Quote: Starbug "But unfortunatley the dual contract system isn't condusive to encouraging Championship clubs to produce their own players , and SL clubs generally wont do season long loan deals , so what system should be in place ?
It also damages long term planning which is one of the main criticisms of clubs in the past
If you go for full ' feeder ' or reserve teams playing in the lower leagues it would result in those clubs losing their identity and the bulk of what few fans they still have
So no real benifit to the non SL club ,'"
i dont know, its a complex question. I dont disagree with what you have put but at the moment its just a question of doing the best we can.
I would maybe look at having feeder areas rather than feeder clubs as halfway house. SL clubs take responsibility for an area and group of lower league clubs and work with them to produce the best young players, give them a proving ground and reward the clubs when they do, but still allow the lower league clubs to keep their identities.
for example, Leeds have Fev, York and Sheffield as their feeder clubs. They can loan out youngsters as and when, similar to the dual contract system. They can take the youngsters from them for a set fee, they can work together in training, coaching etc, but the lower league clubs still put out their own team, in their own colours, can make their own signings etc. I think that would work quite well. Maybe even a reversal of the situation where Leeds can take dual contract players from the lower league clubs. I think we would see a lot more movement and likely unearth a few gems if SL clubs could take a player away for a few weeks/months training and maybe even a few first team games without committing to a couple of years contract and a fee, so Leeds can call on the lower league players for say £1k per month payment to the lower league club.
