Premier League announce radical changes to PL2

The removal of relegation introduces positive jeopardy; and this might also help some of the younger players get a bit more game time, helping to fast forward their development.

Is something similar being done for the other age levels, U-18s etc and if not, why not, and what of that European competition and Checkertrades(?) against senior lower league teams or are they being abandoned?

Apparently, these changes are being made to follow the 'Swiss model' which will be introduced in the Champions League from the next season after this one (2024-25). The main difference is playing a greater number of teams only once each season, until the playoffs at least. And playing fewer games overall unless you progress in the playoffs.

How many games should they be playing, I wonder? Last season saw 43 in total – 26 in PL2, 7 in the Premier League Cup, 5 in Papa Johns EFL Trophy and 5 in the Premier League International Cup.

Then there's "positive jeopardy". I'm still mulling over what the hell that might mean…

Introduce four over-age players into the new league, this would get it closer to the old Central League structure which was a better system.

I would also stipulate that, to qualify, an academy player would have to have spent 2 years at the club. Obviously the Premier Legue clubs wont agree to such radical changes as they wouldn't want to have such restrictions imposed on them.

Remember when you could have only so many overseas players in your starting 11 for European games, that was ditched very quickly.

Once, Italy paid the most for players and wages and all the top talent went there (Gullit, Van Basten, Maradona, Careca, Elkjear).

Then the PL was formed and started throwing huge (at the time) money at superstar players (Zola, Bergkamp, Klinsmann) as well as mid range (Carbone, etc...) also rans, which pulled them out of Italy.

The MLS have tried the "retirement home" route but it hasn't delivered or sustained the commercial targets, so never been a viable option for the younger and ambitious players.

So, imagine if a new entity enters the equation with fabulous wealth opportunities for players, coaches, staff, the ability to trample over all previous commercial agreements and double the money, the ambition to be the one and only arena for the sport. Organised, with a regime that will be beholden to nobody, without any restrictions on structure, governance, fiscal prudence. No need to work with established associations in Europe and can bargain at the top table with Global entities or simply ignore them all and carry on anyway. Imagine if a world audience can sit at home and watch it all on TV.!

Today it exists already.

It's called LIV golf.

But tomorrow that will almost certainly be football and the PL, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga will all lose out.

I was getting told Jordan Henderson is on around £7.5 million a year. Take away 40% tax, and he loses £3 million, leaving him with around £4.5 million. Rumours are that he will pick up about £35 million per season - tax-free, by going to Saudi?

I hate the way football in this country has gone. A lot of clubs that are struggling financially, with some even going out of business, would probably survive on the monthly salary, of a lot of premier league players now, so when the greed of the beast continues to grow, then the monster that has been created deserves to suffer imo?

There is going to be a big shake up and what we will certainly see is clubs going to the wall (Bury) and others receiving amazing investments (Wrexham) which will all change the landscape.

By your calculations, every Jordan Henderson leaving the UK costs the taxpayer £3M a year. Be under no illusions, these players and their families will be flying in and out of Riyadh every week back to Europe to spend their dough and relax which raises the carbon footprint massively, but who cares! its only the Earth. Eventually, when the playing career is over, these players will come back and buy clubs (rather than manage them) which skews the whole thing again!!

Anyway, at least we are unbeaten in our last 2!

Maybe our posts crossed but just to reiterate, the U21s play in no less than 3 cup competitions:

1) Premier League Cup, against other Academy teams
2) Premier League International Cup, against European U21 teams
3) EFL Trophy, against first-team sides from League One and League Two

These competitions should be a decent test for any of the Academy teams. The EFL Trophy is perhaps the most significant test as they play against seasoned professionals from lower down the pyramid. As I've mentioned before, the Academy teams have not had much success in this competition so far…

He went to Los Palmas in Spain then in the second division and after four years they were promoted to the top division. He played regularly then also before briefly joining Seville and then Walsall.

I forgot that. I'll tell you something else I forgot that is even more surprising: The MOTM for that charity shield was Earl Barrett. Not something you hear often.

You can only use 5 subs, and more often than not we either don't have 8 subs or we have two bloody goalkeepers.

Be bold, and say to the graduates there is a pathway, perform and you'll might get on for the big time. Maybe just maybe, someone might surprise a coach by out performing where they thought they might be.

