All very exciting these foreign player signings, but ...

Wardy · Aug 10, 2017

I think the 'premium' is a direct result of the media coverage these days. Any good British player will be well known by fans. Even if they are playing in the Championship it is likely that they will have made the news in some way. The result of this is a) more clubs are aware and want them, leading to a bidding battle, b) the player and their agent have ideas they are better than they are and as such want higher wages c) the selling club want some money back not only on their investment but also in order to go out and replace them.

When you look at the players we have signed so far this season, unless you follow a lot of European football, the chances are you will not know who they are. Even if you have heard of them you may not know that much about them. This means that they are not in a position to demand the same level of wages as players who are well known are.

Whatever the reasons, the fact is that £15m buys a lot more from a Belgium league then it does in the Premier League. Yes the Premier League player can say to be proven playing in the division, but that does not mean they are a better player.

Joshski · Aug 10, 2017

mejonaNO12 aka riskit said:
Burnley have something like 21 of their 25 players being british or irish.

That's quite amazing.

True but at the same time they have no flair!

whitelion · Aug 10, 2017

goldstone said:
I personally preferred the days when we had maybe one or two non-British players in the team as distinct from this season when we'll be lucky have two or three British guys playing. Yes I know British players are overpriced; yes I know we are looking for the best value players available, but I can't help but look back fondly to the days when the football teams in England fielded mostly British players. At least I could pronounce their names back then.

Best to go back to the olden days then.

Onwards and upwards I say.

Robert 64 yrs old.

BigGully · Aug 10, 2017

whitelion said:
Best to go back to the olden days then.

Onwards and upwards I say.

Robert 64 yrs old.

Well isnt the aim of multi million pound Academy's for that very reason.

whitelion · Aug 10, 2017

BigGully said:
Well isnt the aim of multi million pound Academy's for that very reason.

First of all I'm going to be picking you up on your grammar - you don't require an apostrophe in "Academy's" nor does it require a capital letter.

Secondly I don't understand your point.

Edit: isnt (sic) on the other hand does require an apostrophe.

Whitechapel · Aug 10, 2017

Seasider78 said:
......and Bruno, Vicente, Ulloa, Knockaert, Lopez, Orlandi etc etc

No. No. No.

We need more British players. Best, Paynter, Obika, Harley, Gardner & Bennett.

BigGully · Aug 10, 2017

whitelion said:
First of all I'm going to be picking you up on your grammar - you don't an apostrophe in "Academy's" nor does it require a capital letter.

Secondly I don't understand your point.

The main point is that you proudly announced that you have moved on and embraced the new position of 'world players', whilst TB invests in a multi million pound Academy that is trying to offset that very position by developing mainly British players.

whitelion · Aug 10, 2017

BigGully said:
The main point is that you proudly announced that you have moved on and embraced the new position of 'world players', whilst TB invests in a multi million pound Academy that is trying to offset that very position by developing mainly British players.

OK.

You do realise that academy players will take time to produce.

It's not like picking fruit off trees.

I'm sure in the future we'll have a crop of British and other nationalities coming through.

BigGully · Aug 10, 2017

whitelion said:
OK.

You do realise that academy players will take time to produce.

It's not like picking fruit off trees.

I'm sure in the future we'll have a crop of British and other nationalities coming through.

Well there you have it then, you originally mocked the OP's point and I was just pointing out that BHA's longer term view is to aspire to something similar.

Tricky Dicky · Aug 10, 2017

goldstone said:
I personally preferred the days when we had maybe one or two non-British players in the team as distinct from this season when we'll be lucky have two or three British guys playing. Yes I know British players are overpriced; yes I know we are looking for the best value players available, but I can't help but look back fondly to the days when the football teams in England fielded mostly British players. At least I could pronounce their names back then.

The Premier League is a global entity, it requires players from wherever we can get them, globally. You want mostly local players, then we'll stay in League One or lower. Unfortunate, but true. Personally, I'm quite happy that xxx from Columbia or Brazil actually WANTS to come to little ol' BHA.

martin tyler · Aug 10, 2017

Some people on here really are right complaining *****. Club smashes its record but we are not happy with his origin of birth. I'm glad we are not spending it on crap over priced expensive equivalents just because their English. International, CL and europa league experience against Championship English players.

Whitechapel · Aug 10, 2017

Seasider78 said:
It is a valid point and there seems no justification why home grown attracts such a premium. In some part because of the number of overseas players in the premier league a lot of British players find themselves at championship clubs who when the premier league comes calling inflate fees to try and bridge the money gap. However what we are seeing now is ordinary premier league players with promise like Barkley and Stones moving for £50m which is just insane.

With the top clubs monopolising the youth prospects and going with tried and tested rather than the young British players hard to see this changing at all in the foreseeable future. Tottenham are probably the only team bucking the trend and that is more a reflection of a manager who likes to show faith in the younger players

The problem is the fact that each Premier League team needs 8 homegrown players in their 25 man squad. If you only have 5 players who class as homegrown then you can only name a 22 man squad.The whole idea was that Premier League clubs would give more young players a chance. However, the problem is there simply isn't 160 Premier League quality English players. This means that you either populate your squad with players who are simply aren't good enough or end up with a smaller squad than normal, meaning you have less depth. Whilst a 22 man squad is still 2 players per position it does mean you're an injury away from having 1 fit right back/keeper/holding midfielder.

