'B' teams in the Football League

[ben-nufc]

How far will this go? Will the likes of Port Vale have a B team?

[Dave]

How far will this go? Will the likes of Port Vale have a B team?

 

Of course not, it only benefits the Premier League clubs. As usual.

[Belfast Boy]

Is the idea to have 10 B teams? I take it thats the top ten from the previous season or is it just the richest 10 and stick with them every season? What happens if say Southampton B finish in a promotion place but Southampton get relegated?

[Stifler]

Personally I'd like a 3rd League, make it easier for conference teams to get into the league system with 3-4 promotion slots, more full time professional clubs etc. However I don't want B teams.

 

I think the focus should be on limiting the amount of players a team can loan out, get tough on clubs hoarding the talented players and letting them rot.

 

We should also encourage the growth of our lower leagues and non league teams. Premiership games should all KO at the same time, lower league and non leagues should KO at different times meaning you could possibly have football day or weekend. Make it possible for you to go to a non-league match, then a lower league match, and then go to/watch a Premiership match.

 

Playing League 1 - Conference football is going to be no benefit to our younger players when they can and already are being loaned out to clubs in the Premiership/Championship.

 

One person on talk sport had it spot on earlier, he said bring back reserve team football, make it the same fixtures as those in senior squad, have the matches held at the same stadium either the day before the senior fixture or just before the senior fixture and make it free entry with ever match ticket bought. That way you will tempt more fans going, more people will take an interest in the wider squad.

[Shearer9]

Is the idea to have 10 B teams? I take it thats the top ten from the previous season or is it just the richest 10 and stick with them every season? What happens if say Southampton B finish in a promotion place but Southampton get relegated?

I think they have already said that Southampton B would be relegated in this situation.

[oldtype]

Given how deep grassroot support for low-level football clubs goes in England this is probably a horrible idea that devalues the most attractive aspect of English football.

 

Then again, you do have to consider alternatives for allowing young players to get more match experience because at the moment the system just isn't working. Top clubs horde players they have no intention of using, those players don't get the necessary experience and eventually fail to meet their potential.

 

I think a better idea may be to allow for formal parent/feeder agreements between Premiership clubs for all clubs League 1 and below.

 

Implementation of a minimum age at which youth players can be sold to anther club could also force players to get more experience at their original club before moving.

[basjen]

It must not happen. My Norwegian team is in the 3rd tier, with a couple of B-teams in our division. If there is a cup round and the A-team is not in it anymore you could risk meeting a team way better than what they really are. They also tend to use better players towards the end of the season to make sure that they don't get relegated.

 

It's good for the good teams, but horrible for the smaller ones.

[Ste]

The rich clubs will benefit no matter what the rules. Those 'in charge' of the game have cared little for the lower leagues for decades now.

[The College Dropout]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

[sempuki]

Finally Hatem will get some match practice.

Benched for Gozza.

[NG32]

Another stupid pandering to the big clubs rule.

 

Why dont they actually look into the issue of the "big" clubs hoovering up all the talent. 

 

 

[The College Dropout]

Another stupid pandering to the big clubs rule.

 

Why dont they actually look into the issue of the "big" clubs hoovering up all the talent. 

 

 

 

I don't get this argument.

 

By the "big" clubs who are we talking about? Chelsea sign players that are too good for League 1 anyway. You look at someone like Aaron Ramsey, he's never played below Championship level.

 

This is better for the "maybe" lads. Sammy Ameobi's, Ferguson's et al

[Heake]

Jazz up the current U21 / reserve league (Call it the reserve premier league etc.)...Sell the TV rights, market it as a "cult" / hard core fan attraction & bobs your uncle IMO.

 

Hey, each club could even market a third / fourth "reserve" strip for each occasion.

 

Everyones a winner!

 

[The College Dropout]

I believe all the money at stake, even in the lower leagues is hurting the quality of player we produce. I read a piece about Croatian football. Even in the highest divisions, quality of football is as important as results fro clubs. The clubs will never make a lot of money through league places or finishing high. Instead, the focus is on producing good footballers they can sell for a lot of money.

