Mrs Barista wrote:
Interesting to hear Ralph Rimmer tonight on the length of time the process has been underway (3 years) and seems that the primary aim is quality of academies rather than quantity of participants. And that currently academies aren't delivering high enough quality so can't continue to just do what's historically as a mandatory been done. I guess time will tell whether the decisions will deliver.
I think it would possibly be a fair shout to say the number of talented young players coming through on the whole had been in a steady decline for a few years now. So in some ways I can see the logic in trying to actually make a change in terms of focusing more intently on smaller groups to then see a greater number make it as opposed to diluting the groups and seeing less make it
I’m not sure the lack of academies for a period helped or the farcical set up when AP invested heavily in the last reincarnation of the Academy only to see the fixtures become a lottery as to whether there would be an opposing team to play each week.
I still think it’s imperative that all SL clubs should have a proper Acadamy set up and it should be mandatory. Too many clubs for too long have neglected that part of the game due to cost saving or wanting to use that money for the first team.
I think the Elite Licensing may yet prove to be a good thing but hope they have a review period in 2 or 3 years to see the impact good and bad on the game. Ones things for sure and that is it’s a very emotive subject.