Academy/Youth Development
People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.
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So the new owners have said that they want to focus on youth development and start an academy, and I was wondering what people thought of that. Basically is it worth it? And if they are intent on doing it, what's the best way?
My general opinion on it is that it will be very hard to do properly and has the potential to cost a lot of money for little result. If quality players are produced what incentive is there for them to stay in the A league? If we are lucky the club might be able to get a bit of cash for them but that's assuming they don't just wait till their contracts are up and leave on free transfers.
Even setting up an academy will be hard - what competition will they play in? How many extra coaching and admin staff will be needed? Will there need to be extra facilities for training? (I know Welnix are already looking at improving these anyway) Will they got to a local school and train in the afternoons/evenings or will it be a correspondence school deal? Where will the kids come from - just NZ or will we except Aussies as well? And if it is just kiwi lads, are there that many out there that are worth investing in realistically?
Its nice that they want to develop NZ football but the Nix is a football club not a national federation and the money that this will take could pay for a marquee player, some top quality facilities, computer analysis of matches, training camps, etc.
I'm not trying to be negative here, just raising some points I think need to be addressed with this idea...
My general opinion on it is that it will be very hard to do properly and has the potential to cost a lot of money for little result. If quality players are produced what incentive is there for them to stay in the A league? If we are lucky the club might be able to get a bit of cash for them but that's assuming they don't just wait till their contracts are up and leave on free transfers.
Even setting up an academy will be hard - what competition will they play in? How many extra coaching and admin staff will be needed? Will there need to be extra facilities for training? (I know Welnix are already looking at improving these anyway) Will they got to a local school and train in the afternoons/evenings or will it be a correspondence school deal? Where will the kids come from - just NZ or will we except Aussies as well? And if it is just kiwi lads, are there that many out there that are worth investing in realistically?
Its nice that they want to develop NZ football but the Nix is a football club not a national federation and the money that this will take could pay for a marquee player, some top quality facilities, computer analysis of matches, training camps, etc.
I'm not trying to be negative here, just raising some points I think need to be addressed with this idea...
People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.
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Or do it and create a self sustaining model like the Warriors so you don't need to pay big money for imports or Aussies......
Grumpy old bastard alert
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That would be nice... but the NRL is the best league competition in the world so young players don't have to leave the Warriors to progress their careers, while young footballers all want to go and play in Europe so hanging on to them would be much harder
People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.
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Granted but entry into Europe is not exactly the easiest thing to do or all of our better players would have done it by now. Economies of scale for the sports listed my friend.
Grumpy old bastard alert
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That's true.
And if there's an obvious path to pro-football in NZ we might see some more talented youngsters sticking around rather than going to join an academy at a random eurotrash club.
And if there's an obvious path to pro-football in NZ we might see some more talented youngsters sticking around rather than going to join an academy at a random eurotrash club.
People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.
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Discussed a bit here already:
http://www.yellowfever.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16003&KW
This is what I had to say:
http://www.yellowfever.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16003&KW
This is what I had to say:
Well, setting up a good development system is not cheap but could pay for itself if we are able to sell our most talented players.
Probably the biggest benefactor of this would be NZF/All Whites.
If over the long term the cost of the development system is less than player outgoings it would be a benefit to the Phoenix. Which I think would be a long way away as the reputation of HAL/NZ players is not that high.
It could also help the Phoenix be competitive in the HAL if there are a 'generation' of talented youth in the first team that doesn't reflect the salaries they are on, ie they are on/just above youth contracts due to experience but offer ability above their salaries, which gives us a competitive advantage over other teams.
In all honesty, I don't think a development system is that important for the short-medium term, a reserve team so players get games is what we need at most. Revenues are not high enough, there is a salary cap in the league and it is too risky relying on having to sell players.
Probably the biggest benefactor of this would be NZF/All Whites.
If over the long term the cost of the development system is less than player outgoings it would be a benefit to the Phoenix. Which I think would be a long way away as the reputation of HAL/NZ players is not that high.
It could also help the Phoenix be competitive in the HAL if there are a 'generation' of talented youth in the first team that doesn't reflect the salaries they are on, ie they are on/just above youth contracts due to experience but offer ability above their salaries, which gives us a competitive advantage over other teams.
In all honesty, I don't think a development system is that important for the short-medium term, a reserve team so players get games is what we need at most. Revenues are not high enough, there is a salary cap in the league and it is too risky relying on having to sell players.
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haha I think that was the first thread I posted on - funny, I thought it had been discussed somewhere else but I couldn't find it
What a noob
BarryZuckerkorn2011-11-18 14:22:17
What a noob
BarryZuckerkorn2011-11-18 14:22:17
People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.
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That would be nice... but the NRL is the best league competition in the world so young players don't have to leave the Warriors to progress their careers, while young footballers all want to go and play in Europe so hanging on to them would be much harder
But there's nothing wrong with a business model where you sign up this young talent early, and then sell them off when the Europeans come scouting.
Yellow Whever Whanganui
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Only a small handful have gone from the A-league to europe.
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If it is user pays - we do not have the talent with the money. If it is Nix funded do we have the numbers with the talent?
Supporter For Ever - Keep The Faith - Foundation Member - Never Lets FAX Get In The Way Of A Good Yarn
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That would be nice... but the NRL is the best league competition in the world so young players don't have to leave the Warriors to progress their careers, while young footballers all want to go and play in Europe so hanging on to them would be much harder
That's not what James Maloney thinks (apparently)... 
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