The Prisoner I am actually getting quite worried now. 6.5m for Doyle, 3m for Hunt, 1.5 or whatever sell on for Cox, now 2.8 - 3m for Bikey and whatever we get for Harper (2m?). Thats the best part of 16m raised and just 2m spent. No experience left (Ingi?) and no goal threat.
Bikey was a loon, but at this level is a star.
Somebody cheer me up?
The club has a long-term plan it is working to.
It has generated a crop of young players who, although lacking experience, have shown great talent, and received rave reviews, during a variety of loan assignments.
It has now recruited a manager who, of all the young coaches in the country, has possibly the best reputation for working with young inexperienced players, evidenced by the rave reviews and great reputation he quickly established at Chelsea.
The club knows it cannot compete by spending big sums on transfer fees so it has decided to give youth its chance and see what happens. By doing this it will save considerable amounts of money against many of the other clubs it is competing with - if it doesn't work, then fine, it will spend a bit on more experienced players, both as loanees and permanent signings later in the season.
It feels that the future of a small club like ours, which does not have a billionaire benefactor, is all about its Academy; but if that is to truly succeed, it has to gain a reputation as a hotbed for the 2nd tier of British talent (those will not get given lucrative contracts by the Big 5 clubs on their 16th birthday) and the only way to achieve that reputation is to give the ones we've got at the moment a chance by playing them. Some experienced heads are needed but not so many that the progress and development of the young players is compromised / blocked as the whole plan would fall apart before it's given a chance. There's a balance to strike as it were, and you can be sure that the Chairman and Manager understand that, but the proper balance may not be acheived until later in the season.
It may not work perfectly, it has its risks, but to my mind it is a plan that has far more going for it than against. The club needs some balls and faith in all concerned to see it through - the supporters need to do their bit by getting and staying behind the team rather than whinging after 2 games, which is, frankly, pathetic.
Well, that's my take on it - cheered up a bit?