Summer 2021 Transfers

That's the second Academy Goalkeeper transferred out with Tom Donaghy moving to Fleetwood a month ago. Wonder who's doing the Academy GK coaching - they are obviously doing a great job. Who's the next Academy GK in line - anybody know? Good luck to them both anyway.

 

I really don’t like this flogging off our kids before we ever get to see them play. Rhodes was obsessed with it, receiving a small fee and a sell on clause. I remember when we were really skint in 1983 and Jack Charlton offered 100 k for a young Stuart McCall and he was gobsmacked that Stafford Heginbotham turned it down. Alex Ferguson a couple of years later when at Aberdeen tried to buy McCall and again Stafford resisted. Rhodes would have bitten the hand off of the first offer and we would never have seen McCall in the mid 80s playing fantastic football especially in Dolans 87/88 season. True we made a fair bit of money on sell on clauses but we are still in the 4th division and would probably have gone there in the 80s instead of the 2nd tier had Stafford accepted Jack Charltons first offer as Rhodes would have done.

 

Did we Transfer Tom, or was it no pro contract offered?

 

You can’t hold young lads back when they get offers like this

 

And absolutely no guarantees he will even make it. I remember a huge hoo haa over Chelsea purchasing two Leeds kids years ago. Think it cost them about £5m in court. They didnt play a single minute and both did pretty much nothing in their careers.

 

I'd be more understanding if we were in the championship. Leeds academy must be better than ours by a longshot. Either he runs his contract down and leaves or we get a fee and maybe a sell on clause too. Bit sad to see but I'd be really surprised if any of us wouldn't do the same in his position.

 

Unfortunately, with the modern setup of football this is by far the most profitable way to generate money as a lower-league team. Because of the huge wealth discrepancies, having a 10-20% resell clause on a player who's traded between two tier 1 sides (or to a tier 2 side with parachute payments) will generate far more income than a good tier 4 player stepping up a level.

It also works that way for both the high tier clubs - who can generate excellent FFP-friendly revenues by taking on players young (before they're first teamers), developing them and then selling them on without ever seeing their first team.

And for the player themselves, they can make far bigger salary, and have more of a chance of progression, by joining a top tier academy for a few years. Basically, bottom Premiership clubs can offer higher wages to young players with very few downsides for the players (they develop in an academy with great coaches and facilities and can get first team action on loan). In the '80s, it wouldn't have been worth a successful young player turning down a contract extension with a senior side; now though, if a young player showed promise in a lower league team, any agent worth their salt would advise running the contract down and making that step up as soon as possible.

And, critically, the rules are stacked this way. Unfortunately, all the odds are stacked against the lower leagues because of the deals that have been cut because of that growing income gap. If you look up the 'Elite Player Performance Plan' programme, it basically allows the top tier academies to take on players without even consulting with the clubs if they want to, so we might as well negotiate favourable deals when the opportunity arises.

 

In other news, have we got names for the two signings yet ?

 

Of course we would.It’s a no brainer for him , his career and his family. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs a damn cold bath to wake up!

 

If we are losing our best young talents then we need to make sure we get something in return, ideally sell on plus first pick of some of their more talented loanees.

 

Sam Osa I think is one of them?

 

I actually googled him and was met by images of Indian buffets and starter options.

 

And Sham E Kebab the other ?

 

I chuckled typing it

 

Is that for polishing the windows?

 

@Westwood Bantam said an insider told him Cook is one of the signings.

A personal insider told me the other signings is Kay Bab

 

Get yer own lines

 

One never knows what goes on in the background? Yes you are right of course.

 

Kid with us since 12 years old. We have aided his development. We will be compensated if he makes it.

 

It will go to pay back whoever is the owner at the time to cover a previous seasons’ deficit. It won’t be spent on infrastructure or the team.