impression you have. Several of your "facts" contain several statements- none of which are facts.
Okay end of, now. Rant away, kid yourself you are talking facts. I am limiting myself to taking part in rational and reasoned discussion, as well as going to all home matches and as many away games as I can

Dear me, did you say you were a teacher?

I was going to leave it there but the defintion of FACT is...something that is TRUE irrespective of who is stating it...ie NOT a personal impression. You are in deceit as IF you want to question my series of FACTS then go on, do it. one by one and not pretend they are just my statements. Go on go through each one and declare if its true or a false statement. With respect you really don't know the difference between fiction and truth and spend most times ranting on here...That is my opinion, take it or leave it but my guess is you will leave it as you and others have always dpne...What difference does going to matches make? I have gone to many,many many, many and many....That is a FACT!

You said there were Crewe kids being taken to PL academies by their parents...OK is that a FACT or your impression?

Just to add that any Crewe fan paying the FULL price for a match day ticket for a lower 4th division game is overpaid and has too much money but THAT is just an impression...

[Timmy58]

We?? What 3 or 4 fans?

I would rather go with the facts and others can believe what they want to...However, I don't need to have to engage with a line repeated here and that the Chairman virtually ruled out any other manager coming here based on his interviewing 4 candidates out of 54 applicants and asking them impossible questions re the academy and why we always fail by keeping it internally but it does save jobs and avoid paying redundancy out...

Fact 1. Academies only came in in recently compared with the history of football in England.

Fact 2. Are they or were they a success in England? No...See the facts of how many academy graduates get to play for the first team in Engalnd and we play them many times without success and with some success re the Championshipbut the last ten years not ONE academy player has got into the PL despite over 10 million pounds being spent on it here...That is a clear FACT and failure..

Fact 3. The club is wedded to an outdated concept that we can produce PL players for millions..See the history for factual evidence. 10 years coaching for one or two years in division 4 is not a success as most players can play lower 4th division stuff even National league players.

Fact 4. I haven't checked recently but less than two or three lower league clubs have Cat2 academies with many having far bigger gates than us and choose not to? That is FACT and go and check yourself. WHY don't they if Cat2 is such a great idea?

Fact 5. The club won't change this academy idea until we get a BoD committed to new ideas...Even the Chairman says he is frustrated with our performances on the pitch and yet keeps the status quo! Fact..

Fact 6. Seen our gates recently? Not much enthusiasm for our style of play and Cat2 academy then..What was the gate for FA cups? Worse than anytime in our history. I wonder why?

Fact 7. Unless you can come up with academy lads taken from here to PL club academies as you have stated. I have asked you twice to come up with the names and you have failed to do so...

Thing is when you are asking for FACTS then you will be beaten as I was trained to deal with FACTS and more important, to come up with resolutions to achieve success...Something the club has failed to do and that is FACT...they seem more interested in keeping non footballers in their jobs...As the Chairman has just stated and why the FACT is we will continue to struggle until the Board and fans accdept the reality of this game where RESULTS that count and even LB accepts that..

Many more facts but that will do for now...Don't worry though as I don't expect some fans here to reply to the FACTS of the case as they are obvious and will go with whatever the Board wants to do...Fair enough if you pay to see it but many don't and more will see the light and refuse to attend anymore.

That is a failure when there are alternatives that many clubs oursize have success when we can't by doing things differently. I can assume and it is an assumption that the PL/FA pay all or most of the academy cost otherwise they would have to change...But why is this club losing money then?

Oh another FACT...I always explain my thoughts when some just reply with Zzzzzzzz....

Fact 2 is not a fact. Plenty of players have come through Premier League clubs academies. One only has to look at Arsenal, Spurs, Everton, Man C, Man U etc. Premier league clubs are less likely to come hunting our platers these days because of their own Academies and of course the vast swathes of money available to them to buy from Europe, Asia or South America.

Fact 6 may have some element of truth in it but you must also factor in that there are so many other options for people these days and the cost of living crisis won't help

There maybe some merit in some of the arguments you present but your desire to keep trotting it out ad nauseum tends to be rather irritating. You clearly don't attend games so are going off what you read on here and responding to it. Doubtless you have your reasons for not attending and I respect that and your opinions which are extremely well documented but you don't seem to respect anyone else's opinion. Which is a shame really

[MikeSB]

Fact 2 is not a fact. Plenty of players have come through Premier League clubs academies. One only has to look at Arsenal, Spurs, Everton, Man C, Man U etc. Premier league clubs are less likely to come hunting our platers these days because of their own Academies and of course the vast swathes of money available to them to buy from Europe, Asia or South America.

