Duncan Edwards

That's not what they did though, is it? They offered an investment opportunity to fund infrastructure development. Mutually beneficial and quite lucrative by all accounts, what's not to like?

Why is that relevant? You want external investment one minute and then when there is some you criticise it...🙄

Interesting. Makes me wonder why Keane was kicking off about the 90 minute rule when he was at Sunderland too. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find too many clubs that didn't have at least part of their catchment area in the sea, even those with a significant advantage of being situated in highly densely populated areas such as the North West and London. How many clubs managed to circumnavigate the rules like this? If this dispensation was available then it surely makes the rule pointless? I'll take your word on the Bristol centre being closed for financial reasons then although your assertion that it was less valuable than the Hertfordshire one because of other clubs circling is rather negated by your example of Southampton who with their Bath satellite would have been operating in exactly the same pool that we were. In terms of picking up players, the percentage call would be to be positioned close to a footballing hotbed, I suppose, London or the North West although, as you say, there will be increased competition for players, there will be more of them to compete over. I guess we would have to analyse how many top players from the West Country have come through at Southampton before we can really make a call on whether it was the wrong call. Definitely a shame to have missed out on Bale though. As for the catchment argument, you were on about Premier League standard players, Jordan Rhodes has never played there has he? And as his Dad was on the Ipswich books it's a bit harsh to criticise Norwich for not signing him. Connor Wickham has come up pretty short and been loaned back to the Championship. Upson did well for himself and Bent scored plenty of goals though I've no idea where he was born or lived as a kid; even if he was within the 90, you've rustled up a massive 3 names we missed out on in the 15-20 year period you're being critical of; that rather supports my point, doesn't it? Having looked at the Southampton-Bath thing, it seems it was regarded as cheating by some (Bristol City were vocal but then it's directly on their patch), I just can't for the life of me see if this was open to all why, Liverpool for example, wouldn't have placed a hub in London (I'm assuming they didn't). So, thanks for the info on the Bristol thing - as I've said, I've no idea as to the reasoning, I'd presumed it was due to the travel restrictions, but from what you've said that rule doesn't seem to have been a thing - I mean, surely if people saw Southampton doing this then everyone would have? Mad. So it seems that we could have had a more effective satellite centre AND we were massively hamstrung by the travel rule that wasn't really a rule. Still, I'm not really seeing any serious evidence of her defunding the academy, strategical restructure and then serious investment resulting in success seems to be the order of things, doesn't it?

I just wish we were them.

Now, you see, while there is little doubt that our production line certainly became juddery, was it to do with Delia Smith or was it due to the 90 minute rule (60 minutes for under 13s) that was introduced? All of a sudden we couldn't have satellite centres in the South West, whether you wanted it or not. I credit you with being aware of the ruling and being savvy enough to realise that travelling 90 minutes in the whole North-Eastern compass quarter (and beyond) from Norwich sees us scouting in the sea. You might blame Delia; I think that being positioned in a sparsely populated, rural area, 20 miles from the coast was probably more of an issue. Surely it isn't coincidence that since the rule was abolished in 2012 we've seen an upturn in player production? It couldn't be that this defunding and refunding was actually about getting the most value from investment? If she'd put a billion pounds into the academy before 2012 SpongeBob Squarepants was never going to be a Premier League footballer, nor Sebastien the Cromer Crab or bloody Nemo. Now the investment is entirely worthwhile and we are reaping it's rewards. Credit where it is due.

Cleared The Jarrold.

