The Southampton Way

[BILLY]

Don't think this has been posted yet?

 

Nice article in The Telegraph - "The Southampton Way".

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/9201250/Southampton-using-Barcelona-as-template-for-success-as-they-stand-on-the-cusp-of-Premier-League-return.html

[Tamesaint]

Love it.

[Legod Third Coming]

Great article.

 

Some fans have been critical this season of our style not working.

 

Truth is, it has worked in nealy 60% of games. That is incredible. And as this article shows, has us as the third most successful team behind the top TWO in the PREMIERSHIP!!

 

You cannot win anything without the ball. And losing the odd game but winning the war of possession is how Barcelone have become the best football team in the world.

 

You can't find a better model.

[trousers]

Yet venture down the main road through the village, take a right at the crossroads and just before a farm is the entrance to one of the most vibrant and ambitious football training centres in the world.

 

Behind two huge red gates is a sign that boldly reads, “The Southampton Way”.

 

The definition of this Southampton Way is also supplied: “The best in class both on and off the field of play.”

 

The design and future development of Southampton’s training ground has been influenced by studying centres of excellence across all walks of life including dance and music as well as Barcelona’s legendary La Masia academy.

 

The immediate focus might be Friday night’s match against Reading, involving the top two teams in the Championship, and the knowledge that victory could come close to sealing promotion back to the Premier League.

 

Yet the wider message is constantly long term.

 

After a sequence of 27 years of consecutive top-flight football was ended in 2005, the aim is to re-establish Southampton’s among English football’s elite for a generation.

 

Greeting me at the gates is Nicola Cortese, the club’s executive chairman.

 

Since assuming total day-to-day charge of the club following the late Markus Liebherr’s takeover in 2009, Cortese has frequently described Southampton as “his baby”.

 

His style is direct and forthright but there can be no doubting his impact.

 

Upon arriving at Southampton less than three years ago, eyebrows were instantly raised when Cortese publicly outlined a five-year plan that would take Southampton from the abyss of administration and a 10-point deduction at the bottom of League One to the Premier League.

 

It all seemed unrealistically ambitious but the club now stand on the brink of back-to-back promotions and achieving his target two years early.

 

There is not even the slightest sense that Cortese is surprised by the club’s progress.

 

“I’m used to delivering a bit more than I promise,” he says. “Yes, promotion would put as ahead of the plan but being ahead of a plan is never an issue, being behind a plan is an issue.

 

“We planned ahead. Everything we have been doing is Premier League standard.

 

"The whole operation behind is Premier League already.

 

"There will be lots of side-affects that will be different and we are prepared for that, whether that is this year, next year or the year after.”

 

Yet having led the Championship for so much of the season, great care is taken to ensure that everyone remains grounded as this final moment of truth arrives.

 

“No one wants to get ahead of themselves so why should I get ahead of myself?” says Cortese.

 

“The season so far has been a great season but that’s it. We haven’t achieved anything else. At the end, we will be where we are.”

 

Over the next hour spent speaking to key figures at the training ground, there is the clear sense of a club working productively at two levels.

 

There is the here and now, and an obvious expectation to succeed but also a very clearly defined vision for the future.

 

That is being underpinned by an investment of £15 million in new training facilities and, significantly, the Liebherr family have just transferred a debt of £33 million into share equity.

 

The ‘here and now’ department is obviously the first team, led superbly by Nigel Adkins who, over the past two seasons, is rated behind only Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini in the League Managers Association index which weights performance across all four divisions.

 

Southampton have risen 45 places up the Football League pyramid since his appointment 19 months ago.

 

Adkins’ on-field spearhead is clearly Rickie Lambert, who is the Championship’s leading scorer with 26 goals.

 

Yet speak to fans who watch Southampton regularly and they will tell you that Adam Lallana is the player who really makes the team tick.

 

Lallana has been with Southampton since the age of 11, graduating in the same academy year as Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, and uniquely well placed to assess the recent roller coaster.

