Lubala said in an interview on the club website that he is aiming to be back by September but hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky and you have to be patient. Hanlan was always going to be long term.
Lubala was great on co-comms, both for personality and pointing out tactics. One of the things I love about the club is giving injured players the opportunity to be involved on matchday like this.
Given that news I’m slightly surprised we haven’t picked up another wide player. Shame the Fred rumours didn’t come to anything, he would have been a great signing. We are already short of cover at CB and a natural no.10 so hopefully at least 3 signings this month.
Along with filling positions in the staff that have been vacant for a long time, also replacing the Dr and sport psychologist who gmac Instagramed thanking them pre Wrexham, so that needs to be explained why they have gone as I havnt seen any announcements??? Just alot of gaps to fill which I would have thought to be more pressing than this academy vanity project
not that I have voted either way but we do need to remember that the new owners are here, primarily, because of the desire to implement the academy project.
the board are out of their depth if they cant handle both, priority should always be first team. plus we are about what 10 years away from seeing any benefits of said academy
It has been suggested that the lack of any existing academy and inertia from "how things are done here" could have been a selling point. Lomtadze clearly has his ideas of how he wants his academy to operate, he may have come to the conclusion he'd be better off starting from scratch rather than make himself deeply unpopular turfing out existing coaches and staff who don't fully subscribe to his vision.
Because there is evidence that internal changes are afoot within the club structure, witness the change of doctor and physio. Sam was brought in under the old regime / system to leverage his skill set to find and nurture ‘diamonds in the rough’ that have dropped through the games established academy system. A system we now plan to implement ourselves, and there are many academy experts out there better qualified than Sam in that role . That’s why.
Clearly the new owners want to do the academy their way rather which is often easier if starting with a clean slate, rather than trying to change processes & procedures already set in stone.
Whilst it is potentially 10 years plus to build a full academy & see results from the youngest age group, the new owners appear to be taking the route of expanding the development squad by bringing in players at 16+ these will form the nucleus of the U17, U18, U21 & perhaps U23 squads in an academy system. Whether Sam Grace stays or not is a matter for discussion between him & the new Head of Youth Development, though I would suggest given his track record, he is a huge asset to the club in a Youth coaching role.
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Lubala said in an interview on the club website that he is aiming to be back by September but hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky and you have to be patient. Hanlan was always going to be long term.
Lubala was great on co-comms, both for personality and pointing out tactics. One of the things I love about the club is giving injured players the opportunity to be involved on matchday like this.
Given that news I’m slightly surprised we haven’t picked up another wide player. Shame the Fred rumours didn’t come to anything, he would have been a great signing. We are already short of cover at CB and a natural no.10 so hopefully at least 3 signings this month.
Along with filling positions in the staff that have been vacant for a long time, also replacing the Dr and sport psychologist who gmac Instagramed thanking them pre Wrexham, so that needs to be explained why they have gone as I havnt seen any announcements??? Just alot of gaps to fill which I would have thought to be more pressing than this academy vanity project
Agreed. Not sure why you’re being downvoted
not that I have voted either way but we do need to remember that the new owners are here, primarily, because of the desire to implement the academy project.
the board are out of their depth if they cant handle both, priority should always be first team. plus we are about what 10 years away from seeing any benefits of said academy
@kipper do you still get your hints of inside information with the current owners, or were you tied to the previous group?
Of course the (our) priority should be (is) the first team. But that isn’t why they chose to buy this (our) club
Chose to buy a club for it's non existing academy so will cost them more set up, why not just buy a club with an academy already
Why not leave it to the owner to decide how he wants to spend his own money?
So you won't be moaning if results don't go our way, as the owner is chasing a academy pipedream?
It has been suggested that the lack of any existing academy and inertia from "how things are done here" could have been a selling point. Lomtadze clearly has his ideas of how he wants his academy to operate, he may have come to the conclusion he'd be better off starting from scratch rather than make himself deeply unpopular turfing out existing coaches and staff who don't fully subscribe to his vision.
Although I do fear for (is it Sam) the bloke who runs the development squad and recruitment. Can’t see much future for that role.
Why do you think that? Surely it's the opposite now we're trying to bring an academy in? That'll need constant recruitment and coaching?
Because there is evidence that internal changes are afoot within the club structure, witness the change of doctor and physio. Sam was brought in under the old regime / system to leverage his skill set to find and nurture ‘diamonds in the rough’ that have dropped through the games established academy system. A system we now plan to implement ourselves, and there are many academy experts out there better qualified than Sam in that role . That’s why.
We will see, but I'd wager a decent sum, perhaps 50p that he won't be going anywhere.
Knee injury for Leahy. Bugger. Hoped it was more innocuous.
It could be a twisted knee (couple of weeks) or serious ligament damage or somewhere in between. We will just have to wait and see.
Bit reckless, @Malone.
Clearly the new owners want to do the academy their way rather which is often easier if starting with a clean slate, rather than trying to change processes & procedures already set in stone.
Whilst it is potentially 10 years plus to build a full academy & see results from the youngest age group, the new owners appear to be taking the route of expanding the development squad by bringing in players at 16+ these will form the nucleus of the U17, U18, U21 & perhaps U23 squads in an academy system. Whether Sam Grace stays or not is a matter for discussion between him & the new Head of Youth Development, though I would suggest given his track record, he is a huge asset to the club in a Youth coaching role.
I don't think there's going to be much loyalty going around, Dr and sport psychologist as evidence
Shows how confident I am he's staying.
Agreed, it wouldn't seem to make much sense parting ways with him.
It's not like we're asking him to run a top level academy overnight.
I make it we have five players doubtful or out for Saturday.
Ryan Tafazolli (unspecified)
Beryly Lubala (hamstring)
David Wheeler (unspecified)
Luke Leahy (knee)
Brandon Hanlan (ACL)
Managers who don’t win games won’t last long either under this regime. We’re living in a different world now folks.
That is quite a list two league games into the season!
Scowen also limped off on Saturday. Plus Blooms suggested in his post match interview at Wimbledon that there may have been a couple of knocks
@glasshalfempty I heard on the way out on Saturday that Taff had suffered trauma to his online persona. Hope you can stick that in yer brackets.
We’ve all suffered that and it can often sting in the brackets.