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6 minutes ago, Ante's Bubbly said:

Finished 1-0 to the Owls

 

Yep

That strengthens our place at the top of the division

6pts above 2nd place Hull who play tonight

3rd Crewe played 4th Huddersfield this afternoon so one or both had to drop points - but there will still be a healthy gap whatever the result

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3 minutes ago, Ethel The Tree said:

 

Yep

That strengthens our place at the top of the division

6pts above 2nd place Hull who play tonight

3rd Crewe played 4th Huddersfield this afternoon so one or both had to drop points - but there will still be a healthy gap whatever the result

 

wish we were talking about first team but well done U23's!

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2 hours ago, Ethel The Tree said:

 

Yep

That strengthens our place at the top of the division

6pts above 2nd place Hull who play tonight

3rd Crewe played 4th Huddersfield this afternoon so one or both had to drop points - but there will still be a healthy gap whatever the result

Crewe lost 2-1

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1 hour ago, OwlInCardiff said:

Crewe lost 2-1

 

... which is fine for our lads who now sit 11pts clear of Huddersfield in 3rd place

Interestingly, the junior pigs are also on 28pts with enough games in hand to be a threat (more to Hull in 2nd at this stage than ourselves)

 

Whereas in the U18 division, the piglets have a clear lead with our youngsters 7pts behind Forest in 2nd place with 4 games in hand

 

Which all makes for a welcome sideshow

What are the odds of both our teams and both gruntbag teams making the top 2 in each division and qualifying for the play-offs?

Not unrealistic, I'd say

(saying nowt about our respective senior sides pushing for promotion)

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I wonder if it's significant that the development side, and the U18s, usually play with just the one up front? Perhaps it's just a lack of forward options, or maybe it's how Carlos eventually want to play. It's normally Hirst up front, with Preston and Lonchar coming from wide positions. If Hirst is absent, then Lonchar is the lone striker. Occasionally, the U18s will play with three centre backs as well. Of course we will be looking at how players adapt to different systems, but you would think the way we play would be geared to preparing the youngsters for first team football. Could Carlos go back to one up front? I'm not sure he would at the moment, not least because of the amount of striking talent at his disposal, but he may do in the future, especially if we go up

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Just checked and Hull lost their game last night

So that leaves our lads top - 6pts clear of 2nd place, 11pts clear of 3rd, with eight games left to play

 

I tried to find out how the play-offs work in this division - I know there's no promotion or anything (pity) so I presume it's the title we're playing for

It's top 2, north & south

So I guess it's 1st north v 2nd south and vice versa for the semis (over two legs? I dunno)

Then the winners meet in the final - again, one-off or two legs?

 

Either way, both finals, U23s & U18s, could well end up all Sheffield affairs - which would be fine SO LONG AS WE WIN!

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1 minute ago, Ethel The Tree said:

I tried to find out how the play - offs work in this division - I know there's no promotion or anything (pity) so I presume it's the title we're playing for

It's top 2, north & south

So I guess it's 1st north v 2nd south and vice versa for the semis (over two legs? I dunno)

Then the winners meet in the final - again, one-off or two legs?

 

You are right about the format but they are single leg games in the semi finals with home advantage going to the higher placed team in each leg - basically the division winners get to play at home

 

Think the final venue is drawn from the 2 finalists - one off match

 

Obviously cannot be promotion because there is nowhere to get promoted to in the academy structure

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I don't get this no promotion/relegation stuff. I know that it is to do with your academy status. I guess the arguments for the current system is that it provides stability for year groups in the Elites that are just being put together. And it also encourages lower teams to build up their academy. 

 

But what about those teams who reach the pinnacle of their level. How are those players supposed to push on if they are constantly playing teams of a lower standard than them? Surely this is more damaging to hold them back than it would be to relegate an under performing Elite team.

 

I'm not suggesting for one moment that your have open promotion and relegation like the senior leagues. But surely you could allow just the champions of our level to go up. That means just one relegation spot, which still provides a lot of protection for the Elites.

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10 minutes ago, Leaping Lannys Perm said:

I don't get this no promotion/relegation stuff. I know that it is to do with your academy status. I guess the arguments for the current system is that it provides stability for year groups in the Elites that are just being put together. And it also encourages lower teams to build up their academy. 

 

But what about those teams who reach the pinnacle of their level. How are those players supposed to push on if they are constantly playing teams of a lower standard than them? Surely this is more damaging to hold them back than it would be to relegate an under performing Elite team.

 

I'm not suggesting for one moment that your have open promotion and relegation like the senior leagues. But surely you could allow just the champions of our level to go up. That means just one relegation spot, which still provides a lot of protection for the Elites.

 

Yes, I agree with this ^

Having two 12-team divisions where promotion and relegation does take place has effectively created a 'closed shop' for those clubs who met Category 1 criteria at the time of formation

Seems unfair that any club outside those 24 with ambitions to develop young talent will remain excluded and therefore at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting or retaining the hotter prospects

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There is nothing to stop clubs applying for higher academy category status - its not a closed shop at all

 

but the aim isn't to get players playing academy football - it's to get them playing full time professional league football

 

So if the players are performing consistently at a high enough level then get them out on loan - or into the first team environment

 

The problem with academy football (or one of the many problems!) is it needs to ensure players are retained at clubs in order to fulfill a fixture programme that can be pretty intense - and that may not be in the best interest of the player's development

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23 hours ago, scram said:

There is nothing to stop clubs applying for higher academy category status - its not a closed shop at all

 

but the aim isn't to get players playing academy football - it's to get them playing full time professional league football

 

So if the players are performing consistently at a high enough level then get them out on loan - or into the first team environment

 

The problem with academy football (or one of the many problems!) is it needs to ensure players are retained at clubs in order to fulfill a fixture programme that can be pretty intense - and that may not be in the best interest of the player's development

 

Thanks for the info, scram

You're obviously more clued up on the subject than I am  :biggrin:

 

I suppose the system will get tested if and when more clubs apply for higher academy category status

In order to squash any notion of there being a closed shop the present system must therefore be geared to expansion

 

Again, I suppose Wednesday would have to declare the ambition to improve for the question to be relevant

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