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Youth Academy closing ?


Bobbyhouston
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I've been following this club since 1966 and I would be delighted to have Erskine and Doolan in next season's squad no problem.

I've witnessed the good, the bad, the charlatans and Charnley, and those two gentlemen bleed Thistle. Which is something special in this day when there is no loyalty in football at all. Now I understand that Caldwell wants to have his own squad without the influence of the previous regime. However what has happened with Doolan and Erskine is crass beyond stupidity. And leaving aside their service to the club, basic manners dictate that their enforced departures should have been handled with more dignity.

Caldwell may well have made the decision to get rid of both. But the club had a major duty to ensure that the exits of both were handled appropriately.

It didn't and therefore it has to take the rap for that.

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53 minutes ago, sandy said:

That’s it then, defend the club to the hilt @javeajag. I tell you what, fans like @Norgethistle and @Jordanhill Jag know more of the truth.

So today the Club bin Ross Quaile, who has been a brilliant sponsorship & fundraising person. He persuaded me to put in nearly £2k into Thistle last Autumn as I wanted to support the Club after relegation.

No more this coming season, that revenue has gone. This Club we all love is going to the dogs; and I’m afraid the Board & Caldwell have to share the blame for Erskine, Dools, financial projections that were wrong, the closure of the Excellent Main Stand. 

We have flushed our Thistle legacy & uniqueness  down the toilet this season. This is not the Club I have followed for 20 years. 

So it’s over and out from me now. no doubt @Third Lanark and @jagfoxwill be over the moon. 

But I’ll be back when this regime has ended. I’ll be here when the 3 stooges have long gone. 

Sandy you don't half talk pish !

Constant slating of  a board that's been in  charge for one full season and a manager who's only been in over half a season ? 

What Thistle legacy and uniqueness are you on about ? Because our biggest success through Lambie used to be shifting players when they weren't up to the job and players in who were. 

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27 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

What a load of drivel. 

The club gets relegated and maintains the office staff numbers in the hope of promotion: promotion doesn't come so they reorganise to acknowledge the lower income. It's crap for those people who will lose their jobs, but you would be the first person to complain about the club losing money (if norgethistle or Jordanhill Jag didn't beat you to it).

I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing about Erskine and Dools - the club is more than a couple of players, no matter how much they're Thistle men. I wouldn't want either in next season's squad: we need players who can make a contribution. 

What financial projections were wrong? I don't know of any. You doubtless just threw that in there to put some more negativity into it. Gilding the Lily it's called.

The 'Excellent Main Stand' isn't closing, it'll be used when necessary. But again, hey ho, let's make it a negative. And 'excellent'? Have you been in it?

I've been following this club a hell of a lot longer than 20 years and it would take more than what's happened in the past year to put me off. You have contributed to a toxic negativity on this forum that  others have also indulged in to a ridiculous extent. Every single statement coming out of the club over the past year has been given the most negative spin possible. Where does this feeling of entitlement come from? You think Thistle should be guaranteed success? You think it should be run as some kind of sentimental project called the Thistle legacy? What the hell is that? Your done. Great. I can only hope that taking a break from all this will improve your mental health. It'll certainly improve mine.

Amen.

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10 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

I've been following this club since 1966 and I would be delighted to have Erskine and Doolan in next season's squad no problem.

I've witnessed the good, the bad, the charlatans and Charnley, and those two gentlemen bleed Thistle. Which is something special in this day when there is no loyalty in football at all. Now I understand that Caldwell wants to have his own squad without the influence of the previous regime. However what has happened with Doolan and Erskine is crass beyond stupidity. And leaving aside their service to the club, basic manners dictate that their enforced departures should have been handled with more dignity.

Caldwell may well have made the decision to get rid of both. But the club had a major duty to ensure that the exits of both were handled appropriately.

It didn't and therefore it has to take the rap for that.

I get it, I really do. I loved watching Erskine and Doolan playing for Thistle. But, to be honest, it wasn't much of a pleasure seeing the performances they put in last season and the one before. I'd rather remember them at their best than see them struggling to contribute. Would we want to carry them as passengers in the squad making the occasional appearance? 

