Mr Grimsdale Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 7 minutes ago, StuartA said: Foundation now I think. I remember it used to be the club back in the first decade, the woman from Airdrie who was a Scotland international was the coach and it was quite successful IIRC. I'd personally prefer to see all the football be it women, kids, coaching etc brought under the club, but I that'll all take time under the rebuild. When we had the Academy the foundation had their Boys club teams. Surely that wouldn’t change? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainsfordbairn Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 15 minutes ago, Mr Grimsdale said: Who runs the Women’s team? The club or Foundation? Foundation. Club only run the first team and academy, which currently comprises U16s and U18s. The plan is to have a full academy again from season 25/26, as per a conversation I had with Tony Begg before the U16 game on Sunday morning. That will obviously cost a lot more money so presumably we'll have to be in at least the upper reaches of the Championship by then. I was told the figure but for obvious reasons I'm not going to post that here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainsfordbairn Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 11 minutes ago, StuartA said: I'd personally prefer to see all the football be it women, kids, coaching etc brought under the club, but I that'll all take time under the rebuild. As would I and many other people. The Foundation do good work, but in recent years they seem to be focussing on more charitable initiatives such as getting people into work, mental health etc. Nothing wrong with any of that but I've spoken to a lot of parents, coaches, volunteers and players who're extremely unhappy with the lack of support the football side gets now compared to how it used to be a few years back. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Grimsdale Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 2 minutes ago, Bainsfordbairn said: As would I and many other people. The Foundation do good work, but in recent years they seem to be focussing on more charitable initiatives such as getting people into work, mental health etc. Nothing wrong with any of that but I've spoken to a lot of parents, coaches, volunteers and players who're extremely unhappy with the lack of support the football side gets now compared to how it used to be a few years back. That is poor if true that. The only reason that organisation started was because of the football club. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroMoutinho Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 6 minutes ago, Bainsfordbairn said: Foundation. Club only run the first team and academy, which currently comprises U16s and U18s. The plan is to have a full academy again from season 25/26, as per a conversation I had with Tony Begg before the U16 game on Sunday morning. That will obviously cost a lot more money so presumably we'll have to be in at least the upper reaches of the Championship by then. I was told the figure but for obvious reasons I'm not going to post that here. In my view, the current board have taken exactly the right approach in reinstating the academy in a way that is sustainable and supports the first team, rather than takes resources away from it. A good example is ditching the plan to have a reserve team this season. Personally, I think resources should always be prioritised for the first team and I would have no hesitation in delaying the full academy relaunch if needed. Some of the sums I have heard discussed are simply not affordable or appropriate for a club of our size unless we were in the top 6 of the premier league. The current approach strikes the right balance for our current circumstances imo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkirkBairn2021 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) 3 hours ago, Dave McInally said: Sorry but none of that makes NI a bad place to live. We have issues like that in Scotland too with certain football clubs but would hope that would never put anyone off living here. Glasgow is a great city to live in too, as far as I’m concerned. Every country has its issues. Which is why that post was specifically about the disgusting club that is Linfield and their reptile knuckledragging bigot fans. Which you seems to have conveniently ignored. If you sign for a vile club like Linfield good luck going to the Supporters events. Better make sure you have access to the 'right' songbook. I'm sure there's some nice family clubs in Norn Iron that would be a pleasure to play for. Linfield ain't one of them. Edited January 31 by FalkirkBairn2021 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy1876 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Have just come across this when catching up on the EC statement. Anyone know what this is about? Absolutely horrendous if that's true! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartA Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 30 minutes ago, Mr Grimsdale said: When we had the Academy the foundation had their Boys club teams. Surely that wouldn’t change? No, doesn't need to. I admit I'm not au fait with exactly how boys' football runs. Ideally I'd like to see mass participation with good coaching for all, with the youngsters who show the most promise fast-tracked. Balance between getting as many kids as possible playing and enjoying football for its own sake, but also a broader pool of potential players for the club. I see the risk of creating unrealistic expectations too though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 22 minutes ago, FalkirkBairn2021 said: Which is why that post was specifically about the disgusting club that is Linfield and their reptile knuckledragging bigot fans. Which you seems to have conveniently ignored. If you sign for a vile club like Linfield good luck going to the Supporters events. Better make sure you have access to the 'right' songbook. I'm sure there's some nice family clubs in Norn Iron that would be a pleasure to play for. Linfield ain't one of them. Was just talking specifically to you suggesting NI wasn’t a good place to live. Get what you’re saying about the rest though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPM Again Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 24 minutes ago, Dave McInally said: Was just talking specifically to you suggesting NI wasn’t a good place to live. Get what you’re saying about the rest though. I remember doing business in the early 90’s in NI. I used to get a taxi driver to take me around clients as you just needed to be careful where you went to. I now regularly go to Dungannon to see a client and it is a lovely place to go - even though it seems to rain even more than Scotland. On top of that the people are lovely. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_bairn Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 35 minutes ago, BPM Again said: I remember doing business in the early 90’s in NI. I used to get a taxi driver to take me around clients as you just needed to be careful where you went to. I now regularly go to Dungannon to see a client and it is a lovely place to go - even though it seems to rain even more than Scotland. On top of that the people are lovely. Yes, I used to do work at PSNI around that time and was advised against getting a taxi at all! If you did, you got it to somewhere near the HQ rather than the place itself. In those days it was also common practice to share taxis with complete strangers. its a far better city now than it used to be and a lot safer still. However like any city in the world there are areas you prefer to avoid, particularly at night…., 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alonso Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, PedroMoutinho said: In my view, the current board have taken exactly the right approach in reinstating the academy in a way that is sustainable and supports the first team, rather than takes resources away from it. A good example is ditching the plan to have a reserve team this season. Personally, I think resources should always be prioritised for the first team and I would have no hesitation in delaying the full academy relaunch if needed. Some of the sums I have heard discussed are simply not affordable or appropriate for a club of our size unless we were in the top 6 of the premier league. The current approach strikes the right balance for our current circumstances imo. The problem is, an academy will be crucial to any aspirations we have to get back in the PL, so a financial balancing act will obviously be required but I disagree with any delays to relaunching it. We all want success ASAP but may be a bit of short term pain for long term gain required. See how quickly we fell from grace from the day it was scrapped, I know there was lots of other factors involved but surely one of the biggest issues was never having any young lads we could progress to build the team instead of simply rebuilding squads every year with a steady flow of shite. That could easily happen again without an academy! We're in a good place at the moment, throughout the club, but nowhere more so than in the stands, every year we have been in this tinpot league the fans have turned up in big numbers, I don't see that changing any time soon especially with the influx of young fans, there will never be a better time to get this kick started! