Starbuck

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I'm sure a condition of that money is that it MUST go on the youth system. 1878 are obviously much more privy to what has been going on than most of us. I think 1878 has too much professionalism but I would love to know what exactly they discovered after committing £2.5m.

JS & AP are very professional in how they speak and give nothing away when they don't want to. Having listened to them they are very good at being none committal ( when they don't want to) and deflecting questions. They let out bits and pieces from the past so not as to be slanderous or libelous. As you rightly put it 'I would love to know what exactly they discovered after committing £2.5m', so would I.

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

It was

Are you seriously on here pretending to be Ian Fleming? Have a day off you sad cúnt.

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

It was

Curiouser and curiouser.

Ian Fleming has been spoken about very highly by the board and many that know him, so I don't think you are him.

The Three Grand Chairman was always the obvious one and his departure was announced, albeit short and sweet.

Unless I've missed it, our esteemed Stadium Manager with a hatred for those he was paid to keep safe was announced as having moved elsewhere within the organisation but has since moved on quietly.

Then, we come on to our former Press Officer who has quietly left.

I don't think 1878 would let an attention seeker like you leave the club with any write up thanking you for your services; especially if they have caught you out.

Amazing how many young players we are selling/moving on to higher-division clubs yet who have barely made an appearance for GTFC!

Quoted from pizzzza

Yeah, how much did Starbuck Costa?

Nero

Not wanting to get into Fillipe's identity....but his point about the lack of a fee is probably right, as backed up by jamesgtfc's reference to the initial transfer listing.

It's an odd one though.  I watched Starbuck a few times for the youth and the reserves and he looked like genuinely the next big break through.  Of course it's miles off the full-time professional game but more than having the technical and physical attributes, he was taking games by the scruff of the neck.  I forget who it was against but early on in Holloway's reign there was a reserve game against a bruiser of a side, probably Mansfield!  They fielded a quite experienced and physical side yet Starbuck in an advanced wide midfield role was simply unplayable.  Opposition players were either bouncing off him or eating his dust.  

Fast forward six months and his appearances in the EFL Trophy and he looked lost, albeit at wing-back rather than further up field.   He didn't look the same player at all.   Something happened where he either lost focus, heart or more likely the training schedule was so poor he regressed.  Back end of last season we couldn't even name a full bench and were absolutely devoid of options out wide, yet he was still frozen out.  Hate to say it but it does make you wonder if it's an attitude thing?  Something that Hurst definitely doesn't tolerate.  

Idehen, who is also available for a free with a sell-on value, definitely looked like one worth progressing.  In a very shaky side at the beginning of the season I thought he looked more than capable of getting better yet he's been cast aside too.

Unlike Fillipe though I'm not convinced this will be the end of Starbuck.  Better facilities, better support and better development, not to mention regular games, will make him a better player all-round.   The move to that level has surprised me and I fully expected him to end up at Clee Town, Barton or at very best somewhere like Boston or Gainsborough.

Good luck to the lad.  Disappointed it didn't work out but fingers crossed he lands us a sell-on windfall in the future.

This is the Hurst style though, (not knocking it) but it seems once you get your first pro contract, and your not fully ready for the first team after a year (or less sometimes) you are gone and he would rather get higher level younsters who are more ready and can always send them back after few months if theyre not up to it.  

I'm not knocking our academy but look at the transfer fees we've received for young players. It seems that those youngsters we pick up at 16 from other academies go on to fetch us the most money. I know we've done well from Grist who has been with us all the way through, which is a miracle really given that the funding hasn't been making its way to our youth system.

I suppose at the level we are at, it is hard to keep players in the system and give them the coaching they need so we can only carry a small number of young pros.

Also, getting them a loan for their development with the likes of Boston, Gainsborough etc is reliant on them thinking they can do a job for them.

Clifton was very lucky that Jolley came in because I think he would have been on the released list if Slade stayed.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I'm not knocking our academy but look at the transfer fees we've received for young players. It seems that those youngsters we pick up at 16 from other academies go on to fetch us the most money. I know we've done well from Grist who has been with us all the way through, which is a miracle really given that the funding hasn't been making its way to our youth system.

I suppose at the level we are at, it is hard to keep players in the system and give them the coaching they need so we can only carry a small number of young pros.

Also, getting them a loan for their development with the likes of Boston, Gainsborough etc is reliant on them thinking they can do a job for them.

Clifton was very lucky that Jolley came in because I think he would have been on the released list if Slade stayed.

Christ on a bike man, you've mentioned Slade and Jolley in one past. That's given me heartburn after my lunch.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

What’s the fee ?

Two quid John !