How will ‘player quotas’ affect Albion?
Wednesday 26th May 2010, 9:05AM BST.
Albion blogger Jarrod Hill can see change aplenty at his club and beyond this summer as the Premier League implement new ‘player quotas.’
Dearest Albion faithful,
I thought I would write a quick blog on something that has been burning away in my tiny little mind since the transfer rumour mill went into over drive.
It’s due to the new rules relating to squad size and formation that will affect our return to the Premier League in August.
The new rules state that clubs can name a preliminary squad of 25 first team players plus players who have come through the ranks at the club and are aged between 16 to 21.
A squad of 25 must also include eight who have been brought through a youth system in Britain, not necessarily ours.
Sound simple so far? Well I suppose it is pretty straight forward, but my confusion arose once I took a quick look at our current first team squad.
If we put aside the youth players who are now professional but have yet to break into our first team to one side and assume they will make up the additional eight to the main 25 man squad, our current squad still stands at 26.
Kiely, Mattock, Olsson, Cech, Barnett, Bednar, Miller, Brunt, Barnes, Daniels, Thomas, Wood, Moore, Dorrans, Reid, Carson, Mulumbu, Zuiverloon, Meite, Tamas, Morrison, Valero, Cox, Jara, Haber and Thorne.
It means we need to either sell or loan out a number of the above, and chairman Jeremy Peace’s job this summer will be as much about outward bound players as the ones we need to come in to strengthen our squad.
A number of the fringe players who we want to keep for future development will surely go out on loan and I expect these to include Daniels, Thorne, Haber and Reid.
If they are to go out on loan then that is business that can be concluded at a much later date, but there are a number of players who will need their futures sorting far more quickly.
Barnett, Moore, and Meite are three players who I hope do not appear on our 25 man squad list come August. I don’t think any of them are good enough and if we can get any transfer fees for them while removing their expense from our wage bill would be greatly received.
Borja Valero is another player whose Albion future hangs in the balance. Quite obviously a talented player, yet his form during his debut season with us reminded me of someone who was homesick.
By all accounts he has had a wonderful season back in Spain and would command a sizeable transfer fee should we receive any interest.
So if we managed to sell or loan out the players above, it would leave boss Roberto Di Matteo with enough room for incoming players but hopefully with some additional funding through transfer fees as well.
The truth is Jeremy Peace could be negotiating as many as 15 transfers this summer including loans, sales and purchases. It makes you realise how important a role our chairman will play this summer while we prepare for life in the Premier League.
Another important point is that other clubs could be forced into more drastic cuts than us, meaning that players could become available who under the old rules wouldn’t have.
I am expecting many clubs to carry out frantic last minute business this summer, as clubs look to offload players nearer the cut off date for naming their respective 25 man squads.
Many pundits have stated that they cannot see the new rules having much of an effect, but I fail to see how it will not. The need to balance your clubs squad while working to more stringent financial controls that more and more clubs look to impose must have an effect somewhere down the line.
Under Peace’s stewardship the Albion have remained ambitious while remaining prudent and I wonder if the those years of controlled planning are about to pay dividends.
We have already witnessed our near neighbours Villa placing a number of players who have Premier League experience on the transfer list, while many other top flight clubs have followed suit.
The truth is clubs need to clear the decks to ensure they have space for incoming transfers, especially those that have squads that easily top 25.
Is the playing field levelling in our favour? Do the new rules and financial climate mean we can afford to attract players previously out of our reach?
Only time will tell, but as ever our chairman faces a busy summer, a summer I will watch with great interest.
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That’s a really good blog Bomber and one that’s opened up a whole perspective I’d never considered.
I suppose in theory, if the quality filters down the leagues from the overflow at the top clubs, then it should be relative and give an advantage to nobody, although we can hope JP and Ashworth’s nouse give us a head start on the rest.
The only player I’d add to those you’ve mentioned possibly exiting is Chris Wood, I’d expect him to go on loan somewhere if and when we get a target man in over the summer.
Mattock’s quality worries me, but I don’t see any mention of us actively chasing a full-back and I’m willing to hold judgement on the boy just yet…..especially given Wolves stayed up with George Elokobi playing there.
If we can get rid of Barnett, Moore and Meite, and Valero goes for circa £5m, then that’d give us the opportunity to bring in up to 7 players if my maths serves me right, which should be more than enough if we find the right quality.
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An interesting blog, Barnett, Meite and Moore could not agree more, but for me you can add Mattock, Reid and Zuiverloon to the exit list.
It looks likely that there will be a lot of suitable players available but if we sign any of them is another matter. Not very impressed with the rumoured links so far, Beattie is over the hill, Hunt will not be fit until October and some Spanish centre half i have never heard of and who as not played for two years.
If Peace does is normal trick of going for Cheap options, then we will end up back in the Championship yet again.
