Thetownend.com

Chairman reported top flight club for player tap
           

  ANDREW Fitton has warned the Premier League big boys to “think twiceâ€� before trying to poach any of Town’s youngsters, after revealing he reported a top flight side to the FA for tapping up last
  season.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/4585187.Chairman_reported_top_flight_club_for_player_tap/?ref=rss
           

That'll learn em.

Interesting that Fitton refers to our young players and then mentions earning £2k a week. I can't believe Morrison or Kennedy are earning that much at the moment, but it sounds like that's probably a ball park figure for a player.

Pretty certain the last set of accounts I saw said we paid around £2m in salaries for the playing staff side of things, though that would include all players and coaching staff.

I'm pretty sure the £2k per week was a reference to possible future earnings, rather than what they are on now

If there is undoubted proof that any club has tapped a player up why not a 10 point penalty...they wouldnt do it then...or is that to easy.

I'm pretty sure that the punishment branded out on Chelsea is just as much of a deterrant, and is more fitting to the crime. Yes, it would be hilarious to see Chelsea docked 10 points, but a little unfair

Nothing is going to stop it from happening - big clubs will always take young players away from small clubs. The one thing they can do something about is to make sure the clubs get compensated properly which isn't happening at the moment. This is especially the case with the young players the big clubs are signing from abroad as they aren't paying a penny.

Though I reckon the biggest problem is the involvement of clubs in the development of youth players. Take it away from them and leave it to the schools and football associations instead, then find a way to put the players in clubs once they are 16.

most pe teachers dont have a clue,and neither do alot of local club coaches.what you suggest would be a backward step.
that was the old way of doing it anyway,before the influx of foreign players.

Why unfair?..was it unfair when we were demoted,in my opinion yes...but we were meant to be a deterrent...dock em 10 points and they wont do it again guaranteed...and i wasn talking just Chelsea Reevesy.

there is already too many points deductions in football.

i'm all for punishing clubs, players, managers etc but for fuck sake, leave the points alone. In the last few years we've seen relegation places and promotion places effectivly decided by points deductions rather than results.

Luton were relegated before they even played last season.

The point is Dave..the clubs being punished WONT do it again...whats the fukin point of a fine to a team like Chelsea?

And i cant see Luton breaking the rules again in a hurry...job done.

Theres not much point in fining chelsea

Which is why they've placed them under a transfer embargo for a few years

And with a squad of over 50 including the youths ime sure they will struggle...so will they do the same to a team who isnt going to buy anyway...different rules for different clubs?...i mean stopping us buying for two years ...well it wouldnt be much change to us surely...as i said Dave i feel The Lutons of our world were treated badly,but untill the bigger clubs are treated more harsly they will continue to take the P.

If you stopped us from signing players for two years we'd be playing the youth team by january. It obviously won't be the same effect for chelsea, but for a club that expects to be challenging/winning the premiership and champions league, a transfer embargo will have a massive hit. You'd see the mercernaries leave for a start, and have a squad carried by aging stars. 2 or 3 long term injuries to long term players and they are fucked.

One thing, it will really prove how good a manager ancelloti is

Thats very true.

of course luton didnt break the rules, their former owners did.

they left the club in the shit of which it hasnt recovered, unfair luton fans have to watch blue square premier football because of someone elses doing.

if them going into admin and paying their debts off means less players, less wage budget and they go down fair enough...but to stick them on -30 is wrong.

Luton werent one of the two worst sides in L2 yet got relegated.

They leave it to the school system in the USA for pretty much all of their sports and it works pretty well, so why wouldn't a similar system work over here?

it may well work but would require a total revamp of football.also you'd still have clubs fighting it out over kids regardless.
change is not really needed anyway is it?

'Tapping up' is almost an art form in the US, buying houses for parents, paying off their debts etc. And they're shite at footy.

Its a bit different as its the schools that do the tapping up and they do it to get the kids to go to their school instead of another school, rather than to steal them from another school. Not sure how bad it is but I was under the impression that their punishments if a school is caught were pretty draconian.

The big difference with the US is that the kids education comes first and they're not just treated like a piece of meat. Which means when they leave school they have decent qualifications, in case they don't make a sports career or for when their career is over. For kids over here, if they don't make it they leave school without any qualifications and with fuck all chance of getting a decent job.

Football clubs in England just don't give a fuck about the kids, let alone their education.

when the kids are at school they are still getting educated.when they get youth contracts they go to college too.

Sorry Dave...cant agree,we got demoted years ago if clubs havnt learnt then tuff....we as Town fans took the flak...it wasnt our fault st like it wasnt the Luton fans fault...its the way the cookie crumbles.

Maybe I've got it wrong, but I've always been under the impression that education takes a back seat to the football side of things. Rio Ferdinand said exactly that about his time at West Ham - he was pulled out of classes to train with the first team and eventually stopped the studying.

It would be interesting to know exactly how well educated footballers are, how many have A levels or degrees? I'd imagine the number is very, very low - which is fine if they make it and earn good money. But what if they don't? The onus should be on the FA and the clubs to ensure they have a decent education just in case it doesn't work out.