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It was my grandson's presentation last night at the Legends Lounge (he plays Under 7 for Ferndale Rodbourne), amongst the people there doing the presentations was Alex Henshall and it was announced that he had left Swindon and signed for Manchester City.  Not a wise choice in my opinion, he might have been better off at Villa! :hmmm:

Was hed telling everyone how he is going to be earning 20k a week ronnie as soon as he plays a first team team game.

Agree with you about the choice of club ronnie bit i wonder if selfishly the club may have pushed him that way a little bit due to the ongoing links we have.

Old news. Think we knew he was gone as soon as there was no talking of us offering him a pro contract the second he was old enough.

More importantly to us, is the fee?

I wasn't there myself Dean, grandson and parents were there and reported back!!  I agree with you, it is now obvious where the link with Man City started!!!

50 quid and packet of pork scratchings

Old news?  Old rumours!!  Why have the club not made a statement to that effect!!  If the fee is no better than the Liverpool deal then there is not much to look forward to bar a couple of loanees.

Im just struggling to fathom as to why a 15 year old kid would be dishing out awards at a ceremony. Its not as if he is well known etc.

I dont doubt you Ronnie

First team players are never available this time of year Tans.

That was the old board, who would've taken any old offer.

I wouldn't be surprised that we would get a fair whack, probably mostly based on first team appearances.

Right on Tans, it was a Ferndale Rodbourne "do" and he came through from the under 7's at FR along with the other guy handing out the awards, they couldn't remember his name but thought it was Parsons!  There's a pic on Facebook under Karen Payne, Dan's football photos!!

Makes you wonder exactly what Fitton was discussing when he was up at Man City, a tie up or a compensation package for Henshall or most likely both. Hopefully it will be a good deal, especially as Man City will look right wankers if they don't splash a fair bit of cash in our direction.

Josh Parsons - he's my friend's son.

I do find the youth set up very discouraging at Swindon these days,a good or very good prospect is off at the first opportunity(not blaming them,money etc) leaving us with players who to be frank have little or no chance of getting in the first team.....so whats the point of funding this and wouldnt we be better off putting this money to better use.

Yep, that is who was with AH.

You will be hard pushed though Leefer to find a team outside the premiership who keeps hold of there talented youngsters.

Agreed.

Isn't the point of funding it to make a profit Leefer? We spend x amount on running it each year but we make a tidy sum when we sell someone like Henshall. I think Fitton made it clear this would be a bit of policy of theirs when they took over.

big clubs will always nick the best players.henshall is the best prospect we have had in years,as in a player who could make the top grade.

...and in addition to that, with the 'tie ups' with Liverpool, Man City etc these players will be directed in those clubs' directions and in return we will get very promising youngsters not quite ready for the Prem and who maybe need a bit of 'toughening up' from those teams on season long loans, who we would not otherwise have got. It does all make sense.

The only thing that pisses me off a bit is the fact that these boys are buggering off without having kicked a ball in anger for STFC.

Perhaps as we progress upwards (as I am sure we will) we will be able to hold on to a few more of these kids.

And I don't doubt that. But how do we know? We never get to see the likes of Henshall in action. As I said in my previous post, it would be nice to get at least one season out of these kids before they bugger off!

I hope so...all good clubs need a good youth set up..and why all the secrecy on these deals.
Why cant the Town fans like myself know what the fee is,i might be abit happier knowing we get half a million in the long run.
Fact is personally its upsetting to see our best youngsters not even play for the first team...but as DRS said thats life outside the prem.

I wonder how much damage the big clubs buying up all the young players does to the quality of up and coming youngsters. Rather than them developing and getting real match experience the vast majority end up sitting in the reserves prior to eventually being released or sold on a few years later.

How many other quality players are there out there like Darby and Ward, who could and should have been playing the full season in the Football League but have done fuck all instead as a big club snapped them up?

Jonny I don't often agree with you, but I do today!