We have a real chance this summer of putting together a squad that can cope in the Greedy league, over to you Mr Peace.
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Thanks Jarrod.
I don’t know if you saw it the other day but I asked if anyone could enlighten me on this subject. I had one very funny reply from Cantello Rocket 78 but apart from that nothing. Which I assume is because no one else knew any more than me.
It still sounds a bit fuzzy IE. what actually qualifies as coming through a British clubs youth system? I guess that Arsenal will have a lot of foreign players that qualify as ‘home grown’ out of this.
At least 12 of the players likely to comprise our first team squad qualify so we have no
problem there.
I agree about Barnett and Moore. I’m afraid Barnett will always be a CCC player while Moore still hasn’t proved himself enough. Considering that we are looking at players like Pablo I’d guess you’re right about Meite being jettisoned.
Valero. I read the other day that he said he was really happy that Seville were looking at him. This sounds as though he wants to go but is more likely the player talking to a Spanish paper and saying the right thing. Until I hear words from a players own mouth I tend to disbelieve them.
On your final point. Levelling the playing field. I think it had to come eventually and this season may be the beginning of the end for a lot of clubs. Perhaps the 2010′s will be the new 1950′s for ourselves and Wolves. That’s the great thing about football. The money men can take most things away from the fans but they can’t stop us from dreaming.
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agreed barnett,meite and moore to move on along with reid,valero seems to want to stay in spain so if hes not happy then let him go as well.
i just hope we start buying asap and not leave it too late.
it would be nice to start pre season trainig with a fresh new squad and not wait until the season has started to sign players last minute then have to wait weeks for them to settle in if we are going to stay up we have to start well.
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Question—-has Tex gone? Or should he be on the list? Think we can say ta ta to Barnett,Moore,Meite, Reid ,Zuvi and Valero.
If we sign the right strikers I would listen to offers for Bednar and Miller too. Just not good enough for the Prem. Getting impatient—want to hear us signing a few good uns.
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TRBH
Hi, i think most clubs are awaiting the ramifications. The fact is that clubs who in the past have had squads of 30-40+ players because they could afford to and it allowed them to keep players out of other clubs reach can no longer do it. The shakedown could mean that fringe players at clubs like Arsenal, Manu, and Chelsea move on.
However teams who have qualified for the Europa league have had to comply with these rules for the past few seasons, so not all PL clubs will have to vastly adapt.
I think the overall point i was trying to make is that while fans bemoan the lack of activity at the club, the truth is there is a hell of a lot of work to do and it could well take all summer to get it done. JP will be as important to the club this summer as ever before, i just hope the club handles the situation as well as we hope.
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Just seeing our squad list scares the life out of me. How many of those players will be good-enough to make it, week-in and week-out in the Prem, we hope Dorrans but he will get close attention next season, Morrison depending on a good pre-season and I hope Tamas and Jara can step up apart from that we lack quality in the first 11 never mind the squad. JP open up that cheque book and bring in -
James Beattie
David Nugent
Andre Bikey
Hayden Mullins
Steven Reid
Kasper Schmeichel
Michael Chopra
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My sense is that this rule was partially brought in to curb big spenders.
However, it has potential to impact lesser clubs (in financial strength terms) like the Baggies, more.
It’s noted that UK players of good standard are in short supply, and, thus tend to command higher price tags than their foreign counterparts.
That means the only folks with financial strength to buy them, are the bigger clubs.
Thus to compete, our policy in recent years has been to seek better priced options from abroad.
Bottom line is that we may perhaps have more foreign players than the new balance requires, yet we don’t have the financial capacity to go buy more local ones.
Equally, it also means that the more wealthier clubs might be more tempted to poach our better local players, in order to redress their imbalances.
Seems to me that the solution may not fit the problem, especially for those clubs of lesser financial strength.
The only redeeming feature, is that we will not be alone on this one …
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this explains why wolves have given stephen ward a new contract,cant think of another reason,aye boing boing
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Music to my ears
You are over looking one point, the new rules will also place greater emphasis on clubs youth academy systems, which is meant to be part of the reason the new rules were brought in.
Our youth system is starting to bare fruit, Berahino and Thorne are particularly very well thought of within the club and starring for England under 17`s.
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Terry
It’s to provide competition to George ‘Ashley Cole’ Elokobi in the tightly-contested left-back spot
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James Beattie – probably no
David Nugent – no chance
Andre Bikey – no
Hayden Mullins – no way
Steven Reid – probably not certainly
Kasper Schmeichel – probably no
Michael Chopra – possible but unlikely
Add to the above the other zero chance rubbish touted so far like David James and Jermaine Jenas.
Better still don’t listen to the usual London lazy media first names that come up lies and go on surprising us getting good value – thankfully I think that will happen.
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Bomber.
