Protest against EPPP

[RoyalBlue]

Palace fan here.

Don't deceive yourselves that it's a good thing for Reading. This is a plan to control the market by cherry picking the best from other, lower level youth academies.

EPPP is none of those things. What's more is that despite us being told that it is to 'benefit' the national game, there has not been one legitimate point or argument made which displays why our current youth system is failing our national team.

It was exactly the same when the women's Super League clubs, backed by their chums at the FA, decided to screw loads of the perfectly good Centres of Excellence run by the 'smaller' clubs. We were told it would benefit the women's national team but no one would offer any decent evidence as to how the existing COEs were failing in that respect.

As I've mentioned previously, the big irony is that the Reading FC women's set up was one of the many screwed over by the changes forced through by the big clubs but yet Reading FC are now prepared to back a similar type of mentality in the men's game.

[SCIAG]

EPPP is none of those things. What's more is that despite us being told that it is to 'benefit' the national game, there has not been one legitimate point or argument made which displays why our current youth system is failing our national team.

Um, yes there has. Currently players don't receive enough quality coaching before the age of 21 and EPPP will allow the best academies to provide the necessary amount of time to produce world class footballers. That seems to be the main reason why countries with lower populations than ours such as Spain and the Netherlands can produce more and better quality players than we do.

[2.8 lita injection]

Not sure that is the case.

The problem with youth football in the uk is that it suits the bigger, fitter and faster players (or the more mature for their age). In Holland young players dont go anywhere near a full size pitch until over 15.

Still dont believe that players will get better coaching at clubs that are on the list, Reading do ok on the coaching side.

[Dougie Is God]

Um, yes there has. Currently players don't receive enough quality coaching before the age of 21 and EPPP will allow the best academies to provide the necessary amount of time to produce world class footballers. That seems to be the main reason why countries with lower populations than ours such as Spain and the Netherlands can produce more and better quality players than we do.

The'best' academies already do. The academies that I know about, Palace & Watford are linked with a local school so that academy players can train around and as part of their Education. Palace have heavily invested in this area in the past year. The EPPP may well reduce their commitment for youth team development as they are less likely to receive the benefits from future funding.

"Crystal Palace Academy Manager, Gary Issott is delighted that the partnership gives an opportunity to further enhance the quality of this vital important part of the club. He said: "In the modern game it is so important that education and football are given equal importance and this programme will give us, as coaches, quality time with the players but also ensure that their learning time within school is not affected.

"It is my strong belief that getting the players for a greater amount of contact time and training with them at the optimum time of day is hugely important in developing young players."

http://www.cpfc.co.uk/page/AcademyNews/ ... 47,00.html

As for the Dutch system which has a philosophy based on technique & attitude from the grassroots up. From what I've seen the Premiership plans deal with none of this, instead it may well damage the good coaching going on at many of our football league clubs.

[Dougie Is God]

Interview by BBC Radio with Palace fans on why they are protesting the EPPP ruling;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjuyLBiE ... r_embedded

As the EPPP will effect your clubs future as much as mine I hope that Reading fans can organise some form of protest against the FA/PL plans.

[manny96]

Interview by BBC Radio with Palace fans on why they are protesting the EPPP ruling;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjuyLBiE ... r_embedded

As the EPPP will effect your clubs future as much as mine I hope that Reading fans can organise some form of protest against the FA/PL plans.

I hadn't known about the Palace protest prior to Saturday, otherwise would have stood in solidarity. I refuse to judge this in terms of cost-benefit to Reading FC and whether we can profit - which I think is a very a naive assumption to make itself. A more important reason is that you can't play the game with only one team and ours is just one club among a community of clubs and national game. That 'national' game is grossly unfair as it is and this will only exacerbate that unfairness.

But I wouldn't hold out too much hope of a mass uprising from deepest Berkshire.