Here's a random one.

I had the opportunity to go and serve in Saudi Arabia when in the Army given our country's lucrative defence contract with them. Some may not be aware, but we have a significant military and commercial presence there all based on defence contracts.

House paid for, bills paid for, everything paid for, even an additional salary on top of my military one paid for by the Saudi Government that basically would have more than doubled my wages. Cleaner and personal driver provided. All tax free. I could have made a lot of money.

The personal driver was because they would not allow my wife to drive herself, so she would have to be escorted and taken everywhere if permitted.

Maybe it has changed? This was 2006.

I turned it down out of principle. I ended up in southwest Wales and spent over 12 months of the next few years in Afghanistan. The Government gave me a modest tax bonus in return. And I mean modest.

It's not always about the money. Not for me anyway.

The 2 goalies, I don't have a problem. 10 minutes in, Jordan Pickford pulls his hammy. Reserve goalie come on and 10 minutes later in a 1-on-1 with their attacker, brings them down and gets a red. We still have 1 goalie on the bench rather than play 70 minutes with an outfield player doing his best.

But if we only have 4 or 5 fit first teamers, then putting a Academy/U21 player on the bench will give them so much buzz and also maybe learn a few things from the experienced pros. We should never name less than the 9 subs.

Davis Herd was playing for Man.Unt.at the time and I remember reading about these goals in a Manchester United programme.

I could have sworn that we used three goalies in one game when Ian Turner got sent off and another goalie got injured. Anyway, the old memory must be going as I looked it up and that is not what happened. Although, the article went on to talk more about Ian Turner's later career and this line caught my attention:

"Turner signed for Preston North End on a 93-day emergency loan on 9 February 2011, replacing Andy Lonergan, the regular Preston goalkeeper."

That feels like a lifetime ago and there's our current back up goalie Lonergan in his prime.

Think it was a cup game. Needless to say, our run ended there.

At least how I remember it.

The game to which you refer was a league game at home to Blackburn in 2006. We won 1-0 with a goal from Beattie. As I recall, Wright was injured the previous Wednesday in the pre-match warm-up at Chelsea, a League Cup tie which needless to say we lost.

Danny (25),

I salute you. From what I have read, not a lot has changed and certainly not enough.

The way the professional game has gone is, in my opinion, wrecking football as we have known it. I'm old enough to remember prior to the £20 maximum wage being lifted, and I was told that Everton players were on £16 per week during the season, and £12 during the close season.

At that time the average weekly wage was £8, half of what the footballers were on. I believe that they deserved more than the working man, because they could have been classed as entertainers, but the money in the game today doesn't make it cheaper for the fans.

I checked up on Wright's injury and the sign in the goalmouth he pranged himself on was actually put there to instruct him to use the temporary goals during the warm up. But this was the guy who had form for falling out of a loft.

Going back to the sending-off; so Ruddy kept a clean sheet afterwards in I think his only ever appearance for us. He didn't turn out too bad and even later earned an England cap.

He'd played well in a poor team under Walker and then was frozen out by Big Joe from Nov to Feb when he came off the bench at home to Norwich and was absolutely superb!

Our next game was away at West Ham on MNF and Martin Tyler said Joe Royle confirmed that Vinny would have been involved tonight but was unfortunately injured in training during the week!

His next start was away at Leicester in early Mar and he rounded off a breathtaking counter attack with a simple tap-in that put us 2 nil up. He then, inexplicably, kicked out at a player in the centre circle and was rightly sent off. He didn't play again that season, from what I remember.

In the following season, 95/96, he scored a lovely goal away at West Ham in a 2-1 defeat but was then unbelievable left out of the entire squad for our next game against Reykjavik in the ECWC!

He was back in for a couple of games in Oct then never played for us again. Royle gave a rather 'funny' interview where he said " we thank him for the 1 goal he did score and the 1 winning team he was in, in the Charity Shield".

Vinny was a good player and we certainly could have used more the following season when injuries hit and we ended up signing Claus bloody Thomsen!!

Sandy Brown did it for us twice, and Denis Smith did okay for Stoke (despite letting in 4 goals) when he replaced John Farmer at Goodison in the 69-70 season.

Who would take on the role now for Everton? Tarkowski or Keane, I suspect.