Boro Ticking All The Right Boxes On Elite Academy Plan
IT HAS been a tense few days at Hurworth as men with clipboards have examined every aspect of the club's innards as part of the tough grading in Boro's bid for Category One status under the new national Academy set-up.
The box-ticking exercise could be the most significant action of the summer as far as Boro's long term footballing strategy is concerned.
An inspection team has been assessing the entire Academy set-up in-depth as part of Boro's bid to achieve Category One status prior to the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan - the new national youth development structure to be introduced from next season.
The new four tier system will hand more power to the top clubs as it scraps the long established 90 minute drive time rule for scholars, effectively allowing nationwide talent trawling rather than marking out strict catchment areas.
Crucially it also sets fixed compensation fees for scholars who move elsewhere - with a cap of £100,000, a fee big clubs can afford to write off if the kids doesn't come through - so it makes it easier and cheaper to cherry-pick talent from lower ranked Academies.
Category One clubs even have the right to turn up to watch lower rated Academy kids train and play at 48 hours notice.
That presents a major problem for the likes of Boro if they do not get the top ranking. Suddenly they could be going head-to-head with Manchester United of Liverpool or Chelsea for talent. No matter what compelling arguments the club can marshall as to why a 15-year-old wonderkid from Stokesley or Stockton should sign up - logistical ease, proven success rate, realistic chance of making the first team - there is no question that heads will be turned, both the star struck youngster's and the parents'.
The big clubs see an opportunity to up their home grown squad content on the cheap ready for UEFA's quota system, looming on the horizon.
Incredibly, Football League clubs voted for this green-light to poaching - all but 22 did anyway - after being cajoled by Premier League clubs.
The sweetener was a £42m a season 'development' payment split across the 72 clubs, many of who were persuaded that it was better in these austere times to accept a fixed income rather than take a chance of unearthing a gem.
It came with a veiled threat that if the deal did not go through then the Premier League 'solidarity' payments that filter down the divisions - principally the parachute payments to relegated sides but also smaller slices that are eeked out and form a crucial part of the budget in Leagues One and Two - would be severely cut back.
Given that Boro can no longer spend their way to success - not just because of the legacy of post-relegation debt but also due to the looming Financial Fair Play rules - they will need to be more concerned with careful husbandry. The Academy has a bigger role to play than ever as the club rebuilds.
And to that end Boro rightly see that getting a top ranking is crucial. It will protect them from poachers - and help them widen their own recruitment patch. Become poachers themselves if need be.
It will also mean they can still sell on talent for potentially substantial fees rather than for peanuts. Recent stories have linked next big thing Bryn Morris with a string of big clubs. As it stands Boro can ask for a development compensation fee and sell on clauses. Under the new system - assuming they did not make the grade - could whisk him away and contemptuously throw the £100k on the floor.
Having top teen talent stolen away earlier and for little cash would mean fewer getting into the first team. And that means fewer assets to sell for serious money further down the line. Adam Johnson would have gone at 17, not for a much needed £7m later on.
Failing would be a major strategic blow of incalculable significance and would be a severe dent to the club's perceived status. The Academy is one of Boro's few saving graces right now. It underpins our prospects for rebuilding. Imagine if it was down-graded, devalued and pillaged. Imagine if Dave Parnaby and his know-how were stolen away too, as he surely would if Boro could no longer compete at the level he deserves.
It won't be easy for Boro to make the grade. The new system sets the bar very high indeed, marking out the exact structure and staffing levels of a Category One Academy. And that doesn't come cheap.
The running costs of a Category One Academy are estimated at £2.4m a year - the current set-up costs £800,000 - which will price out a lot of cash-strapped middling clubs. Which of course is partly the point.
But Boro are ready to splash out and fight to defend their turf and protect Dave Parnaby's long established production line.
The club have a justified glowing reputation for growing their own. It would be easy to select a decent team of former Academy lads playing in the top division. And Boro have brought in over £35m in transfer fees in the past decade by selling their graduates.
At the business end of the season Stewart Downing has picked up a Carling Cup winners medal, Adam Johnson a title gong and Ross Turnbull has got a Champions League one to complete the set.
And over the course of the campaign Boro have used 10 players in the first team who have come through the ranks. Given the current belt-tightening that is a trend that looks set to continue. Indeed, it could become the central plank of club planning.
But past success doesn't make Category One a foregone conclusion. The check-list is comprehensive and complex and there is no room for errors as the auditors go through the club's detailed proposals.
At first glance Boro should be a shoo-in. Everyone who walks into the plush Rockcliffe Park training complex is impressed. The FIFA World Cup inspection certainly were when they assessed England's proposed 2018 bid to host the tournament. As were Olympic chiefs looking for a venue for the Team GB warm-up. That's no surprise. The facilities are second to none.
But the inspectors - from Foot PASS England, the independent standards body appointed by the Premier League, Football League, and the FA to carry out all the audits - are looking beyond the building, pitches, gyms and catering.
They are careful considering the numbers and quality of Academy coaching staff; the tactical and technical preparation before sessions and the leadership and clarity of the execution during them; the academic and social support networks in place to nurture hot-housed young talent; the nutritional and medical advice; and the proven and planned progression of scholars through the system from junior sides to first team.
And they are also looking at the detailed plans in place to dramatically and quickly expand and transform the current Academy set up to reach the exacting demands of a new Category One grading.
The new system will insist on more fully badged up coaching staff at every age level and massively increase the contact time with young talent.
In Boro's case it would see a threefold increase in budget and double the number of staff to meet the strict guidelines - and it is an investment the club are eager to make.
Interviews are already underway to ensure if they get the nod they can quickly bring staffing level sup to scratch.
The investment is huge - certainly more new money will be made available for this than to Tony Mowbray for summer rebuilding of the first team.
And arguably it is a more important. The new Financial Fair Play rules looming rapidly over the horizon will severely limit what the club can spend on transfer fees and wages - Boro would be allowed to 'lose' just £12m next year and it will drop annually after that - and give the wage bill is already around that level it will make traditional signings harder to fit into a tightening budget.
But Academy investment does not count in FFP figures. It is investment the club can make without punishment. And one that can reap dividends.
A successful Academy can produce players for the first team - almost certainly on relatively lower wages than signings - and bring in vital extra cash that can be set against FFP losses if they are flogged on.
It would allow Boro to rebalance their finances and position themselves in a way that is affordable and sustainable... provided the talent keeps coming through. And to ensure they can control their own destiny on that front they need to get Category One.
All last term's Premier League clubs applied for Category One status along with six Championship outfits - the three promoted side plus Boro, Palace and Watford - and inspectors have warned that no-one will pass unless they meet every aspect
Hence the nail-biting.
*****
THERE'S very little money for transfers and some gaping holes in the first team squad.
