Just a question

[irishultra]

move to world soccer forum if ya like but i was just wondering are clubs in a different country prohibitied now from signing a player under-18?

i'm not so sure, i know of a guy that liverpool signed recently, and his family have gone over there to live as well so i'm thinking thats the only way they can sign players now. also i remember manchester united signed a guy from roma(might have been the macheda player not sure) and gave his dad a job as a groundsman or something.

[ofjames]

move to world soccer forum if ya like but i was just wondering are clubs in a different country prohibitied now from signing a player under-18?

i'm not so sure, i know of a guy that liverpool signed recently, and his family have gone over there to live as well so i'm thinking thats the only way they can sign players now. also i remember manchester united signed a guy from roma(might have been the macheda player not sure) and gave his dad a job as a groundsman or something.

think that was davide petrucci.

clubs in england have done this type of thing before (moving the whole family over). I'm pretty sure that's how Arsenal got Anthony Stokes over at 16.

[tetsujin1979]

The law in England is that you can't sign a player if they live more than an hour's drive from the club, but it doesn't apply to non-nationals. That means that if the club wants the player then they'll move the whole family to a house owned by the club. I've heard stories of parents being given jobs as well.

You might be thinking of Rossi there, although I wouldn't be surprised if Macheda is in the same situation.

Fergie had a rant against the law before, saying that if a promising player lives in Carlisle (for example) then he won't have a chance to reach his full potential because he can't train at one of the top academies.

I think Norway has a law that a player can't leave the country until they have completed their education.

[ofjames]

i was right. davide petrucci's dad got sorted with the groundsmans job.

http://soccerlens.com/manchester-united-sign-romas-davide-petrucci/7849/

[dr_peepee]

The law in England is that you can't sign a player if they live more than an hour's drive from the club, but it doesn't apply to non-nationals. That means that if the club wants the player then they'll move the whole family to a house owned by the club. I've heard stories of parents being given jobs as well.

You might be thinking of Rossi there, although I wouldn't be surprised if Macheda is in the same situation.

Fergie had a rant against the law before, saying that if a promising player lives in Carlisle (for example) then he won't have a chance to reach his full potential because he can't train at one of the top academies.

I think Norway has a law that a player can't leave the country until they have completed their education.

Read something before about this... Some dude was advocating a better set up of the regional Centres of excellents to counter the things Fergie was saying. Like the aforementioned talented player from Carlise would spend some time at a centre for Excellence with the best of Newcastle, Sunderland, Boro, Hull etc (Not sure about my Geography but you get the point). Better for the players and league clubs all round. I beleive France operates like this..

[irishultra]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

[Razors left peg]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

It would be a great thing if the facilities were in this country to coach the best young players we have

[irishultra]

good point. think i might have read it on here before and it was a good point, players like keith fahey cleary benefited from being in the arsenal youth team which in turn made the league of a higher quality.

although on the flip side it will eventually force the facilities to improve as we can't rely on england to develop our players

[John83]

...although on the flip side it will eventually force the facilities to improve as we can't rely on england to develop our players
Yeah, because the league is known for nothing if not long term planning and infrastructural development.

[DmanDmythDledge]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.
I don' think it's positive for the national side. Only will be a good thing if the standard of coaching here was sufficient.

[irishultra]

just let every kid play futsal instead of 11 a side. all we need is a change of culture, what they need is someone who will encourage them and not someone who think they are the next alex ferguson on the line. underrage football in ireland is a joke especially DDSL, not sure how it is now but gave up playing when i was 13.

[tetsujin1979]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.
Sort of, the law doesn't apply to Irish players AFAIK. But the top players will always be cherry picked by English clubs. Clifford and Henderson were both at English clubs before they turned 17.
But I'd imagine that the amount of players going over to Championship-level clubs will drop significantly due to the costs involved in bringing over an entire family, getting them a house, and paying one or both of the parents.

