[spireitematt]

And there are far more folk queer than would ever admit it.

And several of them are professional footballers.

---

I would have expected Sinnott to be good enough in the National League. He was good enough at Halifax. Clearly Jack Lester didn't think much of him and Martin Allen didn't want him from Day One. I wonder what happened. It's not as if he didn't have someone in football to advise him - his dad knows the game and its ups and downs.

What chance is there if you don't come from a non-football background and something goes awry? Where next, if anywhere for Jordan. It'd be a laugh if Halifax step in ...... in view of their current position. (That'd be egg on our face.)

A lot of players who come from a non-football background either drop down to semi-professional or amateur or they fall out the game altogether.

I know several people who played for Football League clubs at youth level but never made it. One person I know played for Bury at youth level then went to Sheffield Wednesday but then got released as they said he was too small to be a striker.

[bluepooch]

In addition to the record 6 defeats on the bounce, by my reckoning we`ve now gone 401 minutes (plus add-ons) since scoring a goal. That must be close to a record, surely. Over to you, Matt.

It should be a good excuse for a sing-along at least. "All we are saying ...........is give us a goal". (Variation an a theme of John Lennon, circa 1970.) I haven`t heard that sung at a game for years, but it`ll be going round in my head all day now.

All I know is we've only won 22 games out of a possible 101 since August 2016. Lost 61 games in that period.

---

https://www.cfchistory.com/home

---

This must be one of the worst stats in football history.Those who have overseen this should hang their heads in shame .

---

[Devongone]

And there are far more folk queer than would ever admit it.

And several of them are professional footballers.

---

I would have expected Sinnott to be good enough in the National League. He was good enough at Halifax. Clearly Jack Lester didn't think much of him and Martin Allen didn't want him from Day One. I wonder what happened. It's not as if he didn't have someone in football to advise him - his dad knows the game and its ups and downs.

What chance is there if you don't come from a non-football background and something goes awry? Where next, if anywhere for Jordan. It'd be a laugh if Halifax step in ...... in view of their current position. (That'd be egg on our face.)

A lot of players who come from a non-football background either drop down to semi-professional or amateur or they fall out the game altogether.

I know several people who played for Football League clubs at youth level but never made it. One person I know played for Bury at youth level then went to Sheffield Wednesday but then got released as they said he was too small to be a striker.

Yes Matt so do I. We used to have a team full of them when I ran a team ..... including Bob Newton and Richard Dawson who played at Chesterfield ....... and in the reserve team because he really didn't want to play competitively again a man who played a full season in a promotion-winning season for Crystal Palace and then went to Everton BUT none of them had a dad who'd played top level and only Tony, the Crystal Palace one seemed almost deliberately to let his talent wane. Jordan Sinnott was out of the Development Stage, true he had to jump from National League to EFL but he should have been a made player and now he seems to have un-made himself.

[spireitematt]

And there are far more folk queer than would ever admit it.

And several of them are professional footballers.

---

I would have expected Sinnott to be good enough in the National League. He was good enough at Halifax. Clearly Jack Lester didn't think much of him and Martin Allen didn't want him from Day One. I wonder what happened. It's not as if he didn't have someone in football to advise him - his dad knows the game and its ups and downs.

What chance is there if you don't come from a non-football background and something goes awry? Where next, if anywhere for Jordan. It'd be a laugh if Halifax step in ...... in view of their current position. (That'd be egg on our face.)

A lot of players who come from a non-football background either drop down to semi-professional or amateur or they fall out the game altogether.

I know several people who played for Football League clubs at youth level but never made it. One person I know played for Bury at youth level then went to Sheffield Wednesday but then got released as they said he was too small to be a striker.

Yes Matt so do I. We used to have a team full of them when I ran a team ..... including Bob Newton and Richard Dawson who played at Chesterfield ....... and in the reserve team because he really didn't want to play competitively again a man who played a full season in a promotion-winning season for Crystal Palace and then went to Everton BUT none of them had a dad who'd played top level and only Tony, the Crystal Palace one seemed almost deliberately to let his talent wane. Jordan Sinnott was out of the Development Stage, true he had to jump from National League to EFL but he should have been a made player and now he seems to have un-made himself.

Well I've been reading an article today about how Brexit will affect British football and the Pro EU remainers think it will be a terrible thing and they pretty much say if we do fully leave the EU it will mean the end of the Premier League. A lot of people think it would be good because it would mean we can produce more home grown players which would be good for the England team especially after we had a successful World Cup. It will mean more home grown players in the top 4-6 teams in the Premier League, more players coming through youth and academy sides and it could mean more British managers in the game at the top flight. The only downfall will be transfer fees and agent fees.

In LA Liga teams have a quota on how many non-EU players they are allowed in the squad and starting XI. Barcelona got in trouble last month because they had too many non-EU players in their squad and were told those players wouldn't be allowed to play in the Spanish Super Cup. The Bundesliga used to have the same ruling but that was lifted. The Premier League must have a squad of 25 players and 8 of those players must be home-grown so 17 of those can be foreign. The home-grown rule is a weird one because it doesn't mean that a home-grown player has to be born in that country. If Arsenal sign a 15 year old Spanish centre-forward and he went to school here and came through the youth/academy sides into the first team he will be known as a home-grown player. Cesc Fabregas, Victor Moses, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Hector Bellerin are known as home-grown players.

The Premier League has the highest percentage of foreign players of any league in Europe.

England Premier League 69.2%
Cyprus First Division 57.1%
Belgium Jupiler Pro League 55.8%
Portugal Liga NOS 55.6%
Italy Serie A 55.5%
England Championship 50.8%
Scotland Scottish Premiership 50.5%
Luxembourg BGL Ligue 50.4%
Germany 1. Bundesliga 49.2%
Switzerland Super League 48.6%

There is 65 different nationalities in the Premier League which is the most diverse league in Europe but the majority of players who play in the Premier League are Spanish or French.

[SaltergateBorn]

Yes, Matt, I read that article as well. Personally, I think it would be a bloody good thing.

Gareth Southgate can talk from a position of some strength since the World Cup and has made no secret of his belief that our youngsters - and we have plenty of them - should be given more first-team opportunities. I agree with him entirely. When/If we leave the EU, our FA will/would have the right to specify the quota of overseas players our clubs were allowed to employ without the hindrance of EU `freedom of movement` legislation. More power to the FA and less to the Premier League? All for it, personally.

[Devongone]

I'm all for diversity and I like to see the players of different nationalities within ALL our teams. By playing with our players they improve our skills. Unfortunately when they multiply to the point of preventing our players getting a game, then they begin to destroy our game.

At the moment we operate a kind of rich man's charter. An EU national has a right to come here and play, an International with a certain amount of full caps from a top-ranked nation has a right to come, a transfer fee over a certain amount also confers that right to come here. Is that right Matt?

I think football needs to re-negotiate with the Government over who can have a work permit. I'd increase diversity by allowing anyone with five international caps from any country ranked within the top 125 by FIFA to get a work permit UNDER THE AGE OF 28 only. (We get far too many fading stars. If they come at 26 and get a five-year contract that's fine.) The size of the transfer fee would have nothing to do with it, that only inflates values and attracts money-launderers. I would also allow any player UNDER 21 who has five age groups caps U-17 upwards for a nation in the top 125 to get a work permit to play here. I would also operate a quota system for the match day squads from Premier to League Two - of the 18 players selected 6 would HAVE to be qualified for and available for England selection and within that 18 at least three would have to be 21 or under. If people want to opt to play for a country they've never visited because their gran came from there ........ then there's price, they can't be one of the six Englishmen guaranteed a place.