But there's no need for panic. The transfer market has fundamental changed in a way that makes successful shrewd shopping more than possible.
Just as Boro have seven players out of contract or facing massive wage cuts to stay, so have every team at this level. West Ham have just released seven players, Southampton 11, Reading 11, Leeds 10, Portsmouth 12, Ipswich, Palace and Leicester six each.
Relegated Bolton have released 12 including former targets Gretar Steinsson, Paul Robinson, Robbie Blake, Ivan Klasnic, Ricardo Gardner and Rhys' kid brother Ryan.
Some of the others up for grabs include Adam Clayton of U2 and Leeds, Darius Vassell and Chris Weale at Leicester and Andy Griffin of Reading. They could 'do a job.'
From July 1st there are hundreds of players from the Championship, lower levels of the Premier League and upper fringes of League One who will be unemployed.
Of course, they may not all be world beaters - but neither are Boro. And, let's be honest a lot of the players freed this summer would walk into a squad found wanting in depth, experience and skills set. Plenty of them have helped tear Boro apart this term.
Crucially, they may not only be free but will be expected to come in on much lower wages than the players they replace leaving Mogga - and other bosses - with a bit of wriggle-room to spend a little bit on his marquee signings.
Take the mooted first piece of the jigsaw, Grant Leadbitter, released by Ipswich. He is reported to have been on £15,000 a week at Portman Road after his big money move from Sunderland under Roy Keane and is said to have rejected a new deal offered by the Tractor Boys on just half of that.
Boro hope to top that offer, but not by much. Certainly he would be on much less than Barry Robson, who he is replacing. The balance could then fund another similar move.
Justin Hoyte was one of Boro's top earners with his Premier League wage probably close to the £25,000 mark. That will pay for five players at this level. And you can't seriously argue you won't find a better right back on 20% of his old wage.
Some players at all these clubs have been offered new deals at vastly reduced wages, as Julio Arca was last summer. Many will take the new deal - but players are ego driven and many will move for about the same as they have rejected.
There will be more players available than ever, at greatly depressed salaries. It is a buyers market. Clubs can no longer be held to ransom by players demanding big wages threatening to go elsewhere. In the past it was always a fear that other clubs would be daft enough to offer another £1,000 a week plus a bigger signing on fee.
But new Financial Fair Play rules now puts strict limits on what clubs can spend.Everyone is in the same boat. Two or three clubs aside, those ready to take a reckless gamble on an all out tilt at promotion or throw a £1m at a non-league striker say , no one has the leeway in their budget to throw money at average squad players.
With strict auditing of expenditure, financial penalties for over-spending and transfer embargoes looming as punishment for piling up debt, no one can afford to be cavalier.
For the first time in 25 years players (and agents) must accept the fact that money in football is finite. At this level, the boom time is over.
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The financial fair play rules seem like basic common sense to me, something which football has lacked since satellite tv pitched up. At first glance categorising academies seems sensible as well, it seems a bit like a school ofsted inspection.
Although the idea that categorisation is being done to benefit the big boys doesn't sit well with me. That said hopefully we'll get category one status and thus maintain our advantage over clubs that haven't invested in academies.
I have no problem with players earning excellent salaries for playing football, but £25k for a championship player is a joke, presumably all new contracts Boro give out will have one salary level for if we make the prem and one for when we're in the Championship.
I have to say if someone offered me £5k a week to play footie I'd be a very happy bunny.
Seperatley; Ross Turnbull - Can there be any possible personnel satisfaction for a man who has decided to have a career as a reserve keeper in winning/accepting a European Cup medal when he has contributed nothing toward the winning of it?y
Excellent Article AV,and your insite really has me concerned about the future of clubs outside the Prem,
This imposition by the elites is once again eating away at grass roots level,I can see the day when they will stop the idea of promotion and relegation in todays format,in the future after finishing top of the Championship,you will have to apply for promotion,and only under certain guidlines will your club be allowed in.
This has all come about since we entered the Common Market,we have had to follow some of the rules brought in by the big clubs in Italy,Spain ,etc,
Whose idea was this transfer window,that was put in place by these leagues so the top clubs could stack there teams during a window leaving the smaller clubs scrambling around for bargains,the window was then shut,so your team was stuck with players who where underperforming,injured,unhappy,and you couldnt trade or you couldnt even improve your team
,The top teams however,had two teams to pick from,hence the same teams won their particular leagues,made more income year after year.
Well Wuppty ,Duppty Do,what did England do,the exact same thing,and what have we ended up with,YES the same clubs winning everything and more income for themselves.
Now what is this new Fair Play thing going to do,basically restrict your club from moving forward,even though you may have an ambitious owner,it will also stop anyone with the idea of buying a lower league club,because the return could be none exsistant,
I could go on,but to me the whole thing stinks,any time the suits get around a table dicussing the future of football,scares me to death,the lobbiests are nibbling away for their own ends
otherwise have nice day everyone
Nice piece AV. Fingers crossed we get a 5 star rating. (Did Turcoat also get an FA Cup medal?)
I vaguely remember the C1 team need something like 23 full time staff so it is a massive commitment. And presumably a huge staff increase for Boro. How that works if you dont have that level of staff yet i am not sure.
If you dont have the staff how can you get the C1, if they say get the staff we will give it to you as you are good enough, how do they know they staff will perform to this level? Bit of a chicken and egg argument. Whilst my fingers are cross for the award i can see them giving us a c2 and saying come back when you are bigger and we will see.
One of the down sides is the C1 teams will hoover up youth players. One of the downsides, which i am not sure the prem big boys fully realized but maybe doing now (man u), is that this also means their youth team players can now easily leave the club. Starlets like Morrison and Pogba clearly showing a different attitude when dealing with Big Red.
Whilst the big boys go fishing in the lower leagues, surely the sharks will also try to feed on each other - that will be fun to watch! Playing for Arsenal, City, United and Chelsea by 17 aint bad! Also then what of the big EU clubs, can they come poaching now as well?
The new systems prevents Chelsea and co having to pay Leeds at al 5m for two youngsters that i dont think are even sill there. It's clear why they would want this.
TM has shown a knack for picking up freebies to plug holes in the team this year. Hopefully he can move on the guys he wants rid of quickly so he has as much scope as possible to bring in the main targets.
The defense has to be rebuilt and numbers bulked up. A new spare keeper needs to be found. Creative midfield needs building. Bailey needs to be held on to. And the front line polishing up. Scotty Mac appears to need to go to bring in the man u lad. Else how does he fit in games with Jukey, Mac, Main and Marvin?
This summer is our ground zero. Once Big Mick, Tomo and Scotty the last of the big rollers have gone, you move in the higher quality side of the squad like Marvin, Williams and Bailey. Time for us to rise again!
