Tony’s Statement.

[Matt Collins]

There were two England world cup players and a champions league final player who were given their chance by Bruce

I reckon that with less pressure on promotion at all costs we will see more of the kids this year

[brian green]

Only because he has to.  It will not be from choice.

[Mister E]

Also, don't get excited about a sale. It won't be to a philanthropic zillionaire if that is what people are hoping for.

That sounds to me like a good thing.

[cheltenhamlion]

Also, don't get excited about a sale. It won't be to a philanthropic zillionaire if that is what people are hoping for.

That sounds to me like a good thing.

It does. I desperately want us run as a proper business.

[AsTallAsLions]

Also, don't get excited about a sale. It won't be to a philanthropic zillionaire if that is what people are hoping for.

That sounds to me like a good thing.

It does. I desperately want us run as a proper business.

I'm a little lost tracing these posts back to origin - chelts are you saying you've got ITK on takeover prospects?

[SamTheMouse]

Villa need to follow the Monaco model.

They got relegated, were bought by a billionaire who pumped in cash but then had terrible FFP problems, as basically the club had no fan base and very limited commercial income. They also had a big dispute with the LFP over tax (on player salaries). Then the billionaire's wife sued him for half his wealth, and the cash dried up.

So they started investing more in their academy and, instead of making expensive big name signings, scouted the best young talent in Europe, which they were able to attract on the basis that the kids got playing time and were never ignored in favour of ageing has-beens. The spine of their team is experienced, but the rest is "young and hungry". The result is that they now have a solid reputation as a club where young players can make the step up, so they never have any trouble convincing their targets to join them, and they've made an absolute shitload of money from selling on players.

[cdbearsfan]

They never have any problem convincing their signings to join them as they're exempt from tax so have a massive unfair advantage over the rest of the league.

[purpletrousers]

They never have any problem convincing their signings to join them as they're exempt from tax so have a massive unfair advantage over the rest of the league.

So your suggestion is if we manage a peaceful yet powerful revolution, a successful self determination referendum without overspending, and then the Independent republic of Aston sets a very low tax rate, then we might have a Bright Future?

[cdbearsfan]

Sounds a bit right-wing to me. I'd like to see a leftist coup, with the Army and the Secret Police relocated to somewhere nice and near the middle of the country, say Aston. Then arrange it so that the local team, which just so happens to be us, gets all the best players, and if anyone tries to beat them their players get shot.

Sensible policies for a happier Britain.

[SoccerHQ]

We certainly should be going down the young players route once our ownership is sorted out.

The tried and tested method failed us big time at the crunch last season.

Only issue I can see is like anything it only takes a few defeats and suddenly young and hungry is cheap method and there's lack of ambition etc.

I didn't mind when we switched to it from 2012 onwards, trouble was our implementation was wrong. Signing likes of Lowton, Bennett and Westwood and immediately making them first team regulars when any other top level club would've had them learning from the bench or even getting loaned out as you see with how Spurs do it.

So all three were playing 30 + times and inevitably they all struggled particularly as the quality in our first team had badly declined at
that point.

Would've worked much better if we'd signed those types when likes of Young, Downing, Milner and Carew were all still at the club but instead had manager back then who'd rather sign Beye and Sidwell to warm the bench.

Other thing with young players is people constantly yearn for them to get a chance and then slag them off if they're not the new Rooney/Mbappe within ten games.

We saw it years ago with Cahill and Steven Davis who've both had brilliant careers, Albrighton was getting flak aswell for a period, Lowton got plenty and has proved himself as a reliable top 10 premier league player and now Davis and Andre Green are getting it.

Even Jack was getting plenty of criticism this time last year.

[Mister E]

We certainly should be going down the young players route once our ownership is sorted out.

The tried and tested method failed us big time at the crunch last season.

Only issue I can see is like anything it only takes a few defeats and suddenly young and hungry is cheap method and there's lack of ambition etc.