The only project as I understand it is to achieve self-sufficiency in order to enable Tom Smith, man of little means, to own the club. Succession planning, Delia and Michel are old. This will have to be achieved by achieving a steady stream of academy products to sell. That's why we have a Cat1 academy and have heavily invested on youth recruitment and revamped the coaching set up Only, I can't get excited by that as the fans have bailed out the club 4 times under Delia and it would only take a baron spell / a year with no Lewis/Cantwell breakthrough to cause a cash crisis and require a bail out again. This is nonsense. It assumes we'll cash in on all our assets every season, that shouldn't be necessary. In terms of progress on the pitch, they were pretty much happy with where we were at... 28th we were. Top 26 the target. We essentially accept our existing average level. Again, nonsense. Later in this post you'll confirm your clamour for a richer owner. I'm going to make an assumption that you'd prefer our target to be an "established" Premier League side. They'd like that too. They also realise that the term established is mythical for anyone but the elite. The only sides that have managed to add themselves to that list are Chelsea and Manchester City; you might argue Leicester but we'd have to disagree on that at this point. For everyone else in the division, relegation is a distinct possibility - see Villa's relegation. What Top 26 says is that we accept that relegation is a possibility and that should we suffer that, we're immediately in a position to challenge for promotion. I don't think it's particularly unambitious to target always being in the Premier League or challenging to be so; Top 26 is the bare minimum. If that's the project then it doesn't excite me, and other than refunding an academy that Delia defunded.... I don't see what's special or unusual about it. I note that it isn't particular ambitious. See above. Delia defunding the academy; hasn't done too bad in the interim. I mean, it's good that our academy will be more productive. Would prefer a wealthier owner being able to underwrite difficult periods to ensure we don't have to constantly tear sides apart and never progress on the footballing side rather than have to cash in on those assets or pass the begging bowl whenever we have a cashflow crisis. Of course it is good that the Academy is more productive, it needs to be because the cash-rich owner you want doesn't yet exist. So it needs to be. We need to produce valuable assets that can benefit us on the pitch, sustain our existence and fund the next generation too. As for passing the begging bowl, it always amuses me that folk feel somebody else should fund things to their satisfaction. The only reason that they have the shareholding that they do is because nobody else, the likes of us, bought the shares and so they had to. If we'd all dipped our hands in our pockets they might not seem like an immovable monolith and we'd have been able to sell our club to the first of these people that Delia is systematically slamming the door closed on. The project feels very much just feels like leaving Tom Smith with a decent footballing structure to give him a fighting chance after the handover. Isn't that sensible? As I've said, the cash-rich owner you want doesn't exist (yet), what they're doing is ensuring that when (if) they do materialise and rock up with their billions to fund our assault on the Champions League, that there is a club there for them to buy. Surely you can get behind that?

I predict, yes. 🙂

Come on, we're getting relegated, everyone is clueless. This guy is a one-legged short-**** that they've scouted on the basis that he won a FIFA20 tournament in Odense last Thursday.

5'5"

Morty and Til1010.

They all do in the end. 🤡

Tin hat on. https://duncanedwards8.wordpress.com/2020/07/05/the-foundations-have-crumbled/

Yeah, there’s been this thing going on in the world, the football transfer market will have to adjust like all others.

Ah, ok. Well, names matters little. You were a member then and you’re a member now.🤷‍♂️ Nice to have you around Juggy.

I seem to recall Le Juge being a member.

Anyone?

Tom’s Train Set

Are we at the stage where folk are posting pics of Farke as a clown yet? 🤡 Must be close, he’s already lost the dressing room, got no Plan B, isn’t picking the players that are seeing their abilities grow exponentially because they aren’t playing...is it a petition next?

No, it’s not TVB. As for the awards, I was always disappointed I didn’t get some recognition for breaking the Tom Smith/Galway Roast story. Oh well. 😔

Yeah, I wonder if they’ll look at that...🙄

We'll lose fairly comfortably I should imagine. This will be immediately followed by more calls for Farke and Webber and Delia and the Kit Man and the Window Cleaner and the Spinny-Screen Operator to all be sacked. It will be a damning indictment of our lack of ambition and then Brentford will be held up as a team showing the commitment to big-league football that we lack. It will also further highlight that we aren't Manchester City and that Delia's last name isn't Mansour; this will cause apoplectic rage. Cries of us not spending enough to survive will echo through the PinkUn while all the time remembering to moan about the membership fee and the price of season tickets; "..not OUR money, somebody else's money..." Wanting a bigger spend but not wanting to spend their own money to facilitate it, wanting a change in regime but not willing to do anything to try and force it. Boo. Everyone Out. But, you know, I hope we nick a 2-1 or something. Where we'll find two goals is anyone's guess, much like how we'll keep them down to one is too.

Yeah and we all worked 23 hours a day, got up before we'd gone to bed, only had coal to eat and having a day off sick was a hanging offence...

Improved massively since he ditched the gloves.

4071 days. To add context, a child born on the day that they last beat us will be starting High School in September. 🙂