 

“With where we were, starting the season minus 10 points in League One, to have a chance of getting promoted to the Premier League is just phenomenal,” he says.

 

“We are on the brink of something very special.

 

"The minus 10 points was the low point but the club was still a big club – I knew that, I knew I didn’t want to move on.”

 

And the key to their improvement?

 

“Momentum, we got used to winning last year,” he says.

 

“Secretly everyone knew we could do well in this year. We were really happy coming into the league as underdogs because we knew teams would underestimate us.

 

“We started the season on fire and we were just shocking teams.

 

"There’s no weakness in the side, technically, mentally or physically.

 

"We’ve not got many players with Premier League experience but we have got players who are desperate for the experience. It will be remarkable.”

 

Constructing the core of the team around home-grown players such as Lallana is Southampton’s ultimate aim.

 

Les Reed, the former FA technical director who is overseeing the development of the academy, explains that the ‘Southampton Way’ is being implemented not from top to bottom but from “bottom to top”, starting with the under-eights.

 

“We want to win matches by keeping the ball on the ground and therefore we have to develop players who can do that,” says Reed.

 

“The parents understand it, they enjoy it, they want their kids to be playing a good style of football.”

 

But can it work in the Premier League?

“The moment you are in the Premiership you have got to be sustainable,” says Cortese.

 

“The academy is very important to become a sustainable business. We would want to see a starting XI in the Premier League that is fed from our youth development.

 

“We have got examples. The Champions League title of Barcelona in 2009.

 

"At the beginning of the game they had seven players from their academy.

 

"At the end of the game they had eight. It’s hard to quantify, but we definitely believe we can achieve that as well.”

 

However admirable, there is a temptation to think it all sounds rather fanciful.

 

But then you consider the examples of Norwich or Swansea and, above all, what Southampton have been achieving over the past three years.

 

It has also been delivered in style, by playing expansive and entertaining football.

 

In short, it is being done The Southampton Way.

 

As my kids would say... "Awesome!"

Edited 13 April, 2012 by trousers

[thorpie the sinner]

As my kids would say... "Awesome!"

 

What the article or the fact that you managed to cut and paste the whole thing lol???? I would have struggled and my kids know it ha!!! Great article though!

[itchen_dan]

Brilliant article in The Telegraph talking about us using Barcelona as a model for success with a few interviews with Cortese, Lallana and Reed thrown in. It is a good read if anyone has the time.

 

Yet venture down the main road through the village, take a right at the crossroads and just before a farm is the entrance to one of the most vibrant and ambitious football training centres in the world.

 

Behind two huge red gates is a sign that boldly reads, “The Southampton Way”.

 

The definition of this Southampton Way is also supplied: “The best in class both on and off the field of play.”

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/9201250/Southampton-using-Barcelona-as-template-for-success-as-they-stand-on-the-cusp-of-Premier-League-return.html?

[Avenue Saint]

Brilliant.

[itchen_dan]

Sh1t. Too slow. I blame it on the iPad! Feel free to merge/close.

[Toadhall Saint]

Good stuff. 3 points tonight to help us on our way would be good!

[Gingeletiss]

Don't think this has been posted yet?

 

Nice article in The Telegraph - "The Southampton Way".

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/9201250/Southampton-using-Barcelona-as-template-for-success-as-they-stand-on-the-cusp-of-Premier-League-return.html

 

 

Loved this quote..............

 

“I’m used to delivering a bit more than I promise,” he says. “Yes, promotion would put as ahead of the plan but being ahead of a plan is never an issue, being behind a plan is an issue.

[oldsarum]

Another great article by Jeremy Wilson who used to write for the Echo

 

His articles are generally complementary about Saints, which is why he was probably invited by Cortese to interview the people he did.

[Maggie May]

Another great article by Jeremy Wilson who used to write for the Echo

 

His articles are generally complementary about Saints, which is why he was probably invited by Cortese to interview the people he did.

