TB and the board

[JCL666]

We are setting ourselves up for a fall. Many on this site have already decided Bloom will splash the cash in the summer and we will be top 6 again. I subscribe to the view that we will scrape together a decent enough side to stay in the division and this is how things will continue until the Academy starts producing.

Needless to say that there will be meltdown again on this forum unless it is saved by us playing attractive football and scoring lots of goals. I think most have already decided if that is likely or not!

I don't think you're far wrong with this.


The only thing I would add is that it's entirely possible that an side that's been scraped together can reach the playoffs. Although I may just be saying that because I'm hopelessly optimistic and I've renewed my season ticket ;-)

 

[Springal]

Genuine question as I keep seeing about us relying on the Academy, but how many teams in the football league have a squad that is even remotely built up of home grown / academy players? Surely we can only expect maybe 3-4 at any one time, not a whole squad? Even Southampton who are light years ahead of us, don't have a huge amount within their PL squad.

 

[Saladpack Seagull]

All this talk about whether TB is going to splash the cash in the summer or not worries me. He is already spending, what - £7 or £8M a year? - just to keep us afloat. Who else would want to effectively spend that much on a season ticket, albeit a luxury one? And if he decides this year to award himself a hefty loyalty discount, who could blame him?
This brings me on to the stadium. Beautiful as it is, did we get the business model right? 'Build it and they will come' - fine, thousands do, but it's still losing money. TB has employed a top CEO to maximise revenues and reduce costs; he's probably doing very good job, but it's still nowhere near breaking even. To put it simply, have we in fact built a stadium which the club cannot, and never will, afford?

Interesting point. I remember speaking to a Derby fan years ago about their (then) new ground, and he thought it would drag them down for years. OK they're coming good now, but it's taken ages for the ground not to drain cash away from the playing budget.

 

[glasfryn]

Genuine question as I keep seeing about us relying on the Academy, but how many teams in the football league have a squad that is even remotely built up of home grown / academy players? Surely we can only expect maybe 3-4 at any one time, not a whole squad? Even Southampton who are light years ahead of us, don't have a huge amount within their PL squad.

thats because they have sold them for huge amounts of money

 

[Triggaaar]

Genuine question as I keep seeing about us relying on the Academy, but how many teams in the football league have a squad that is even remotely built up of home grown / academy players? Surely we can only expect maybe 3-4 at any one time, not a whole squad? Even Southampton who are light years ahead of us, don't have a huge amount within their PL squad.

Southampton don't have too many in their squad, but only because they've sold some, and that cash is then available for the rest of the squad. Hopefully the same could be true for us. Some will play, others will go and we'll have their fee to spend elsewhere.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Genuine question as I keep seeing about us relying on the Academy, but how many teams in the football league have a squad that is even remotely built up of home grown / academy players? Surely we can only expect maybe 3-4 at any one time, not a whole squad? Even Southampton who are light years ahead of us, don't have a huge amount within their PL squad.

We won't solely rely on the academy - 2 or 3 players a year would be the target I would guess in the medium term.

 

[Triggaaar]

All this talk about whether TB is going to splash the cash in the summer or not worries me. He is already spending, what - £7 or £8M a year? - just to keep us afloat. Who else would want to effectively spend that much on a season ticket, albeit a luxury one? And if he decides this year to award himself a hefty loyalty discount, who could blame him?

Plenty on here, but not me.

This brings me on to the stadium. Beautiful as it is, did we get the business model right? 'Build it and they will come' - fine, thousands do, but it's still losing money. TB has employed a top CEO to maximise revenues and reduce costs; he's probably doing very good job, but it's still nowhere near breaking even. To put it simply, have we in fact built a stadium which the club cannot, and never will, afford?

I don't think so. I've not studied the figures, but I don't think it's the stadium that's losing us money.

 

[Sweeney Todd]

I don’t share the view that the Academy will be our saviour. As we all know, any exceptional graduates of the Academy will be sold.

 

[JCL666]

I don’t share the view that the Academy will be our saviour. As we all know, any exceptional graduates of the Academy will be sold.

But that's the point. It generates money that offsets other costs.

And if we're lucky we also get a few decent players that stay.

 

[father_and_son]

I don’t share the view that the Academy will be our saviour. As we all know, any exceptional graduates of the Academy will be sold.

