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[Albion] The 30% target



Swansman

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
DA said earlier this year:

When I first joined Brighton, we set a really lofty target – to have 30 per cent of first-team minutes accounted for by academy products. That is really, really high and very, very difficult to achieve – particularly in the Premier League.

I'll be keeping track of this in this thread throughout the season. Think it will be very exciting to see how close the club could come to reaching that target. Dont think it has happened a lot of times in the PL - I can imagine only Manchester United has ever done it.
 








Gabbafella

Gabbafella

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
4,675
I can definitely see Ostigard contributing heavily to that percentage this season.
 


S

Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
23,830
GOSBTS
Gabbafella said:
I can definitely see Ostigard contributing heavily to that percentage this season.
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I'd like to think so - but his cameo roles so far makes me think Potter isn't sure. He had 1 minute against Getafe... where as White was included from day 1 and both have had similar career trajectory until now - although Ostigard is a year behind
 




Tom Hark Preston Park

Tom Hark Preston Park

Will Post For Cash
Jul 6, 2003
70,139
Swansman said:
DA said earlier this year:

When I first joined Brighton, we set a really lofty target – to have 30 per cent of first-team minutes accounted for by academy products. That is really, really high and very, very difficult to achieve – particularly in the Premier League.

I'll be keeping track of this in this thread throughout the season. Think it will be very exciting to see how close the club could come to reaching that target. Dont think it has happened a lot of times in the PL - I can imagine only Manchester United has ever done it.
Click to expand...

I sincerely hope that 30% target is not the sole basis for individual end of season bonuses among the various layers of middle management in the club. Big problems for EPL survival (y'know, the single thing that keeps this whole circus on the road) if that is indeed the case. Cos they can all meet their individual targets and the whole EPL thing can still easily turn to shit. Not my fault guv, I met me targets :shrug:
 


Swansman

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
Tom Hark said:
I sincerely hope that 30% target is not the sole basis for individual end of season bonuses among the various layers of middle management in the club. Big problems for EPL survival (y'know, the single thing that keeps this whole circus on the road) if that is indeed the case. Cos they can all meet their individual targets and the whole EPL thing can still easily turn to shit. Not my fault guv, I met me targets :shrug:
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Tony Bloom, the man you appear to have very little belief in, invested in the academy before the club reaching the PL, so being in the PL is probably not what keeps the circus on the road.

There's a few ways of running a football club. There is the "get some Chinese/Saudi slave owner and hope they stay interested" way. There is the "spend all your money on fancy toys and hope you'll be a part of the highest division for eternity" way, and there is the "create a good academy that can provide you with great players and income whatever division you're in" way.

The first way is great if you have a global brand that excites some Saudi slave owner. The second way of doing it is what I would call the Portsmouth/Bolton way - investing all their money (and more) in experienced players and hope it works out every time because if it doesnt, you're in deep shit. And then there is what I would call the Southampton way - invest in the academy and if you go down, you'll get back up.

Now that Portsmouth/Bolton way might sound very tempting in the short term but the problem with eternal survival in the top division is that it appears very difficult. Out of 20 teams in the Premier League, only six have never been relegated in the 21th century. Only one (Arsenal) have stayed up for an "eternity". It appears to be unsustainable to build your club on the basis of it always being in the top division. In a worst case scenario, it might result in a long, hard struggle where you have to sell your stadium to someone who wants to develop a retail park.

As long as Brighton have a strong academy, the club is unlikely to ever find itself in a similar crisis to that of the past or the kind quite a few other clubs have experienced.
 


N

nickbrighton

Well-known member
Feb 19, 2016
1,918
Tom Hark said:
I sincerely hope that 30% target is not the sole basis for individual end of season bonuses among the various layers of middle management in the club. Big problems for EPL survival (y'know, the single thing that keeps this whole circus on the road) if that is indeed the case. Cos they can all meet their individual targets and the whole EPL thing can still easily turn to shit. Not my fault guv, I met me targets :shrug:
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It would be a worry if the club had a recent (or even medium term )history of using that metric. But they don't . There has been an ambition for years to use build and use the academy to provide first team players, and a stream of players to sell. This seems eminently sensible and the whole point of having an academy in the first place

No where though is there any indication that the club would "cut its nose to spite its face" by using academy produced players if they aren't good enough. The fact that last year we had 30% of minutes played from the academy is a good thing, and the list of players ready to try and break into the first team squad shows that the plan is working

It would be a lot more worrying if the likes of Mwepu were not brought into the club and we were relying solely on academy players that weren't premier league ready, but with a steady stream of players going to lower division clubs demonstrates that isnt the case
 




Baldseagull

Baldseagull

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2012
10,942
Crawley
We could hit 30% again this season, unless one of March, Dunk or Sanchez has an extended period out of the side. If those 3 stay fit and played every minute, it would need 610 minutes each from Alzate and Connolly, both exceeded that last season.
 