 

While I'm enjoying the complementary article, I'd love to read an equally praising piece from someone who doesn't have ties to Southampton. Jeremy's articles are good, but they are always going to be since he's a former Echo journalist and presumably a Saints fan. He even wrote the Cult Heroes book.

[dubai_phil]

Cracking article already have that tweeted, FB'd and I stuck it on the Staplewood thread but it really needs it's own.

 

It's still gonna take us lot a long time to think the same way or even to believe that 1) It is what we are trying to do and 2) that we could do it.

[ericofarabia]

Yet venture down the main road through the village, take a right at the crossroads and just before a farm is the entrance to one of the most vibrant and ambitious football training centres in the world.

 

Behind two huge red gates is a sign that boldly reads, “The Southampton Way”.

 

The definition of this Southampton Way is also supplied: “The best in class both on and off the field of play.”

 

The design and future development of Southampton’s training ground has been influenced by studying centres of excellence across all walks of life including dance and music as well as Barcelona’s legendary La Masia academy.

 

The immediate focus might be Friday night’s match against Reading, involving the top two teams in the Championship, and the knowledge that victory could come close to sealing promotion back to the Premier League.

 

Yet the wider message is constantly long term.

 

After a sequence of 27 years of consecutive top-flight football was ended in 2005, the aim is to re-establish Southampton’s among English football’s elite for a generation.

 

Greeting me at the gates is Nicola Cortese, the club’s executive chairman.

 

Since assuming total day-to-day charge of the club following the late Markus Liebherr’s takeover in 2009, Cortese has frequently described Southampton as “his baby”.

 

His style is direct and forthright but there can be no doubting his impact.

 

Upon arriving at Southampton less than three years ago, eyebrows were instantly raised when Cortese publicly outlined a five-year plan that would take Southampton from the abyss of administration and a 10-point deduction at the bottom of League One to the Premier League.

 

It all seemed unrealistically ambitious but the club now stand on the brink of back-to-back promotions and achieving his target two years early.

 

There is not even the slightest sense that Cortese is surprised by the club’s progress.

 

“I’m used to delivering a bit more than I promise,” he says. “Yes, promotion would put as ahead of the plan but being ahead of a plan is never an issue, being behind a plan is an issue.

 

“We planned ahead. Everything we have been doing is Premier League standard.

 

"The whole operation behind is Premier League already.

 

"There will be lots of side-affects that will be different and we are prepared for that, whether that is this year, next year or the year after.”

 

Yet having led the Championship for so much of the season, great care is taken to ensure that everyone remains grounded as this final moment of truth arrives.

 

“No one wants to get ahead of themselves so why should I get ahead of myself?” says Cortese.

 

“The season so far has been a great season but that’s it. We haven’t achieved anything else. At the end, we will be where we are.”

 

Over the next hour spent speaking to key figures at the training ground, there is the clear sense of a club working productively at two levels.

 

There is the here and now, and an obvious expectation to succeed but also a very clearly defined vision for the future.

 

That is being underpinned by an investment of £15 million in new training facilities and, significantly, the Liebherr family have just transferred a debt of £33 million into share equity.

 

The ‘here and now’ department is obviously the first team, led superbly by Nigel Adkins who, over the past two seasons, is rated behind only Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini in the League Managers Association index which weights performance across all four divisions.

 

Southampton have risen 45 places up the Football League pyramid since his appointment 19 months ago.

 

Adkins’ on-field spearhead is clearly Rickie Lambert, who is the Championship’s leading scorer with 26 goals.

 

Yet speak to fans who watch Southampton regularly and they will tell you that Adam Lallana is the player who really makes the team tick.

 

Lallana has been with Southampton since the age of 11, graduating in the same academy year as Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, and uniquely well placed to assess the recent roller coaster.

 

“With where we were, starting the season minus 10 points in League One, to have a chance of getting promoted to the Premier League is just phenomenal,” he says.

 

“We are on the brink of something very special.