Selling players on is an inevitability. But it would be nice to get a season out of them first. I guess money talks. Not much we can do.

Maybe it's time for the FA to re write the rules instead of pandering to the Premiershit

on the flip side.how many young lads get rushed into lower league teams as they have potential?only to struggle for a variety of reasons, and then not make it as a pro.if they were at a bigger club with more decent players around them,they might do better.
there is not wrong or right answer here i'm afraid, as every player is different, and we all know there are no guarantees in football.

How is that similar? At least the player will have had a chance, if they're not up to it they can continue in the reserves or they'll be released and move on to another club where they get another chance.

Players at Premier League clubs seldom even get a chance. Its not unusual for a Premier League club to have 50 professionals on their books, so half of them won't even get a reserve match once a week. They hold on to players on the off chance they make the grade and aren't too worried if they don't as they can afford their wages, so are happy for them to stay and not play. Football League clubs don't have that luxury, if they ain't good enough they're gone.

the bigger clubs have more money and can afford to be more patient with a player,than lower league clubs where money is tight.
take swindons squad season just passed.very small it was,and you can't afford to have players not ready for the team.big clubs dont have that worry.

i'm not saying henshall leaving is right or wrong.i dont know.none of us do.

I still wonder if Charlie got as good as he is not DESPITE him playing non-league, but BECAUSE he was.

I could imagine the Poole gaffer simply saying: "Charlie, when you get the ball just fucking kick it into the fucking net, all-right son"

Daaaaaaaam, good luck alex :)

Sure Im not alone in thinking it would have been nice to see him in a town shirt if it was only a couple of 20 minute sub appearances.  We probably would have as well if we had a shit season and were free from potential relegation or promotion come the start of April.

Had the pleasure of seeing him last summer in the Milk Cup. He scored 4 as we beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 4-2, he was absolutely sick...star quality written all over him, bit of the Adam Johnsons about him..he was supposedly injured that day as well!

Good luck to him...sure he'll go far

Fuck me runnin' - he scored 4 goals with a dicky tummy?!

No wonder City nicked him....

This isn't confirmed yet though is it so still speculation ?

Perhaps it just comes down to greed and/or poor decision making. You can picture the scene: "Look, lad, you can stay here on £n a week and play as much first team football as we can give you, or you can go to Man City on an offer of ten or twenty times that if, and when, you play a first team game. You'll do a lot of training there, play some youth team games, maybe even a reserve match or two before they ship you out to some lower half SPL team. The choice is yours." At 15/16 which would you choose?
Oh, and just a thought, isn't it just a little bit surprising that Mr. Wenger doesn't seem the least bit interested in a young teenage potential superstar?

He's English. Looks what Wenger's done to Walcott !!!

And therein lies the question so far as I am concerned!  All these young talents get snaffled up by the premiership only for them to disappear because all the big clubs are interested in are the most expensive prospects from overseas....so presumably all these teams have got outstanding reserve teams, but the players never make the grade, leaving England struggling to put together one team of 11, never mind a squad with a bit of competition in it.  The national team may not be the be all and end all of football, but it is an indicator of health.

To be fair Man City have brought through quite a few British players.

Perhaps we're going to get a good deal out of it though.

If the gaffer has sat down with him and said "look lad, Man City want you and the deal is alright for us. Obviously we want you to stay but there is no pressure" then it comes down to what he wants to do career wise rather than pure greed alone.

Lukas J left for more money and it hasn't really done his career the greatest of harm.

Been told he went for £250,000 plus a sell-on clause, not bad for a player who's never played for us.

He'll be on £750 a week up there, and sharing digs with some ex England international. The club will pay for hotels whenever his parents want to watch him.

 :bullshit:

How much was it then.

It would appear that moving overseas, does mentally toughen a lot of lads, either those who come to England....Pique, Fabregas, C. Ronaldo etc or South Americans who come to Europe even Oddities like Hargreaves, Cahill, who come from non footballing countries.

