Gordon Bennett

Is leaving Argyle as Head of youth development at the end of May, according to the Indy today.Now,this is not good news.Some very good players have come through the system since he took over in 2007 [Mason,Young,Nelson,Stephens etc].They were partially nurtured by Allan Evans,who Bennett brought to the club,and who is also leaving after being downrated from his post as Director of Excellence chief and offered reduced terms to run the U18's.Bennett has not specifically stated that Evans departure is the reason for his own leaving but reading between the lines,it looks as though he is miffed about this and the refusal of the club to send a team to the Northern Ireland milk cup this year.Rather worrying about the long term future IMHO,don't like the look of it.

i can't believe that the funding for the trip to the Milk Cup trip was cut and I think that is the straw that broke the camels back. The trip last year was half funded by the parents who would have been prepared to do the same again. It is a truly international prestigious tournament that gives our club in general and youth system in particular great kudos in football. Our boys have always done well in this tournament and have given the club the reputation of being the best centre of excellence outside the top 2 divisions.

Ollie brought Gordon to the Club knowing that wherever Ollie ended up, Gordon would put the foundations in for a stream of youngsters coming through the system. Gordon has been a wonderful asset to our Club - I wish him well in whatever he decides to do next - and hope that this isn't the start of cost cutting now that will seriously harm the future.

Sounds like another attempt to trim the wage bill. Doesn't really instill any confidence in Brents long term plans. Good question to put to Mr Brent if he actually does a q and a on here, ask him the reasoning behind it.

Wasn't it Gordon Bennett who decided to withdraw the kids from the Argyle Hotel? A decision that actually moved much of the cost of the Youth Programme onto the club making it much more likely to be cut when times were hard. It also marginalised PAST&DT at the same time and unnecessarily distanced the club from the fans. Bennett might have overseen the development of some good young players but he caused plenty of damage too.

Greenjock wrote:

Sounds like another attempt to trim the wage bill. Doesn't really instill any confidence in Brents long term plans. Good question to put to Mr Brent if he actually does a q and a on here, ask him the reasoning behind it.

This could well be the tip of the financial cutbacks iceberg that has been inevitable given the way the club came out of Administration (ie with debts that should have been paid off at the time rolled over for up to five years) & with the new owner talking about running the club on a "sustainable" basis.

I see teambuilding for next season being based on the "we'll spend peanuts, so lets sign some monkeys" principle.

Injury prone has-beens or never-were-in-the first-place footballers will be banding together to get a minibus down the M5 & A38!

Argyle will be making a statement on the youth set up, hopefully over the next few days. Clubs across the UK are making changes this summer as the league introduces new 'Academy Levels'. The statement will I imagine cover an update on Gordon - which is nothing of the like being portrayed on this thread.

Put it this way, having spoken to James Brent many times about youth he is well aware that Argyle's geography, catchment area, league position and lack of financial clout in the transfer market makes youth development a top priority.

That's a relief then.

Chris Webb has spoken to James Brent about "youth"

So there's no need to worry about losing much respected man with an excellent reputation for developing young players.



Can someone explain to me this whole "President" thing?

Sometimes it's "It's nothing to do with me I don't work for the Club, it's just an honorary title"

Other times "No need to worry, I've spoken to James, everything will be OK"


PS, why the "lack of clout" in the transfer market Mr Pres? Argyle are one of the best supported teams in the Division (one of the best supported outside the Championship in fact) and will shed all the "expensive" player contracts this summer. So why the lack of clout? Are you privy to the budget for next season? If so, please share with the fans!

Is it just me that feels that the club can do no wrong in the Club Presidents eyes?

In any case why wait a few days to put the statement out?

This would be the the Premiership's EPPL (Elite Player Performance Plan) starting to bite on the Football League' scrawny ass. To be fair on Argyle, there doesn't seem to be any point investing in youth any more - or at least not making it anything resembling a priority. Good old football.

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Nick wrote:

This would be the the Premiership's EPPL (Elite Player Performance Plan) starting to bite on the Football League' scrawny ass. To be fair on Argyle, there doesn't seem to be any point investing in youth any more - or at least not making it anything resembling a priority. Good old football.