 

"The minus 10 points was the low point but the club was still a big club – I knew that, I knew I didn’t want to move on.”

 

And the key to their improvement?

 

“Momentum, we got used to winning last year,” he says.

 

“Secretly everyone knew we could do well in this year. We were really happy coming into the league as underdogs because we knew teams would underestimate us.

 

“We started the season on fire and we were just shocking teams.

 

"There’s no weakness in the side, technically, mentally or physically.

 

"We’ve not got many players with Premier League experience but we have got players who are desperate for the experience. It will be remarkable.”

 

Constructing the core of the team around home-grown players such as Lallana is Southampton’s ultimate aim.

 

Les Reed, the former FA technical director who is overseeing the development of the academy, explains that the ‘Southampton Way’ is being implemented not from top to bottom but from “bottom to top”, starting with the under-eights.

 

“We want to win matches by keeping the ball on the ground and therefore we have to develop players who can do that,” says Reed.

 

“The parents understand it, they enjoy it, they want their kids to be playing a good style of football.”

 

But can it work in the Premier League?

“The moment you are in the Premiership you have got to be sustainable,” says Cortese.

 

“The academy is very important to become a sustainable business. We would want to see a starting XI in the Premier League that is fed from our youth development.

 

“We have got examples. The Champions League title of Barcelona in 2009.

 

"At the beginning of the game they had seven players from their academy.

 

"At the end of the game they had eight. It’s hard to quantify, but we definitely believe we can achieve that as well.”

 

However admirable, there is a temptation to think it all sounds rather fanciful.

 

But then you consider the examples of Norwich or Swansea and, above all, what Southampton have been achieving over the past three years.

 

It has also been delivered in style, by playing expansive and entertaining football.

 

In short, it is being done The Southampton Way.

 

:poundit: and maybe another with a side portion of and

[JRM]

Jeremy Wilson is a saints fan so not surprising it is complimentary about us, but good article in a positive sense. I think our "style of play" is a bit of a myth, plenty of times this year we have gone for the lump it to Lambert route 1 tactics.

[Foxstone]

Just another example to thank our lucky stars for Markus and Nicola...

 

What a timely boost to go into tonights game full of pride and hope..

[jamesb]

Superb read on the morning of a massive game for the club. No matter what the result tonight. We know things at our club are on the up big time. Very exciting to read to of this, esp in the telegraph too.

 

COYR!

[Saint Fan CaM]

Great article - it's happening - just some people still don't believe quite how big this club is going to be in 10 years time.

[OldNick]

While I'm enjoying the complementary article, I'd love to read an equally praising piece from someone who doesn't have ties to Southampton. Jeremy's articles are good, but they are always going to be since he's a former Echo journalist and presumably a Saints fan. He even wrote the Cult Heroes book.

perhaps he ought to invite Neil Allen from the Pompey news Lol. NC is rightly getting good news put out about our club. In the long term football fans in Asia , USA ETC wont give a toss about what the Echo says about us or even some of our national press. If we are to develop into what NC and ML had envisaged they will have their eyes set on worldwide exposure and will cultivate good news press from friends. I cant ever see us as a major name in the world of football but it seems to me ML did, and we are at the very beginning of a longterm project.

Whether it is a pipe-dream time will only tell, but it could be fun or complete humiliation.

[Colinjb]

Great article - it's happening - just some people still don't believe quite how big this club is going to be in 10 years time.

 

I'll believe it when I see it, a bit of scepticism can only be healthy here.

 

I want to believe, just prior precident is keeping me grounded.

[alpine_saint]

As my kids would say... "Awesome!"

 

I thought we werent supposed to c 'n p whole articles due to copyright issues ?

 

Anyway, the author seems to be a bit dismissive at the end.

[dubai_phil]

I thought we werent supposed to c 'n p whole articles due to copyright issues ?

 

Anyway, the author seems to be a bit dismissive at the end.

 

 

Oh Alps.

