Premier League’s lesser lights set to benefit from new rules
Until recently, many football fans appeared unaware of a major new rule that will come into force in this seasons Premier League. In some cases, it also seems the managers themselves have failed to take the rule into consideration till now. The new rule states that clubs in the Premiership may only register a 25-man squad for the coming season; the only players not registered in the 25 that will be eligible to play are those under the age of 21. The other key aspect of the rule is that the 25-man squads must include eight ‘home-grown’ players. This does not necessarily mean that a home-grown player has to be English, a player merely has to have been registered with an English or Welsh club for three years between the ages of 16 and 21; Arsenal‘s Cesc Fabregas for instance, would be considered a home-grown player. The rule is set to have a major impact on Premier League clubs and players, particularly those at the top end of the league.
The impact of the rule for some players has already been felt, with some high-profile footballers set to miss out on any action this season. Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp has already conceded that injury ravaged Jonathan Woodgate will not be included in the Spurs 25.
BBC Sport reports Redknapp as stating “Woody’s nowhere near right now. I couldn’t put him in my 25. It’s just impossible at the moment”.
A similar situation has emerged with Manchester United‘s Owen Hargreaves, with Alex Ferguson telling MUTV “I do not know when he will be back.”
For players with long term injuries at the start of the season, the new rule may prove a nightmare, with teams unable to change their rosters till the transfer window opens in January. For young players however, it is a great opportunity to gain valuable playing time, as a club can field as many players under the age of 21 that it desires. Those at the top table though, may well be sitting rather uncomfortably in anticipation of the rule.
Manchester City‘s mammoth squad will certainly have to be trimmed, especially as it appears Roberto Mancini has no intention of ending his summer transfer activities. Players such as Craig Bellamy, Stephen Ireland, Robinho and Jo may all be shown the exit door before the start of the season. Chelsea and Liverpool also face problems, with both teams having relatively few home-grown senior players in their squads. This may mean players such as Michael Mancienne and Jay Spearing respectively, will find themselves in the squads of their teams at the expense of more experienced players. The new rule however, may well represent a great opportunity for those sides that are lower down in the Premier League pecking order. Senior players will want to play, and if they are not going to be registered in their sides squads they will have to move to pastures new in order to find playing opportunities. This could mean that some players will move to sides they would never have considered before. Transfer fees should also be lessened, with a club needing to sell a player or risk having him as a dead weight picking up wages, the buying club will almost invariably be in the position of power. We could see therefore, a much greater spread of talent within the league, making it more exciting and competitive in the process. Whatever happens between now and the start of the season, the who’s in, the who’s out and the transfer merry-go round that will ensue, it should provide fascinating viewing.
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The rule debilitates the Premier League in competition with rival leagues – it is a strange self-defeating move. The sort of thing that Platini would come up with to attack the Premier League. The needs of the England national team are a terrible excuse for any football decision. They play in brief competitions once every two years, generating no capital.
Not too tough to do for city. See below:
Homegrown over-21s:
Shay Given
Joe Hart
Stuart Taylor
Micah Richards
Wayne Bridge
Nedum Onuoha
Joleon Lescott
Shaleum Logan – OUT
Michael Johnson
Stephen Ireland
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Adam Johnson
Gareth Barry
Craig Bellamy
Kelvin Etuhu – OUT
Foreign over-21s:
David Gonzalez
Pablo Zabaleta
Jerome Boateng
Kolo Toure
Aleksandar Kolarov
Javier Garrido – OUT
Vincent Kompany
Nigel de Jong
Yaya Toure
Patrick Vieira – OUT
Robinho – OUT
David Silva
Roque Santa Cruz
Jo – OUT
Felipe Caicedo – OUT
Emmanuel Adebayor
Carlos Tevez
Under-21s:
Javan Vidal
Vladimir Weiss
Dedryck Boyata
Greg Cunningham
Adi Ibrahim
Alex Nimely
Kay
Tutte
Not too tough I would say. If Mancini wants to keep Viera, then it should be one of the following Zabeleta, RSC, Bellamy or Onuoha that could be shown the door… You all make it sould like it will be a massive clear out. Heck look at the current list of “outs” for some of the Prem teams, like BlackPool or Fulham….
Author, do some reading, several blogs/websites have already quashed the Man City scaremongering about their MAMMOTH squad, have a research…
Sorry but I don’t agree. Teams like Arsenal and Scumchester United already have enough players in their squads to fill their quota of homegrown players, and Teams like Ch$lsea and C$ty have that much money they won’t be forced to sell on the cheap.
If anything it will push up prices, as “homegrown” players will be like gold dust.