[manny96]

Um, yes there has. Currently players don't receive enough quality coaching before the age of 21 and EPPP will allow the best academies to provide the necessary amount of time to produce world class footballers. That seems to be the main reason why countries with lower populations than ours such as Spain and the Netherlands can produce more and better quality players than we do.

There are a host of more complicated things at work - the culture of football in those countries is vastly different. But that's for another day. Spain doesn't have a significantly lower population than England.

[ZacNaloen]

Academy still unbeaten, 470minutes without conceeding, would this be possible with EPPP?

[Svlad Cjelli]

Academy still unbeaten, 470minutes without conceeding, would this be possible with EPPP?

Yes, it would just make the PL clubs look even more longingly at our Academy - and rejoice at just how cheaply they'd be able to get them if they could lure them away.

[RoyalBlue]

EPPP is none of those things. What's more is that despite us being told that it is to 'benefit' the national game, there has not been one legitimate point or argument made which displays why our current youth system is failing our national team.

Um, yes there has. Currently players don't receive enough quality coaching before the age of 21 and EPPP will allow the best academies to provide the necessary amount of time to produce world class footballers. That seems to be the main reason why countries with lower populations than ours such as Spain and the Netherlands can produce more and better quality players than we do.

Same argument has been used to try to justify the dramatic culling of COEs in the women's game. Relatively early days I know but currently it doesn't appear to be working. The super powers in the game have become even stronger, having picked up the best players from those COEs that lost their licence. They now routinely hammer some of the other smaller COEs that kept their licence. I'm not sure how regularly beating other teams 10-0 helps the country's best players improve their skills when it comes to competitive football!

The other thing that this approach would appear to rely heavily on is the ability to spot potential world class footballers at an early age. We don't appear to have a very good record at doing that. It these changes result in fewer places being available at academies due to reduced funding, then our chances of success will surely be further reduced.

[FiNeRaIn]

I doubt its anything to do with the " time" allowed for coaching...more the british coaching style. They all seem to want physical brutes who will give 100% and stick a foot in. The tactics are play it out wide...get in the box and stick your nut on it. In places like spain and Holland in particular they concentrate on technical abilities rather than any of the above. Is it any wonder that their second division players have better first touches and skill levels than 99% of English players and they actually knock it around properly? Jesus christ, can you imagine xavi and iniesta sitting through a championship game on a cold january night...they would think they were in hell. Big target men up front... midfield completely bypassed, adam federici's power kicks...free kicks in which more or less the entire playing personnel of both sides pile into the box hoping to get their melons on it. Shirt pulling, elbows, crap pitches and dire referee's to top it off. There has been one team in the last decade attempting to play football properly and thats Arsenal. Man Utd play some good stuff now and again but still lack a lot of quality..especially in centre mid now scholes has gone. The english game is now light years behind the top nations and that won't be fixed by this ruling. We need to stop discriminating against smaller weak looking players and concentrate on technical ability, Its not about winning at junior level its about conditioning them to play right when they turn pro.

[Hoop Blah]

Finerain, I think that post is about 20 years out of date.

Admittedly we do still produce a certain type of player, but it's not as bad as it was and technique is much more part of the coaching ethos than it used to be.

[FiNeRaIn]

Nope, still no evidence to back that up. In euro 96 England had a good team...its declined rapidly in both technical ability and results ever since.

[Hoop Blah]

Nope, still no evidence to back that up. In euro 96 England had a good team...its declined rapidly in both technical ability and results ever since.

No evidence? Have you seen the technical ability of the majority of players that go through the academy process? It's vastly superior than that of the YTS schemes 20 years.

The youth players coming through and representing England are better and getting better results (on the whole) than we were back then too. Yes we had some good players in the '96 side but they were by and large the same ones that failed to qualify for USA 94 and had to go to penalties to beat Spain whereas since then we've gone out of most tournaments by virtue of the same tiebreaker or very close games against top nations.

