decent article from jamie carragher

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/9354727/Euro-2012-if-England-think-radically-and-act-now-we-can-do-a-Germany-says-Jamie-Carragher.html

I have to agree to an extent. Skillful kids gets the shit kicked out of them by 'bigger' lads. Everyone wants to get 'stuck in' or wants to be the hero.

Too little too late, should have been done a) after Italia 90 b) Euro 96,
This time however, we had no Gazza or teenage Wazza to paper over the cracks, it's all too apparent, and with more attacking players like Richards and AJ left scratching their heads at home, we had to rely on brute force and set plays.
The one defining moment for me was Pirlo's penalty, that summed up the gulf in class and attitudes to football, time for change is so ripe it's beginning to stink!

maybe now with players like Silva and Aguero showing you can be small, skillfull and tough enough for the Prem, attitudes will change, and indeed they have, Swansea for example, have shown that a system will work, and their players fit into the system, they all have good ball control, one touch passing, and refuse too hoof it, and indeed have the confidence to play it out from the back under pressure.
When Hodgson talks of "Revolution" does he really mean it?
because when he talked about Pele "rising to the occasion" for his country in the same breath as Rooney, was he talking about football, or his erectile disfunction? as Rooney was limp and flaccid all through the tournament.............

The one thing that scares me about this is the whole FA approach to changing the youth football set-up at grass roots. You may say "what you talking about Blue, it's necessary"..............but as an U15 manager - I was presented with facts about thefinancial cost of junior clubs having to 'get in line' with Southgate and the FA's 'vision' for the future...........and you know what?

It WILL not work...as they'll be NO junior teams at grass roots without the FA's financial support.

An extra £3500 PER CLUB, per season....it will cost to abide by the rules laid down for season 2013/14 for clubs with more than 2 teams below the ages of 14.

Some clubs have ages U9 - U14.......an increase of potentially £5000 per season......they'll be no youth football in the UK in the future if they go ahead with these ridiculous rules of 6v6, 9v9 etc without funding from the FA.

If anyone's interested - i'll PM you some figures sent to me from the Chester District League as a conservative estimate and a link to the petition from clubs all over the country at grass roots to get the simpletons at the FA to at least allow this to go to a vote - or at least include small grass roots clubs to have a say!

Changing mentality will only be a viable option IF there are players to watch midweek/weekends at grass root level.

I help out with my lad's team (which will be an U15 this season) and they have several others, down to an U9. They play in one of the poorer areas of Manchester and I'd been told there may be issues this season with funds and next season might see them wind up altogether, putting sixty-odd lads back onto the streets to cause havoc. So yes, I'd be very interested.

£3500 per club for 2 teams, WOW!!!!!!!!what does that entail?

When i played (even upto Vets football) i thought you just rented the pitch? The sponsors paid for any kits and "subs" paid for the cost of the ref?

I know i being a bit naive here, as i'm not involved in football anymore......BUT £3500, that's just ridiculous.

Shaken, I PM'd Leo will the details, unfortunately it was sent to me as an Excel spreadsheet that I don't seem to be able to attach - so it's a copy from that - but unformatted in areas.

The total cost to The Chester & District League for all team at all levels - will be an extra £37,430. Break that down - and we are in a region of £3k per club.

This with an estimated loss of 118 players.

The problem with this 9v9 thing is that no team/club will allow a load of 11/12/13/14 year old lads to play a match, with boots, within the confines of a full size pitch, concentrated in one area. The pitch for the older age groups will be knackered from the centre circle outwards - due to the regulations on pitch sizes.

Thanks for the PM, Blue. It's a bit hard to read with the limits of HTML, but on the face of it, it does look a bit ridiculous.

My lad's team shouldn't be too harshly affected. His club (Hattersley FC) has three pitches available, one full size, a junior size and a half size, all with proper drainage, all funded by CITC. But most of the clubs they play against aren't so lucky. Although some of them play on municipal fields, so might be okay, but others use facilities provided by local sports centres or schools, so those will definitely feel the pinch.

And losing the extra players will only benefit the teams struggling to turn 11 players out for matches. My lad's team struggles to keep it down to the 16 maximum half the time!

Just sent now.