OneSirKeefy
Vital Football Hero
I meant players on long term contracts not the manager. Give us the chance to develop, SELL and reinvest. That could be a sustainable model for a lower league team.
Ah, sorry Mark. Misunderstood.
That may work, but also stands the big chance of failure and ridicule. We haven’t had a lot of success with long term, young players going on to very successful careers and a nice fat transfer fee.
Bradley Dack and then daylight it seems.
I’m not sure what Peterborough do to persuade all their new signings to sign for 3 or 5 years. Most other clubs at our level don’t achieve that.
The Peterborough or Crewe models do seem quite decent. But TBF neither of those clubs have achieved much more than we have long term. Taken Boro many seasons of paying for and signing quality players to finally get up. And they just might come straight back down.
I think unless the whole structure of English football changes, the power will remain with players, and lower league clubs will purely be 1 or 2 year stepping stones for half decent players unless a huge wad is thrown at them. Only lesser players will be willing to sign for longer.