Fingers crossed for promo next year, COB!
Thanks for bringing us all up to speed on these developments, AV. They provide the necessary context for all of our discussions during the summer and beyond. Great work as ever.
I brought this subject up a few months ago (not as eloquently and at length as above) and nobody responded. I thought maybe I was wrong with my interpratation, but evidently not.
I mentioned the likes of Crewe who, like Boro have an enviable record bringing on players and ended with RIP Boro. I still think my ending is a distinct possibility, maybe not terminally (unlike Crewe) but for a very long time if the C1 status is not acheived.
Only very tangentially related to your article AV, but here's a local story that once more demonstrates how TV and Marketing men and women are taking sports away from their supporters.
Walking round my home town at lunchtime I saw fans starting to arrive for tonight's big footie game...the State of Origin. This is a rugby league contest with no real equivalent in England. It's played annually between New South Wales and Queensland where rugby league is easily the most popular code of football.
Essentially the teams are picked based on a players birth place, regardless of which club side they play for. It would be like Yorkshire playing Lancashire at Football, with all the history and glory of the (old version of) the FA Cup. So for example David Wheater might be selected to play for Yorkshire even though his club side is Lancastrian. It's a big deal in Australia, with a TV audience of 4 million (which is big for Australia) and a massive deal in both New South Wales and Queensland.
So where is tonight's game being played...in Melbourne, Victoria. Now I know some of you Boro fans travel long distances to watch your team, but these distances don't really register in Australian terms. If you're a rabid Queenslander or New South Welshman and desperately want to see the game, you'd have to book a flight, and probably stay overnight in a hotel.
Melbourne has no rugby league culture to speak of, the local religion here is AFL (or Aussie Rules to the uninitiated).
Ironically I'm the type of target market for tonight's game...I was offered (and turned down...Rugby League just doesn't do it for me) a corporate ticket by a supplier.
Unfortunately the game is no longer a contest about glory, it's a 'market' to be exploited, and it's no longer about the fans, it's about advertising revenue and opening up new markets. It's crap is what it is.
There, just had to get that off my chest!
As you say AV it will be the same for everyone.
It will be the luck of the draw we get the right people at the right price.
Thats why the youngsters are so important at2.5 mil a year and a possible return of several million for one player it is a no brainer.
As for loan players eg the youngster from Man U i dont think its a problem if its long term.
Whilst I'm on, and not even tangentially relevant this time, I've just finished reading 'How soccer explains the world' by Franklin Foer. I know some of your posters enjoy a good read, and I can heartily recommend this. Don't go looking for Boro references though.
Great article..it certainly makes good business sense. Football is a business and must be run with a profitabity mindset.
The owners ..although they may love their football, can only sustain lossess for so long and then we all suffer.
This approach, while not beneficial to all the clubs(The smaller ones will not be able to afford it)gives a more balance approach to financial responsibility.Hereby benefiting the game.
"The running costs of a Category One Academy are estimated at £2.4m a year - the current set-up costs £800,000 - which will price out a lot of cash-strapped middling clubs. Which of course is partly the point."
where are we going to find £2.4m at the moment? Might be put to better use on a push for promotion
**AV writes: Spending on running the team and investment in fees and wages will be limited by Financial Fair Play rules but the club will spend right up to the max. Spending on the Academy is separate and does not count towards FFP. It is not either/or, it is both.
That’s a very illuminating piece AV.
Academy status, how long will it be before we hear what the suits have decided about the Academy?
I think it will be important for us to achieve the cat 1 standard. Our academy has an excellent reputation for developing premiership quality players. If we do get cat 1 status, then I am sure we will still be able to attract many youngsters with potential, despite being in competition with the more glamorous clubs.
I can imagine there will be a two way system evolve, with maybe what are perceived to be the best young talents being whisked away from lesser academies to Manchelarscitehpoolspur, but with others coming from those clubs into the other academies. The best talents do not always develop so young. Others do not develop until past their academy years. So all would not be lost.
As a cat 1 academy, even if we are not one of the glam-academies we would still be best placed to attract the best that do not wind up at those clubs and with our talent for developing youngsters, we still have good potential to produce talent for our own first team.
As for Financial Fair Rules, I'm in favour. It will mean all clubs abiding by the same rules, so it becomes less likely (not more likely) that any one club (or small number of clubs) could gain dominance simply because they have an uber-rich sugar daddy behind them.
Its always been the case that some clubs have bigger crowds, more tradition, more attraction than others. That was as true 80 years ago as it is today, irrespective of TV money. Such clubs will continue to make more money than the rest.
However their capacity to build large squads of all of the very best players will be curtailed, improving competition between the top clubs and increasing the probability that there will be an Aston Villa, a Derby County, an unmentionable large wood by the Trent, an Everton or even one day a Middlesbrough, that can interlope at or near the top.
More than that, all the way down the leagues, a lot more will come down to the ability of a manager to find, sign and inspire the best available into a team, rather than any one manager having an open cheque book to buy (or should that be bribe?) the best players to join them.
It might take a few years to settle down and for the last of the expensively assembled sides of today to begin to fade, but longer term this should make the game more healthy, from top to bottom.
Interesting article AV, but surely the Boro academy will get category one status - it's been applauded by most observers in the game for many a year and greatly appreciated by england managers from U-21 downwards.
If Boro didn't get top marks then the system of judging will either be laughable or deemed more of a political device to favour the PL teams.
Though overall if a significnt number of PL clubs fail to get category one status that would theoretical mean Boro could poach their academies - though in practice the youngsters wages and opportunities of breaking into a PL team would make that unlikey.
Having said that it seems the system will over time benefit the richer clubs until the rest of the top 20-25 clubs have made the grade - plus any emerging talent throughout the rest of the leagues will simply be hoovered up and cash-struck clubs will miss out on any potential windfall.
If we do not achieve the 'Cat one' then there has to be something wrong with either the way it is governed or the 'inspectors' not being up to their job.
Who the hell are they to tell Dave Parnaby and co that they are not capable.
Our academy over the years has been proven second to none (I realise there are others that are also very good, Villa for example), the players that we have produced are testament to that.
If I were Dave Parnaby I would consider the whole exercise as an insult to his professionalism.
Again it's the big boys creaming off the top again, only interested in themselves.
There is obvious concern about the big clubs creaming off the best players but that has always been the case. Geoff Butler to Chelsea, Pallister to ManU, Sounness, Hodgson and Johnston to Liverpool.
That has always been the case at clubs our size. In the same way we got the best players from smaller clubs, players who didnt quite make the grade or get a chance at bigger clubs. players coming to the end of their careers.
It looks to be essential for the future of the club to get the elite status but one thing does puzzle me.
We are told there is no money and we are tightening our belts, where is this money going to come from?
