I agree with this but if we are signing players like Parsons and getting a fee for him, the development squad is working to some extent. It is interesting that a team like Waterford has a scouting network that can spot players training with Wycombe's first team and playing the odd Papa Johns game. How does it work exactly?!
I think a 10% hit rate is more than successful. A lot of the players will be signed if the coach or scout see something that they can nurture. Quite often, that doesn't happen for a number of reasons.
Brentford have had 20 graduates since they started their B team in 2016. I'm not sure what criteria qualifies a "graduate" but if it is that they have played for the first team in the league, we have had more than 2 (AAH, TJ, Wakely...probably more). Interestingly Brentford have to reopen their academy next season as part of new Premier League rules.
If Mehmeti moves on for anything near what he's worth (I'd say minimum £2m) - then the development squad is more than a success. If it wasn't there, we wouldn't even know who Mehmeti was, and I doubt anyone else would either.
That'd be quite an interesting rule. Bearing in mind the FA effectively closed down loads of lower leagues ones by introducing that maximum fee rule for kids.
"There has been a recent change in Premier League rules which means that, by the start of the 2024/25 season, all Premier League clubs must have an Academy at Category Three level or higher. The opening of a Category Four Academy is a step towards eventually complying with the new regulations. It is also necessary to have an Academy in order to gain a licence to compete in UEFA competitions."
Being objective when we see a player like Parsons move for a fee it’s unlikely we would have cleared a profit when 18 months of wages is taken into consideration. But we have helped a young man to achieve a dream of being a pro footballer and hopefully made them a better person. If you were a parent or a representative of a raw talent you would look favourably at this too. So it’s a good advert for our process. And it might mean we get better players through the door in the future.
It’s tough to fight against the glorious brands of the top tier so if we can’t appeal to egos we have to appeal to hearts.
I’m sure I recall an interview with GA getting enthused about how the size of the development squad meant that they could now organise what were to all intents and purposes regular reserve games - which previously wasn’t possible as we wouldn’t have had enough players to field a full second XI.
I don’t think that’s happened though (and the club pretty much always seems to say something even if we’ve only got a behind closed doors friendly with the Dog & Duck reserves), which seems odd.
I would rather that the dev players go out on loan, as there’s no substitute for playing competitive games, but of course that depends on another club actually wanting the given player in the first place.
Of course I understand that we’d want to keep some who are on the fringes of the first team in case we get hit by injuries (Wakely is a good example of this), but it doesn’t seem ideal for some of the players that are further down the pecking order to neither be getting loan experience elsewhere or regular reserves games with us.
Obviously January will shortly be upon us though and perhaps we’ll see more of the dev guys heading out on loan.
@PBo we’ve got half a dozen or so out on loan at the moment; Matshazi and Woodhouse are at Slough, Blunkell at Bowers and Pitsea, Leathers at Hampton and Richmond and Ward at Hungerford. Jasper Pattenden was at Dorking but that seems to have come to an end.
Pattenden looks like the only one capable of becoming a 1st team player, that's including AAH, TJ, Wakely and Mellor who all look miles off from what I've seen in various cup outings. Possible Conference level
Mellor isn’t part of the development squad is he? I saw on Twitter that Woodhouse has been ripping it up at Slough so maybe he may have a future at Wycombe.
Waterford are now owned by the same shady guy that bankrolls Fleetwood Town so they're throwing some serious money around this January despite only being in the Irish second tier. Probably going to end in disaster. Apparently they're even jetting off to Dubai to play Fleetwood Town in pre-season as their owner also has a farm team called Fleetwood United in the UAE Third Tier.
Andrew Pilley. He owns Fleetwood Town, has operated Fleetwood United and the Fleetwood Town International Football Academy for a few years and recently took over Waterford. He's also a staunch Tory supporter and is currently under criminal investigation for fraud including two counts of running a business with the intention of defrauding creditors or others by allowing the fraudulent mis-selling of energy supply contracts, allowing fraudulent mis-selling by sales representatives, and being concerned with the retention of criminal property. Also got fined by OFGEM. You know, standard fare for your average non-league sugar daddy (since he took over the club in 2004 and has bankrolled them from the 9th tier to the 3rd tier in the space of 10 years, he 100% counts as a non-league sugar daddy).
Don't think it exists below a certain point in the pyramid. As he took over in 2004 when they were at Step 9 in the pyramid he probably wasn't subjected to any checks. It's a loophole for a lot of these dodgy millionaires who fancy taking a small club to the EFL as a vanity project.
As an old fart who used to derive great pleasure many decades ago from making all the animal noises (especially the pig snort, of course) for sundry children, I cottoned on straight away.
A picky, petty, pedantic point. You need a second ‘I’ in your E-I-E-O.
Comments
I agree with this but if we are signing players like Parsons and getting a fee for him, the development squad is working to some extent. It is interesting that a team like Waterford has a scouting network that can spot players training with Wycombe's first team and playing the odd Papa Johns game. How does it work exactly?!
I think a 10% hit rate is more than successful. A lot of the players will be signed if the coach or scout see something that they can nurture. Quite often, that doesn't happen for a number of reasons.
Brentford have had 20 graduates since they started their B team in 2016. I'm not sure what criteria qualifies a "graduate" but if it is that they have played for the first team in the league, we have had more than 2 (AAH, TJ, Wakely...probably more). Interestingly Brentford have to reopen their academy next season as part of new Premier League rules.