 

It may all seem a bit fanciful is the line you are obviously referring to.

 

And then you clearly stopped reading the line below that starts with "BUT THEN"

 

You must have been a Journalist in a previous life, taking one line out of context of the whole to make a point

[Cascadia Saint]

I thought we werent supposed to c 'n p whole articles due to copyright issues ?

 

Anyway, the author seems to be a bit dismissive at the end.

 

You found the one line out of an entire 150 line article that isn't absolutely glowing, and then managed to ignore what he says afterwards. Dude.... smile!

 

 

As thom yorke once sang. You do it to yourself, you do...

[alpine_saint]

You found the one line out of an entire 150 line article that isn't absolutely glowing, and then managed to ignore what he says afterwards. Dude.... smile!

 

 

As thom yorke once sang. You do it to yourself, you do...

 

Cant mate. Too busy filling my pants about tonight.

[Cascadia Saint]

Try a grimace, if we squint it might look like a smile...

[Thedelldays]

Cant mate. Too busy filling my pants about tonight.

chill out...season will not be over if we don't win

 

we are going up. just enjoy the end of the season

[Toadhall Saint]

chill out...season will not be over if we don't win

 

we are going up. just enjoy the end of the season

 

Why should he start enjoying? Doesn't seem to have enjoyed the start or the middle. I really don't want him buggering things up now.

[Frank's cousin]

I think what we should remmeber though is that what he is talking about is not some fanciful idea of winning teh Chapions league or being the best in the world,.... but being the best WE can be. What that is remains to be seen and no one is living in any fantasy land believing we will be the next Barcelona, but the aim is to emulate the strategy of developing more talent that helps us compete. If we find more gems such a sWalcott, Bale and Oxo etc, the chances are that they will still end up at other 'bigger' clubs, but we may be able to offer them nough to keep them here until 21-22, rather than seeing them depart at 16/17. That way me might,just might see some cyclic success such as German teams as Dortmund and Leverkusen, Schalke etc, who have all had decent years in teh past because their kids stay until 22ish, then move on AFTER they have done something with their clubs.

 

Aiming high is what its about, not unrelaistic ambition, but a focused mind set on being teh best we possibly can and ensuring the infrastructure, culture and importantly feelgood factor is there. I liked teh fact he said it must alos be a 'fun' place to come to, to enjoy what is afterall a game, and provide enjoyment for the fans by playing as much as possible an attractive style. Yes we need to improve the quality to be able to do this at the next level, and it wont always work, but as we wont be in teh 45mil per player category, we need an alternative to develop talent and that is what we have set out to do.

 

If it fails? Do you know what? I wont not care as it's you can guarrantee it wont be through the lack of effort, sound strategy or a disire to build on sound principles full of integrity - it will only fail should others simply sling money at their own. For me, its the fact we ARE doing it this way that makes me proud to be a fan of this club.

 

When NIgel is criticised for his cliches - I believe its because those folk simply dont get it. They are used to the miserable-serious-all-the-time-old-school ****s that see football in their own narrow dimensions. Nigel's enthusiams is infectious, he enjoys what he is doing and its clear he is aligned with the the whole plan. He wont moan about 'support' and need for more players, he believes we are dojing it the right way. For me whether writen by a fan or not, That article captures teh spirit of what the club is now about perfectly. It is simple very sad that Markus is not here to see it... he would have a huge grin on his face!

[Turkish]

I liked how in the picture they've done a mock up of us playing Barcelona to really emphasis the point.

[Sour Mash]

Having a team doing well in the Prem with the starting 11 from the academy is a great ideal, just not sure how realistic it would ever be.

Edited 13 April, 2012 by Sour Mash

[SaintBobby]

Blimey. Top article. Exciting times. Need to pinch myself.

[MongoNeil]

Having a team doing well in the Prem with the starting 11 from the academy is a great ideal, just not sure how realistic it would ever be.

 

I'm pretty sure that was against Crystal Palace earlier in the week.