Swansman

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
Brighton vs Burnley
990 minutes of playing time, 341 played by youth products. If my way of doing the equation serves me correctly then that shoud mean that (bit more than) 34% of the minutes were played by (former) academy products.

Brighton vs Watford
990 minutes, 315 played by the yoof = (almost) 32%.
 


B

Berty23

Well-known member
Jun 26, 2012
3,192
As a way of judging our academy I wonder if someone in seagulls towers will be monitoring players that leave who have come through the academy.

For example next season we might have more coming through who are ready but it is possible/likely that Sanchez will leave. If we are judging the quality of our academy then it would be good to not only look at how much money we make from academy products but mins played by Brighton academy products over the next decade or so. Looking at the names we have on loan and the under 23s it looks like in 2031 the minutes will be substantially higher to now.

My lad is 13 this weekend and his best mate plays for Birmingham city. His mate has been explaining to me how Brighton are talked about by the kids as being a great academy. This is one example but it will be interesting to see how this all evolves. Exciting times.
 






Change at Barnham

Change at Barnham

Well-known member
Aug 6, 2011
4,900
Bognor Regis
severnside gull said:
Interesting piece about Dicker and the Academy.
https://www.the42.ie/gary-dicker-brighton-5563169-Oct2021/
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Thanks for sharing that, it's a heartwarming article for any Brighton fan.

I loved this bit:

Dicker uses an analogy to illustrate divergent paths: while some academy players take the lift to the top of the game, others have to take the stairs.
Brighton are as good a Premier League club as any from where to catch the lift, mind, as they had the highest number of minutes played among Academy graduates in the Premier League last season.
“It is unbelievable”, says Dicker. “Man United were second behind us. For a club that, 10 years ago, had only three or four full-time staff working in the academy, to have the most minutes in the Premier League is down to 10 years of hard work from everyone at the club.”
 


rogersix

rogersix

Well-known member
Jan 18, 2014
7,902
Tom Hark said:
I sincerely hope that 30% target is not the sole basis for individual end of season bonuses among the various layers of middle management in the club. Big problems for EPL survival (y'know, the single thing that keeps this whole circus on the road) if that is indeed the case. Cos they can all meet their individual targets and the whole EPL thing can still easily turn to shit. Not my fault guv, I met me targets :shrug:
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i don't think you're quite following this, tommy
 






Worried Man Blues

Worried Man Blues

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2009
6,612
Swansea
Good stuff, I wonder how much money we have invested in a player by the time he is 23 yoa. There is obviously a cost to all of this.
 


WATFORD zero

WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 10, 2003
25,777
Makes you proud that not only are we successful, but we do it in the right (and sustainable) manner :albion2:
 


FatSuperman

FatSuperman

Well-known member
Feb 25, 2016
2,830
Worried Man Blues said:
Good stuff, I wonder how much money we have invested in a player by the time he is 23 yoa. There is obviously a cost to all of this.
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Probably quite a bit, all costs considered. But it must be far, far cheaper than buying a ready made player off another team for Christ-knows how much. A third of our minutes from the academy is saving a fortune overall. Or helping to keep us in the top tier :)
 




Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

Waxing chumps like candles since ‘75
Oct 4, 2003
11,038
By my calculations we are running slightly under 30% target for this season at the moment. We are on 25.2%. The highest was Burnley on the opening day with 34.5% of all minutes played by players who had played in our academy system, the lowest was Brentford with 19%.

I've only included the minutes played in the PL by Sanchez, Dunk, March, Connolly, Alzate and Richards so far this season when making the calculations.
 


Swansman

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo said:
By my calculations we are running slightly under 30% target for this season at the moment. We are on 25.2%. The highest was Burnley on the opening day with 34.5% of all minutes played by players who had played in our academy system, the lowest was Brentford with 19%.

I've only included the minutes played in the PL by Sanchez, Dunk, March, Connolly, Alzate and Richards so far this season when making the calculations.
Click to expand...

With March now facing competition and BW gone it might be difficult to reach the 30% this season, but shouldnt be too far off.
 


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