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21 hours ago, javeajag said:

The forum at its finest.....’ hearing from a good source.....’....

lets at least operate on the basis that this is speculation and not fact 

Sad to see it took so many posts before someone said this.   However assuming there is some substance to this (which may be complete rubbish), I'll comment. 

From my memory there are two aspects. 

1) The academy proper where we pick up promising young kids and try to develop them into players for the team.  This is where most of the Weir money goes for youth work and If I recall correctly it was stated in 2018 that Weir had reinvested enough to keep the youth program going for at least 2 more years so there should be enough to keep it going this coming year.

2) The Weirs were always keen on clubs reaching out to the community and this aspect - summer camps, coaching for local kids based in our local community and so on was part of the deal.  It is separate from the academy work proper (though any exceptional youngster discovered through this could be fast tracked to the academy proper) and any cuts to it would have nothing to do with the academy.  BUT even that is unlikely in my opinion as since the Weirs were keen on this they wouldn't be pleased if we cut it back.  It can't be a big part of the youth operation anyway (I assume).

Perhaps this is what the OP's mate heard about: https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/club-statement-staff-restructuring/

It clearly says these cut backs won't affect football related staff so even that doesn't support the rumour.  BTW, it's OK to speculate but let's be clear, it's speculation based on rumour, not facts.

Edited by Mr Bunny
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1 hour ago, sandy said:

That’s it then, defend the club to the hilt @javeajag. I tell you what, fans like @Norgethistle and @Jordanhill Jag know more of the truth.

So today the Club bin Ross Quaile, who has been a brilliant sponsorship & fundraising person. He persuaded me to put in nearly £2k into Thistle last Autumn as I wanted to support the Club after relegation.

No more this coming season, that revenue has gone. This Club we all love is going to the dogs; and I’m afraid the Board & Caldwell have to share the blame for Erskine, Dools, financial projections that were wrong, the closure of the Excellent Main Stand. 

We have flushed our Thistle legacy & uniqueness  down the toilet this season. This is not the Club I have followed for 20 years. 

So it’s over and out from me now. no doubt @Third Lanark and @jagfoxwill be over the moon. 

But I’ll be back when this regime has ended. I’ll be here when the 3 stooges have long gone. 

People might buy into you being genuinely concerned about the future of our football club if you didn't make posts like this. 

Tagging people in a post part of which is about folk losing their job just looks like faux rage and pathetic point scoring. 

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10 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

I get it, I really do. I loved watching Erskine and Doolan playing for Thistle. But, to be honest, it wasn't much of a pleasure seeing the performances they put in last season and the one before. I'd rather remember them at their best than see them struggling to contribute. Would we want to carry them as passengers in the squad making the occasional appearance? 

Two things.

Their performances and their treatment.

Their treatment was nothing short of scandalous. That much is easy to agree on (I hope).

Their performances, certainly not up to the high standards that they set themselves 2013-2017. And let's not forget the utter rubbish that Archie signed post-Livingston which will not have helped. 

Should they have been cut some slack? My understanding is that it had become personal between Chris and GC even before last Christmas, so a parting of the ways was inevitable in that case. Dools is entirely another matter though, and GC does not come out well in that one.

Edited by Barney Rubble
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20 hours ago, Z88 said:

Given that the Weirs fund this, I assume if true its their decision rather than Thistle's ?  I read a while back that a number of clubs also down South had decided that the Academy route wasn't cost effective.  

Of course it will be there decision 

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13 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

The reserves have nothing to do with the Academy.

 

 

Considering they play U16s U17s & U18s in the reserve squad every week for  past 4 year at least and getting pumped most weeks , how do you come to that idea ? I would really love to know 

 

PS ; and same 18s management is reserve management 

Edited by Bobbyhouston
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8 minutes ago, Bobbyhouston said:

 

 

Considering they play U16s U17s & U18s in the reserve squad every week for  past 4 year at least and getting pumped most weeks , how do you come to that idea ? I would really love to know 

 

PS ; and same 18s management is reserve management 

Rangers, Celtic and St. Johnstone have all pulled out of the reserve league. Does that mean they're pulling out from youth football? The Weir Academy is funded for at least another year. Why are you suggesting otherwise?