[MongoNeil]

Oops, wrong quote, meant to quote the guy saying they'd 'shopped in a pic of us playing Barcelona.

[Minty]

Having a team doing well in the Prem with the starting 11 from the academy is a great ideal, just not sure how realistic it would ever be.

The theory is simple enough: If the best club team in the world can be so with the majority of players from their academy then any team should be able to. But it's a long term thing... you don't suddenly have one intake of youth players who will all make it at the very highest level. You gradually improve the quality of the intake and get 1/2/3 players from each year gradually make their way into the first team until several years down the line you may have your 7 or 8 players that Wilson alludes to.

 

It is a bold aim, and personally I too am doubtful that in this country, where there are so many big teams vying for position and flashing money around, that we could retain that many quality players, but who knows? With our reputation increasing and this kind of public acknowledgement of what we're doing and where we're going, I can see more players wanting to come here, especially once (if!) we're back in the Prem.

[Saint-Armstrong]

Brilliant!

 

*Shame he spelt "success" wrong in the title though.

[Saint-Armstrong]

I mean spelled! Damn.

[dubai_phil]

Thing is, it is actually really that simple.

 

Over the coming years the FFP rules will come in, making it "less easy" to splash crazy money around ala old Saggy Chops to fill up a squad with expensive mediocrity. Having your own supply of squad players will allow you to focus your spending on the first team whilst creating the occassional Bale/Walcott & AOC.

 

Then you just keep a positive attitude and make being a part of the whole squad "Fun" and it will be easier to hold onto decent players. Squad player having fun at Saints or squad player earning just a bit more at somewhere else. It all helps.

 

Follow Ryan Dickson on Twitter, although he's been out on loan all season and not likely to come with us to the next level, a great many of tweets are still about "US" or retweets from our players - very few about the ones he is playing with now - there's Something Going On down in the Forest.

 

And as NC says. We WANT to go up this season. But if we don't then next year we will just have to be better, as long as we stay ahead of the plan. BUT if we are the best we can be tonight - we'll give Reading a football lesson....

[Sour Mash]

The theory is simple enough: If the best club team in the world can be so with the majority of players from their academy then any team should be able to. But it's a long term thing... you don't suddenly have one intake of youth players who will all make it at the very highest level. You gradually improve the quality of the intake and get 1/2/3 players from each year gradually make their way into the first team until several years down the line you may have your 7 or 8 players that Wilson alludes to.

 

It is a bold aim, and personally I too am doubtful that in this country, where there are so many big teams vying for position and flashing money around, that we could retain that many quality players, but who knows? With our reputation increasing and this kind of public acknowledgement of what we're doing and where we're going, I can see more players wanting to come here, especially once (if!) we're back in the Prem.

I understand the theory and of course its a good aim to have. Just not one that is particularly realistic.

[Minty]

I understand the theory and of course its a good aim to have. Just not one that is particularly realistic.

That's a matter of opinion, I accept there has been no precedent other than Barca and perhaps Man U but as phil says above, with FFP rules coming in and quite possibly further restriction of overseas/non-home-grown players, then I think the role of academies will become more important. Even if we don't produce as many as we would hope, it has still been shown to be a wise investment and one which pays for itself one way or another.

 

I'm certainly not saying it will happen, that would be silly, but we're giving ourselves the best possible chance.

[Turkish]

The theory is simple enough: If the best club team in the world can be so with the majority of players from their academy then any team should be able to. But it's a long term thing... you don't suddenly have one intake of youth players who will all make it at the very highest level. You gradually improve the quality of the intake and get 1/2/3 players from each year gradually make their way into the first team until several years down the line you may have your 7 or 8 players that Wilson alludes to.

 

It is a bold aim, and personally I too am doubtful that in this country, where there are so many big teams vying for position and flashing money around, that we could retain that many quality players, but who knows? With our reputation increasing and this kind of public acknowledgement of what we're doing and where we're going, I can see more players wanting to come here, especially once (if!) we're back in the Prem.

