Headshrinker
Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
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Upgrading the academy is great, but I actually think we may be smart to not seek category 1 status. As it stands we are one of the big fish in the PDL. Players come here knowing they will be on the winning side, and creative players will see the ball/score goals. Rubbing shoulders with the Man City/Chelsea academies will make our youth teams uncompetitive, which you may say 'who cares' (and you'd be right with respect to the results), but that may make us a less attractive place to develop.
Right now we are probably the no.1 academy outside the category 1 club, and I think that has weirdly given us a unique advantage for picking up talents.
That is an interesting perspective. The mental side of winning (instead of losing) every other week is not to be underestimated. And with that comes creative and offensive football, as you noted. You may not get the better players but you may indeed help them reach their potential better this way.
Still, is it better as a whole? Who knows...