2 hours ago, burnden said:

I just wish FV would do an interview spelling out what the actual plan is for the club over the next few yrs , give something for us fans to buy into or not.

I think the picture will be clearer after they have been in charge 12 months. Give them to the end of the season and it will all come out, not least because Aunty Sharon will want STs sold for D2. 

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

This decision is the best thing to happen to the club in a very long. 

The academy has been a complete waste of money for decades. Produced absolutely fuck all compared to what’s been put in.

time to try a different approach. 

Gets rid of the jobs for the boys bollocks as well. 

Great stuff from FV   

Agree what we have been doing hasn’t worked so if we’re supposedly going down this money ball route and copying Brentford then let’s see what happens . Wonder if Hill was included in the decision if not may be this is what he was going on about “ things going on behind the scenes that people don’t know about “ rant after Rochdale.  irfan is mate confirmed gone https://t.co/fkhFRBKhwh?amp=1

Edited March 3, 20206 yr by Farnywhite

FV are saying its not (just) a case of cost cutting. Im willing to believe them. Theres evidence (appointment of Mr Phoenix and Kenyons involvement) that they are planning a different way of doing things. Good luck to them its sorely needed.

Lets hope its the end of jimmy phillips. Reportedly on a higher salary that the prime minister. Let that sink in. 

41 minutes ago, snowball said:

FV are saying its not (just) a case of cost cutting. Im willing to believe them. Theres evidence (appointment of Mr Phoenix and Kenyons involvement) that they are planning a different way of doing things. Good luck to them its sorely needed.

I think it might all be about operating smarter with less, which is no bad thing.

26 minutes ago, Horwich said:

Lets hope its the end of jimmy phillips. Reportedly on a higher salary that the prime minister. Let that sink in. 

Don’t blame Jimmy at all. Probably one of the few people who isn’t to blame for our 8 year demise. 
 

Also he is probably the only person around from Prem days still. 
 

Only people to blame are previous regimes not dealing with it.

2 hours ago, gonzo said:

This decision is the best thing to happen to the club in a very long. 

The academy has been a complete waste of money for decades. Produced absolutely fuck all compared to what’s been put in.

time to try a different approach. 

Gets rid of the jobs for the boys bollocks as well. 

Great stuff from FV   

Hows it going to benefit the club, apart from saving £?

They aren't trying a different approach, they've just downgraded the existing one.

I could understand if they'd got rid completely, but they haven't.

Players getting released by Cat 1 clubs will now pick cat 2 clubs instead of us because we wont be offering as many hrs of coaching a week, we may have less coaches per player, we will be playing lower quality opposition and we won't have an U23 team at all. 

We will get the drop down from Cat 2. 

Edited March 3, 20206 yr by peelyfeet

6 minutes ago, peelyfeet said:

Hows it going to benefit the club, apart from saving £?

They aren't trying a different approach, they've just downgraded the existing one.

I could understand if they'd got rid completely, but they haven't.

Players getting released by Cat 1 clubs will now pick cat 2 clubs instead of us because we wont be offering as many hrs of coaching a week, we may have less coaches per player, we will be playing lower quality opposition and we won't have an U23 team at all. 

We will get the drop down from Cat 2. 

We’ve about 3 million pound of income next season,  something has to give. 

Surely writing on the wall now for Lee & Phillips? Will it stop there i wonder.

The morons on Bolton News Letters Page will not be happy. Good 

1 hour ago, peelyfeet said:

Hows it going to benefit the club, apart from saving £?

They aren't trying a different approach, they've just downgraded the existing one.

I could understand if they'd got rid completely, but they haven't.

Players getting released by Cat 1 clubs will now pick cat 2 clubs instead of us because we wont be offering as many hrs of coaching a week, we may have less coaches per player, we will be playing lower quality opposition and we won't have an U23 team at all. 

We will get the drop down from Cat 2. 

Might change if we start having 5 or 6 yoooooof (of the current u23s and 18) in match day squads next year. 

The narrative then changes from do you want to go to Burnley at 17 and be on the scrap heap in 5 years or have a season in the first team to prove yourself to be 'the next Jamie vardy'. 

Boom. Just sorted the academy marketing in one post. 

