Designed to keep the money rolling in : Tottenham Academy modelling was flawed - is our view
CowSpurs tears into the Levy modelling
I’d argue to the hilt that academy football isn’t about producing first team players, but it is designed to keep the money rolling in. A club would be naive to suggest that they can continually produce first-team footballers, but give the academy lads a game here, a game there and their sell-on value increases.
The successful academies are great exponents of that. And don’t be fooled that the coaches in these clubs are better than the ones at smaller clubs. Private schools don’t have better teachers; they just have a better standard of kid with which to work.
What is an academy product these days anyway? Are we seriously counting Will Lankshear as a product of Spurs’ academy? Someone bought from another academy is simply good business acumen. Successful academies flex their financial muscle and trophy-laden clout on parents, and the guilt hits these poor parents like a bolt of lightning.
The likes of Rochdale, Oldham and Stockport don’t stand a chance if Man Utd or City come knocking. It’s what makes football unfair. Keegan wouldn’t have been with Scunthorpe for so long if he was going through today’s system. He’d have been snapped up aged 8 by a much bigger club!
The misnomer is that top-class players come from the top academies. Every small town club has top players, but they are absorbed into much bigger clubs very easily, well before they turn professional. We don’t attract the top talent around London because Arsenal and Chelsea are above us in the pecking order. We are far more attractive than most, but it isn’t surprising we lose out to Chelsea and Arsenal.
We haven’t been in an FA Youth Cup final since 1995; the other 2 have been in 14 finals between them. West Ham have been in 3 finals since ‘95 too.
Spurs have to improve their ability to get better players in and then keep hold of them. Losing the likes of Madueke to PSV should not be happening if we are keeping our house in order.
If Spurs can utilise the loan system to maximise profits, so be it, but we definitely need to do something to change because whatever has happened in the last 20-30 years has been abysmal.