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In fairness its a problem for very many lower league Clubs not just us . The big Clubs have the monopoly on everything now . Its not just Argyle .

greengenes wrote:

Nick wrote:

This would be the the Premiership's EPPL (Elite Player Performance Plan) starting to bite on the Football League' scrawny ass. To be fair on Argyle, there doesn't seem to be any point investing in youth any more - or at least not making it anything resembling a priority. Good old football.

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In fairness its a problem for very many lower league Clubs not just us . The big Clubs have the monopoly on everything now . Its not just Argyle .

Soz if I gave the impression it was just us, Greengenes, didn't mean it so. Was more a general comment about the EPPL hitting the Football League. But then they've only themselves to blame.

Dougie wrote:

Is it just me that feels that the club can do no wrong in the Club Presidents eyes?

In any case why wait a few days to put the statement out?

It's definitely not just you. It's like tony Benn waking up from a coma and declaring that Margaret Thatcher is his hero. Or someone who rode into town on the trust bus, spotted a gleaming rolls Royce going the other way, grabbed a lift and now derides people who still use the trust bus.

Even if this move is as a result of the eppp scheme, not every promising young player will attract the big clubs, and some solid lower league players brought up through the ranks are still as valuable as over the hill 39 year olds looking for one last payday.

This new scheme is designed to help the English national team in the long run, but it's a further nail in the coffin of lower league teams and in ten years time when English football is still miles behind the better nations, will ne seen for what it really is, another greedy exercise by the fat cat premier league clubs.

The football league were basically forced to sign up for it, and they will regret it.

Greenjock wrote:

This new scheme is designed to help the English national team in the long run, but it's a further nail in the coffin of lower league teams and in ten years time when English football is still miles behind the better nations, will ne seen for what it really is, another greedy exercise by the fat cat premier league clubs.

The football league were basically forced to sign up for it, and they will regret it.

With respect, why do you say that ~ have YOU read the details, learned of the results or even seen the gradings which each individual club will be awarded following the audit of current set ups and commitments for next season?

I ask that because there seems to be an awful ot of jumping on an anti Premier League bandwagon over this grasping at the singular "the Premier clubs can just walk in and take our players" line.

I don't have all the answers to even my own questions ~ nobody does yet because the audits are yet to be completed and therefore the results don't exist. I take a practical interest because my own son is in an academy at a Football League Championship club (note, an ACADEMY and not a Centre of Excellence) and I also do a lot of work in spotting potential players for such places working in the interests of the player/parent and NOT the clubs.

For many years many CoEs have been described as "academies" ~ the two are very different beasts with a vast difference in the sorts of football education provided and a lot of that is down to staffing levels and curriculae rather than facilities.

The only known FACTS at the moment are that for any club in the Football League the budget they DO ring fence for youth development next season and in the seasons ahead for the foreseeable future, receive DOUBLE by way of funding from the Premier League clubs. Take £100,000 pa as an example of a club in League 2 and they'll receive a further £200,000 from the Premier League.

Now bearing that in mind, and maybe making the wrong assumption that the people now owning/running your club know their stuff; does it make sense to be cutting the youth budget at this time? Does it make sense to persuade supporters to cough up to pay the debt owed to club employees over unpaid wages which are the responsibilty of those people who have now purchased the club when those supporters could have been asked to contribute to the expansion of the budget for youth development?

Does it make sense to pay an interim manager £5,000 per week when he has no experience, no track record when the club seemingly feel they need to downgrade the current Head of Youth?

Football League clubs cannot reasonably expect Premier League clubs to merely give them money for youth development for no return. They are already the sole recipients of the total revenue for the overseas rights to Premier League televised games and THAT has to be ring fenced and spent on youth development; so THAT alone needs to be acknowledged; for without it there would be none of the extensive out of town development centres that clubs like Argyle and Torquay United currently have running for them throughout the South West Peninsula.

