RESERVES.....WHAT IS THE POINT?

[mfc:)]

One game i went to was holiday cup pontings final now that was a brill game .

[Phoenix]

the academy was never mentioned in my post, the reserves are not filled with academy players.

From your junior school teams to the first team squad, including the reserves, there's a ladder to climb and each team gives everyone on the lower rungs something to aim for. Take away that last step and no one will get to the top. The academy, reserves, etc, etc are as crucial to the development of football as any other team.

[Mark S]

Aaah.. thats better... new keyboard
nearly correct keith..my password is all numbers
weetabix person, a bit shirty, i am entitled to an opinion, taylor has gone straight from the academy to loan, twiss and stanley look unlikely to be in the first team anytime soon if ever...the reserves are very expensive and we are a very small team with a small fanbase
the academy was never mentioned in my post, the reserves are not filled with academy players.

Sod the reserves. I am more interested in your keyboard.

Does this new keyboard not have a shift key that enables you use capitals? From one extreme to the other!

How is your 'broken arm'?

Back to the reserves - We dont have a reserves team, we have a squad of players. Reserves matches are used to keep players match fit with competitive football and give the management a chance to see fringe players in action.

The fact that spectators are there is fairly academic, but a bonus for a bit of income.

[PUNKISDEAD]

The squad of players are not doing very well, a smaller squad of better players might do a bit better, i regularly watch the reserves and it is usually like watching a training match, i think the income generated barely covers the floodlight costs, 1500 regular home fans cannot sustain a pro playing squad of 25 plus players and fund a new stadium
we obviously have no money to spare on new players as all the new ones are on loan or freebies, the wage cap appears to dictate a one in one out policy, whatever anyone else thinks is up to them, but I think a squad of 20 players would suit the teams ability to compete on the wages front attract better players.

[Phoenix]

we obviously have no money to spare on new players as all the new ones are on loan or freebies, the wage cap appears to dictate a one in one out policy,

Why is it obvious we have no money to spare on new players? Don't bother answering because you already have, it's called the wage cap. Only the board and maybe some very close associates of the board (Ned?) know how much money would be available if they could increase the wage cap.

[marky]

What is it they say? Quality rather than quantity? Many people on here stated the lack of a bigger squad went some way towards our alarming form after christmas last season. Is it possible we've gone too far the other way this season? We've reached our wage cap, have a large squad and few (if any) of the new players have the qualities we need. Our start this season has, in my view, proved that we desperately need some quality but we've reached a situation where Sammy's hands are tied until someone goes.

[PUNKISDEAD]

Thankyou Marky
I am glad that my post has at last appealed to someone who can smell the coffee, a lot of fans would prefer to see a tight squad competing for places in a good team, i think if mfc 1ST 11 played the reserves it would be a nil nil draw, we are not in a position to warrant a large squad of average players, my next post will be about our new stadium, that we cannot afford, do not need, and will not be happening anytime soon.

[Mark S]

Thankyou Marky
I am glad that my post has at last appealed to someone who can smell the coffee, a lot of fans would prefer to see a tight squad competing for places in a good team

Well, at least two of you!

[marky]

Woah! Steady on punk. I half agree with you. I wouldn't get rid of the reserve team per se, but I do believe our squad is too large, especially given the make-up of said squad.

[ezz]

Thankyou Marky
I am glad that my post has at last appealed to someone who can smell the coffee, a lot of fans would prefer to see a tight squad competing for places in a good team, i think if mfc 1ST 11 played the reserves it would be a nil nil draw, we are not in a position to warrant a large squad of average players, my next post will be about our new stadium, that we cannot afford, do not need, and will not be happening anytime soon.

We do need the new stadium in a few ways, a) A modern stadium upto league 2 standard (ours is currently not i think). B) The income generated from the stadium itself through the year will be much needed in the future. C) It would cost a lot to do the neccessary upgrades on CP. D) The facilities for training will be very good and much better than what we have now.

Your so sure it won't be happening soon? Last i heard of it the proposed move had been granted by the council, though i havn't heard since.

[Aal]

I like the reserve games but I agree with some of the original points.

Without a reserve team tho, the fringe players would not get any chances to play.

It's more of an issue at Premiership teams. I saw Blackburn reserves a few times last year and it was all young lads. What do fringe first team players actually do. Must be so frustrating for them to be getting paid for not playing at all (and that's a serious point...demoralising)

[wonder shrimp]

i can't remember which team it was, but at least one team in our league last year (could have been notts county) didn't have a reserves team. i think it's fair to question what the club get from it and whether it's a fair return.

the reserves did do very well last year, and yet we didn't see many players coming through.

without knowing the figures i think it's a bit strong to talk of scrapping the ressies, but i do think it's fair to ask the questions, how much does it cost to run, and are the returns worth it?