I didn't mind when we switched to it from 2012 onwards, trouble was our implementation was wrong. Signing likes of Lowton, Bennett and Westwood and immediately making them first team regulars when any other top level club would've had them learning from the bench or even getting loaned out as you see with how Spurs do it.

So all three were playing 30 + times and inevitably they all struggled particularly as the quality in our first team had badly declined at
that point.

Would've worked much better if we'd signed those types when likes of Young, Downing, Milner and Carew were all still at the club but instead had manager back then who'd rather sign Beye and Sidwell to warm the bench.

Other thing with young players is people constantly yearn for them to get a chance and then slag them off if they're not the new Rooney/Mbappe within ten games.

We saw it years ago with Cahill and Steven Davis who've both had brilliant careers, Albrighton was getting flak aswell for a period, Lowton got plenty and has proved himself as a reliable top 10 premier league player and now Davis and Andre Green are getting it.

Even Jack was getting plenty of criticism this time last year.

The development of a great academy should be a no-brainer - doing it properly will almost always bear plenty of fruit as long as we hire the best possible people to oversee it and run it. All too often, however, clubs hire the wrong people in their academy or simply do not give it enough attention (my son worked at the Leeds academy for two years and saw at first hand what happens when mates-of-mates and inarticulate ex-pros come into the academy).
The drafting-in of youngsters and the link between academy and first team are almost-entirely dependent on having the 'right' management and coaching team. Since Lerner came in - and perhaps before - our first-team managers / coaches do not seem to have had a great focus on youth development.
If our circumstances mean that we have to go more purposefully down this route, I'd urge the new owners to do the best possible job of having the right people in the first-team set-up and the Academy set-up. Hire the best available coaches and spend what funds we have to develop a sustainable pipeline of young talent.

Even Citeh - who have bought their way to the top - have invested strongly in their academy.

[paul_e]

We certainly should be going down the young players route once our ownership is sorted out.

The tried and tested method failed us big time at the crunch last season.

Only issue I can see is like anything it only takes a few defeats and suddenly young and hungry is cheap method and there's lack of ambition etc.

I didn't mind when we switched to it from 2012 onwards, trouble was our implementation was wrong. Signing likes of Lowton, Bennett and Westwood and immediately making them first team regulars when any other top level club would've had them learning from the bench or even getting loaned out as you see with how Spurs do it.

So all three were playing 30 + times and inevitably they all struggled particularly as the quality in our first team had badly declined at
that point.

Would've worked much better if we'd signed those types when likes of Young, Downing, Milner and Carew were all still at the club but instead had manager back then who'd rather sign Beye and Sidwell to warm the bench.

Other thing with young players is people constantly yearn for them to get a chance and then slag them off if they're not the new Rooney/Mbappe within ten games.

We saw it years ago with Cahill and Steven Davis who've both had brilliant careers, Albrighton was getting flak aswell for a period, Lowton got plenty and has proved himself as a reliable top 10 premier league player and now Davis and Andre Green are getting it.

Even Jack was getting plenty of criticism this time last year.

I agree on the bottom few lines, it happens far too often, I'm fairly sure there were a fair few wanting us to sell Jack last summer because at 21 he wasn't dominating games for a side that looked completely lost.

[berneboy]

Also, don't get excited about a sale. It won't be to a philanthropic zillionaire if that is what people are hoping for.

That sounds to me like a good thing.

It does. I desperately want us run as a proper business.

I'm a little lost tracing these posts back to origin - chelts are you saying you've got ITK on takeover prospects?

I wanted to ask the same.

[SamTheMouse]

They never have any problem convincing their signings to join them as they're exempt from tax so have a massive unfair advantage over the rest of the league.

True, but I'm not convinced tax bills are a huge factor for teenagers when deciding what club to join. The club's focus on bringing through young talent is hugely attractive. They also bought a feeder club which has now just been promoted to the Belgian top flight. The whole setup is sensible, notwithstanding the tax advantages.

[The Edge]

and be forced to play in claret and blue mankinis

Already bought mine for my holidays.

Is nice? You like?

Yessy match