[FiNeRaIn]

I mean, do you watch the same football? Our first touch and technical ability is MILES behind the likes of barcelona, real madrid, spain and holland,etc I'm not even going to post youtube clips that back that up. We won the world up in 66 should have won euro 96, since then we haven't come close to anything and look at our central midfield pairing now. Barry and parker...neither of which would be EIGHTH choice for any of the previously mentioned teams. Wilshere when fit may become a good player...however as Guardiola said " I have a team full of wilhere's in my academy".

[Hoop Blah]

I'm not disputing the fact that the Spanish and Dutch produce a more technical player than we do.

I'm just saying your post about coaches going for the big and powerful players just doesn't really stack up these days. Some of the better and more effective players will be bigger than some of those that don't make it yes, but that's different.

The work that's been done over the last ten years or so to move along coaching has had quite an effect.

Going back to '96, would players like Pearce, Southgate (playing, at times, as a midfielder in El Tels Xmas Tree formation) Ince, Redknapp, Stone, both Nevilles or an aging Platt have got close to the current Spain team? No, probably not.

We play a different way to the Spanish and we produce different players. In some instances that's a bad thing, in some it's not.

[Dougie Is God]

Hi Royals,

Thought I'd return with an update on the protests against the EPPP. Some clubs are still making a noise on how this will detrimentally effect their youth system to the advantage of some Premiership clubs who will gain the future talent for themselves on the cheap. The Premier League are trying to quash any debate or argument about this youth policy as scare mungering knowing that they have a very weak argument. This issue is way too important to not have it discussed at the highest levels of the game in relation to the future security of football league clubs and their youth teams.

An HM Government petition has been set up to stop the future plans of the EPPP; http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/21314
The petition only takes a minute to do and will show those in authority the concerns that many football fans have with the plans for the EPPP*.

Thanks for your time.

* In a recent FSF poll over 80% of fans voted against the EPPP.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Hi Royals,

Thought I'd return with an update on the protests against the EPPP. Some clubs are still making a noise on how this will detrimentally effect their youth system to the advantage of some Premiership clubs who will gain the future talent for themselves on the cheap. The Premier League are trying to quash any debate or argument about this youth policy as scare mungering knowing that they have a very weak argument. This issue is way too important to not have it discussed at the highest levels of the game in relation to the future security of football league clubs and their youth teams.

An HM Government petition has been set up to stop the future plans of the EPPP; http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/21314
The petition only takes a minute to do and will show those in authority the concerns that many football fans have with the plans for the EPPP*.

Thanks for your time.

* In a recent FSF poll over 80% of fans voted against the EPPP.

Sadly, the deal is done and the FL clubs are irrevocably committed to it. All the protests in the world won't change it now.

[melonhead]

already have a 25 man squad rule, which mean s others get loaned out
and the only way to stop all the foreigners, is if clubs, and agents stop criminally overvaluing english players

[Franchise FC]

there has not been one legitimate point or argument made which displays why our current youth system is failing our national team. The Premierships oversized squads filled with overseas players is what is stifling our national game

Exactly. How many players do Manchester City have in their squad now? 70? 80? 90? It makes no sense, they can only ever play 11 at a time!!!
There should be rules against it. There should be a maximum squad size, 28 or 30 should suffice any club.
And also they need to bring back the maximum 3 foreigners rule, I know the EU will have something to say about it, but apparently i it is not illegal if you said that minimum 6 should be English or similar, it's only if you say "maximum 3 foreigners" it is illegal. So "minimum 8 native players" would be perfectly legal.

I think there should be a 'basic' salary cap - pick a number, say £10k per week. You can top that up with as much appearance and win/goal/points bonuses as you like, but ONLY if the player gets on in the game, so the really big numbers (£100k+ per week) are still available.

It would very rapidly reduce the number of players satisfied with sitting on the bench, make some of the less fashiponable clubs more attractive (they'd get a game for starters) and make the competition more, well, competitive.