 

The problem of course being the best club in the world dont have bigger clubs sniffing round their players and offering them considerably more money than they are able to pay and their agents trying to engineer moves to bigger clubs.

 

Its a nice dream but if it was that easy and every club should be able to do it, why aren't they? Only two teams in Europe have produced a significant amount of top players AND held onto them in the last 20 years. Man United and Barcelona. If anyone thinks Saints will be able to do the same then they've done one too many E's.

[Minty]

The problem of course being the best club in the world dont have bigger clubs sniffing round their players and offering them considerably more money than they are able to pay.

 

Its a nice dream but if it was that easy and every club should be able to do it, why aren't they? Only two teams in Europe have produced a significant amount of top players AND held onto them in the last 20 years. Man United and Barcelona. If anyone thinks Saints will be able to do the same then they've done one too many E's.

Fair points, I just don't think anyone has tried doing it to quite the same level we're trying to do and put so much planning and thought into what is required to develop young players. I don't think football in general has been a particularly long-term thinker in the past, especially in this country, and while you're right about the wages, and there will always be those who follow the green stuff, I think (maybe wrongly) there will be an increasing number of players who look at the club and facilities and opportunities available to them and judge accordingly.

[shurlock]

The theory is simple enough: If the best club team in the world can be so with the majority of players from their academy then any team should be able to. But it's a long term thing... you don't suddenly have one intake of youth players who will all make it at the very highest level. You gradually improve the quality of the intake and get 1/2/3 players from each year gradually make their way into the first team until several years down the line you may have your 7 or 8 players that Wilson alludes to.

 

It is a bold aim, and personally I too am doubtful that in this country, where there are so many big teams vying for position and flashing money around, that we could retain that many quality players, but who knows? With our reputation increasing and this kind of public acknowledgement of what we're doing and where we're going, I can see more players wanting to come here, especially once (if!) we're back in the Prem.

 

Much easier to implement this kind of strategy once you're at the top and ******ing on clubs below. Its much harder to turn players heads when you are also the top team. And does Barcelona really save that much money by bringing players through? Its a fact that most of its players are on top salaries. After all, contracts have to be renegotiated and starts retained.

[St_Tel49]

I understand the theory and of course its a good aim to have. Just not one that is particularly realistic.

That's that then - Cortese is clearly wasting his time!

[dubai_phil]

The problem of course being the best club in the world dont have bigger clubs sniffing round their players and offering them considerably more money than they are able to pay and their agents trying to engineer moves to bigger clubs.

 

Its a nice dream but if it was that easy and every club should be able to do it, why aren't they? Only two teams in Europe have produced a significant amount of top players AND held onto them in the last 20 years. Man United and Barcelona. If anyone thinks Saints will be able to do the same then they've done one too many E's.

 

Obviously the absolute "World Class" players produced will get poached and even Man U are losing Kids at the moment.

 

BUT The academy is producing an average of one every 3 years at the moment. That is the sum of it's output and that is NOT worth investing in.

 

What IS worth investing in is to get the Academy to continue to find a gem BUT to get it so that it can find an Adam Lallana EVERY season. Not good enough for Barca or Manure at the moment but good enough for us today and probably in the PL.

 

Now IF we can produce 1 for keepers each season in our first team and 2 or 3 squad players then THAT is a target worth aiming at.

 

Cliche - if you don't set a target you have nothing to aim for and, well we can see from up the M27 where that leads

[shurlock]

Obviously the absolute "World Class" players produced will get poached and even Man U are losing Kids at the moment.

 

BUT The academy is producing an average of one every 3 years at the moment. That is the sum of it's output and that is NOT worth investing in.

 

What IS worth investing in is to get the Academy to continue to find a gem BUT to get it so that it can find an Adam Lallana EVERY season. Not good enough for Barca or Manure at the moment but good enough for us today and probably in the PL.