Fact 6 may have some element of truth in it but you must also factor in that there are so many other options for people these days and the cost of living crisis won't help

There maybe some merit in some of the arguments you present but your desire to keep trotting it out ad nauseum tends to be rather irritating. You clearly don't attend games so are going off what you read on here and responding to it. Doubtless you have your reasons for not attending and I respect that and your opinions which are extremely well documented but you don't seem to respect anyone else's opinion. Which is a shame really

Well, at least you have had a go at reading and replying and agreeing with most of the points presented. I do respect other posters opinions, especially yours actually. Football means you need to keep repeating what works and what doesn't. Few posters here will not accept the academy of 10-15 years ago does not really work as it did before then when we got millions of pounds for players which we haven't for many years now and in that case then changes need to be made and that is all really. People obviously want to keep the status quo because it did work. What about those opinions that kept being trotted out, like the "next batch" coming through etc..A million pound academy just to see youths coming through at 4th division level after a couple of years in the first team and then some of them leaving without a fee annoys everyone. I don't want to add things about my personal health as I don't actually want to excuse not going to games or get any sympathy vote. Problems are expected with age.

I'm not sure why my opinion should irritate anyone as it is a football forum and we have been struggling for some time and the BoD don't seem to want to change thingsto match most clubs in the lower leagues. Which is their prerogative as they are the custodians of the club at the moment.

When I looked at academy graduates coming through to the first team the information I read was it was a very low percentage compared with the total number. Money dictates and PL clubs would rather pay a 37 year old 300 grand a week and 76 million for players...we know its crazy..

[Timmy58]

Well, at least you have had a go at reading and replying and agreeing with most of the points presented. I do respect other posters opinions, especially yours actually. Football means you need to keep repeating what works and what doesn't. Few posters here will not accept the academy of 10-15 years ago does not really work as it did before then when we got millions of pounds for players which we haven't for many years now and in that case then changes need to be made and that is all really. People obviously want to keep the status quo because it did work. What about those opinions that kept being trotted out, like the "next batch" coming through etc..A million pound academy just to see youths coming through at 4th division level after a couple of years in the first team and then some of them leaving without a fee annoys everyone. I don't want to add things about my personal health as I don't actually want to excuse not going to games or get any sympathy vote. Problems are expected with age.

I'm not sure why my opinion should irritate anyone as it is a football forum and we have been struggling for some time and the BoD don't seem to want to change thingsto match most clubs in the lower leagues. Which is their prerogative as they are the custodians of the club at the moment.

When I looked at academy graduates coming through to the first team the information I read was it was a very low percentage compared with the total number. Money dictates and PL clubs would rather pay a 37 year old 300 grand a week and 76 million for players...we know its crazy..

I said some of your points had merit which doesn't necessarily mean I agree with them. It means I can see the point of the argument. I disagree entirely and utterly with your view about our Academy and its merits. The problem isn't so much the Academy and more how we process those coming through and what our expectation is in terms of sell on. Lowery leaving for nothing last summer was disappointing and repetition of this should be avoided at all cost even if it means we lose them sooner than we would want and the fee being less than ideal.

It is not so much that your opinion irritates everyone, It is the "cut and paste" impression that the repetition gives and it is generally brought into most threads.

Most kids in the Academy won't make it and I would like to think that the way our club and, for that matter any club, let these kids down in terms of their dreams that is the most important thing

[MikeSB]

I said some of your points had merit which doesn't necessarily mean I agree with them. It means I can see the point of the argument. I disagree entirely and utterly with your view about our Academy and its merits. The problem isn't so much the Academy and more how we process those coming through and what our expectation is in terms of sell on. Lowery leaving for nothing last summer was disappointing and repetition of this should be avoided at all cost even if it means we lose them sooner than we would want and the fee being less than ideal.

It is not so much that your opinion irritates everyone, It is the "cut and paste" impression that the repetition gives and it is generally brought into most threads.

Most kids in the Academy won't make it and I would like to think that the way our club and, for that matter any club, let these kids down in terms of their dreams that is the most important thing

Football fans are all entitled to different opinions and if in my own view is that I personally have never had much time or any time for youth football and academy graduates, means that will come out in my posts. The fact that we are roughly in the same position in Div 4 than we were 50 years ago and 20 years ago and today means we have made little progress apart from a big stand in the ground. My job was involved with problem solving and corrective action and I don't see the club trying to solve where most of the money goes and we keep employing non footballers in the academy. I cannot see how that will solve anything. Of course it could be the FA/PL are paying almost all of the costs and why they want to keep the status quo going. Maybe someone can ask the Chairman at the fans meeting shortly. ie How much money does the Cat2 academy cost the club in pounds, shillings and pence. And how much would they save downgrading it to Cat3? It is my personal view that downgrading it would have almost zero effect on how many kids come to the academy as their parents want to take them somewhere local.