 

In our lower divisions, the quality of football is not an issue at all.

[LucaAltieri]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

 

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard.

 

This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players.

 

My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again.

 

My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar.

 

At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

[Disco]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

 

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard.

 

This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players.

 

My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again.

 

My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar.

 

At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

 

So, to cut a long story short, Arsenal's coaches training under 16s are shit?

[Carlito]

Terrible idea. I'd rather see them increase the number of minimum home-grown players in the starting line-up like they do abroad.

[LucaAltieri]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

 

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard.

 

This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players.

 

My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again.

 

My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar.

 

At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

 

So, to cut a long story short, Arsenal's coaches training under 16s are shit?

 

Not just Arsenal. The vast majority of them.

[Disco]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

 

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard.

 

This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players.

 

My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again.

 

My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar.

 

At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

 

So, to cut a long story short, Arsenal's coaches training under 16s are shit?

 

Not just Arsenal. The vast majority of them.

 

So if Wenger knows this (which he apparently does) why isn't he doing owt?

[LucaAltieri]

Interesting quotes from Wenger.

 

He said British youngsters don't practice enough from 7 - 16 because they are always playing "competitive" games. Then from 17 - 23 they don't play enough

 

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard.

 

This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players.

 

My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again.

 

My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar.

 

At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

 

So, to cut a long story short, Arsenal's coaches training under 16s are shit?

 

Not just Arsenal. The vast majority of them.

 

So if Wenger knows this (which he apparently does) why isn't he doing owt?

 

Changes are coming. Up until now it has just been easier to buy foreign. But there's a constant conversation among coaches about how to improve the situation. The problem is that it's expensive and time consuming to retrain the thousands of grassroots coaches to do it properly. The result has been for academies to start recruiting younger and younger so they control the coaching and development of players as early as possible. That has it's own issues. How do you identify which 7 year old is a better player? For the most part, at that age, the "best" players are the biggest, strongest, fastest players. How do you identify a good attitude towards training? How do you identify which players will have an aptitude for positioning and general football intelligence when you haven't even started coaching tactics at that age? It's all technique (or supposed to be).

 

The current system doesn't work and there's been a slow realization that we are eventually going to have to bite the bullet and just do it the hard way.

[Guest zicomartin]

Isnt Lukaku homegrown this coming season? The rich clubs will just find another way around it, as usual.

[Tooj]

I don't like Steve Claridge but he absolutely tore Danny Mills a new one on 5 live last night over this.

[Tooj]

If you want to improve the number of coaches in this country I think there needs to be an overhaul of the wages paid out for coaches. I've seen lots of coaching jobs advertised in the past but the wages are an utter pittance that you would struggle to make a living on.

[LucaAltieri]

If you want to improve the number of coaches in this country I think there needs to be an overhaul of the wages paid out for coaches. I've seen lots of coaching jobs advertised in the past but the wages are an utter pittance that you would struggle to make a living on.

 

Agreed.

[Disco]

If you want to improve the number of coaches in this country I think there needs to be an overhaul of the wages paid out for coaches. I've seen lots of coaching jobs advertised in the past but the wages are an utter pittance that you would struggle to make a living on.

 

Not too mention

 

The basic FA Level 1 course is £150, while Level 2 rises to £340. Then comes a steep increase. The standard cost of a UEFA "B" License -- a prerequisite to work at a professional club's academy -- is £990, and it can cost as much as £2,450. In Germany, the cost is €430; in Spain it is €1,100. For the UEFA "A" License, an English coach could pay a maximum of £5,820 -- but in Germany it is €530 and in Spain €1,200. Being a member of the FA's Licensed Coaches' Club (free to join for anyone with a basic Level 1 qualification) brings the cost down by 25 percent but the prices are significantly higher than on the continent and unquestionably difficult for the average person to afford, unless sponsored by a club.