Does this mean we are going to get it from somewhere else such as limiting the options for team building in the foreseable future.?
Of interest is the fact that 12 players from our academy featured last season. Of more concern is that the current crop were largely frozen out. To kick on next season we needed some of those to be coming through and getting game time.
Maybe we will get our academy status and none of them get near the squad!
AV, should we be unfairly downgraded to a second-class academy, how do we go about getting reclassified to grade one? Is it an annual assessment, an application process or do we need a few brown envelopes?
Just a thought.... if the Manchelarsepoolcitehspurs of this world get all the promising kids, they would still presumeably still spend the huge amounts on signature players or knee jerks in January. The kids will have nowhere to play and will have to be loaned (in ever increasing numbers and a lot more than now) to the smaller clubs to gain experience in competetive leagues.
Given that all these kids do not produce the goods at Premiership level, these kids will then get permanent deals in the lower leagues, et voila, lower league clubs get fit for purpose players without spending a fortune on academies!
I can only think of a few players that have been loaned to other clubs (Welbeck, Wilshire, Ramsey....) that have made it but they went to Premiership second/third tier clubs. These clubs will now presumably all have Cat 1 status so will have their own kids to worry about. If they do take a player, what message does that give to the kids at their academy? Cue unrest, tantrums, Dads turning up at managers doors and loans to lower divisions.
All very simplistic, conjecture, and holes in the facts and logic as big as the ones in our defence after Xmas, but always looking for a silver lining me.
Fair Play my you know what...if its about keeping clubs on an even keel,how can Man U and the like carry something like a 600m debt? Its so they can maintain it by giving them ample opportunity to stay at the top´
**AV writes: The real test of Financial Fair Play will be when UEFA have to clampdown on one of the big clubs when they breach the limits,which is inevitable.
Expenditure and income has to balance over a three year period. A few big clubs are already taking steps. Man City have concluded a massive sponsorship for their Academy/sport village/community programme with, er, Eitihad. Watch outfor Chelsea´s new ground naming rights going to Gazprom for $100m a year or so.
Theeraresome very big One or two
I am going to open up arguments now.
My view is we rather put too much value on our Academy. Granted it has supplied us with quite a few of our recent players but do we really think that the squad that won the Youth Cup has gone on to the levels of success we expected of it? I dont. Most of the players are either still with us at a rather low point in our history or are now in the lower divisions.
Its all very well shouting from the rooftops of our academy success but the name of the game is scoring goals and our Academy has totally failed to produce a single goalscorer in its history. I dont count Danny Graham - whatever he has achieved in his career he did by getting away from Boro.
Downing and Johnson too could arguably point to their loan spells away from the club as the point at which their respective careers took off.
Similarly the club has not produced a quality goalkeeper - Turnbull and Jones are now the sort of keeper that only gets a place on the bench when either of the 2 main choices are unavailable ( about the same as Danny Coyne then) and they manage about 300 minutes action a season if lucky - is that quality? i would say not. if they were nay good they would be holding down a first team place elsewhere
Our Academy has turned out a string of defenders and midfielders by the score but not a single striker nor a half-decent keeper.
I dont mean to detract from Dave Parnaby and his staff but once they leave him for the reserve team their progress comes to a complete halt and they usually end up off to league 1, 2 or non-league and surely they could have done better than that. There is no decent reserve team football in this country any more so tis youth team then jump to first team with nowt in between. Is it any wonder players dont progress?
Coaches seem to be instructed to turn out defenders rather than attackers. After all we have four at the back and another couple defenders in midfield for every striker or keeper.
Morrison was the main attacker in our Youth cup winning team but he could only get to the first team in midfield. Wheater started out as a striker but was pushed back to centre back - how often do we hear that? And then we wonder why we cant find anyone who can score goals!
**AV writes: No one can produce 20 goal a season strikers ... that´s why they cost squillions when they come along.
I don´´t think it is fair to belittle the Youth Cup winning team. Take any other cup winning team of any year in the past three decades and I would be VERY VERY suprised if it produced more professionals that that side did. And that includes the big,big sides fromMan U, Liverpool etc. OK,some are only playing at ´lower level´ but they still made the grade (all bar one I think). That´s not bad.
England internationals, Championship medals, regulars in the Boro first team, $35m in transfer receipts ... what more do you realistically want. Other than a striker of course.
Is it possible to have all the correct boxes ticked and still fail to classified Category A? As it's in the Big Boys best interests to have as few Clubs in that category as possible, they might want to limit entry even if one qualifies.
Or is that just Boronoia?
**AV writes: Maybe it would suit them to squeeze through justto show it was a fair and transparent process.
As we keep hearing football clubs need to tighten their belts, ticket prices are unrealistic given the state of the economy for an average supporter.
**AV writes: The real test of Financial Fair Play will be when UEFA have to clampdown on one of the big clubs when they breach the limits,which is inevitable."
Especially so when someone like Real break the rules at the same time as an English club. Platini ranted and railed against premiership transfer fees, wages and the money in the league.
When Madrid, theoretically brassic, went calling for Ronaldo with a ridiculous fee and wages he supported their approach and saw nothing wrong with it.
The big clubs will find away round it.
Oddly ManU are not too badly off with their debt. It is a bit like having a 60% loan to value mortgage but the numbers are far bigger. And they are reducing the debt.
**AV writes: Real have the advantage that most of their debt it to their local regional council (their landlords and underwriters) and with every municipal election one or other of the candidates run on a platform that includes a ´new deal´ that writes off a lot of the debt.
Man Utd make fortunes but the owners are taking our $100m a year in dividends and service charges on the $1billion mortgage they took out to buy the club.
jiffy -
I think you destroy your own arguement in your first paragraph where you state we are currently at a low point in our history.
How do you draw that conclusion? Maybe you are a young man who has been supporting Boro through the premiership years? I dont see us at a low point, I'd say competing in the top quarter of the Championship is very much in the median zone. Low points were the two seasons in the third tier and the years as we hurtled toward bankrupcy.
As for the academy not producing strikers, I think you're missing one crucial point, academies coach players to be better technically, to have an awareness of the game, to be able to 'read' a match etc. What strikers need above all else is an infallible belief in their own ability to score goals, its a psycological thing, you either have it or you don't, it can't be coached.
In my U14's team, we have a player who is the main striker, he contributes little to team play (I call him Kris Boyd), but put him in front of goal with the ball and he is lethal, because everytime he finds himself in that position he believes he's going to score. Whereas most people in that situation can't handle the pressure, suddenly the goalie looks huge, the goal looks small, the ball isnt quite in the right place etc etc. Name me two plus 20 goal a season striker from an English academy in the last ten years. I can only think of one.