I don't want to get into the whys and wherefores of Gordon Bennett and Alun Evans, I'm not qualified to and do not know them. But what I do know is that unfortunately for the youth of the South West, Torquay United once closed down their youth operation and Argyle have vastly downsized their's. Torquay United are now having to work very hard and invest a lot of money under their current ownership to repair that damage and run their current youth development and any further downsizing by the current regime at Home Park will only result in a negative and disadvantageous situation for both the club and the youth generally in the area in which there are only three local fully professional clubs at any rate.

Compare the career prospects for a budding young talent in London where there are not only a plethora of clubs but many others within an hour's distances than there are for the kids stuck in West Devon or Cornwall.

My 11 year old son has enjoyed development coaching at 3 Premier League clubs, politely turned it down at 2 more; been offered trials at one Premier club, offered trials by 5 Football League clubs, trialed at one other and signed for Watford who run what I rate to be the best academy for his particular level of ability and requirements, and that after playing in trial games for the teams of Spurs Academy, Arsenal Development, QPR CoE and Barnet CoE.

Now compare that to the doorstep opportunities to a lad of equal ability and enthusiasm living in the Argyle/Torquay United catchment area and you see what I mean by limited opportunities.
Are you STILL of the opinion that "this new scheme" is a further nail in the coffin of lower league teams, because I don't really think that it is.

Yes I am merse. A small short term injection of cash in return for any promising youngster being poached for peanuts. More young talent might emerge from it, but they won't be playing for Torquay or Plymouth.

The supposed purpose of the scheme is to aid the English national team? Its to save premier league clubs having to unearth their own young talent. What would aid the English national team would ne to limit overseas players, meaning that young English players get regular premiership experience rather than languishing on the bench or being loaned out to lower league sides.

How many England u-21 internationals play regularly for premier league sides?

People with far more knowledge of this scheme have blasted it for shafting small clubs and the fact that the smaller clubs didn't really have any choice but to sign up for it.

It may well benefit some youngsters, and good luck to your lad he sounds like he has bags of talent, but small teams will suffer, and I would still wager that in ten years time it hasn't done a thing to help the England team.

Greenjock wrote:

Yes I am merse. A small short term injection of cash in return for any promising youngster being poached for peanuts. More young talent might emerge from it, but they won't be playing for Torquay or Plymouth.

Hmmn..............I don't think just "any promising youngster" will be making two hundred plus miles round trips to Southampton or even further afield to Chelsea or wherever.

Indeed, (as I asked on another thread) what responsible parent would commit their child under the age of 11 to making those sort of journies ~ granted Southampton FC DO have a "satelite academy" located in Bath and other clubs like Norwich (who have one in Harlow now) are going down this path; so there is the certainty of the Manchester City's and Arsenal or Chelseas of this world doing the same. But if I was the parent of the average talented kid with the required technical ability and desire to commit the rest of their childhood to a dedicated pursuit of trying to attain the very difficult status of professional footballer, I would be looking very hard at the expertise and integrity of clubs nearer to home than that.

Football development and the pursuit of professionalism HAS to be balanced with academic study and achievement, a career (if achieved) can be ended in a split second through no fault of the player; and even if they go the full distance and earn a living from the game the average professional still has 30 or so years ahead of him once it is all over in which they have to support themselves and their family.

It is up to the individual clubs to sell themselves to their community, and let's face it; Argyle traditionally always did have a very good youth development reputation.

Mr President wrote:

Argyle will be making a statement on the youth set up, hopefully over the next few days. Clubs across the UK are making changes this summer as the league introduces new 'Academy Levels'. The statement will I imagine cover an update on Gordon - which is nothing of the like being portrayed on this thread.

Put it this way, having spoken to James Brent many times about youth he is well aware that Argyle's geography, catchment area, league position and lack of financial clout in the transfer market makes youth development a top priority.

Are you qualified to talk to the owner about the future of youth development at the football club? Are we then to assume, the future of this football club will depend on what you are telling Mr Brent?

If that's the case, I would suggest that's a very worrying scenario. You, I understand, are a union rep. One assumes, therefore, that your involvement with the management of a football club must be limited. This does not bode well for the future.

I think you could retitle this thread as 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'. The new rules mean we could invest in youth and lose our boys for a song, so the atitude is let's not bother. Sad.
However I am glad that Mr President with all his experience of proffesional football club management has a plan, does it involve flags?