Marten

Spot on

Considering the likes of Che Dail like to just say how many B-team games players played, let's have a look at the Dutch team (starting 11 & subs) that played in the World Cup QF in which they took the eventual world champions all the way to penalties and where they played in their development. Noppert: straight from Heerenveen youth system to senior squad, no B-team games Timber: 2 seasons Ajax B, then first team Van Dijk: straight from Groningen youth system to senior squad, no B-team games Ake: moved to Chelsea at 15, loaned out to Reading, Watford & Bournemouth Gakpo: 2 seasons PSV B, then first team De Roon: straight from Sparta youth system to senior squad, no B-team games Blind: loaned out to FC Groningen, then to Ajax first team Frenkie De Jong: straight from Willem II youth system to first team, only then bought by Ajax and first put in B-team Dumfries: developed in non-league, then turned professional by moving to Sparta Bergwijn: 2 seasons PSV B, then first team Depay: straight from PSV youth system to senior squad, no B-team games Luuk de Jong: straight from De Graafschap youth system to senior squad, no B-team games Berghuis: loaned out to VVV Venlo, then to AZ first team Lang: Ajax B, 2 loans & to Club Bruges first team Weghorst: developed in non-league, then turned professional by moving to Emmen Koopmeiners: 1 season AZ B, then first team So that makes 6 players going straight from the youth team to the senior team, 4 who went to a B-team first, 3 who developed on loans, 2 coming through non-league and 1 with a combination of B-team & loans. They aren't statistics that anyone can really draw any conclusions from as it's quite a mix. Nobody can tell if those 5 with considerable B-team experience wouldn't have developed without it, like by going out on loan. But 5 out of 16 players is hardly a ringing endorsement of the system either.

I was actually considering going to this game as a neutral. But for that price... f*ck that.

Plus if you replace the OF B-teams with say Linlithgow Rose & Auchinleck Talbot, I can bet attendances would go up instead of down as both are well-supported clubs.

Unless they try to get accepted to replace Montrose Roselea in the NRJFA Premier and pressure will be on the HL to accept promotion from them should they win the league?

Overall I think it's a good podcast, but I was surprised with them saying that indeed. Let's not forget that this is the same Ian Maxwell who saw it as a "done deal" that the ERJFA & WRJFA would join the pyramid as they were back in (I think) 2019.

And if you were to fill your allocation, you'll just get blamed of being gloryhunters who don't turn up at regular games. You can never win...

I was there yesterday, good day out but I can imagine why you guys are frustrated with your lack of firing power up front. Your defending was excellent, conceding a penalty for a handball is one of these things that just happens in football, but other than that and that weird scramble right at the end you gave nothing away, but you never looked like winning either because you were not strong enough up front. Good day out for me and if the Cowdenbeath fans I spoke to on the train on my way back are here on P&B: it was nice meeting you!

Gala Fairydean Rovers 1-1 Cowdenbeath My last ground in the Lowland League and I saved the best 'till last. What a wonderful old stand. The game was close, it was very clear that finishing is the main issue for Cowdenbeath. About 30 minutes in the hosts took the lead through a penalty, late on in the first half the visitors equalised. Cowdenbeath were defending very well and didn't let Gala go through, but they lacked the fire power up front. Gala Fairydean Rovers is very friendly club, there was a good atmosphere and I had a lovely chat with some Cowdenbeath fans on the train back after the game. Good day out all together.

Nah, we failed in our bid for 2018 as we're not corrupt enough.

Yeah, back in 2002. Thank f*ck that didn't happen. In Dutch non-league the situation is reversed, B-teams don't play in the league but they play in the cups. So at non-league level, it still occasionally happens that a club play against their own B-team. When I played non-league football in The Netherlands I played in one such game. Trust me, it's a game nobody enjoys...

Or back to claiming "it works in the Netherlands", despite the fact that after 2014, we missed 2 tournaments and were papped out of Euro 2020 by the first decent team we played (Czech Republic). Ok, we got to the QF in Qatar and took the eventual world champions all the way to penalties, but that makes a grand total of 1 good performance against a strong side in a World Cup / Euro game including qualifiers since 2014 as our run to get to the QF was ridiculously easy. Plus, people also forget to mention that out of the 34 pro clubs, 22 never even bothered with a B-team in the pyramid, and a few more pulled theirs out as it didn't give the desired effect. Amongst the clubs who never bothered was Feyenoord, who have the 2nd strongest academy in the country behind Ajax. So even the different top academies don't agree with each other on the effect of B-teams. So yeah, it's a massive success there.

Can't see that happen now everyone is in the pyramid.

Brilliant, so not the success there people claim it was.

The Dutch cup once had PSV colts v PSV... Thankfully the colts got removed from the cup, but unfortunately they are still in the league. In terms of this plan, get it in the bin and put fire to the bin, then kick the burnt out bin far into the deepest part of the ocean that there is no chance of it ever getting back. Absolutely atrocious stuff.