My only ‘fear’ is how much does MB believe in the current batch. With all the loanees and the return of players like Wheeler I can’t see much hope for blooding Pattenden, Ward, Woodhouse or Skura.
Isn’t that very much the point though. You’re never going to get the whole team coming through, so inevitably you’re paying the many in pursuit of the few.
The success of bringing Mehmeti and Forino has been a great achievement. We’re also now also seeing De Barr at first team level. That’s a good record given how hard it is to bring players through and how recently we started the Development Squad.
On Makoli, I only saw him play once and thought he wasn’t bad. A natural wing-back with a bit about him. He’s maybe lost out to Pattenden. Good luck to the lad, he’s only 19 so hopefully this a backwards step that will take him forward in the long run.
The development squad is so much more than just a way of generating money for the club, it helps to really reinforce our ethos of being a community club and this goes for the Women's teams well. It always felt a bit hollow when we didn't have a youth / development set-up in the mix and fantastic to see the investment here. It doesn't just have to be about fireworks, gourmet burgers or pre-game "entertainment" - investing in young talent and seeing them break into the first team like Mehmeti and Forino is just as fulfilling!
I agree, all clubs (should) have a social responsibility to many different groups and that includes young players that are 'lost' after being released by other clubs. I cannot imagine how terrible it is for a youngster being kicked out of an academy system so giving them a home in the lower leagues if only for a year is something.
But nothing can prepare a young person for having everything taken away from them at such an early age when they (and their family) thought they were sitting on the winning lottery ticket. See also Last Chance U on Netflix
I can tell you the reason for keeping this going in two words: Sam Grace. If someone has a track record for spotting diamonds in the rough, there is every chance they will keep spotting them. Not every one will be a Mehmeti or a Forino, but they are coming from the same insight.
Sam Grace clearly has shown a talent for his position, and he is going to continue to be an asset to the club for as long as he is employed by us, in my opinion.
I was chatting to a Wimbledon fan over the weekend with supposed links to the board (exaggeration entirely possible) who said AAH had only been receiving small bids in the lower six figure area and they wanted more, supposedly we get 50% of any fee!!
I've also heard, again can't guarantee it's an actual itk, that we have a pretty hefty sell on percentage for him. So here's hoping he keeps scoring and it's true
Comments
Yep, totally agree it's been worth doing. Not all of them are going to make it, but the ones that do make it worthwhile
My only ‘fear’ is how much does MB believe in the current batch. With all the loanees and the return of players like Wheeler I can’t see much hope for blooding Pattenden, Ward, Woodhouse or Skura.
Isn’t that very much the point though. You’re never going to get the whole team coming through, so inevitably you’re paying the many in pursuit of the few.
The success of bringing Mehmeti and Forino has been a great achievement. We’re also now also seeing De Barr at first team level. That’s a good record given how hard it is to bring players through and how recently we started the Development Squad.
On Makoli, I only saw him play once and thought he wasn’t bad. A natural wing-back with a bit about him. He’s maybe lost out to Pattenden. Good luck to the lad, he’s only 19 so hopefully this a backwards step that will take him forward in the long run.
The development squad is so much more than just a way of generating money for the club, it helps to really reinforce our ethos of being a community club and this goes for the Women's teams well. It always felt a bit hollow when we didn't have a youth / development set-up in the mix and fantastic to see the investment here. It doesn't just have to be about fireworks, gourmet burgers or pre-game "entertainment" - investing in young talent and seeing them break into the first team like Mehmeti and Forino is just as fulfilling!
I agree, all clubs (should) have a social responsibility to many different groups and that includes young players that are 'lost' after being released by other clubs. I cannot imagine how terrible it is for a youngster being kicked out of an academy system so giving them a home in the lower leagues if only for a year is something.
The impact can be devastating and have truly tragic consequences. Top clubs historically haven't provided enough aftercare, but this is very good from Palace: https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/club/crystal-palace-enhances-after-care-programme-for-released-academy-players/
I've mentioned this before but Palace seem to be doing the right things as can be seen here ....
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/football-dreams-the-academy
But nothing can prepare a young person for having everything taken away from them at such an early age when they (and their family) thought they were sitting on the winning lottery ticket. See also Last Chance U on Netflix
Can a record fee be paltry?
ANNOUNCE KONE
Dave Tarpey 2.0 ?
I can tell you the reason for keeping this going in two words: Sam Grace. If someone has a track record for spotting diamonds in the rough, there is every chance they will keep spotting them. Not every one will be a Mehmeti or a Forino, but they are coming from the same insight.
Sam Grace clearly has shown a talent for his position, and he is going to continue to be an asset to the club for as long as he is employed by us, in my opinion.
I was chatting to a Wimbledon fan over the weekend with supposed links to the board (exaggeration entirely possible) who said AAH had only been receiving small bids in the lower six figure area and they wanted more, supposedly we get 50% of any fee!!
depends if it less than the £2.6 million previous record fee.
I didn't ask if a record fee could be bollocks, that's a different question
I've also heard, again can't guarantee it's an actual itk, that we have a pretty hefty sell on percentage for him. So here's hoping he keeps scoring and it's true
A sell-on that's any % of the fee rather than just the profit would do very nicely indeed
This could be very good business indeed. Well done on negotiating that, to the club.
Fairly sure he didn't go for a significant amount so it probably wouldn't make a huge difference in this case.