I think your arguement that Danny Graham 'doesn't count' is weak, he learnt his football at our Academy, left Boro because he wasn't as good as Viduka, Yakubu and Hasselbank (hardly a sin) and has developed and matured to the point where he is now a good championship striker who may or may not flourish in the prem. The fact that he left Boro proves nothing as to the clubs ability to develop (or not) strikers.
As for goalkeepers, I'm sure Ross Turnbull and Brad Jones would be perfectly competent Championship goalies, however I suspect they chose to be premiership reserve goalies because they earn four or five times the money they would get playing football in a lower league.
You do our academy a huge dis-service. It is arguably second to none. Where would we be now without our Academy players, League one?
Is that a yes? We could still get stiffed?
Looks like the transfer cogs are clicking into gear now. Quite optimistic for next season with the calibre of player we are being linked with. So far there has been,
what's his name,
who?
Do a job at this level,
that guy from Walsall,
you know he ripped us apart last year,
young lad from......,
Drogba,
had him at West Brom
and
you have, in Euro 2004
if mogga can bring some of these in we'll be flying
Couldn't agree more with jiffy about our Academy. Why haven't we produced the real stars that our opponents in those Youth Cup Finals managed to develop? Club stalwarts like Luke Moore and Kieron Richardson. And just consider the kind of giants that a club like Liverpool have managed to produce since the days of Gerrard and Carragher. There's Jay Spearing for one.
We need more of jiffy's kind of outside-the-box thinking. I personally think that Gordon Strachan was a much misunderstood genius with a real gift for communication. We have gone a few steps backward since he left.
I also don't think this much vaunted website can hold a candle to the predictive insights of Boro Banter. And I would go on for ages about how over-rated Juninho was, had AV not already beaten me to it. Oscar Wilde? What a bore! Bravo jiffy. More please.
Very slow blog on what I personally think is an extremely important subject. Or are the Gremlins running riot again??
**AV writes: No, I think everyone is lazing in the sun. I know I am.
Interesting piece, AV - and it would be good news if the Category A that Dave Parnaby and his team have already earned (whether or not it's officially recognised)
Mind you, Mogga might help (and help Boro) by playing a few more Academy graduates instead of some 'experienced' re-treads or buying in yet more from Walsall, for example.
**AV writes: He´s played 10 this term. Quite often there were five in the starting line-up. Sometimes more. I´d be surprised if many other clubs were playing more.
One of the benefits of UEFA’s financial fair play rules is that they encourage clubs to produce talent rather than rely on the transfer market.
This is how it plays out in reality.
Junior Hoilett has been at Blackburn Rovers since he was 13. He is now 21 and out of contract in the summer. Compensation if he signs for an English club would be fixed at around £4m. If he goes abroad, however, rules change and he could be signed for as little as £750,000.
Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach are interested, but suppose a truly powerhouse European club got involved? From Munich to Madrid the elite already have the greatest benefit from FFP, with more spending power than any domestic rival. Not content with that, however, they can also take the best young players at knockdown prices.
Under FFP rules, Blackburn can only spend what they make. What price a youth policy, then, when UEFA’s compensation levels depress the market? A club that has the most money gets a break, while Blackburn are financially handicapped by having the cream of their youth product seized on the cheap.
UEFA might want to investigate the meaning of fairness in a dictionary because they seem to have it confused
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2150808/Martin-Samuel-Vote-today--say-NO-big-goals-long-balls.html#ixzz1w7wDntp6
**AV writes: He´s played 10 this term. Quite often there were five in the starting line-up. Sometimes more. I´d be surprised if many other clubs were playing more.
How many were established first team squad players? The only new player introduced was Main and that was through gritted teeth.
The rest of the current crop got two unused sub appearances between them.
**AV writes: Steele, McMahon, Bates, Hines, Bennett was not an unusual back five. Rhys Williams in midfield, Smallwood was a regular on the bench. That´s not a bad hit-rate. Next year we can expect to see more of Main and a bit more pitch time for the kids, L Williams, Reach etc.
A very, very good writing again, AV. Just hoping we will pass the authorization. When do we get results?
Generally I think the Arsepools and ManChelsea City United can have a squad of 25 players anyway. They can either sign them as a youngsters or with money later on. But I suppose they cannot have hundreds of grown-up kids in their reserves. Or then at least the kids are stupid then if they won't play ...
UP the Boro!
The thing that scares me if we dont make the cut.
Many of the A graders will see Parnaby as a definate A grade acadamy coach.
AV -
I know those facts about the academy players which is why I have regularly brought up the subject. Forget the established Academy players. Mogga filled the bench with players he brought in that he wouldnt bring on or trust.
Suddenly those Academy kids who disappeared in to the long grass are going to leap from playing Gateshead reserves to beating the likes of Birmingham and Bolton and Blackburn? Doesnt compute. I could post ´pollocks but you will cut it out.
´
John Powls end of season Boro Banter sums it up.
Dont get me wrong, I am pleased by the progress but I grew up on Boro just falling short and missed opportunities.
Give me one coherent reason why a bench of Martin, Haroun, Arca, Nimely and Ogbeche made sense. No, I dont want no money, wafer thin squad,flawed squad, financial constraints or Uncle Eric speak. Tell me why that was a sensible bench with no defensive cover, no kids and no-one Mogga hadnt signed or resigned.
It is a symptom of why we didnt take the opportunity offered to us.
**AV writes: I can´t tell you why the manager selects a particular squad but I can say that he spends a week fastidiously preparing them tactically for a specific shape geared to matching/stiffling/attacking the opposition and selects the players with what he considers the best skills set for what he wants in any particular game. It can be frustrating but that is how he works. You can´t second guess Mogga.
Number one in the cricket world, though!
Still daft enough to type out long posts and then see them lost in the ether, though! Some Boro fans will never learn. Not naming any names but...
We really MUST prioritize the Academy. If you use a "z" in that word the computer likes it. Use an "s" and it's like World War III.
The Academy is a long term proposition that provides long term support and development for the First Team. The problem is that most managers at football clubs don't remain in position long enough to see the crop of young players come through, so go for the instant fix (buying or loaning...).
A good Academy grows the soul of the club. We all want to support "one of our own". Even better to support 5, 6 or 7 of our own. Youngsters with whom ewe might identify. People who know the local towns, know the area, the population at large.
It is possible to overlook how difficult it is to empathise with, or to fall in man-love with, let's say, a Bolivian player who has spent most of his life from the age of 14 at clubs in Spain, Italy and Portugal (some of the clubs you have never heard of before), and who now swears he had always felt a warm glow in his heart when he heard the name Middlesbrough. He'd always wanted to come here. Nothing to do with the top up to his pension fund, of course, as he approaches 30.
Many of use like the idea of a good youth set-up because it feels good to know that at least a decent proportion of the players on the pitch in front of us have some knowledge of what it is like to be a human being and to have gown up in a life we could understand. Too many footballers live in their own remote world. It's difficult to support them.
