Phillips to stay on as Wanderers opt against downgrading academy

WANDERERS have decided against downgrading their academy next season.

Jimmy Phillips and fellow staff at Lostock will remain in full-time employment next year after the club opted to stay as a category-two operation.

Savings of around £500,000 were being considered by dropping to a part-time category-three academy but chairman Ken Anderson told The Bolton News that having weighed up the pros and cons, Wanderers’ ownership felt it could not be substantiated.

“It was a difficult decision, based purely on the funding requirements, but we think that if the club is going to go forward in the future, this is the right thing to do. We have got to be category two,” he told The Bolton News.

“If we have dropped down then realistically it would have meant laying off staff because it wold have been a part-time operation.

“These aren’t people on footballer’s salaries, some are living hand to mouth, so there was that aspect to think about too.”

Academy graduates such as Rob Holding, Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Tyler Garratt feature heavily in the group of players who return for their first day of pre-season training under new manager Phil Parkinson on Monday.

And Anderson admits the success of the youth policy in recent years did play a major part in maintaining the status quo – which could cost up to £1.2million over the next 12 months, depending on the grants available.

“Ultimately, the younger players are the lifeblood of the football club,” he said. “I won’t pretend we didn’t seriously consider moving down to category three, because we did, it was always a case of whether we could afford the alternative and that was to carry on as we were.”

Academy coaching staff with deep Wanderers roots such as David Lee and Nicky Spooner look set to be kept on in their current roles.

And Anderson was especially pleased to retain the services of academy boss Phillips, whose position appeared most at threat with the proposed changes.

The 50-year-old stepped into the breach at the end of last season as interim manager after Neil Lennon’s departure and added some stability to a team which was cast adrift in the relegation zone.

“We really wanted to keep Jimmy on and when myself and Dean met with him the other day we reached an agreement and he will be with us next year,” Anderson added.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/14579993.Phillips_to_stay_on_as_Wanderers_opt_against_downgrading_academy/

I'm relieved they haven't downgraded again but I sincerely hope that at some time in the near future Ken will consider moving us back up to Category One status. I realise it's a more expensive operation but I feel the additional value it would add to our under 23 players would be more than enough to offset the cost on a purely financial basis while the extra coaching they'd get could only make them better on the pitch as well.

But I suppose that's a minor matter right now and the fact we haven't downgraded again is certainly some good news and a welcome bright spot in what has been a dark time for our club.

So the doom mongers predictions of these "Cowboys" coming in pot less, without any care for the future of the club, ready to asset strip...

You clowns.

Boggersbelief wrote:So the doom mongers predictions of these "Cowboys" coming in pot less, without any care for the future of the club, ready to asset strip...

You clowns.

Early days yet boggers and I think even you have to admit that leaving something as it already is can't be called a massive stride forward. I don't claim to know what Ken is going to do in the long term but right now there is still a lot to be concerned about, not least of which is the continued existence of the embargo. I still suspect Ken in particular would love to get out with a profit and would sell to anyone willing to offer him one.

However, I think his intentions will become much clearer next week when the man at the league who we need to see about getting the embargo lifted returns from his holidays. If Ken and Dean move quickly on this it could be seen as a signal that they do actually have money to spend on transfers and are willing to invest for the long term. If we get given guff like 'we tried to make it happen but unfortunately x,y and z conspired against us' then we know they're playing for time and don't have the resources to move the club forward.

I suspect a lot of the suspicion directed at Ken (my own included) comes from the incredibly long time it took to appoint a manager plus years of meaningless double talking drivel from the previous leadership. Obviously it's unfair to hold what Gartside and Davies did against Ken but a lot of fans faith in anything the club says is already weak and the fact we don't seem to be getting any more concrete information from the Macron now than we did this time last year isn't helping.

Wanderers have decided against downgrading their academy next season.

Jimmy Phillips and fellow staff at Lostock will remain in full-time employment next year after the club opted to stay as a category-two operation.

Savings of around £500,000 were being considered by dropping to a part-time category-three academy but chairman Ken Anderson told The Bolton News that having weighed up the pros and cons, Wanderers’ ownership felt it could not be substantiated.

“It was a difficult decision, based purely on the funding requirements, but we think that if the club is going to go forward in the future, this is the right thing to do. We have got to be category two,” he told The Bolton News.

“If we have dropped down then realistically it would have meant laying off staff because it wold have been a part-time operation.

“These aren’t people on footballer’s salaries, some are living hand to mouth, so there was that aspect to think about too.”

Academy graduates such as Rob Holding, Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Tyler Garratt feature heavily in the group of players who return for their first day of pre-season training under new manager Phil Parkinson on Monday.

And Anderson admits the success of the youth policy in recent years did play a major part in maintaining the status quo – which could cost up to £1.2million over the next 12 months, depending on the grants available.

“Ultimately, the younger players are the lifeblood of the football club,” he said. “I won’t pretend we didn’t seriously consider moving down to category three, because we did, it was always a case of whether we could afford the alternative and that was to carry on as we were.”

Academy coaching staff with deep Wanderers roots such as David Lee and Nicky Spooner look set to be kept on in their current roles.

And Anderson was especially pleased to retain the services of academy boss Phillips, whose position appeared most at threat with the proposed changes.

The 50-year-old stepped into the breach at the end of last season as interim manager after Neil Lennon’s departure and added some stability to a team which was cast adrift in the relegation zone.

“We really wanted to keep Jimmy on and when myself and Dean met with him the other day we reached an agreement and he will be with us next year,” Anderson added.

Source

It just seems to be coming together and I think this is a signal of intent and should start to appease people worried about our finances and also good to hear about KA and DH making the decision together. Let's hope for some good news from Monday's meeting.
But we should say well done to KA & DH on this.

Whoops!

This has already been posted! I had that feeling as well.