A concious decision based on mounting losses and huge debts to directors. If the board weren't fed up pumping money in we'd never see half the kids Saints are touting now.

When? When you were mentioning how we'd been built on purchases rather than youth products?

IMO there's only Clough so far that's come in recently and cemented a first team spot, the rest I agree, are still wait and see.

As others have said, there are too many grey areas for that to work.

However, there is nothing to stop Wigan, or nay other team for that matter, helping out local amateur clubs now. I'm sure that closer involvement with those teams would reap dividends for any club that did it. Not everyone goes for the biggest contract on offer, and sometimes good treatment previously helps someone make up their mind.