Pressley: Big Clubs Are Strangling The Smaller Ones

Last updated : 09 June 2014 By Covsupport News Service

Coventry City manager Steven Pressley has admitted to be being glad that the Football League clubs are against B Teams.

Pressley told the Coventry Telegraph's Andy Turner: "Anything that helps the development of young players in this country has to be considered.

"But these proposals concerned me because one of the major problems facing English football is that the large clubs are signing the best young players in the country and there's no real pathway for them into the first team,

"So many of these great young talents are getting demoralised because they are not getting nearly enough first-team football to enhance their development.

"Some Premier League clubs have 30 or 40 young players in their ranks which, in my opinion, blocks clubs like ourselves from getting the opportunity to sign them and get the benefit in that respect.

"And the creation of another league would have encouraged these big clubs to continue to collect players

"At times they seem to sign players without having any intention of actually using them just so that other teams cannot get them.

"That's a major problem and there should be a restriction on the number of young kids that clubs can sign which would mean a greater spread of these players throughout the English game.

"Quality players would eventually be bought by bigger clubs to play in their first team and the money reinvested into the English game so that lower-division clubs could strengthen their infrastructure and continue that process.

"It's something that worked 20 or 30 years ago but unfortunately now the bigger clubs are just strangling the smaller ones."

More on this: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-boss-steven-pressley-7235784