Hattrick Hub

The release of details about the new youth training system was nice to see. It looks like an interesting format and I’m sure it will be well received. However, a number of potential flaws do leap out from the summary.

Firstly, why does the performance of the first team impact upon the development of youth players? This will boost the ability of higher teams to generate better youth players and diminish the ability of weaker teams to develop players. Once again it is a strategy that benefits the successful/established while adding a burden to the younger upstarts in relative terms. In addition, by linking performance to youth development it will create yet another reason for not promoting. With this inclusion promoting to a higher division will mean lower gate receipts, lower fan numbers, demoralising results, the end of season fan decimation, and now the all new knee capping of your youth team development. Unless of course you avoid promotion like the plague until your team can compete for a top three spot in the higher league and make a go of things.

The idea of having an allowance of points that can be distributed by the manager is a good one. But it needs to be done in a fairer way, at least in my humble opinion it does. Why not simply assign youth teams their own mini leagues – to prevent players stacking the deck with no hope teams (teams who aren’t interesting in developing youth talent and don’t care about results). And then use the results and actual performance of the youth team to determine extra points gained. This would bring meaning and competition to the youth matches and make them a vital part of any plans for the future of the team. Managers would spend time developing a winning youth team, planning playing strategies, perhaps keeping players in the youth team instead of promoting them to the seniors as soon as possible. The performance of the youth team would become a key factor in the plans of a team because better youth results would mean better youth players.

The main problem I foresee is transfer market flooding. Youth players will enter the team at a rate of one per week. However, they will all age one year per season and their skills can only be seen for definite once – when they are promoted. Without restrictions this will mean that every manager could choose to promote and probably sell his players at the same time. After all a 17yr old is always worth more at the start of the season than an 18yr old or a 17yr old mid season. Managers might choose to flood the market at the same time to capitalise on this. The maximum age of the youth team restriction will also increase the likelihood of this happening. Granted, this may be offset since a glut of players will lead to lower prices forcing players to distribute their sales over the season. But it’s all a bit sloppy and the maximum age adds a certain promote or suffer criteria.

My previous suggestion to base bonus points of youth team performance would go a long way to correcting this potential problem – as players kept good players as youth longer to boost results. Removing the unrealistic and whacky team age maximum and limiting the promotion of youth player to one or two a week would also help.

Whatcha all think of my suggested revisions to the proposed Youth System?

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