[Leics Shrimp]

Well this is not even worthy of a reply............hold on I just have? Verbal diarrohea! You need to take two imodium orally?

[North Stand Shrimp]

Thankyou Marky
I am glad that my post has at last appealed to someone who can smell the coffee, a lot of fans would prefer to see a tight squad competing for places in a good team, i think if mfc 1ST 11 played the reserves it would be a nil nil draw, we are not in a position to warrant a large squad of average players, my next post will be about our new stadium, that we cannot afford, do not need, and will not be happening anytime soon.

We do need the new stadium in a few ways, a) A modern stadium upto league 2 standard (ours is currently not i think). B) The income generated from the stadium itself through the year will be much needed in the future. C) It would cost a lot to do the neccessary upgrades on CP. D) The facilities for training will be very good and much better than what we have now.

Your so sure it won't be happening soon? Last i heard of it the proposed move had been granted by the council, though i havn't heard since.

I'd say the money for the new stadium was going to be comming from the eventual sale of CP to a building company and due to the slump in the market there are no buyers. Depending on how long the credit crunch goes on for we could be looking at 2-5 years before seeing us move to wesgate. As for the league two standards, if the new stadium hasn't happened by the time the new standards have to be in place then the costly improvements will have to be carried out at CP and this may further put back the new stadium.
The planning permission and sale of westgate land has kind of paled into insignificance as that isn't the real stumbling block any more.

[Leics Shrimp]

Even with the credit crunch I would have thought there was either a pre contract agreement in place relating to CP sale to developers, althought there may be a drop in the residential value placed on it. Developers are still purchasing sites and adding to their landbank even if they are not building on them in the near future and know of a number of firms who are doing that right now as the long term value of residential land will be upwards as will trend for house prices once we get though this current rocky patch caused by dodgy american loan markets.

Does anyone know approx sale value of the CP site? Im not surehow many acres of land are involved. The other football clubs who have done the same as Morecambe eg shrews are now in a much better position financially.

[ezz]

Thankyou Marky
I am glad that my post has at last appealed to someone who can smell the coffee, a lot of fans would prefer to see a tight squad competing for places in a good team, i think if mfc 1ST 11 played the reserves it would be a nil nil draw, we are not in a position to warrant a large squad of average players, my next post will be about our new stadium, that we cannot afford, do not need, and will not be happening anytime soon.

We do need the new stadium in a few ways, a) A modern stadium upto league 2 standard (ours is currently not i think). B) The income generated from the stadium itself through the year will be much needed in the future. C) It would cost a lot to do the neccessary upgrades on CP. D) The facilities for training will be very good and much better than what we have now.

Your so sure it won't be happening soon? Last i heard of it the proposed move had been granted by the council, though i havn't heard since.

I'd say the money for the new stadium was going to be comming from the eventual sale of CP to a building company and due to the slump in the market there are no buyers. Depending on how long the credit crunch goes on for we could be looking at 2-5 years before seeing us move to wesgate. As for the league two standards, if the new stadium hasn't happened by the time the new standards have to be in place then the costly improvements will have to be carried out at CP and this may further put back the new stadium.
The planning permission and sale of westgate land has kind of paled into insignificance as that isn't the real stumbling block any more.

Thanks for clearing that up, i've been in america since June so i havn't known much about what been going on.

[Phoenix]

I thought the new stadium plans were bogged down in the legalities of JB Christie's will?

[Christies Child]

The last conversation I had with a member of the Board was very positive and did not suggest to me that there was a hold up re:The trust.

Things may have changed over the past month, but no doubt many would welcome an update on the situation.

With regards to the purchase of CP, my info is that it is earmarked for 'land bank' puchase and that it is on schedule.

[Phoenix]

Taken from the Visitor;
Morecambe were working towards a 2009/10 opening but delays in certain legal processes associated with the plans have caused them to reassess the timescale.

Not forgetting
http://www.morecambestadium.co.uk/default.asp

[footballfan]

I agree slightly about the size of our squad. I looked at the reserve team the other night and it was over half full with what I would class as 1st team squad players. I know it is used as a way of keeping ist team squad players match fit and agree with that but the younger end should be getting the chances in there also.

As for getting rid of it, you should have been at our club presentation when we called Matty Bell up and asked everyone to show what they thought of his gaining a professional contract, the Carlton was nearly brought down around us and that was from the u11`s and below. When you get asked "Do you think I can be like Matty" by an eight year old you will see the need for a MFC 2nd eleven (oh and just for good measure, Aaron Taylor is one of our ex-players as well!) So the lads have 2 local idols they look up to.

[PUNKISDEAD]

I was there mate, my son got bare whites managers player of the year,
my point has nothing to do with the youth academy, its the very large average pro squad using up the teams money on a reserve team we do not need, unless of course, you use people like matty and aaron ect in a reserve team instead of a second string that we can not afford!!