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Southampton's academy team could play in the EFL Trophy next season

SuperSAINT

By SuperSAINT,
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david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted
I am excited at the possibility of our academy taking on some professional sides.....

But it does not feel right somehow, devaluing the trophy almost. (Because it is so high profile to begin with.)

 

I don't disagree entirely, but remember that many Prem. clubs regularly loan out players to L1 /L2 sides, and so in theory the level should be about right.

 

U21 league(s) put together younger players of the same generation, in reality L1 /L2 sides have more experienced players in their line-ups and should be tougher.

IF ..some U21 players are " one step away " from their first team bench, then they need to play against better opposition than other 21 year olds.

I'm sure that this will meet with mixed reactions, but the only way to find out is to give it a trial.

 

I'm old enough to remember the criticism of the League Cup competition when it started in the 1960's ....nowadays it's a passport to European football.

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VectisSaint

VectisSaint

Posted
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Not a fan of this idea as it spoils our "Johnstone's Paint Trophy' date=' you'll never win that..." song therefore it cannot be allowed.[/quote']

Not a problem. It is not going to be called the JPT any more, their sponsorship of the Trophy has ended.

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nta786

nta786

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Nope I disagree with this, this is a trophy for a L1 and L2 side, shouldn't take that Wembley opportunity away from them.

Plus, would Wembley be packed to see, say, Man U U21 vs Chelsea U21?

 

If anything, the Prem should put that £1m bonus in anyway- only thing I agree with.

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Shance

Shance

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Will be good to see our academies play professional teams and i'm glad it'll be in the cup and not in the league. One thing I will say is that the tv money should be given to the league team should they play an academy side. PL teams don't need revenue from the JPT but lower league clubs sometimes really need it to stay afloat. Especially in Wembley finals. All tv revenue goes to the league team, if the game has two academy sides in the final then the league teams from the semi's get an even share of it.

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CB Fry

CB Fry

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That idea is absolutely horrific. Group stages in the ruddy Johnstone's Paint Trophy? Not to mention the degrading spectacle of fine lower league clubs having to duke it out with the kids from Chelsea or Arsenal.

 

Dreadful.

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Shance

Shance

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Listen as much as it would be a kick in the teeth to the lower league teams, this is a model that has proven success in Germany and in Spain. I don't want them in league football but in the lower league cup is fine for me.

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JRM

JRM

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Do we know how they are going to select the 16 U21 teams to take part?

 

I'm very much against the idea, it's opening the door to having teams in the lower leagues but it would be a dream week Pompey away in JPT Tuesday followed by Fenebache or Marseille away Thursday and Bournemouth away Sunday

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VectisSaint

VectisSaint

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Do we know how they are going to select the 16 U21 teams to take part?

 

I'm very much against the idea, it's opening the door to having teams in the lower leagues but it would be a dream week Pompey away in JPT Tuesday followed by Fenebache or Marseille away Thursday and Bournemouth away Sunday

T

The Football League site says it will be open to Premier League Category 1 U21 sides only (which is odd considering this is the Football League trophy). A lot of the Category 1 Academies are Championship clubs, so presumably these will be discounted. Last season the BPL u21 league had 24 teams of which 16 were PL, including Villa, Newcastle and Norwich. This suggests there are 15 teams that qualify, including Middlesbro. So not clear who the 16th would be, unless one of the PL Clubs that did not have Cat 1 last season will have next. Don't think there is much doubt that Saints would be included.

Really don't understand the negativity of this idea.

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hutch

hutch

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Really don't understand the negativity of this idea.

You're not considering the poor fans of clubs languishing down in the depth of the fourth division. What else do they have to look forward to in life? What else is there to cheer up their grim existence if you take away their one chance of a shot at glory?

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
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I wonder how this line up would do against lower league opposition and whether some of the players mentioned would actually be permitted within our U21 team, presuming all would be available (ie not out on loan)

 

Gazza

Mc Carthy

Stephens

Turnbull

Targett

Reed

Hesketh

Ward Prowse

Isgrove/McQueen

Gallagher

Seager

 

I guess our footballing ability would be better but interesting to know whether the lads would have the attributes to deal with the physical demands of lower leagues

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VectisSaint

VectisSaint

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You're not considering the poor fans of clubs languishing down in the depth of the fourth division. What else do they have to look forward to in life? What else is there to cheer up their grim existence if you take away their one chance of a shot at glory?

Tried to reply earlier but my 3 posts were up:

You are making an assumption that the u21 teams will do well and qualify for the later rounds and even make the final. Time will tell of course, but my view is that while one or two may make it out of the group stage, the likelihood is that well organised, Level 3 and L4 teams that are playing competitively together week in/week out will be better than the best u21 teams. I seriously doubt any will make it to the semi-finals, let alone the final.

The majority of the L3/L4 teams voted for this one year trial so the majority must see the worth. With emergency loans now outlawed there will not be the opoprtunities for L3/L4 teams to boost their squads with youngsters on loan, and the u21 PL teams need to have somewhere else for them to play competitive matches. I believe that a team in L3/L4 will probably get a bigger home gate and therefore make more money if they are drawn at home to Man U u21s than Accrington Stanley on a midweek night in mid-winter and so financially will be a small boost (agreed that a home game against Saints u21 or Sawnsea u21 might not be as attractive.

 

Also note that similar is being done in Scotland next season, allowing SPL development teams into the Scottish Challenge Cup, as well as in their case some Welsh and NIrish teams. Opening up these lower level competitions actually makes them more interesting for fans and helps to improve the quality of matches.

 

from the point of view of the National teams (which is one of the reasons for this) it does give the possibility of younger players playing some extra competitive matches, the only thing is I would have stipulated that the u21 teams would have to consist of home-nation-trained players, but suspect this won't be the case. As long as it is limited to the same rules as the BPL u21 league it should be more or less OK (allows 3 over-age players). Of course players out on loan will not be allowed either.

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hutch

hutch

Posted
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You are making an assumption that the u21 teams will do well and qualify for the later rounds and even make the final.

No I'm not, I'm just poking fun at the large number of skates that infest this board.

 

But I do think it's a bad idea and hope it gets dropped.

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Mowgli

Mowgli

Posted
Posted
I wonder how this line up would do against lower league opposition and whether some of the players mentioned would actually be permitted within our U21 team, presuming all would be available (ie not out on loan)

 

Gazza

Mc Carthy

Stephens

Turnbull

Targett

Reed

Hesketh

Ward Prowse

Isgrove/McQueen

Gallagher

Seager

 

I guess our footballing ability would be better but interesting to know whether the lads would have the attributes to deal with the physical demands of lower leagues

 

You're quite correct. I make it six players there over 21. Suspect the limit would be three.

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a1ex2001

a1ex2001

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Southend United have released a statement explaining why they're in favour of the new format: http://www.southendunited.co.uk/news/article/efl-trophy-changes-3141983.aspx

 

That's a decent effort from someone directly effected by the decision and does make it harder to object! I still think the real problem with lower league football in this country is too many players being paid to much money clearly the clubs can't afford the costs so they should be cutting their cloth appropriately not relying on hand outs but people find that unpalatable because the logical conclusion is that we shouldn't have 4 tiers of professional clubs with half the 5th tier being pro's as well!

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