| It can be dressed up any way you want… 08:20 - May 19 with 1129 views | CopfordBlue |
…One step back to take two forward, we’re ahead of plan, the gap was always going to be too big, impossible for a newly promoted club to stay up nowadays etc and I’d probably agree with you. I’d also argue that McKenna remains the best young manager in the country and is the best thing to happen to our club for a generation but let’s be honest, this season has been a disaster. We’ll bounce back and learn from it but there’s no way that McKenna, the owners, directors, players or supporters envisaged a season this poor when there was such momentum and investment in the summer. Relegation isn’t a surprise, maybe it was almost inevitable but we’ve not even made a fight of it. |  |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:26 - May 19 with 1057 views | textbackup |
The only plus from this season, IMO, is the ground is PL ready.
IF we are to go up again in 2/3/4 years we have that in place, and the focus of the summer can be on quality signings. |  |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:34 - May 19 with 982 views | Churchman |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:26 - May 19 by textbackup |
The only plus from this season, IMO, is the ground is PL ready.
IF we are to go up again in 2/3/4 years we have that in place, and the focus of the summer can be on quality signings. |
The Ground PL ready? You’ve clearly not had the pleasure of reeling out of the bogs gasping for air behind the West Stand.
Actually, the biggest plus is understanding the scale of the challenge and what’s required to meet it. |  | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:36 - May 19 with 967 views | Herbivore |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:26 - May 19 by textbackup |
The only plus from this season, IMO, is the ground is PL ready.
IF we are to go up again in 2/3/4 years we have that in place, and the focus of the summer can be on quality signings. |
I wouldn't say it's the only plus, but that is a decent point. The scale of work that had to be done to get the facilities up to PL level was huge and would have taken up a lot of resource. Not having to do that next time will help. |  |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:44 - May 19 with 916 views | Churchman |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:36 - May 19 by Herbivore |
I wouldn't say it's the only plus, but that is a decent point. The scale of work that had to be done to get the facilities up to PL level was huge and would have taken up a lot of resource. Not having to do that next time will help. |
Having a training facility fit for purpose will be a bit of a help too - and hopefully a functioning Academy. | | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:24 - May 19 with 765 views | textbackup |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:34 - May 19 by Churchman |
The Ground PL ready? You’ve clearly not had the pleasure of reeling out of the bogs gasping for air behind the West Stand.
Actually, the biggest plus is understanding the scale of the challenge and what’s required to meet it. |
For the fans maybe, but our professional coaching team should have been aware of this challenge, surely? | |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:29 - May 19 with 749 views | Churchman |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:24 - May 19 by textbackup |
For the fans maybe, but our professional coaching team should have been aware of this challenge, surely? |
I’m sure they were, hence the attempt to revamp the team. The only question is what can they do better next time, if there is a next time.
I doubt anyone predicted the weakest of the established PL teams would be so strong, including Forest who were tipped to struggle.
Leicester and Saints had years in the PL and only one season out yet look what happened to them. | | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:33 - May 19 with 729 views | HighgateBlue |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:24 - May 19 by textbackup |
For the fans maybe, but our professional coaching team should have been aware of this challenge, surely? |
No, I think they use different bogs... |  | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:35 - May 19 with 721 views | Herbivore |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:24 - May 19 by textbackup |
For the fans maybe, but our professional coaching team should have been aware of this challenge, surely? |
Understanding the challenge and being able to overcome it are very different things. | |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:36 - May 19 with 713 views | TractorWood |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 08:44 - May 19 by Churchman |
Having a training facility fit for purpose will be a bit of a help too - and hopefully a functioning Academy. |
I'm not sure an academy is the best way bridge the quality gap given the ridiculous quality of the prem. Brentford abandoned theirs and seem to be doing better than fine? |  |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:48 - May 19 with 645 views | MattinLondon |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:36 - May 19 by TractorWood |
I'm not sure an academy is the best way bridge the quality gap given the ridiculous quality of the prem. Brentford abandoned theirs and seem to be doing better than fine? |
Brentford have a Category 2 Academy and are working towards Category 1. |  | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:53 - May 19 with 605 views | Sharkey |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:36 - May 19 by TractorWood |
I'm not sure an academy is the best way bridge the quality gap given the ridiculous quality of the prem. Brentford abandoned theirs and seem to be doing better than fine? |
The did abandon in it for a while, but they have one now. Not sure if this was their choice, or that PL rules insist they must have one. This season it seems to have had a lot of players who had previously been at other clubs' academies.
https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/academy-brentford-academy-scholars-2 |  | | |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 10:18 - May 19 with 532 views | TractorWood |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 09:48 - May 19 by MattinLondon |
Brentford have a Category 2 Academy and are working towards Category 1. |
Probably have the spare buntz now they are established. | |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 10:50 - May 19 with 455 views | LankHenners |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 10:18 - May 19 by TractorWood |
Probably have the spare buntz now they are established. |
They were forced to reopen the academy to comply with UEFA rules that would be imposed on them should they qualify for Europe, would probably still be without one otherwise.
As you say though, Brentford’s way of bridging the gap has very clearly not been through using an academy system. |  |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 12:05 - May 19 with 372 views | TractorWood |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 10:50 - May 19 by LankHenners |
They were forced to reopen the academy to comply with UEFA rules that would be imposed on them should they qualify for Europe, would probably still be without one otherwise.
As you say though, Brentford’s way of bridging the gap has very clearly not been through using an academy system. |
The beeb were praising Palace and Parrish for their investment in youth. London is clearly so competitive with Arsenal and specifically Chelsea hoovering up talent.
I guess our academy is likely to buy in internationals? Otherwise is the population big enough to ever produce a string of talent? | |
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| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 16:08 - May 19 with 132 views | LankHenners |
| It can be dressed up any way you want… on 12:05 - May 19 by TractorWood |
The beeb were praising Palace and Parrish for their investment in youth. London is clearly so competitive with Arsenal and specifically Chelsea hoovering up talent.
I guess our academy is likely to buy in internationals? Otherwise is the population big enough to ever produce a string of talent? |
Seems like we're starting to turn things around a bit in terms of academy recruitment i.e. trying to get the best of our own county's young talent through our system, getting in highly rated youngsters who have more obstacles in their way at other clubs (Boniface and Tudor Mendel, e.g.) etc.
Don't think the academy's done too badly over the past decade really despite the same level of (under-) investment as the rest of the club - several players have gone on to have careers in the football league.
Guess the issue now (in terms of integrating them into the first team) is that they need to be a lot better than they might have otherwise needed to have been if we were still a mid-table club. We also don't really have the luxury of chucking someone in who's maybe close to being near the right level and seeing how they cope. Over the next few years we want to be gunning for promotion or striving to avoid relegation so need the best players we have playing all the time. | |
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