Football

Not usually a fan of Paul Wilson, but interesting article on Stoke and why they've appointed MArk Hughes..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/may/30/mark-hughes-stoke-city-transfer-dealings

Think they are a bit too happy with his transfer acumen, as its been nothing to write home about in his last few jobs, but as I've been cheerleading for every club to have a healthy academy, I thought this was enlightening..

"We have to become more sustainable," Coates explained. "At present ours is the third-highest net spend in the Premier League, and for a club of this size that's not where we want to be. It's not really where we can afford to be. If there is one blot on the Premier League it is that there is so much debt around. As a league we are awash with money, but clubs should be more self-financing. There's no point in having all this money if we all keep pouring it into black holes."

Hughes is inheriting the Premier League's most expensive squad outside the Champions League positions, with a brief to rein back on the spending a little while setting a course for a top-10 finish. "There's no new direction as such," Coates said. "We just want to make the structures within the club work a little better. We want a manager who will help with the academy and be supportive of young players, because there's a real problem in England with what happens to players between the age of 18 and 21. At the same time we are keen to improve our record in the transfer market. Basically we want to do recruitment well, because that is one of the keys to running a successful club. And recruitment isn't just about bringing people in, it's about selling as well as buying