England, here's why you suck...

"The bottom line is that we just don’t produce enough players who are ­technically and tactically good enough to compete at an elite level."

 

The inquests have started. Just like they do every two years, after England have gone out of a major international tournament.

The bottom line is that we just don’t produce enough players who are ­technically and tactically good enough to compete at an elite level.

There’s a multitude of reasons as to why that’s the case – but unless we address the growing inequalities in our game, then my worry is that things are going to get an awful lot worse.

I spoke out a couple of weeks ago to tell the people who live in that ivory tower we call the Premier League that they have a duty to use a chunk of the £3billion generated by the new ­television deal to develop the game in this country from grassroots level.

Hell will freeze over first.

But let me give you an example of the kind of quandary a Championship manager like myself finds himself in, that also illustrates just why the talent is not coming through.

Last season, I took a promising ­player on loan from Liverpool.

He has played for England at every level, from Under-16 to Under-21, but after arriving at Anfield has found his first-team opportunities limited.

A year on, he is just the kind of ­player I need to help my Blackpool team go one step better after heartbreak in the ­Championship play-off final.

The only problem is that, even if I could ­persuade my ­chairman to pay a couple of ­million quid to tempt Liverpool into selling, there’s absolutely no way he would sanction the kind of salary that would make the move acceptable to the player himself.

Conversely, I also know that the ­financial problems in Spain has meant a number of excellent young players have not been paid by their clubs and are available on free transfers.

They would also accept a wage that’s just fraction of what the player at ­Liverpool is earning.

It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?

And so a young Spaniard gets the benefit of continuing his footballing education in the Championship, while the Englishman stays in the reserves of a Premier League club.

I would love to produce young ­English players at Blackpool.

But the cost of putting an Academy in place at a club like ours is ­prohibitive, given the facilities and staffing levels we have to provide.

And if the dice weren’t already loaded in favour of the top-flight clubs, Premier League bosses threatened to withdraw funding for youth ­development completely if the ­Football League didn’t accept the Elite Player Performance Plan.

It is estimated that funding an Academy, under the new rules, will cost a ­minimum of £2.5million-a-year.

Yet the system also ­allows the biggest clubs to take the best youngsters from poorer clubs for a small fee that will barely cover the costs associated with that player’s development.

In essence, that means Manchester United could spot two 16-year-olds called Ian Holloway and Wayne ­Rooney playing in the junior team of another club and snatch them away for the same fee.

It is absolute madness.[1]

Premier League clubs will now ­basically stack and rack the best young players. The talent that will go to waste doesn’t bear thinking about.

It’s a system that tells youngsters there is only one route into the ­England team and the days of Ian Wright reaching the top, after starting with Dulwich Hamlet, or David Platt scoring at the World Cup, after ­developing under Dario Gradi at Crewe, are now over.

Dario has produced dozens of ­players at Gresty Road, with Nick ­Powell the latest to graduate to bigger and better things, following his £4m move to Manchester United.

But how can Crewe afford to keep their talent trek going if they are forced to sell their best youngsters for a fraction of their real worth?

I would love to establish a ­youth-development system at Blackpool but the cost of doing so is impossible to justify now more than ever.

We are looking to introduce an Elite Development Squad for an 19-21 age group, aimed at the players who do stay on after coming through our School of Excellence and I hope to ­appoint a dedicated coach this week.

But only a few days ago the ­goalkeeper for our Under-12 team decided to join Manchester City.

In two years’ time after the World Cup, when questions are being asked about why England don’t produce enough top footballers, I’ll probably wonder how he’s getting on.[2]

I don't claim credit. Bloke should just run the FA. Period.

[1]: If you think this is a stupid analogy, you're dumber than a hamster. For whatever reasons, I don't care.

[2]: Ain't that a shame?