If Mehmeti moves on for anything near what he's worth (I'd say minimum £2m) - then the development squad is more than a success. If it wasn't there, we wouldn't even know who Mehmeti was, and I doubt anyone else would either.
Do premier leagues have to have an academy then?
That'd be quite an interesting rule. Bearing in mind the FA effectively closed down loads of lower leagues ones by introducing that maximum fee rule for kids.
From 24/25 season, I believe so.
https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/brentford-to-open-academy
"There has been a recent change in Premier League rules which means that, by the start of the 2024/25 season, all Premier League clubs must have an Academy at Category Three level or higher. The opening of a Category Four Academy is a step towards eventually complying with the new regulations. It is also necessary to have an Academy in order to gain a licence to compete in UEFA competitions."
Being objective when we see a player like Parsons move for a fee it’s unlikely we would have cleared a profit when 18 months of wages is taken into consideration. But we have helped a young man to achieve a dream of being a pro footballer and hopefully made them a better person. If you were a parent or a representative of a raw talent you would look favourably at this too. So it’s a good advert for our process. And it might mean we get better players through the door in the future.
It’s tough to fight against the glorious brands of the top tier so if we can’t appeal to egos we have to appeal to hearts.
Not a dig at you at all, but how much do you think he was on?
Can't be any more than £500/week surely? 18 months @ £36,000.
Surely this website can't be right? Has Vokes down as earning £600/week. Unless being funded by bonus' and Stoke City payoff?
D'mani Mellor £3,400/week.
Kaikai £3,600/week.
https://salarysport.com/football/sky-bet-championship/wycombe-wanderers/
There’s no way we’ll have recouped our costs.
I’m sure I recall an interview with GA getting enthused about how the size of the development squad meant that they could now organise what were to all intents and purposes regular reserve games - which previously wasn’t possible as we wouldn’t have had enough players to field a full second XI.
I don’t think that’s happened though (and the club pretty much always seems to say something even if we’ve only got a behind closed doors friendly with the Dog & Duck reserves), which seems odd.
I would rather that the dev players go out on loan, as there’s no substitute for playing competitive games, but of course that depends on another club actually wanting the given player in the first place.
Of course I understand that we’d want to keep some who are on the fringes of the first team in case we get hit by injuries (Wakely is a good example of this), but it doesn’t seem ideal for some of the players that are further down the pecking order to neither be getting loan experience elsewhere or regular reserves games with us.
Obviously January will shortly be upon us though and perhaps we’ll see more of the dev guys heading out on loan.
@PBo we’ve got half a dozen or so out on loan at the moment; Matshazi and Woodhouse are at Slough, Blunkell at Bowers and Pitsea, Leathers at Hampton and Richmond and Ward at Hungerford. Jasper Pattenden was at Dorking but that seems to have come to an end.
Pattenden looks like the only one capable of becoming a 1st team player, that's including AAH, TJ, Wakely and Mellor who all look miles off from what I've seen in various cup outings. Possible Conference level
Mellor isn’t part of the development squad is he? I saw on Twitter that Woodhouse has been ripping it up at Slough so maybe he may have a future at Wycombe.
Do any of the development players out on loan train with us in the week?
They must do, none of those clubs are training five days a week are they?
ah fair enough, I wasn't aware of those. Thanks for the info.
Would like to see AAH get some more loan time as well, I think that would do him more good than just the occasional chance to sit on the bench here.
Waterford are now owned by the same shady guy that bankrolls Fleetwood Town so they're throwing some serious money around this January despite only being in the Irish second tier. Probably going to end in disaster. Apparently they're even jetting off to Dubai to play Fleetwood Town in pre-season as their owner also has a farm team called Fleetwood United in the UAE Third Tier.
His name's not McDonald is it?
Andrew Pilley. He owns Fleetwood Town, has operated Fleetwood United and the Fleetwood Town International Football Academy for a few years and recently took over Waterford. He's also a staunch Tory supporter and is currently under criminal investigation for fraud including two counts of running a business with the intention of defrauding creditors or others by allowing the fraudulent mis-selling of energy supply contracts, allowing fraudulent mis-selling by sales representatives, and being concerned with the retention of criminal property. Also got fined by OFGEM. You know, standard fare for your average non-league sugar daddy (since he took over the club in 2004 and has bankrolled them from the 9th tier to the 3rd tier in the space of 10 years, he 100% counts as a non-league sugar daddy).
Sounds like he's actually spent some of his own money though (despite the dubious way he may have earned it) so perhaps not entirely typical
Fit and proper persons test absolutely smashing it as usual.
Don't think it exists below a certain point in the pyramid. As he took over in 2004 when they were at Step 9 in the pyramid he probably wasn't subjected to any checks. It's a loophole for a lot of these dodgy millionaires who fancy taking a small club to the EFL as a vanity project.
As in Old McDonald had a farm ...
E-I-E-O
Up the football league we go.
(It's never as funny as you think it is if you have to explain the joke. Sorry)
As an old fart who used to derive great pleasure many decades ago from making all the animal noises (especially the pig snort, of course) for sundry children, I cottoned on straight away.
A picky, petty, pedantic point. You need a second ‘I’ in your E-I-E-O.
Leathers will make it as a pro.
So "I" do ...