"One of our own, one of our own, David Wheater, he's one of our own". It could be sung of a number of different players and I hope that will continue into the future. No problems with imports, of quality, but we'd like the bulk of the team to be "our own".
timfromsa at 3.11am: If Parnaby isn't definitely an "A grade" coach, the alphabet needs some revision.
Nigel -
Sorry for delay responding been away for long weekend
No not a youngster or a recent convert I am 58 years old and my first attended game was back in 1963. I say we are at a low point in our history because we are only just above the state we were in when we went bust and really fear for the size of crowd we will drop to next season. We should wrap Steve Gibson in cotton wool because if anything happens to him we will be down there with Darlo.
My views on the academy is that it does a good job but does not get the support it needs. We dont have a stepping stone from Academy to first team any more because reserve team football these days is a total joke, no more competitive than preseason. We were able to take players on from junior to first team better before the Academy because we had that middle ground.
Looking at the numbers of English players in the top flight are academies still relevant - it looks like cheaper imports predominate and keep our lads from progressing.
And our coaches take promising lads and make them all defensive minded because there are more of them required each week than strikers. We knock goalscoring out of them.
I saw an article a few years ago when they were waxing lyrical about Man city's Academy because it had just sold a pair of youngsters for several million. Correct me if I am wrong but isnt the purpose of the Academy to fill one's own club with players, develop talent from one's own area not to finance the club? For all City's Academy players achievement they have won the league by buying an entire squad. That says it all for me.
There's an interesting article in today's Independent showing the premiership injury league table for the season just finished.
Man City had the least number of injuries and so finished top, that makes sense you may think. But the team who finished second in the league, Man Utd finished bottom of the injury table. Wolves who finished bottom of the league finished fifth top in the injury table. Newcastle, Arsenal and Spurs who all finished in the top five finished in the bottom four of the injury table.
So there is no correlation that I can see between league place and the number of injuries a squad suffers in a season. Rather exploding the theory that clubs with the least number of injuries perform best.
**AV writes: When Boro were in the Prem I spent three years watching the data on Physionroom.com and trying to add substance to the pub consensus that Boro had more injuries than anyone else - the "Crockliffe" myth (they didn´t, in fact quite the opposite). From what I can remember the teams at the top of the injured list in those seasons were different in every year. There was no logic. No groupings of particular type of injury. Now particular style of football. No correlation with league position. No grouping by time of season, by position, by number of games played.
All I could conclusively determine - although it is just ´anacdotal` - is that all supporters believe their own club to be more susceptible than others to injuries which happen mystically at the most inconvenient possible time.
Is it five to midnight on deadline day?
What's Mogga's problem? Why is he getting a key target in, in time for pre season? How is that going to benefit the team?
Schoolboy error.
I still wait eagerly for news of 'that gadge' and 'young lad from'. Final pieces in the jigsaw.
Leadbitter's a good start to the summer's activities. Let's hope those that follow are in the same vein.
Good point timfromsa. What's the format on poaching Parnaby AV? Is it similar to a manager's contract buy out, can we hold any potential scavengers to ransom over not just Parnaby's contract value, but his value as one of the best academy coaches in the country?
Surely there must be some form of either protection from poaching, or a system of compensation, or are the big guns wanting absolutely everything in their favour? I think I know the answer to that question before it arrives from other sources!!!
**AV writes: I believe he is on a long term deal and it will be tweaked if we get Category One status. Golden handcuffs.
Boro have signed midfielder Grant Leadbitter on a three-year contract. I think the Chester-le-Street-born 26-year-old could be a good substitute to Robbo.
Definite plus points: 7 years younger than Robbo, have played over 38 games a season for the past 3 years in Championship and scored 14 goals in 126 games.
Still six signings left. I hope they are as good as the first one. Mogga is not perfect (Haas, Zemmama, etc.) but we are heading to the right direction. A right winger and a CB next, please.
Up the Boro!
Currently we have at least the following players at midfield (+Rhys):
Arca (32 years)
Park (20)
Halliday (21)
Zemmama (28)
Bailey (27)
Thomson (27)
Smallwood (22)
Haroun (27)
So there is quite a lot of experience. We definitely need a right sided MF. Also we have five players available in the centre - perhaps we could sell one as we might need running power and pace in MF?
As far as I know we do not have any injuries - even Zemmama and Thommo are fit. But you never know about these gentlemen and preseason ...
So one attacking player (Keene from Man Utd) and several defenders still needed. I expect six summer signing (including McMahon etc).
But looking good so far. Up the Boro!
Wonderful AV. Enlightening and informative.
The clubs youth system is so important for so many reasons. For the kids that make the first team and the pride we all feel seeing one of our own out there or even pulling on an England shirt.Emence pride Emence
As a young man, I was involved in coaching kids and worked in the F.A.schools of excellence. How things have changed since then,
We had Man U at Peterlee, Nott’s Forest at Stocksley. Sheff Wed with a complete set up on Teesside, Man city, Leeds, Everton and even The London Clubs aggressively taking kids out of the area and Boro plodding along merrily missing out.
Many Supporters would not be aware but it was Keith Lamb who took the time to identify the problems and initiate the pyramid system back in the 1970s. In his early years in his job at Boro,
He initiated the set up that brings kids from an early age into contact with the club and the selection process that starts early. Now we had had the system before but it had gone to peices
Many kids have gone through the system and over the years some (too many} have slipped through the net.
It always grieved me that kids of small statue or the wrong end of the school year were overlooked by the coaches who chose big overdeveloped monsters.
Jack Chapman of Sheff Wed once asked me (after a few beers) Jeffrey why do so many apprentices fail. I answered Jack the boys cannot play. It was true, 6 foot 2 eyes of blue they may have been. But they could not pass a ball and inevitably, they had the touch of an elephant.
Boro’s academy overcame that problem and produced kids of all sizes and kids for all positions.
It enraged me to see so many of our academy boys squandered by the two blind and incredibly stupid G.Ss
Young Turnbull is a good example. He should have become a Boro legend not a Chelsea bench warmer. But he was abused and overlooked by Gareth Southgate and not retained.
I for one think if Turnbull had been looked after by his manager the way Toney Mobray looks after his players, Then he would be here now between the sticks. Turnbull does not deserve any criticism from boro supporters only our congratulations, He is one of our own
The same goes for most if not all the kids who were stupidly sold for peanuts or given away. They did not want to leave and had a great affinity with the club, fostered over many years by Parnaby and his excellent staff.
The Youth academy is essential for Boro and I think you explained the case so very well AV well done.
**AV writes: Some good points but Turnbull wasn´t "not retained". He was offered a very good deal to stay but it fell well short of the offer from Chelsea and he went with the calculator than the career development path.