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPM Again Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 2 minutes ago, roman_bairn said: Yes, I used to do work at PSNI around that time and was advised against getting a taxi at all! If you did, you got it to somewhere near the HQ rather than the place itself. In those days it was also common practice to share taxis with complete strangers. its a far better city now than it used to be and a lot safer still. However like any city in the world there are areas you prefer to avoid, particularly at night…., It was a mate of a mate who I used every time I went 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroMoutinho Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 12 minutes ago, alonso said: See how quickly we fell from grace from the day it was scrapped, I know there was lots of other factors involved but surely one of the biggest issues was never having any young lads we could progress to build the team instead of simply rebuilding squads every year with a steady flow of shite. That could easily happen again without an academy! I would say that was far more to do with continual terrible recruitment of players and managers than the decision to close the academy. No academy graduate had established themselves in the first team for a good number of years well before relegation was even contemplated (I would have to check but may even have been someone like Sibbald or Alston) so to suggest the loss of the academy was to blame is a stretch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ1981 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 47 minutes ago, Bainsfordbairn said: As would I and many other people. The Foundation do good work, but in recent years they seem to be focussing on more charitable initiatives such as getting people into work, mental health etc. Nothing wrong with any of that but I've spoken to a lot of parents, coaches, volunteers and players who're extremely unhappy with the lack of support the football side gets now compared to how it used to be a few years back. I've heard this from others and agree it's the majority view. I work in the third sector and you need a management structure with experience and knowledge to develop lead and support the programmes. Apart from a handful of staff and volunteers, working with limited resources, the foundation, from the ceo upwards, don't have the necessary knowledge or sporting experience. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie Perrin Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) 2 hours ago, BPM Again said: I remember doing business in the early 90’s in NI. I used to get a taxi driver to take me around clients as you just needed to be careful where you went to. I now regularly go to Dungannon to see a client and it is a lovely place to go - even though it seems to rain even more than Scotland. On top of that the people are lovely. I used to do a lot of business over there both during and after “the Troubles”. People were extremely friendly and genuine, much more so than the vastly overrated Dublin where they will be your best friend if they are taking money off you but don’t want to know you if you are trying to sell to them. Belfast could be a wee bit intimidating if you didn’t have a grasp of the geography and political/religious divide, for example the Falls and Shankhill Roads are very close but a world apart. Took a few wrong turns and ended up in some interesting areas, one unintended visit to Short Strand in the early 90’s was like 10 minutes in Stalingrad! Visiting Belfast in a couple of weeks for a wee anniversary break before driving down to Spanish Point in the Republic for our son’s wedding. All in all a good city. Edited January 31 by Reggie Perrin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvio Tattiescone Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 My first visit to Belfast I was calling on a customer at her shop and she regaled me with all the bombings, fire-bombings, shootings, stabbings and beatings that had taken place within sight of her front window. Quite gory and sounded like it was a really rough area. Got back in the car and put the address in for my hotel and the sat-nav said "Your destination is 50 yards on the right". Gulp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alonso Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, PedroMoutinho said: I would say that was far more to do with continual terrible recruitment of players and managers than the decision to close the academy. No academy graduate had established themselves in the first team for a good number of years well before relegation was even contemplated (I would have to check but may even have been someone like Sibbald or Alston) so to suggest the loss of the academy was to blame is a stretch. Nobody is denying the terrible recruitment but I still believe the closing of the academy was more than a coincidence. No idea of the stats around academy players making the grade but I'm sure over the last 4 or 5 years we would have established enough that would have prevented us going out and signing some of the duds we consequently did and im sure we would have been all the better for it on the park. I do recall a mate of mine who was friendly with somebody within the set up saying we had one of the best crop of young players he had seen.... who all got released. It's all hindsight now of course and been covered on here loads of times so no point in getting it all going again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroMoutinho Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 13 minutes ago, alonso said: I do recall a mate of mine who was friendly with somebody within the set up saying we had one of the best crop of young players he had seen.... who all got released. Similar claims were made a number of times by those involved in the previous set-up. I’m sure it was claimed at one point that Kevin O’Hara was going to be a superstar. Unfortunately very few of those released at the time have gone on to become great first team players at any level (accepting that those in younger age groups are not at that stage yet). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartA Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 5 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said: Similar claims were made a number of times by those involved in the previous set-up. I’m sure it was claimed at one point that Kevin O’Hara was going to be a superstar. Unfortunately very few of those released at the time have gone on to become great first team players at any level (accepting that those in younger age groups are not at that stage yet). I suppose there’ll always be peaks and troughs, but as well as providing first team players the Academy also brought an increasingly steady income. I was sometime equivocal about selling players to Swansea for £150k that fans had barely seen, but net/net we did well out of it. I also wonder if keeping the Academy would have given the earlier League 1 squads a bit more resilience. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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