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22 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Two things.

Their performances and their treatment.

Their treatment was nothing short of scandalous. That much is easy to agree on (I hope).

Their performances, certainly not up to the high standards that they set themselves 2013-2017. And let's not forget the utter rubbish that Archie signed post-Livingston which will not have helped. 

Should they have been cut some slack? My understanding is that it had become personal between Chris and GC even before last Christmas, so a parting of the ways was inevitable in that case. Dools is entirely another matter though, and GC does not come out well in that one.

Their treatment was not any worse than Kenny Watson’s or Kenny Arthur’s. Doolan And erskine will deservedly be legends at the club.  The last year and a half has seen them paid high wages for pretty mediocre performances and unfortunately in football that sadly happens.  Both had plenty of opportunities to contribute far more in the last couple of years even before Caldwell was appointed.  Some people seem to think that because they are legends they should be given new contracts regardless, sorry but they need to earn them. There was possibly even a bit of complacency kicking in for them that things were comfortable, and maybe Doolan going to a new club will help him rediscover his form. 

Kets not forget Doolan is getting a deserved testimonial out of it but those office staff being laid off are in considerably worse position than those 2 and IMP deserve more sympathy 

 

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1 minute ago, Third Lanark said:

Their treatment was not any worse than Kenny Watson’s or Kenny Arthur’s. Doolan And erskine will deservedly be legends at the club.  The last year and a half has seen them paid high wages for pretty mediocre performances and unfortunately in football that sadly happens.  Both had plenty of opportunities to contribute far more in the last couple of years even before Caldwell was appointed.  Some people seem to think that because they are legends they should be given new contracts regardless, sorry but they need to earn them. There was possibly even a bit of complacency kicking in for them that things were comfortable, and maybe Doolan going to a new club will help him rediscover his form. 

Kets not forget Doolan is getting a deserved testimonial out of it but those office staff being laid off are in considerably worse position than those 2 and IMP deserve more sympathy 

 

All the Club have done is re his testimonial is give him the use of the stadium, nothing else 

Everything else is organised by Doolans Testimonial Committee 

 

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1 minute ago, Third Lanark said:

Their treatment was not any worse than Kenny Watson’s or Kenny Arthur’s. Doolan And erskine will deservedly be legends at the club.  The last year and a half has seen them paid high wages for pretty mediocre performances and unfortunately in football that sadly happens.  Both had plenty of opportunities to contribute far more in the last couple of years even before Caldwell was appointed.  Some people seem to think that because they are legends they should be given new contracts regardless, sorry but they need to earn them. There was possibly even a bit of complacency kicking in for them that things were comfortable, and maybe Doolan going to a new club will help him rediscover his form. 

Kets not forget Doolan is getting a deserved testimonial out of it but those office staff being laid off are in considerably worse position than those 2 and IMP deserve more sympathy 

 

Jeezuz, can't believe I'm having to respond to this.

Think you've got that one totally wrong TL.

Are you suggesting that CE and KD stole a wage in the last two seasons? Because that appears to be what you are implying.

If CE and KD were complacent then what the **** were the rest of them up to???

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13 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

Rangers, Celtic and St. Johnstone have all pulled out of the reserve league. Does that mean they're pulling out from youth football? The Weir Academy is funded for at least another year. Why are you suggesting otherwise?

 

 

Going on what I’ve heard from extremely good source , 

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15 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

Rangers, Celtic and St. Johnstone have all pulled out of the reserve league. Does that mean they're pulling out from youth football? The Weir Academy is funded for at least another year. Why are you suggesting otherwise?

We are skint there not, ever thought it might be Weir’s who’ve decided not to put anymore money back in FFS

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15 minutes ago, Bobbyhouston said:

 

 

Going on what I’ve heard from extremely good source , 

No offense, pal, but you appeared on this forum only a fortnight ago and you're telling us that the youth academy, which the club has said is financed for at least another year, is going to fold, so you'll forgive me if "an extremely good source" is less than convincing.

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