Not sure if I agree with Dave Stoker in his blog: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-fc-blog-lack-development-6250082
Has our youth development served the club well?
We've produced some fantastic players no question, but what is the benefit to cost ratio, we didn't actually get that much for them compared to other teams like Falkirk and Hamilton, prob due to our constant financial disasters, every time we had a good player coming through we were either in admin or heading there and sold them for buttons. What does is cost the club to run a youth set up and bring players through, and does it get covered by the odd players coming through and being sold on?
What we appear to be doing this season and last is letting other teams develop young players then sign them up on 2 year contracts, if we can sell some on that would prob be financially a more astute way of doing it.
Falkirk have also made plenty from signing a young player up and selling them on. Long term bringing youth players through and selling them on for a bit more than we've been doing then making large chunks from sell ons a few years down the road would be the best way of doing it but we're a financial basket case of a club that has never been able to stay stable long enough to benefit from doing that and always get owners only interested in making a quick buck.
Has our youth development served the club well?
We've produced some fantastic players no question, but what is the benefit to cost ratio, we didn't actually get that much for them compared to other teams like Falkirk and Hamilton, prob due to our constant financial disasters, every time we had a good player coming through we were either in admin or heading there and sold them for buttons. What does is cost the club to run a youth set up and bring players through, and does it get covered by the odd players coming through and being sold on?
What we appear to be doing this season and last is letting other teams develop young players then sign them up on 2 year contracts, if we can sell some on that would prob be financially a more astute way of doing it.
Falkirk have also made plenty from signing a young player up and selling them on. Long term bringing youth players through and selling them on for a bit more than we've been doing then making large chunks from sell ons a few years down the road would be the best way of doing it but we're a financial basket case of a club that has never been able to stay stable long enough to benefit from doing that and always get owners only interested in making a quick buck.