We will be a 4th division team next season, possibly playing the likes of Barrow and Harrogate.

How much do you think Phillips is on? Has he ever done anything to justify it?

If we rely on a team of kids next year we could well drop out of the league altogether...surely we need players with experience to make sure we at least stay in the league as a minimum ask.

21 minutes ago, burnden said:

If we rely on a team of kids next year we could well drop out of the league altogether...surely we need players with experience to make sure we at least stay in the league as a minimum ask.

Todays decision has no bearing on next seasons first team

If there is no under 23 side then take it we will be setting up a B side players outside the first team still need game time getting back from injuries etc and won’t be restricted by the under 23 rules . That’s how Brentford approached it when they scrapped theres 

22 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

If there is no under 23 side then take it we will be setting up a B side players outside the first team still need game time getting back from injuries etc and won’t be restricted by the under 23 rules . That’s how Brentford approached it when they scrapped theres 

Not suggesting the club would have the same funds or appetite for it at this early stage, but this leads Brentford's B side to play away at the youth teams of the likes of Bayern Munich and Ajax.

It's our backdoor route to a European tour.

8 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Not suggesting the club would have the same funds or appetite for it at this early stage, but this leads Brentford's B side to play away at the youth teams of the likes of Bayern Munich and Ajax.

It's our backdoor route to a European tour.

There B  put 5 past Bayern’s under 18s   . I suppose it gives them good links to clubs across Europe and a chance to have a look at and pick up younger players that might later get released . I bet they didn’t know who the fuck Brentford were till they asked to play them . 

37 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

There B  put 5 past Bayern’s under 18s   . I suppose it gives them good links to clubs across Europe and a chance to have a look at and pick up younger players that might later get released . I bet they didn’t know who the fuck Brentford were till they asked to play them . 

Passports at the ready lads.

1 hour ago, Marc505 said:

Not suggesting the club would have the same funds or appetite for it at this early stage, but this leads Brentford's B side to play away at the youth teams of the likes of Bayern Munich and Ajax.

It's our backdoor route to a European tour.

We'll be playing Morecambe and Fleetwood U18s.

backdoor route to some decent fish fingers.

We won't have enough players for a B team next season. We can only have 23 players, 18 of them involved in the 1st team squad and bound to be 1 or 2 injured (being optimistic).

 

35 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

We won't have enough players for a B team next season. We can only have 23 players, 18 of them involved in the 1st team squad and bound to be 1 or 2 injured (being optimistic).

 

Can’t you play the academy kids? 

11 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Can’t you play the academy kids? 

I suppose so but surely part and parcel of doing away with the U23's (apart from being skint) is to play them in their own age groups

40 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

I suppose so but surely part and parcel of doing away with the U23's (apart from being skint) is to play them in their own age groups

Mixture of 18-21 year olds with a few older pros coming back from injury would be ok and we can choose when and what level we play against to suit the players we have available. 

28 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

I suppose so but surely part and parcel of doing away with the U23's (apart from being skint) is to play them in their own age groups

it's positioned as a way of concentrating more on the U15-16 to get them better prepared to compete at U18 and then on into the 1st team - they must think the U23 isn't worth, (or they can't afford) the investment to run it successfully. There is no talk of a B team at all, so that thinking is misguided a the moment  

I think fv have thought fuck it they could not stop Connell from leaving, maybe Darcy has also said he is off

Our players for the foreseeable future will be everyones cast offs on short term deals. If any suffer a serious injury I think as heartless as it sounds they will just be replaced with little financial loss.

 

They may return to the academy once the embargo is lifted, and [if] we start to rise back up the leagues.

21 minutes ago, peelyfeet said:

it's positioned as a way of concentrating more on the U15-16 to get them better prepared to compete at U18 and then on into the 1st team - they must think the U23 isn't worth, (or they can't afford) the investment to run it successfully. There is no talk of a B team at all, so that thinking is misguided a the moment  

I think the idea being that we need to get players ready for some first team contribution whilst 18/19 when we're in league 2. No point being a league 2 side and paying 19/20 year old lads to sit in the reserves when rest of the league fills their squads out with younger players. We don't have the luxury of paying money to catch the odd late bloomer - you can do that in the top 2 leagues not down here.