The problem with this plan is twofold;

1) Big clubs hording players who aren't quite good enough for them because they're English. They'll keep them up as back-up options simply because they're English. For example Manchester United have the likes of Lingard, Smalling, Jones & Young who aren't good enough for Manchester United so aren't going to start much, whereas they'd be playing first team football for clubs like Stoke, West Ham etc. It's why Chelsea wouldn't sell Izzie Brown, for example.

2) The elite clubs are now just working their way around the rules. A player counts as homegrown if they'd been trained in the UK for 3 years before their 21st Birthday. This is one of the reasons Chelsea & Manchester City go out and sign 17 year old wonderkids from across Europe. It's not just a case of stockpiling talent, it's about manipulating the system to gain Homegrown players who are Premier League quality. For example Chelsea signed a Danish 17 year old called Andreas Christensen 5 years ago.He's now 21 and has currently played 1 game for them and spent the last two seasons out on loan in Germany, but because he was at Chelsea from 17-21 he counts as English Homegrown.

This is what is driving up the price of British players. Imagine if you're a Premier League club, you need a striker and a right back. You currently have a 23 man squad and 7 homegrown players and you have the choice of;

An English Striker with a 2 in 5 record for £50,000,000
A Spanish Striker with a 1 in 2 record for £30,000,000.

A 28 year old English Right Back for £30,000,000
An equally good 23 year old Italian Right Back for £12,000,000

Whilst the Spanish striker is obviously the better player and the Italian RB is better value you can fit both of them in your squad. You're forced in to picking an English player, and because the selling clubs know you need so many English players they can charge those astronomical fees. It's a bollocks system that is doing more to harm English youth than improve it, imo.

Nixonator · Aug 10, 2017

As long as we have a couple of Englishmen on the pitch i'm happy. I love the fact we have an array of nationalities in the squad.

Dunk, Solly, Muzza and Dale, two of which are local lads. That'll do me. Take them away and I may feel differently.

whitelion · Aug 10, 2017

BigGully said:
Well there you have it then, you originally mocked the OP's point and I was just pointing out that BHA's longer term view is to aspire to something similar.

I sometimes (actually quite often) become extremely exasperated at posts such as the OP.

After months of waiting for "big" signings we get a few through the door and then the moaning starts - the OP got off lightly - I don't normally react like this but I feel justified on this ocassion.

Of course everyone is entitled to their views but I think you'll find a majority opposing his stance.

Roll on the British talent coming through with names like Brown (oh we've got one) Smith (we've had a few) Jones (we've had at least one) Williams etc - we can all then celebrate like billy-o at our leisure.

trueblue · Aug 10, 2017

I loved football in the old days. But when I watch it now, it's obvious that a lot of that is rose tinted specs, and the game has moved on for the better. Sure, diving is a curse but the general standard is immeasurably higher. Knockaert would have been kicked off the pitch in the 80s as each opposing player took a turn to hammer him, knowing they were 'allowed' one nasty foul.

As for foreign players v English... does it matter? I think it's more important whether they buy into the club's ethos. There's certainly something special, for instance, about the likes of Athletic Bilbao and their Basque only policy, but it has its down side too (how many black players have they had? Maybe just Inaki Williams in their entire history). I'm glad England is not that insular. My list of favourite players in recent years would heavily feature Ulloa, Orlandi, Vicente, Kayal and of course Bruno and Calde. All fine ambassadors for BHAFC. There's an extra buzz when the local boy does good, like Dunk and March, but a more boring, technically less gifted all British side? I don't see the attraction.

Commander · Aug 10, 2017

martin tyler said:
Some people on here really are right complaining *****. Club smashes its record but we are not happy with his origin of birth. I'm glad we are not spending it on crap over priced expensive equivalents just because their English. International, CL and europa league experience against Championship English players.

This. And moaning about not being able to pronounce their names. It takes about 5 seconds to learn FFS.

Pretty pink fairy · Aug 10, 2017

commander said:
it's time you moved on. The world has.

for the better

regards
DR

Pretty pink fairy · Aug 10, 2017

Tricky Dicky said:
The Premier League is a global entity, it requires players from wherever we can get them, globally. You want mostly local players, then we'll stay in League One or lower. Unfortunate, but true. Personally, I'm quite happy that xxx from Columbia or Brazil actually WANTS to come to little ol' BHA.

ONLY BECAUSE IT FITS THE AGENTS WALLET FFS :facepalm:

regards
DR

Giraffe · Aug 10, 2017

I agree with the sentiment, I think most would, but its a global market, where best value is to be held outside of those currently playing in the Premier League. Until the big money explodes in the faces of the footballing elite (and it has to sometime) this will not change.

trueblue · Aug 10, 2017

Commander said:
This. And moaning about not being able to pronounce their names. It takes about 5 seconds to learn FFS.

Yep. But is is much easier to get the English names right, like those Stone and Barclay blokes someone mentioned earlier! I wonder if they're related to Stones and Barkley? [emoji51]

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