[DmanDmythDledge]

just let every kid play futsal instead of 11 a side. all we need is a change of culture, what they need is someone who will encourage them and not someone who think they are the next alex ferguson on the line. underrage football in ireland is a joke, not sure how it is now but gave up playing when i was 13.
It is a joke but saying off you go and play futsal instead of off you go and play 11-a-side isn't going to make a whole lot of difference without proper coaching.

Plenty of other things wrong as well. One thing they should do is get rid of competitive games until players are much older. Too much emphasis is placed on winning rather than development of players. Schoolboys shouldn't be playing 11 a side until they are 14/15.

[irishultra]

Sort of, the law doesn't apply to Irish players AFAIK. But the top players will always be cherry picked by English clubs. Clifford and Henderson were both at English clubs before they turned 17.
But I'd imagine that the amount of players going over to Championship-level clubs will drop significantly due to the costs involved in bringing over an entire family, getting them a house, and paying one or both of the parents.

Kind of confused by this. :o

Wasn't Henderson born in England?

[Razors left peg]

It is a joke but saying off you go and play futsal instead of off you go and play 11-a-side isn't going to make a whole lot of difference without proper coaching.

Plenty of other things wrong as well. One thing they should do is get rid of competitive games until players are much older. Too much emphasis is placed on winning rather than development of players. Schoolboys shouldn't be playing 11 a side until they are 14/15.

totally agree, have an uncle that has been involved in football in galway for years now and he is adament that his son will not be allowed to join a local club until he is about 13 or 14.
His reasoning being that by playing street football and with his mates he will learn better ball contol and basic skill and learning to enjoy going past players and things like that. Rather than from the age of 10 having a coach shouting at the young lads to give it to the big lad all the time or giving out to them for giving the ball away. I find it hard to argue that he is wrong.... seems to work for the Brazilians

[SkStu]

while i agree with what you are both saying, i think that discipline and team ethos are equally valuable attributes to learn and joining a club at 14/15 means youre playing catch up on those two very important aspects of a player. The solution is not keeping players away from organised football, in my opinion, but changing the focus of organised football from the "win at all costs" mentality (as has been mentioned). Ireland and England (and Canada from my experience coaching here) are light years behind continental Europe and Sth. America in this regard.

[John83]

totally agree, have an uncle that has been involved in football in galway for years now and he is adament that his son will not be allowed to join a local club until he is about 13 or 14.
His reasoning being that by playing street football and with his mates he will learn better ball contol and basic skill and learning to enjoy going past players and things like that. Rather than from the age of 10 having a coach shouting at the young lads to give it to the big lad all the time or giving out to them for giving the ball away. I find it hard to argue that he is wrong.... seems to work for the Brazilians
And the French. I think it's broadly considered best practice now.

[elroy]

I play alot of football and often take part in the astro leagues run around the city. It amazes me the ethos of so many teams/players in this country who rather than take the ball down and pass it around, its a case of hoof the ball to the big man up front, get a knock down and go from there. Very few teams can string a few passes together and are not encouraged to so. This is even in the case of players who actually have a decent level of skill as well.
We seem to have maintained the Jack Charlton school of tactics.

[eirebhoy]

The astro league I play in doesn't allow the ball to be hit above head height and the keeper is only allowed roll the ball under arm. Sorts that out. :)

[tetsujin1979]

Kind of confused by this. :o

Wasn't Henderson born in England?
Was he? I didn't know that, thought he was from Dublin.
Did some research (ie googled his name). Turns out he has played for England at underage level as well.

Greg Cunningham went over to Man City at 16

[elroy]

The astro league I play in doesn't allow the ball to be hit above head height and the keeper is only allowed roll the ball under arm. Sorts that out. :)

Thats five a side though i presume, was more talking about 11 a side. Like it or not, you have to pass the ball around in a five a side, hoofing it will only get so far.

[irishultra]

The DDSL is all long ball(except lourdes celtic they were awesome when i was playing for wayside celtic, beat us 8-0 in the cup and we were a fairly good team), having said that the south dublin schoolboys is where its at :) dalkey united what a team

[eirebhoy]

Yeh in fairness 11 aside's can be atrocious to watch at a Sunday league level in this country.