I'd like to see more English lads like Henshall going off and playing in France Germany or Spain

Also, Villa only offered £50,000, and United came in with a late bid, but he'd already decided on City.

Instead of coming down here to scout him, City watched over him when the under 16s when up there for a friendly, Mancini watched and so did SWP apparently.

Could be bullshit but hey.

Not that much. £250000 for a 16 year old??!?! If so, good negotiating Mr Fitton.  ;)

Man United send some of theirs out to Norway and Anderlecht don't they?

Leigh Mills - that is all.

Lids got more than that when Everton took one of their players...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/8243058.stm

Yeah but we're Swindon, not Leeds. I doubt our academy players would cost as much.

I used to play for Ferndale Rodbourne.  I also now earn over 20k - a year.

They certainly go to Royal Antwerp.... Ronnie Wallwork and Danny Higginbottom ended up in trouble for attacking a ref....Wallwork got suspended sine die, later reduced...they obviously hadn't listened to their surround the ref menacingly, but don't actually attack him lessons.

Wallwork then took the more usual getting stabbed in a night club brawl route of ruining his career.  Higginbottom just went to Stoke

Our resident man of the fjords would know more about Norwegian teams...

Here's the report from the land of the fjords: ManUtd got Solkjaer from the Norw. PL club Molde some years ago and they bought the Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf from the same club last summer, but he stayed at Molde through the season (till November).

And they got some talented youngsters in Joshua King and Magnus Wolff Eikrem who both are around 18 years old.  Solskjaer who is the coach for the reserve team is highly rated in Norway, so I guess it is easy for him to pursue the player to come over to Manchester.

I will repeat there has never been any confirmation I don;t beleive that he has actually left / is leaving for anyone it was all just paper talk, until this is confirmed by stfc then I won't beleive what anyone's mate's mate's mate says

But it's not just anyone's "mate", it's Henshall himself telling anyone who'll listen that he's off to Man City and he'll be on £20,000 a week as soon as he plays in the first team.

Isn't it strange that none of the clubs has stated anything yet?

There doesn't seem to be any official news regarding this, only some Man City forums.

He's an England U-16 International so there will always be big clubs after him, and I guess it's easy to jump on the fast train instead of taking the slow train in League One - but he might be another Leigh Mills in PL. Or he'll be a Ben Worrall at STFC? Oh, and what about that guy Walcott?!

We should send some more guys from Norway to trials at Swindon Town. We need another Jan The Man! What about Marcus Pedersen. Well, last thing I've heard, some PL and Championship-clubs are monitoring him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53guuYFGO84 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53guuYFGO84)

He has definatly gone,250k.

We should send some more guys from Norway to trials at Swindon Town. We need another Jan The Man! What about Marcus Pedersen. Well, last thing I've heard, some PL and Championship-clubs are monitoring him...

Looks similar to Danny Ward...very tasty goals!!

antwerp i believe in belgium

Proof ?

Seriously he has gone.I know what you are saying but there is nothing official yet but he has gone.

He goes to the same school as my brother, and it's common knowledge there that he's off

If he was staying we'd have had a big song and dance about him signing a pro contract when he turned 16 in february.

He didn't, so would technically be a free agent anyway, sort of...

According to his Facebook-profile he's back from Manchester, with a big smiley. I reckon that's some kind of proof that he's gone. Well, best of luck. I also heard he had a bit of a personality issue - all early fame & glory gone to the head, ey?

I posted a video of Marcus Pedersen and according to a norwegian newspaper he's actually maybe on his way to CELTIC for £2 mill. !

Maybe he'll go to Swindon on loan from The Bhoys, then! ;)

Of course he's going, what's more important is whether we can get anything from the deal... Whether that's cash, loan players or both.

We all know that the reality is League One clubs can't keep promising talent. 

Has he gone, DRS?

