29-09-2021, 09:00 PM
How many on here wish we had remained owned by the PST?
I joined the Trust, voted against selling out, attended PST meetings all over the country, spent hundreds of hours discussing all things Pompey with some of the Trust Board and was at the meeting at the Guildhall.
Though Mark Catlin was an excellent administrator, I believe his head was turned by a promise of a promotion by the Tornante Group. Some of the financial stuff leaked the week before the vote was embarrassing...... e.g. comments about zero 'fortune income' from Cup revenues, transfer sales etc were simply ridiculous. I recall challenging Micah Hall (who I respect for his efforts in the darkest days in our history) about these assumptions but never received a straight answer. The following years have fully justified my comments about just how much 'fortune income' we have generated - player sales, FA Cup runs, EFL Trophy finals etc. This income would have covered the stadium health and safety costs and left some money for a transfer kitty.
Even allowing for the disruption from the pandemic, a fans-owned club would have had access to so much more emotional goodwill than a bog-standard plaything controlled by rich owners. Exceptional circumstances would have generated exceptional solutions whatever they may have been. A PST-owned club would have managed despite all the challenges.
Am sure most Pompey fans want to watch local players wear the royal blue shirt. However, the issue I struggle to work out is the best approach to take to develop youth team players while creating the right environment to maximise their potential. Take Chelsea as an extreme example - poaching young prospects from all over the South from age 6 (e.g. Mason Mount) - they must have hundreds, possibly thousands of youngsters on their radar.
Yet, how many of these Chelsea youngsters started tonight's so called 'Champions League' match away to Juventus?
Zero - in fact they had no British players in that starting line-up!!
Brentford have thrived using a buy cheap, sell high model which could make academies worthless. So, maybe we should have instigated an innovative approach to develop our academy?
Turning the clock back to the pre-Eisner days, I'd have been happy for a unique attitude to recruitment .... by Football league standards......... that still applies and works for a handful of clubs in the Basque Country:
Only sign players who are local!
This would mean PO postcode plus an extension northwards into Jimmy Dickinson territory (a few GU postcodes). Could also apply the Jack Charlton Irish trick to include anyone from the Pompey diaspora whose parents or grandparents are PO born and bred!
A lengthy post, but why not?
I joined the Trust, voted against selling out, attended PST meetings all over the country, spent hundreds of hours discussing all things Pompey with some of the Trust Board and was at the meeting at the Guildhall.
Though Mark Catlin was an excellent administrator, I believe his head was turned by a promise of a promotion by the Tornante Group. Some of the financial stuff leaked the week before the vote was embarrassing...... e.g. comments about zero 'fortune income' from Cup revenues, transfer sales etc were simply ridiculous. I recall challenging Micah Hall (who I respect for his efforts in the darkest days in our history) about these assumptions but never received a straight answer. The following years have fully justified my comments about just how much 'fortune income' we have generated - player sales, FA Cup runs, EFL Trophy finals etc. This income would have covered the stadium health and safety costs and left some money for a transfer kitty.
Even allowing for the disruption from the pandemic, a fans-owned club would have had access to so much more emotional goodwill than a bog-standard plaything controlled by rich owners. Exceptional circumstances would have generated exceptional solutions whatever they may have been. A PST-owned club would have managed despite all the challenges.
Am sure most Pompey fans want to watch local players wear the royal blue shirt. However, the issue I struggle to work out is the best approach to take to develop youth team players while creating the right environment to maximise their potential. Take Chelsea as an extreme example - poaching young prospects from all over the South from age 6 (e.g. Mason Mount) - they must have hundreds, possibly thousands of youngsters on their radar.
Yet, how many of these Chelsea youngsters started tonight's so called 'Champions League' match away to Juventus?
Zero - in fact they had no British players in that starting line-up!!
Brentford have thrived using a buy cheap, sell high model which could make academies worthless. So, maybe we should have instigated an innovative approach to develop our academy?
Turning the clock back to the pre-Eisner days, I'd have been happy for a unique attitude to recruitment .... by Football league standards......... that still applies and works for a handful of clubs in the Basque Country:
Only sign players who are local!
This would mean PO postcode plus an extension northwards into Jimmy Dickinson territory (a few GU postcodes). Could also apply the Jack Charlton Irish trick to include anyone from the Pompey diaspora whose parents or grandparents are PO born and bred!
A lengthy post, but why not?