On top of this I’ve heard this morning that Platini is to try to bring into force a ruling that clubs in the Champions League can only spend money they raise IE cannot run up massive debts. As it stands, Chelsea would have no problem as Abramovich could just pay for a massive sponsorship/advertising deal but clubs like Man Ure and Liverpool would face massive problems unless their ownership changes.
It won’t directly affect us of course but may be something the Wolves have to worry about in the next year or two.
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10 Bomber.
I’m not sure if I’ve grasped this right but if the young players only have to have come through a British clubs youth system then Music To My Ears has a point, in that a top club could step in and buy Thorne and Berahino off us. Although I suppose on the credit side at least we’d get a good price for them. But in reality has it changed anything all that much? Is there a quota of players that must be developed within the clubs own youth system?
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No comment to make about Koren’s departure? Was he a victim of the quota requirements or was he just deemed too expensive for what he could add to the squad?
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TRBH
I think you’re being a little dismissive of Wolves’ ability to secure big sponsorship deals and become self-sufficient should that Platini law ever be applied.
Remember they’ve just secured a multi-million pound deal with kit producer Burrda- who also supply an impressive portfolio of international sports teams, including the British handball team.
To paraphrase Terry, boing boing big club aye.
Cue shirt sponsor post from Shadrag…..
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BrusselsBaggie
See previous blog!
In short i beleive his departure was partly down to the new requirements.
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Rumour has it Pablo Ibanez is in for a medical either today or tomorrow!
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The Premier League was created (1991 ?) to make oodles of cash for Murdoch, the FA, The FL and players in it. In came the entrepreneurs for street cred and maybe the odd killing. Add billionaires who can’t stand losing, (Abramovich) and we have a recipe for a creepy-crawly set up loaded with prawn sandwiches. Frankly, in my view, it STINKS!
This new ruling is an attempt to redress the balance, a start which I doubt I shall live long enough to register the effects.
But, should Monsieur Platini succeed, I shall cling to life desperately and as long as possible because I love a good laugh. This morning I renewed my season ticket to watch us adjust to this charade of a League. Why charade? Because any semblance to the definition of ‘sport’ is accidental. Are you really looking forward to the shirt pulling, diving, acting, pleading, gesticulating, overpaid prima-donna antics, often with referees to match? Anything, absolutely anything, that is tried to help give everyone a level playing field is worthy of our support. In MY dream, Chelsea, Man.U., Liddypol all go into administration, get 3million points deducted and end up in the Conference Sections. I’ve left Arsenal alone so as not to upset Monsieur Platini.
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Oops missed the last blog. I was misled by your earlier comments saying that you were going to be quieter over the summer and so I wasn’t looking for it.
Coming up to speed now!
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Great Blogg Bomber and really helpful when trying to figure out whats happening and how it affects Albion.
If it stops teams like Pompy from staying up by using money they don’t have to buy players they can’t afford then thats great – same applies to teams like Man City buying 6 top quality strikers and playing Santa Cruz only in the carling Cup.
Even less fashinable teams like Sunderland, Wigan and even B’ham will have to re-think their “money no object” policy.
I hope that well run teams such as us will have more reward for good management by attracting decent players and actually being able to pay them.
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One more rule I would love to see is that teams that go into administration get an automatic relegation of TWO divisions.
Crystal Palace stayed up at the expence of a well run club like Sheff Wed because they won enough points with players they couldn’t affors to pay – it’s cheating. Pompy did the same to us.
Imagine if Liverpool’s owners took the easy option and went bust – they would win enough points to stay up anyway and write off all the debt….. but if they were placed in league 1 I think we would see a better run club – same for Man Utd and their 750 million debt – its just cheating !!
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19 Cyril.
As usual an interesting and thought provoking post. I know exactly what you mean about dreaming of a return to a top division where any one of twenty four teams can win it, or at least dream of winning it. Of cup ties settled on games of football, not penalties after two games. Where the European cup is a knock out between the champions of each country. And the game is played by men who kicks lumps out of each other and have a beer together at the end, while officiated by a factory worker for a small fee and his petrol money.
I’m a bit younger than you but I don’t expect to live to get back anywhere near this either.
What’s to enjoy then?
I think if we can stay up against teams run by a mixture of the spivs you mention, that is an achievement. I’m glad Hull and especially Portsmouth went down as they epitomise what’s gone wrong with the game. Sorry about Burnley as they tried to do it the right way.
We are run by a man JP that is in this because he is a Baggies fan. Would he become involved with another club if we got brought out, who knows? Apart from him. I think Wolves are also being run by a proper football man, although I realise that he’s Liverpool at heart, I think he’s trying to run Wolves in the right way. Bill Kenwright at Everton is a first class example. Everton is his club, I don’t think he’d be interested in running any other club.