So, Grant Leg-biter has signed on a 3yr deal, the first of (hopefully) many summer recruits, and a definite step in the right direction. He's young(ish), highly experienced at this level, and has the qualities needed to add much needed resiliance to a midfield that was a bit of a push-over at times last season.
He seems to be a natural replacement for Robson, but that then raises the question - where exactly will Mowbray play him? Robbo got shunted from right to left last season, with not too many games in the middle (which would seem Leadbitters natural position), so he's not quite the like-for-like replacement he appears.
Perhaps Mogga has been forced into recalibrating Rhys as a centre back due to the gaping holes in that part of the team, and will go with Bailey and Leadbitter as a midfield two?
On the subject of the academy gradings, it smacks of a complicated ploy to disguise a base motivation - for Premier League clubs to have more power to rip off their poorer cousins in the football league. Dress it up by allowing any academy to apply for Grade 1, but put enough financial and operational restrictions in place that make it almost impossible for all but the richer football league clubs (sorry Crewe) to make the grade.
I would be highly surprised if this isn't from the slightly evil-genius brain of Richard Scudamore himself. There's a man who knows how to protect his product.
Anyway, lets hope we can get the Grade 1 status and have sufficient leverage to hold off the Chelsea's and Man Utd's of this world who, as Panorama clumsily showed, were happily sniffing around our talent even before such a cheap and easy procurement system such as this was developed.
Football ey, it's a beautiful game...
AV -
I thought anecdotal had been kicked in to the long grass a long time ago. Along with Christies broken leg broken regularly on 'recovering', Downings knee injury being unrelated to his previous injury until his dad told us it was the same one or Huth's right anklee injury on his left foot was actually his right elbow sorry right shoulder sorry a nose bleed.
Sadly the stats I dug out showed that the top teams in the Championship had the best appearnance figures. What a surprise when our appearance figures were similar that we just finished out off the play offs.
Yet when Mogga was appalled at our sports science that was taken as gospel by anyone with a personnally signed Moogs portrait on their desk.
This isnt a go at Crockcliffe though when Richard did his ghosts of Crockcliffe on Boro Banter we all nodded in agreement unless Strachan was in charge. He was a failure because he refused to play Bates, Williams, Williams, Franks, McMahon, Grounds, Taylor, Hines, McMahon, Flood, Thomson, McManus, Robson, McDonald even when they were injured.
Pah! Hey ho, when players are fit the team plays better. Anecdotally that is. Dont get confused with the facts, however you slice it if you have a full team plus sub keeper in the treatment room it isnt very clever.
**AV writes: It should be stressed that when I say 'anacdotally' it means 'not backed by scientific data' not 'as told to me by a bloke down the pub'?
When you try to construct an argument that Boro are somehow more affected by injuries than other teams that you need to be able to compare the figures. You can't do that in the Championship because they are not centrally collated anywhere. You could do that in the Premier League because I did it for years and the notion on the street that Boro had a poor injury record just didn't stand up.
Sorry if that spoils a well established chickenrun chunter but them's the facts. The impression that Boro were more susceptible to injuries was entirely subjective. A string of other teams were far more affected than Boro but we didn't notice, rightly so, because we weren't actively looking for it.
That said, the main impact of injuries as stats is as a proportion of total squad numbers. If you have a massive squad (as we did in the Prem) then six injuries in the matchday squad or even a cluster in one position are managable. If you have a small squad (as we have had over the past few years) then it is more problematic. That is a function of numbers, not of some mystical curse or institutional ineptitude.
If you want you can point to this years appearance figures and say that we had a few on or around the 30 mark and point to a good league position and try to find a correlation but to conclude from that there has been an absence of injuries is just wrong. At times this season we had our first choice striker out and support striker missing every other game; we had our first choice CB pairing out (or in Williams our most effective midfielder too); we had no fit first choice keeper for spells... by most measures it was a 'normal season' but because we were going well the idea of a permanent injury crisis was overlooked (or transferred onto one individual).
I don't mind if you want to construct an argument that Boro are somehow blighted by injury problems but unless you can compare and contrast it to other teams' casualty list it is flawed. It remains just 'anacadotal'.
For me much of the mystique about perma-crockery is more about the viewers perspective, urban myth and a reflection of supporters' jitters and fears. It is transference. It seems to be culturally generated. I know Chelsea, Newcastle and Arsenal fans with exactly the same moans about their own 'inept' medical staff or training methods. I am really interested in this and will revisit it at some point.
In practice how it plays out is that if a key player gets injured the groan is "typical Boro" and it is seen as part of one long continuous special curse visited on one particular club (or as a flaw of the manager if local politics have turned against him) rather than just the normal occupational hazards of a contact sport.
No Will Keane on loan then, busted his ligaments. 6-9 months out.
Any news on how the review went AV?
AV -
You say Turnbull went to Chelsea for the money rather than a career at Boro
However,unfortunatly that was not the case. Turnbull had no career path at Boro under Southgate?
Better he take more money and a chance elsewhere where he was wanted than stay and hope Southgate got replaced. Remember at that time all the talk was of Southgate’s long-term plan that most people bought into.
No, Turnbull made the decisioon most of us would have made. He had no future under Southgate so moved on. Same story for Parnaby, Morrison, Cattlemore. All academy kids. Southgate could not even find a place for Johnson in his teams.
He got what £4m for the kids he discarded? What must Steve Gibson and Dave Parnaby have thought, god only knows.
Back to the Academy...
Actually, I think the review and the changes will do Boro a lot of good. For sure, we will get the grade 1 status. However bringing in new young coaches will be a good thing.Yes Parnaby and his staff are excellent and must be retained, however freshening things up will be good all round and we might discover the next Dave Parnaby.
By the way, we have had good strikers through the academy, I have seen them with my own eyes. However, the coaching staff at our Academy lacked the ability to develop the talent, boys whose technical skills were not developed and we all lost out.
As other bloggers have rightly commented on this blog IT is a fact that its a lot easier to develop defenders or midfielders than strikers. However, Parnaby and his staff are getting there after many attempts.
AV, does it mean that with grade one status that the club can also bring kids in from overseas? I know when I worked out in Nigeria and The Gambia I coached youth teams and some of the kids out there were terrific talents.
If the club can now bring kids in from Africa then Tony needs to send someone out there to trawl for talent with a bus. There are so many diamonds on those beaches that even Gareth Southgate could fall over one and find the next Yak or Job.
First signing excellent. Shame about the Man U kid, enjoy your summer boys its hell out here in Dubai humid and up in the 40s.
Can't see the rises in season card prices assisting 'Red Plastic Canyon-itis' next year. Need to follow up Leadbitter with some more decent signings - and what can we do to make the Middle East attractive to Scott McD?