 

Now IF we can produce 1 for keepers each season in our first team and 2 or 3 squad players then THAT is a target worth aiming at.

 

Cliche - if you don't set a target you have nothing to aim for and, well we can see from up the M27 where that leads

 

But Adam Lallana still has to be paid top dollar, right? He is probably the club's top earner -in this respect, it makes no difference that he was produced by our academy.

The counterfactual might be that we would have had to pay Adam Lallana significantly more than we do right now if he hadn't come through the ranks/we had bought him from another club. But how much more? I cant imagine that much more....

[Turkish]

Fair points, I just don't think anyone has tried doing it to quite the same level we're trying to do and put so much planning and thought into what is required to develop young players. I don't think football in general has been a particularly long-term thinker in the past, especially in this country, and while you're right about the wages, and there will always be those who follow the green stuff, I think (maybe wrongly) there will be an increasing number of players who look at the club and facilities and opportunities available to them and judge accordingly.

 

Why do you think that all of a sudden young players are going to turn down deals of £20k a week extra to play for an Arsenal or Man United and stay at Saints on less money, playing in front of smaller crowds with less chance of winning anything?

[Turkish]

Obviously the absolute "World Class" players produced will get poached and even Man U are losing Kids at the moment.

 

BUT The academy is producing an average of one every 3 years at the moment. That is the sum of it's output and that is NOT worth investing in.

 

What IS worth investing in is to get the Academy to continue to find a gem BUT to get it so that it can find an Adam Lallana EVERY season. Not good enough for Barca or Manure at the moment but good enough for us today and probably in the PL.

 

Now IF we can produce 1 for keepers each season in our first team and 2 or 3 squad players then THAT is a target worth aiming at.

 

Cliche - if you don't set a target you have nothing to aim for and, well we can see from up the M27 where that leads

 

Really? Would you desribe Jame Milner as world class? Yet he was offered £80k a week or whatever and a £20m transfer fee. What about Stuart Downing? What about Gareth Barry? Andy Carroll!!!! Hardly "world class" players but getting huge salaries at big clubs. Competent but not great English players snapped up by bigger clubs from clubs bigger than Saints. Why are Saints going to be able to keep them and why are the players going to want to stay when Man City, liverpool or Arsenal come calling?

[Minty]

Why do you think that all of a sudden young players are going to turn down deals of £20k a week extra to play for an Arsenal or Man United and stay at Saints on less money, playing in front of smaller crowds with less chance of winning anything?

I'm not saying they will, just that the more attractive a club we are, the better our chances of retaining more quality players. Plus, it wouldn't be 'all of a sudden'... there have been and will be players who recognise they earn very good wages and aren't in it just for the money. Chances are we wouldn't want players who are only after a bigger pay cheque anyway.

 

This is all hypothetical until we do it and get promoted, but chances are Cortese and co wouldn't be doing all of this if they didn't believe in it and it'll just be interesting to see what happens.

[Crazy Diamond]

It's a good article and a nice vision by the club but I'll start heaping the praise on and begin bragging when the results are on display. Let's not forget that those down the road were all going on about new training grounds and a shiny new stadium and were quick to tell everyone about it, then it all went pear shaped. They're now left with nice architect's mock ups and sod all else.

 

Sorry to be negative but with football you just have to be cautious in my experience.

[Saint Mikey]

Very good article, although obviously written by a Saints fan. Jeremy Wilson also wrote Southampton's Cult Heroes, which is a very good read.

 

It's all a nice idea, but something's going to have to change in the way football clubs are run generally for us to have success with this. Maybe a lot of clubs will look at how Swansea, Norwich and even Newcastle have got success by building a team, rather than doing a QPR. This may bring down player trading, excessive wages. However, still don't know how this will stop our best players and/or manager being poached. Look at the press attention Rodgers has got after a little sniff of success.

 

The only way we'll keep players is if we start winning things. At least this article didn't mention the Champions League! I'm embarrassed by the mere suggestion that we could make it into that comp...