But whether we have the player or the cash to buy others, it will be to the benefit of the team.

The only danger is that we are owned at the time by someone who would then take the profits out of the club and into their own pocket, as has happened before at other clubs and, if rumours are to be believed, is happening now at a certain northern club.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Genuine question as I keep seeing about us relying on the Academy, but how many teams in the football league have a squad that is even remotely built up of home grown / academy players? Surely we can only expect maybe 3-4 at any one time, not a whole squad? Even Southampton who are light years ahead of us, don't have a huge amount within their PL squad.

Southampton don't have too many in their squad, but only because they've sold some, and that cash is then available for the rest of the squad. Hopefully the same could be true for us. Some will play, others will go and we'll have their fee to spend elsewhere.

We won't solely rely on the academy - 2 or 3 players a year would be the target I would guess in the medium term.

Errr. NINE academy graduates have been named in Southampton Premier league match day squads this season...

[TWEET]590398247685914624[/TWEET]

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The stated aim of the much lauded Bayern Academy system, is to produce TWO players per season good enough for the first team, and a further TWO good enough to sell for fees.

That seems an entirely sensible bar to set.

 

[jay d]

It's based on expected transport levels. Why would the club pay the rail and bus companies for 30,000 journeys if only 1 is expected to arise?

I thought they probably pay either yearly or monthly for the travel, on what both parties think is roughly how many fans have travelled.
Because they won't know the exact number cos i dont even usually show my card.
obviously this is just my thought and have no idea how it actually works. Just a guess really

 

[Springal]

Errr. NINE academy graduates have been named in Southampton Premier league match day squads this season...

[TWEET]590398247685914624[/TWEET]

Thats like saying Glen Rea is part of the first team squad though.. The top 3 sure (and in line with what I said) but the others don't really count

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Thats like saying Glen Rea is part of the first team squad though.. The top 3 sure (and in line with what I said) but the others don't really count

Matt Targett has made 12 first team appearances this season. That doesn't count?

And the others 'count' insofar as they are evidence of succession planning.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I thought they probably pay either yearly or monthly for the travel, on what both parties think is roughly how many fans have travelled.
Because they won't know the exact number cos i dont even usually show my card.
obviously this is just my thought and have no idea how it actually works. Just a guess really

It would have to be an estimated figure agreed by the club and the transport provider, either a fixed figure or one based on attendance at each game.

Otherwise the transport providers would have to check and record each ticket and imagine the chaos that would cause, especially on the trains.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

It would have to be an estimated figure agreed by the club and the transport provider, either a fixed figure or one based on attendance at each game.

Otherwise the transport providers would have to check and record each ticket and imagine the chaos that would cause, especially on the trains.

Is the right answer.
Perhaps someone (Bozza?) will now start a thread about whether the amount paid to the transport companies is based on actual or declared attendance. Anyway, I'm off to the cricket for the afternoon with my Pringles; keep those fires burning in Extremadura CS.

 

[SAC]

The stated aim of the much lauded Bayern Academy system, is to produce TWO players per season good enough for the first team, and a further TWO good enough to sell for fees.

That seems an entirely sensible bar to set.

If say 25% of the £30 mill spent on Lancing is costed to the academy and costs £2 mill a year, four players a season will probably be the minimum requirement.

I wonder how many players other Category A academy clubs produce?

 

[Sweeney Todd]

Let’s face it, this club, given half the chance, puts its fans through the wringer unnecessarily. It never passes up an opportunity to do so. That is why we can be sure that our agony will endure to the bitter end of this miserable season.

Albion were bound to have a season like this. A bout of self-destruction, from a position of strength, is in the club’s DNA.

The players went into holiday mode after the win at Blackburn. Once players have switched off, they cannot switch on again. Add that to the fact that too many of our players now know that they will not be at the club next season, so are giving nothing. Hughton is powerless to motivate them. All fans can do is watch on, helplessly, and hope and pray for favours from other clubs (and from the Football League).

The summer was a shambles. We started the season with barely a squad of players. By the end of August, a motley collection of untested players had been added to a diminished, threadbare squad. The manager was retained for at least a month too long. The season has been a disaster.

Self-destruction is what this club does best. We never expected it on Tony Bloom’s watch.