Spurs v Wimbledon Match Thread

freeeki said:

Sorry if it's already been asked but where the hell are the TV highlights for this?

Sky have nothing, BBC have nothing, and BT have a 33 second video only showing two of our goals

Click to expand...

Ionman34 said:

There are a multitude of factors that you are not taking into account when evaluating the worth of an academy.
The first has already been addressed, producing players that, whilst they may not make an impact on our own first team, are sold on for reasonable to excellent returns. Just off the top of my head we’ve had Caulker, Livermore, Bentaleb, Mason, Pritchard all go for a number of million apiece. Conservatively £50 million in total?
Secondly, the production of a World class star has a number of benefits, a) we don’t shell out multi millions to gain their skills, b) they bring in a following and revenue worth millions, c) they enable you to progress further, increasing the opportunities for higher league placing, European progression etc, all adding to the revenue pot and d) if you eventually sell you get top market value for an asset without having to offset against any initial outlay. This in itself would likely pay for the academy for decades.
Thirdly, the quality of the academy increases the likelihood of attracting the cream of young talent. The better the talent, the greater the chance of producing the “Worldies” at better than once a decade. As already stated, few do this in our country, which is why the Class of ‘92 stands out so much, it is the exception rather than the rule. A top class academy increases the chances of finding that type of talent more regularly, Ajax are proof of this and top talent know this. They’re like a finishing school with the talent knowing that they’ll get farmed out to a heavyweight. However, if the heavyweight has a comparable academy, there’s every reason for them to believe they’ll make it there without the farming out. At worst they’ll know they’ll get the kind of training needed to make it in a top league, if not at an elite club.

There are many other factors, but I’ll end by addressing your last point. The academy at its worst is a money spinner. Even if we don’t produce our own “Worldies,” if it produces say a half dozen journeymen every 1-5 years, each going at 10 to 15 million apiece, this generates £60 to £100 million in funds that can be invested in that “ “Worldie.” This alone makes the academy viable. Economically it is a wiser investment of the initial outlay than on a single player who likely will depreciate in value over a few years. Think about it, if the academy produces journeymen that realise say £15-20 million a year and the odd “Worldie,” this is money that can then be used to augment the squad with other “Worldies” and allow competitive wages. It’s another revenue stream that, if successfully managed, is worth far more than the outlay and upkeep.

Click to expand...

IGSpur said:

I think it has operated on a profit from the academy players brought through pre Poch, and we should be doing that more and I believe it can whereas you don't.

By due I mean World/Top class players come round every now and then. We had Hoddle, then we had Campbell then we had King, so clearly as things were before we were due to produce another, I don't think it require the complete restructuring of the academy. We could have just left things the way they were and it wouldn't have made a difference is my point. We've always produced the Carrs, the Barmbys, Marneys, who will make us money, like I said the point in an investment is to be an improvement on what we did before.

I think it should be better used you don't fair enough. I don't know why you think I'm lashing out and can't have a debate without trying to make someone look stupid. It only started because I dared to suggest that putting an academy player on the bench doesn't mean you're not taking a game seriously. It finished and a few hours later you tagged me in a joke, I made a joke back, you got sensitive/defensive and we're here now.



Honestly, I don't have the figures to hand and cba to research on a Sunday evening. Don't get me wrong I don't think it costs much where it will be detrimental at all. My point was, we seem to be producing players at the same rate as we've always produced players. We're not doing any better than we were pre the restructure, bar the period of time when Redknapp gave a load a chance through the Europa League. I know that the running costs under the EPPP cost more than they did before the restructure and there are certain rules in place. So if money is so tight, we could have used that money to contribute towards better wages or something. Gb160 says we should only produce a player once or twice a decade, we were already doing that, so don't fix what's not broken and use the money more wisely.

FWIW I believe that the academy is doing what it is meant to do which is produce more top quality players that can play in the first team and be sold on for profit but if Poch an the fans don't, I'm just saying we didn't need to go through the whole restructure

Click to expand...

Gb160 said:

Mate it wasn't my intention to try and make you look stupid, apologies if that how I came across, I'd be very interested to see how much we spend on it compared to how much it brings in.
I bet Levy will be rubbing his little hands together after the Neymar transfer seemed to double everyone's value overnight, as the overheads for the academy won't increase, but all of a sudden the finished product is now selling for double what it was 12 months ago.

Click to expand...

easley91 said:

This Brereton lad looks quality for an 18 year old. Bossing Mertesacker.

Click to expand...

werty said:

Really wish they would use the camera angle they were using on MOTD for all the games.

Click to expand...

IGSpur said:

We started reaping the benefits when Redknapp and Sherwood were here and now we've stopped.

Click to expand...

Archibald&Crooks said:

I might be repeating myself because I can't remember if I posted it or not but last season Pochettino gave five academy players their first team debuts in various comps and has given nine academy players their first team debuts since being at the club.

You'll have to google it I'm afraid, I can't remember for sure where I read it but I think the five players last season thing was on the OS

Click to expand...

ClonedFromSandrosBeard said:

The obvious rebuttal to that is mourinho, who has given lots of debuts to youth players but many of those players went on to make very little appearances for the teams he managed.

(mobile link)

Amos, Harrison and Georgiou this year seem to be those kinds of debuts where they mean sweet F A to the team or the player in the grand scheme. They do however allow Poch to say 'look I gave 4 academy players their debut this year.'

Click to expand...

IGSpur said:

Look you're preaching to the choir. I know the benefits of the academy. The players you mentioned that we brought through, is the point. We produced those all before who have raised us money and we have even more better players coming through. However, if none of these players are deemed good enough, and aren't being given chances, then they're not going to raise us money. So we are under using it. We started reaping the benefits when Redknapp and Sherwood were here and now we've stopped.

Click to expand...

Archibald&Crooks said:

Comparing Pochettino's record with academy players against Mourinho's is obvious?

Click to expand...

IGSpur said:

We're not bringing in much now, but its generally a low amount but it will be more than what it cost to run previously. But like I said we're not producing anymore players now than we were pre revamp, and if people believe that we are not producing more, like it was intended, then it was unnecessary. History suggests we produce 1 star per decade and other players here and there which would make us money. I'm sure Levy dreamed of it doing better than it is currently

Click to expand...

Tyler24durden said:

Seeing as we don’t have a young striker in our ranks, Ben Brereton looks a real talent.

Click to expand...