What's the fuss with St Etienne

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2950568/Manchester-City-consider-adding-St-Etienne-stable-partner-clubs.html

When you read the players they've produced:

Zouma
Faouzi Ghoulam
Geoffroy Guichard


You sort of go..."so what, look who we've produced"

Ireland
Trippier
Richards

All probably of a similar quality to the St Etienne players mentioned!

So a club produces Zouma, who's only now starting to break into the Chelsea team after being out on loan...it's hardly like having a tie up with a Barcelona!

I suppose it can't do any harm...however, all this means for me is that even more foreign kids will join the academy at the expense of some English one's. Why aren't our scouts scouring the country looking at schoolboy football? The kids are out there.

They are, but because the grass roots is now so woefully under funded by the FA, who presume that our kids aren't bothered anyway, they're not looking.

We all know it's utter bollocks.  You give a lad a football and, no matter who they are, they'll kick it.  Every lad wants to play football.  Just hand over some of that ill-gotten Sky money and watch them flourish!

It is tougher these days to engage kids. Mine don't play at all anymore. There's so much more for them to do and it's the same everywhere. Give them a ball though, and they'll kick it around.

Good article by Amy Lawrence...especially when we are talking about engaging kids for the future.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/feb/12/football-fans-premier-league-ticket-prices-tv-deal