On the Ball (new Football Focus)

[????]

Cole - Carrick - Lampard - Ferdinand - Johnson - Defoe (although we nicked him from Charlton)- to name a few

*tries to hold back tears*

[red devil]

Mockers, if WHU 'came into some money' do you think the Academy would be as successful as it is now? It seems to me that clubs like WHU have no choice but to concentrate on their Academies, since they can't go out and spend ?20m on a single player. If they could would their academies suffer as a consequence?

[Keef]

Houllier was the king of bad signings. I always thought that good french players went to Arsenal, and the left overs came to liverpool. He was a top man though.

[david_carnell]

mockney piers Wrote:

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> The youth program is self evidently successful bit

> I wouldn't say uniquely. West hams academy can

> arguably be deemed every bit as good, we just

> don't have the resources to hold on to those

> players or have the chance to offer them champions

> league football.

That's true Piers. At one point in the near past I would have inclueded Leeds in that too, but our downfall skews this.

Since the golden age of Becks, Scholes, Giggs, Nevilles etc I have to say far fewer have broken through into the first team. Wellbeck seems to be the closest at the moment.

[????]

red devil Wrote:

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> Mockers, if WHU 'came into some money' do you

> think the Academy would be as successful as it is

> now? It seems to me that clubs like WHU have no

> choice but to concentrate on their Academies,

> since they can't go out and spend ?20m on a single

> player. If they could would their academies suffer

> as a consequence?

I think that's true - I also think that teams like West Ham can offer Premiership football to ambitous youngsters far earlier than they'd get a chance at Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U etc which helps too - they have a reputation as being a good club for these sorts of players and that's helpful in attracting them.

[matthew123]

I believe a big part of successful academies is having a large catchment area with little competition by other clubs. How much more talent has West Ham got free access to over say Liverpool?

I'm hoping under the new regime at Anfield that Liverpool can start producing local lads who are built for the demands of the Premiership rather than this conveyor belt of pygmies that means Rafa keeps going continental.

[red devil]

'Pygmies' seem to do rather well at Barca...

[Keef]

Liverpool can start producing local lads who are built for the demands of the Premiership rather than this conveyor belt of pygmies that means Rafa keeps going continental.

Have Liverpool started employing genetic scientists then? ;-)

[red devil]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> red devil Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Mockers, if WHU 'came into some money' do you

> > think the Academy would be as successful as it

> is

> > now? It seems to me that clubs like WHU have no

> > choice but to concentrate on their Academies,

> > since they can't go out and spend ?20m on a

> single

> > player. If they could would their academies

> suffer

> > as a consequence?

>

> I think that's true - I also think that teams like

> West Ham can offer Premiership football to

> ambitous youngsters far earlier than they'd get a

> chance at Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U etc which

> helps too - they have a reputation as being a good

> club for these sorts of players and that's helpful

> in attracting them.

Good point, although I was surprised to read that Freddie Sears has gone out to loan at Palace, do you think that this means he's unlikely to make it long term at WHU?

[Mick Mac]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Cole - Carrick - Lampard - Ferdinand - Johnson -

> Defoe (although we nicked him from Charlton)- to

> name a few

>

> *tries to hold back tears*

Amazing that a man of Glenn Roeder's charisma was unable to keep these stars at Upton Park.

[mockney piers]

Lol mm.

I think re sears that he's still very young and being given a chance to get good first team experience, Zola has previously stated that he is impressed by the lad.

RD, difficult to say, sort of chicken and egg, but success and resources haven't stopped a lot of man u academy talent from filtering through to the highest levels at their own club, fletcher and the lanky Irish fella (name genuinely escapes me) being but the latest examples.

[red devil]

80,000 muppets, I mean Real Madrid fans, expected to turn out to see Ronaldo, is he right that La Liga has surpassed the Premier League in terms of 'the best league in the world' now that the 3 best players in the world ply their trade there?, personally I don't think we'll know until the knock-out stage of the Champs League gets under way...

[Mick Mac]

marc antoine fortune is in glasgow for signing talks apparently. If he does sign he will have chosen celtic ahead of more money on offer from premiership clubs (incl west ham) but celtic could still mess it up i guess.

[matthew123]

Ronaldo is talking a load of rubbish - I think he is confused that reinforcements at Madrid are being mirrored across La Liga. It's a fantastic league but Premiership is comfortably the strongest competition with the majority of world class players.

[Sandperson]

matthew123 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ronaldo is talking a load of rubbish - I think he

> is confused that reinforcements at Madrid are

> being mirrored across La Liga. It's a fantastic

> league but Premiership is comfortably the

> strongest competition with the majority of world

> class players.

That's right, we've got four clubs who could win the league (if you count Liverpool ;)) and they've only got two. :)

[Mick Mac]

Radio 5 have spent the last half hour live from Madrid covering Ronaldo's arrival party - what a piece of joke radio coverage. Who cares - we have seen enough of him. They seemed to be waiting for the Ronaldo arrival speech and then were surprised that he was speaking in Spanish. Doh.

[????]

Ronaldo didn't quite say that, he said both leagues were very strong but the Spanish one now had the best players in the world going there and referees protected them better - he's hardly going to say he's leaving for a worse league, to a degree he's right and papers (and sadly the BBC) don't half to stir up a load of old shite about bugger all.

[Mick Mac]

It seems everyone on the forum speaks spanish apart from me - I could not understand a word he was saying. But i'm sure it can be roughly translated as "boll*cks"

[matthew123]

Would Radio 5 have been so eager to have a jolly on tax payers money if Ronaldo has been signing for Dynamo Kiev in January?

[red devil]

Que?..

[????]

I'll help you both with my fluent Spanish...

"Both leagues are going to be very good but I think that with Real president Florentino Perez's signings the Spanish league is superior to the English," Ronaldo stated.

"It's going to be a magnificent competition in Spain this year."

[matthew123]

I was passing comment on why are Radio 5 in Spain spending time on what is a Portugese player joining Madrid - news we have been aware of for weeks. Their motivation I suspect is driven by it being sunny Spain.

Mockney - what's happening with the Dulwich Hamlets pre-season match Drinks?

[red devil]

Matthew, my comment was in response to Micks'...

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/2800000/Manuel-fawlty-towers-2856236-75-75.jpg

[Mick Mac]

I reckon in Madrid's first derby game with Barca someone will stick their finger in Ronaldo's eye. A bit of revenge for the suffering their Barcelona brethern suffered when in England.

[mockney piers]

Blimey, first friendly is on Wednesday!! Then a bunch of home games on 14th, 21st and 27th. Can't make any of them sadly. Can do 1st august Against Sutton though.