Wolves fans will no doubt take umbrage but like Blues they’ve stayed up in a very negative way. None the less this is still a magnificent achievement. If we can stay up while playing more expansive football, it will be fantastic. I’m not counting my chickens, we’ve done nothing apart from getting promoted yet.
Anyway Cyril. This was an attempt at a serious, fairly non partisan post to say why old fogies like us can look forward to the Premier League.
2 Keyser Soze.
I’m pretty sure you’re a genuine Baggie. If you’re a Wulfie in disguise accept my apology. The thing is, I’ve read a few of your posts and your so unremittingly downbeat. Football should be a joyous thing. It should be something you look forward to all week. It should be a journey of hope even though there will always be loads of tears along the way if you’re a Baggie.
Cheer up mate, our glass is the most half full I can remember for many a long year. Try having a smile, you never know you might enjoy it.
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Warren.
Your mate BrummieRobWolves has been at it again on the other side. Having a go at his own fans for complaining about Stephen Ward, he named 8 young and hungry players, stating that most of them were now internationals. Actually 3 of the 8 are internationals. An interesting use of the word most. Still at least none of them were Guadeloupians.
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Jack the Hat.
From the thread that’s now closed.
I wasn’t mentioning Robbo because of how good he was. It was in answer to someone that said we shouldn’t sign Reid because he failed a medical at Celtic. I was pointing out that Robbo failed a medical two years ago and hasn’t missed a game through injury since.
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this law has been in spain for numerous seasons. players who are trained for 3 years under age of 21 in a registered british fa are classed as home grown. so the bigger clubs will just buy younger players from abroad or here. for example fabregas is home grown. if you generally look Albion have utilized little more than 25 players for a number of seasons now so the natural evolution of the squad will keep us within limits. also the law only applies to the premier league. so fa cup and league cup players outside the 25 can still be used.
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excellent blog as always. TRBH i’ve also read keysers recent offerings and if he is a baggie then it’s champions league winners or nothing for him. if he’s a dingle in disguise(which i suspect he is) then having to endure a) that mind numbing football, and b) wearing those atrocious colours would make him near suicidal anyway. cyril, i love your posts, they always bring back such wonderful memories. whenever we won in the early seventies i’d leg it down the soho rd to get a pound of chocolate eggs from woolies!!! we’d have lucky charms that we’d have to mention on the way on the 74 bus. one was “the little red shop” king jeff always scored when i spotted it first. i need a lie down now, bring on the world cup.
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TRBH
Ha ha, he’s great entertainment.
I was just reading his assertion that Ben Foster is no better than Carl Ikeme….magic!!
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23 TRBH
Sorry mate ! i just try to give an honest opinion on the Baggies, i do find some of the blogs on here lack common sense.
As for laughing, i did try it once but it cost me a fortune in polyfilla.
i will try to be more upbeat in future, promise !!!
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so reid has signed for us then,says sky sports
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Jarrod
Excellent blog. I’m convinced that Villa’s attempted off-load is just the start. The question is – will any players who can’t make a smaller squad be willing to move for lower wages, or will they sit at home, counting the shekels ?
13. TRBH
I’ve read that post a half-dozen times, and it still looks like you’re saying that Wolves will be in the Champions League in the next year or two… Sadly, I don’t think so, so Platini’s rules aren’t going to impact us, even if we were massively in debt – which we’re not.
19. CR
Quite right. This is a league where the dice are loaded and the best we can all hope for is mediocrity – both sides of our local divide. On the bright side, Liverpool look like sinking into mediocrity, and maybe the Glaziers will do for Man U.
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Keyser, I must admit I was never quite sure about you as a Baggieboy, but your last comment is good enough for all of us. Don’t ask me how I’ve kept smiling all these years, I’ve just completed my 66th season floating on air and misery combined at any time within any 7 day period. I love it best when I don’t feel too confident about winning, but have hope. The worst effect for me is a day like last season when we played Liverpool off the pitch and damn-well lost!
Jordao, cheers mate. That 1lb of chocolates sounds good. In 1944 we couldn’t get any without coupons and some dosh, if the shops had any, which they didn’t usually. Then my brother went in the RAF in 1945 and whenever he came on leave he would bring ‘Iron Rations’ to chew at the match. These were chocolate and grain mixture, hard as concrete, but lasted all through the whole game and if you did finish one, he also had rock-solid fruit slabs made of currants, raisins, sultanas, which tasted very strong indeed. The bomber crews had them when they went on a long bombing run. They were as hard as the tins they were kept in!
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I noticed someone mentioned Mattock.. Joe Mattock you mean. This lad has got talent and just needs time to prove that he is worth his place in the Albion 25 but he can’t do that stuck on the bench. Still only 19 he is a good left back player who is not afraid to take on attacking players and can score goals. He played a major part for Leicester two seasons ago and has a lot of International experience.
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