Take Scumchester for instance. when giggs Neville and ferdinand hang up there boots they’ll be short on “Homegrown”. They’ll then just snap up all the best Homegrown players by bidding an amount of money the club would be silly to turn down.
I’m all for this homegrown quota, but the FA should also bring in rules that clubs cannot spend more than they earn, that will make it a level playing field as teams like Ch$lsea and C$ty won’t just be able to blow the competition out of the water with the riches.
I thought you had to be registered at the the club for 3 years to be classed as homegrown?
@Ossie
No, just registered at an English, or Welsh club for 3 years prior to your 21st…
I still think that it’s a self-defeating rule. No-one gives a toss about England.
ian, the point you make about man utd simply paying silly money for english talent once their older players retire is impossible, the club are literally beyond the point of no return debt wise, currently 1.1bn after borrowing more, they are in shit streak. but the point is a good one, it will force more english talent to be utilised, and will bring youth to the forefront, an excellent rule in my opinion.
as for the thought that it is a self-defeating rule, perhaps it will for a few years lower english teams european hopes but in the long run it wil not as it will force the youth scouting system to find the next english star rather than looking to who is in the barca youth academy at the expense of our own.
@Stratty
Agreed…
Erik you numpty, you name 32 over 21 players and subract 6 – so that means your squad is oversize already. and that’s before your club continues its summer spending. man city and chelsea are scum clubs, toy clubs in fact. if something similar happened at arsenal i would instantly lose all interest in english football – ‘you have to live by your principles’.
It might have been better introducing a max number of non English players per team,this would have done more to help the England teams long term cause by giving English youth more chances,as one of the previous comments stated this is Platinis way of hitting the Prem league because he hates its success and prestige.Also debt is another key issue why are there no penalties for clubs who live above their means even if they can service the debt temporarily it is unfair to the clubs who balance their books and so keep the league alive and competetive anyone can be successful if they have a 1 billion overdraft/loan but football suffers long term.
Dan if the FAPL and FA want English clubs to stop bringing in foreign youths then they have to get rid of the 90 minute rule, which stops clubs training young playes who live more than nintey minutes from the club. Also clubs have to lower the price of English players to a proper valuation level, if foreign players were not better value then clubs would not buy them. And this new rule has actually made clubs bring in more foreign youths so that by the time the are 21 they are homegrown. This new rule is silly in the extreme
The problem with having an English quota is that it would break European laws. ‘Homegrown’ is actually a clever way of side stepping this.
As much as I like the prospect of clubs developing young players more there are a lot of downsides. For example, how long before teams become cynical and set out to take out the better players leaving only youth. This seems to be the accepted way many clubs choose to play against Arsenal, would this now spread to other clubs? For example first game of the season if hypothetically Arsenal put out a team of 21 year old thugs to jump on the ankles of certain Liverpool players. Arsenal lose the match due to 3 players being sent off and being over run, but a significant competitor has lost a bunch of their top players and only has youth for an extended period. Who is the real winner here?
HAHAHA this site stole the entire first and second paragraph from sky sports news channel. Same Word for word haha wish I had recorded it and had a link to show you. This site has always been and will always be a shambles!!!!!!!!!!
@godlamighty
Fingers crossed it happens to the arse too then eh, so we’re saved from your pious, baised, yet unsubstantiated waffle.
If Chelsea are a toy club, Abramovich has been toying with them a long, long time. No sign of Sheik Mansour flicking through the Argos catalogue for some new toys any time soon either…
Don’t begrudge clubs for having money if yours has none, or has some and chooses not to spend it.
But I’ll set your mind at rest, it won’t happen at Arsenal, mid table beckons, say hello to Cesc for me at the airport…
Non English quota wouldn’t work because it would break EU law. For this change to have worked the emphasis should have been on the individual clubs own homegrown players, ie players they have signed before they turned 21 or brought through there own youth systems. As for clubs only being allowed to spend what they earn, I thought Platini was trying to bring about this law in the game? Wont this be law by commencement of the 2012 – 13 season for clubs wishing to compete in Europe? But the comment was right above the FA should have implemented such a ruling a long time ago to stop clubs like City and Chelsea. After all what relative success Chelsea had under Bates was with money they didn’t have and no decent player since the early 70′s have even looked at City never mind play for them until the billions came.
Bloody stupid politically correct rubbish
IMO…to give the young’uns a chance…what rubbish!!
The Woodgate situation is typical of the lack of foresight here. Looks like UEFA is running the EPL now while the thter leagues can import anyone without a work permit need. Another form of Heysel handicap to give the others a chance?
(by others I mean IM, ACM, JUV, RM,Barca, BM. Anyone would think that IM ‘win the CL)
IM DIDN’T win the CL(dont ask me what happened there)