You would expect some kind of fee regardless of the loan deal's setup

I expect we got a small fee, won't be much as he was never on a pro contract here.

Yeah

Really? You never mentioned it before.

Sorry

Was on the wireless this morning.

Definately gone, undisclosed. Agreement in place for loans, we get first refusal if Alex goes out on loan.

£250,000 plus sell on clause according to the adver

good bit of business.

£250k towards some new players at least.

also Brighton are reportedly after JPM aswel. I love the way people believe last season was a one off and now we need to sell to survive. They can all fuck off and we'll prove them wrong

The penny will drop, eventually.

For what it's worth, I'm sure some of our players will go, as others will arrive.  It's the way clubs do business.  But when we do sell, it won' be to the likes of Brighton.

I like the fact that the Adver claims the Henshall story is an 'exclusive'.

It's been discussed on here since Sunday, and you wouldn't bet against that this site is the source of the information in the first place.

This site is the advers primary source

I thought the same thing and I noticed that the adver had no facts or quotes to backup their 'exclusive' so it seems they are working on guesswork and wanting people to beleive they have a source to their story - poor journalism - again

How Adver reporter get's his exclusive...

Go to thetownend.com
Read what people are saying
Ignore the 80% bollocks
Print story which is half believable
Job done

This is such a frustating thing about modern football. Any talent in the youth team disappears before you or I get to see them in action. Never again can we get a side like Bert Head apparently put together of young, local players you can get a decent number of games out before they get sold on. At least Jutkiewicz was able to contribute something other than a cash pile before he went.

Does it really work for the player either? I know I stuck Leigh Mills in this thread but he goes from England under-16 captain to seemingly having disappeared off the face of the earth by the time he's in his early 20's - which I know is an argument for taking the money when it's nice and shiny, but myeh, I feel like being inconsistent.

The kids always want to go - as I guess they have always been stars up to now, they all assume they can make it no sweat so the only players we really get to see from the youth systems are the Pooks, who can make some imapct as a pro but are unlikely to make it to the very top - bah!

I hereby end this grumpy musing for Fatbury to grow excitable at the mention of you know who.

The thing is that Man City's academy is probably much much better than ours, so as a player he's more likely going to develop.

The amount of money they throw at it, of course their academy is going to be better than ours.  At least here he would've expected to start making some first team appearances which, in my opinion, would've been better for the kid.

We don't have a academy so yes you are probably both right.My main worry with this is that we seem to be down to the bare bones as far as youngsters are concerned i can't see many more as good as the recent crop coming through for a while.

As for should we be selling him then look at Maklin,looks like he is being released we could of cashed in on him but didn't we gave him games and he hasn't been good enough so it's swings and roundabouts isn't it.

The rang me and asked for my source, I told them my 7 year-old grandson - exclusive my bollocks!!!

Henshall's departure doesn't concern menin the slightest. Long may we continue to do business with the big leagues. It's important to maintain one or two youth graduates but the lower leagues are no longer won by a squad of former youth players who have been at the club since they were 7.

There's always one or two generations that buck the trend, I grant you. However, £250,000? Yes please! Shame we didn't take what clubs were offering for Lloyd Macklin a
couple of years ago.

I agre Rich we got a good deal but i must admit i am worried about the next youths coming through at the moment.

In that case, suttonred is really good looking, with a massive cock.

 :D

That made I larf

A fair point DRS. However, I'd certainly be more worried if we were currently running an academy set-up. Look at teams like Bristol City who have had an academy for a decade without the success that can be considered justified.

Don't blame me, I've applied the Adver editorial guidelines to your post.

Any footage of him anywhere?

Not suttonred I hope...   (although 'footage' would be impressive)

Alex scores the equaliser in an U18 game.
Corking goal.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Match-highlights/Liverpool-U18s-v-City-U18s

bloody hell that's a fine goal

Sign him up on loan!!

hit and hope

the best kind

We can probably have him for free in 4 years time.