Some interesting names on the Prem & Championship 'not retained' or 'out of contract' lists. Aside from Leadbitter, we seem to be obsessed with Walsall re-treads. Contact there - or a particularly active agent?
If you're going to mine the lower divisions for gems - and why not - it would make sense to look at The Blades' excellent central defenders, Maguire and Collins, right back Lowton and Stephen Quinn - another 'Ginja Ninja' - in midfield while the play off disappointment is still raw rather than the surplus from Walsall who finished just out of the relegation zone.
And while we're on the subject, what about Karl Robinson's admirable MK Dons side that just missed out in the play off semis but play the sort of footy that Mogga, rightly, so admires. Daniel Powell is an excellent winger - big and pacy - who also gets goals and Chicksen and Potter are very decent full backs who can overlap.
The vote to return to seven subs is good news for squad development through Academies too.
Since there was no penalty for having fewer than five if you couldn't manage seven, I never understood the reduction - except as some misguided attempt at 'lowest common denominator' soccer socialism.
I read with interest that the Boo-rahs only trophy success in over 200 years of trying has now been renamed and like Newcastle's Fairs Cup thingy, is now totally extinct and no longer counts as a major trophy.
Like Newcastle, will you refuse to chalk this worthless honour from your list of trophies and like Newcastle will you cling on to this tin pot cup and proclaim it to be major honour even though it no longer exists.
Frank Thomas Maxwell
9-1 (biggest away win in English football history)
**AV writes: We are not the people to ask. We still have an annual memorial open top coach parade to celebrate the Anglo Scottish Cup.
AV -
Crockcliffe is but a bit of fun but there is always some grain of truth. When Saint Mogga stated he was surprised by the Sports Science set up at Hurwoth it was taken as gospel.
Barry Robson in the Gazette put the upturn down to players coming back. It is just another area at the club that has to be looked at.
The look at appearances was just a happenstance event to fill in the time before the match when we beat Cardiff 3-0. Oddly the link to position fitted. It isnt just about injuries, at this level it is getting your best players playing together.
Our turnaround under Mogga coincided with the likes of McMahon, Williams, Taylor and Bates becoming regularly available along with the Strachan imports actually being available. Many of the players brought in came with injuries or a record of injuries, hardly Rockcliffes fault more the remnants bin we had to shop in.
You can also throw in Emnes and Bennett coming back in to the fold.
There were many other factors such as willingness to buy in to the Mogga philosophy. Absolutely key that the team does precisely that. As was debated at the time appearances are not just about being available.
That carried over in to another succesful season.
With the the thinner squads in the Championship it becomes even more important
that you have a relatively happy and settled side. I bet next season will see the same pattern, the teams that get their best side out more often will do the best.
The original post was never about Crockcliffe but an observation on what appeared to be a link. As you say, the figures are not collated. Just because David Conn didnt write about it in the Guardian or the stats provided by OPTA doesnt mean that it isnt a valid idea. It is simplistic but many stats are, they need to be seen in context. May be wrong.
I was one of those who thought the players were better than the results and was bullish about our prospects, you didnt see me saying we were doomed .
If you mention Crockcliffe we can have some fun but it was never about that.
Ah, 'misguided lowest common denominator socialism.' The source of football's and the nation's economic and political problems. Personally I'm sick of the sight of red flags this week-end. And since the BBC is supposed to be impartial, shouldn't they be devoting a bit more time to the Jubilee celebrations?
**AV writes: There was a little bit of under the radar subversion on Friday night as BBC4 showed a new Punk Britannia documentary complete with the key players from the Sex Pistols barge bust-up recalling their days of outrage and Anarchy.
I thought the reduction in numbers was more about capitalism than socialism... it was a cost cutting measure pushed for by cash-strapped lower league clubs already cutting staff and looking for a way of trimming the bills: hotels for over-nights, pre-match meals, win bonuses, coach costs (with 18 plus management it is a tight squeeze on a 21 seater). Every little helps.
This weekend of reflective emotions has made me cast my minds eye over the last three years in the Chimpship.
We have seen three managers. The first hamstrung, the second dung and the third, emotional connection for the club, petrol pump buddy, and given the hardest task of the three and the closest of them to achieve it.
The signing of Robbo, quickest goal at riverside, red card on debut, and he has now gone.
Mark yates, zemmama, jay o'shea, Bent, and Ginge Kitson. Where the hell were we going?
Home defeats to Plymouth, Watford, Sunderland and lowly Leeds.
Record low attendance at the Riverside.
Over the top stewarding of Red Faction
Moronic teenagers acting billy big time with away fans
The Football League Show
Tarmo Kink
Hard drugs quips
Caleb Folan
It's been crap hasn't it?
Well no. Three top half finishes. Won quite a few games. A win against Brighton feels as good as three points against Fulham.
And after seven attemps in three years -14/2/12 - Middlesbrough 2-1 Nottingham Forest. In 60 years time, the bunting will be outside the house and the street party is on me. Thank You Mogga.
Nevermind the division. Nevermind the names of the players. Support the team/town/mogga/gibbo
VF day 14/2/13. See you there
Despite the skewed poaching policy that favours clubs with £3m to set aside, the concept of having a regulated elite academy system is probably long overdue.
Billions have been pumped into the game over the last couple of decades, but as we have seen this week, England have been struggling to find 25 decent fit players.
Why aren't English born players attaining the highest level? Maybe it's because compared to 20 or 30 years ago the top clubs now rely heavily on foreign players.
Perhaps English players aren't being coached properly in comparison? Or are we just seeing the best of an even larger pool of the world's players being creamed off by the rich PL?
OK, some countries seem to produce a lot more skillful intelligent players - Holland and Spain spring to mind - so should we just copy their systems instead?
So in conclusion, the elite academy system could make the difference for English players being able to make the grade - though my fear is that the top clubs will just cream off the best youngsters from around the world and we'll be complaining in 10 years time about why young English players are not making it into elite academies.
Smog -
A Flotilla down the Tees starting from Yarm, maybe Newport Bridge could be raised, Transporter bedecked in the latest kit.
Mogga wouldnt need it as he could walk across unaided
AV -
Capitalism - choice of an economic decision (for good or ill - and the recent track record, generally and in footy ain't been good). Socialism - imposition of the same decision masquerading as 'the public good'.
Decision or imposition generally made by the same self-interested cabale.
Sad news about Will Keane's injury but it may promote the search for someone with a more proven record.
Jeffery Wood just another point about Turnbull.
Peta Cech was not sure if he could play and the reserve keeper was also injured so there was a good chance he was going to be number two for his first season which anyone would have jumped at.
As for the increase in subs it can only be good for Boro it will increase TMs options and will allow him to consentrate more on the positions where more experience is needed.
Any one for Wheater back in the back four?