Adver News: Swindon Town teen poised for Chelsea

[News Monkey]

Swindon Town teen poised for Chelsea
           
           


  SWINDON Town’s 13-year-old goalkeeper Jared Thompson is set to join Chelsea after the European Champions agreed to pay an undisclosed compensation fee for the youngster.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/9759501.Swindon_Town_teen_poised_for_Chelsea/?ref=rss
           
           
           

[Ardiles]

'As very proud parents, myself and Andrea would like to confirm to all our friends and family that, as of today, Swindon Town Football Club have accepted an undisclosed fee from Chelsea Football Club for our 13-year-old son Jared Thompson.

We would like to take this opportunity in congratulating Jared for this momentous, once in a lifetime achievement.'

Translates as...

'Wahaay!!  Andrea love, call the estate agent!  The goose has laid a golden egg!  We're in the money!  We're in the money...'

Sorry, but the barely concealed, self-congratulatory tone of that comment really pissed me off.  I wish Jared all the luck in the world - but sadly, the odds of his making it at Chelsea are slim at best.  At Swindon, he was a talent we could have nurtured and developed with a good chance of making something of himself here.  At Chelsea, there will be many others like him...all of whom will be shipped out at some point in the next 6 to 8 years when Chelsea decide they don't need English based keepers anyway because they can buy one from Spain for £30 million.

[Bogus Dave]

Just playing Devil's advocate, but would a 13 year old benefit more from the youth training and coaches that a team like chelsea can fund and provide, compared to us?

[Ardiles]

Probably, yes.  I'm just feeling chopsy this morning.  Really not sure why we bother we a youth set up any more, to be honest.

[Uncletrunx]

So that we can get an "undisclosed fee" whenever a local lad gets poached by a big club.

[pauld]

Probably, yes.  I'm just feeling chopsy this morning.  Really not sure why we bother we a youth set up any more, to be honest.

So that we can nurture young players, some of whom will play for us and some of whom will be sold. Which then helps fund the development of the ones we keep. The fact that we keep having stories like this (i.e. young players developed by our youth setup being sold to "bigger" clubs) is a sign of the success of our youth setup in developing young players to a level that the elite clubs are interested in. Surely they should be congratulated for that?

The continued negativity from our fans to our youth setup and young players we do keep (e.g. the shit the 17 year olds got who had the nerve to wonder why Di Canio had slagged them off publicly the day before they found out about their contracts) and the parents (e.g. all the crap these two are getting, the slating of the young outfield player who went to Chelsea last year etc) makes we wonder why any young player would bother coming here. Or staying here for that matter. (EDIT: this last para is aimed more at the comments on the Adver story and general reaction to previous stories about the yoof, not Ardiles btw)

[Phil_S]

Aren't these fees due to be capped soon anyway.. I understand that quite a few lower league clubs have closed their youth setups because of this

[Paolo69]

Aren't these fees due to be capped soon anyway.. I understand that quite a few lower league clubs have closed their youth setups because of this

Well one. Wycombe! There are others rumoured to be considering it though.

[Arriba]

So that we can nurture young players, some of whom will play for us and some of whom will be sold. Which then helps fund the development of the ones we keep. The fact that we keep having stories like this (i.e. young players developed by our youth setup being sold to "bigger" clubs) is a sign of the success of our youth setup in developing young players to a level that the elite clubs are interested in. Surely they should be congratulated for that?

The continued negativity from our fans to our youth setup and young players we do keep (e.g. the shit the 17 year olds got who had the nerve to wonder why Di Canio had slagged them off publicly the day before they found out about their contracts) and the parents (e.g. all the crap these two are getting, the slating of the young outfield player who went to Chelsea last year etc) makes we wonder why any young player would bother coming here. Or staying here for that matter. (EDIT: this last para is aimed more at the comments on the Adver story and general reaction to previous stories about the yoof, not Ardiles btw)

Great post

[Samdy Gray]

I can see both sides of the argument.

Whilst you can't deny that the opportunity to join Chelsea is fantastic, you do have to consider whether it's the best choice for career longevity.

[Arriba]

Way too good an opportunity to turn down. More intense training-more often etc.(their set up is the best i've seen)
Release from Swindon probably leads to non league,Release from Chelsea makes things easier to play pro football.

[Bogus Dave]

I'd say you stand a much better chance of making it professionally by going to a prem team at that age and dropping down teh divisions at the start of your career, than stick it out at the bottom to begin with.

Compare Wes Foderingham with Mark Scott. Foderingham grew up at Fulham, Scott with us. Foderingham has benefited from the better coaching Fulham will have offered him as a teen, and to a lesser extent Palace, and is soon to be an established league one keeper. Scott has just been released.

Now I know there are other factors that led to those scenarios, and I don't know what a 13 year old Mark Scott was like in goal. But i'd bet he'd stand a better chance of being in the football league last season had he been fotunate to follow the same career path as wes foderingham, rather than the one he did

[stfcinbmth]

Would be interesting to know the fee we got versus the fee we would have got under the EPPP

[Paolo69]

I'd say you stand a much better chance of making it professionally by going to a prem team at that age and dropping down teh divisions at the start of your career, than stick it out at the bottom to begin with.

Compare Wes Foderingham with Mark Scott. Foderingham grew up at Fulham, Scott with us. Foderingham has benefited from the better coaching Fulham will have offered him as a teen, and to a lesser extent Palace, and is soon to be an established league one keeper. Scott has just been released.

Now I know there are other factors that led to those scenarios, and I don't know what a 13 year old Mark Scott was like in goal. But i'd bet he'd stand a better chance of being in the football league last season had he been fotunate to follow the same career path as wes foderingham, rather than the one he did

Yep or maybe Wes is and always has been a better keeper than Mark Scott.

[Peter Venkman]

Would be interesting to know the fee we got versus the fee we would have got under the EPPP

Under the EPPP we would have been due approx £24,000 compensation.