Rob Stambolziev To Greece.

[Jesus]

If this is trus I for one would be gutted. But why would he pen a new deal and leave?

Massive fingers crossed this isnt true

[chinapig]

Bear in mind folks that Danny Wilson would not pick Lita and Rosenior, both of whom were better than anything we have now. Also remember the likes of Aaron Brown and Joe Anyinsah (Sp?) jumping ship. Big careers followed;not. For me our Academy could take a long time to recover from all those years in League 1.

[bcfcbs20]

Bear in mind folks that Danny Wilson would not pick Lita and Rosenior, both of whom were better than anything we have now. Also remember the likes of Aaron Brown and Joe Anyinsah (Sp?) jumping ship. Big careers followed;not. For me our Academy could take a long time to recover from all those years in League 1.

yep if there was any genuine quality players coming through are academy gj would play them simples

[Philip Belgrave]

I heard similar to this, but I heard he's moving to Australia.

I haven't detected any such rumour hereabouts and:- why would he ?

There is some speculation that he might opt to play for Greece or Macedonia rather than Australia ,despite his appearances in the Under-twenty side. (assuming he's selected, of course).

As an Anglo-Australian, naturally I think that would be almost a great a tragedy as if he left CITY.

[redrebel]

Once again this issue has raised the usual suspects who refuse to accept that GJ can do any wrong.There is a reason given for any possible shortcoming.If any academy player was up to it GJ would pick them, GJ knows what he is doing, the player would never have made it , etc , etc.How can the fact that we have spent millions on an Academy and virtually none of it's players get a decent opportunity in the first team be explained or justified.If this carries on the quality of youngsters coming in will reduce and it will be a downwared spiral.

It seems that GJ has the same approach to picking youth as selecting Lee, there is a mental block and he will not even consider the issue.That in my view is a weakness and can only impact on the club negatively.

[William Stand]

Once again this issue has raised the usual suspects who refuse to accept that GJ can do any wrong.There is a reason given for any possible shortcoming.If any academy player was up to it GJ would pick them, GJ knows what he is doing, the player would never have made it , etc , etc.How can the fact that we have spent millions on an Academy and virtually none of it's players get a decent opportunity in the first team be explained or justified.If this carries on the quality of youngsters coming in will reduce and it will be a downwared spiral.

It seems that GJ has the same approach to picking youth as selecting Lee, there is a mental block and he will not even consider the issue.That in my view is a weakness and can only impact on the club negatively.

Other than Skuse, Cotterill & Myrie Williams - who have all had a No of appearances under Johnson. Who knows how much Riberio will have featured if he hadn't got crocked ??

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the likes of James Wilson, Riberio etc get game time, but then again I'm one of those people that would be more than happy with a few seasons of mid table-ness as those youngsters develop. If we played a few youngsters next season & finish below 10th, this place will be flooded with "we're going backwards, time for a change posts".

I also wonder if there is some hard financial truths coming home.... according to some on here we need to replace half the 1st team just to survive - that won't be cheap ........ maybe some savings are being made elsewhere??????

[screech]

Other than Skuse, Cotterill & Myrie Williams - who have all had a No of appearances under Johnson. Who knows how much Riberio will have featured if he hadn't got crocked ??

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the likes of James Wilson, Riberio etc get game time, but then again I'm one of those people that would be more than happy with a few seasons of mid table-ness as those youngsters develop. If we played a few youngsters next season & finish below 10th, this place will be flooded with "we're going backwards, time for a change posts".

I also wonder if there is some hard financial truths coming home.... according to some on here we need to replace half the 1st team just to survive - that won't be cheap ........ maybe some savings are being made elsewhere??????

They are hardly youngster at 20.

Gary Johnson was exactly the same at Yeovil, he has a terrible record at producing his own.

In some respects I don't blame him because getting points on the board is all that matters, and to be honest with my job and reputation on the line I would probably do the same.

[GrahamC]

If Rob has gone then IMO it is purely down to a complete lack of 1st team opportunities.

GJ refuses to give youth a chance and that will eventually spell the end of our academy.

Seeing as the offer we've made to Stambolsiev is his first professional contract, how many "1st team opportunities" would you expect an academy player (who was 17 at the time), to have had so far?

I think that when fit James Wilson in particular could have featured more in the first 16, but can't see that this lad has any sort of complaint as yet.

[bully]

Seeing as the offer we've made to Stambolsiev is his first professional contract, how many "1st team opportunities" would you expect an academy player (who was 17 at the time), to have had so far?

I think he's 19 but i'll stand corrected.

To be fair, until the end of last season we always had something to play for under GJ so it would be stupid to draft in youngsters for the hell of it.

I have to say I was disappointed that he didn't give some a chance after we'd fallen out of the playoff race - I think he was wrong, and not sure when he'll get a better chance to test them out at the right level.

[William Stand]

They are hardly youngster at 20.

Gary Johnson was exactly the same at Yeovil, he has a terrible record at producing his own.

In some respects I don't blame him because getting points on the board is all that matters, and to be honest with my job and reputation on the line I would probably do the same.

I'm not being facetious, as I genuinely don't know the answer.... but how old were messrs Cotterill, Myrie Williams & Skuse when Johnson 1st started playing them ??

[William Stand]

I think he's 19 but i'll stand corrected.

To be fair, until the end of last season we always had something to play for under GJ so it would be stupid to draft in youngsters for the hell of it.

I have to say I was disappointed that he didn't give some a chance after we'd fallen out of the playoff race - I think he was wrong, and not sure when he'll get a better chance to test them out at the right level.

Hang out the flags.... I pretty much agree with your final sentence!!! Having said that, am pretty sure that Riberio & Wilson would've featured if not crocked. It's something you can argue either way, but if a youngster, is in the mgmt's view a million miles away from being ready I don't buy in to the notion that it's worth throwing them in anyway .... if they get humiliated it could affect them going forward.

[Edge1981]

Sad news. Like many people have said, GJ seems to have an issue with playing the academy players so i'm not suprised they jump ship. The only youth player that GJ has brought through was JMW. The likes Cotts and Skuse had already established themselves before GJ arrived. I heard a story a couple of years ago that GJ is really harsh on the young players at the club and was very critical to JMW.

Not that i'd like to see this happening, but if GJ knows he isn't going to play the likes of Wilson or Ribeiro then when clubs like Villa and Everton come sniffing around we should do a deal.

[William Stand]

Sad news. Like many people have said, GJ seems to have an issue with playing the academy players so i'm not suprised they jump ship. The only youth player that GJ has brought through was JMW. The likes Cotts and Skuse had already established themselves before GJ arrived. I heard a story a couple of years ago that GJ is really harsh on the young players at the club and was very critical to JMW.

Not that i'd like to see this happening, but if GJ knows he isn't going to play the likes of Wilson or Ribeiro then when clubs like Villa and Everton come sniffing around we should do a deal.

Not sure that's true.

From memory Skuse had a handful for games at the end of Tins 1st season & some more the following season. I think roughly the same is true for Cotterill. But bearing in mind Tins was sacked before the end of Sept, I can't see how either had "established" themselves.

Maybe if he's harsh & critical, he's actually trying to help them ??

[Andy Horsman]

If Rob has gone then IMO it is purely down to a complete lack of 1st team opportunities.

GJ refuses to give youth a chance and that will eventually spell the end of our academy.

An example of the Bristol City Youth Academy in action:

One of my mates sons (he is BCFC through & through) has a 2 year contract at Southampton and plays for their Under 16s (he is their regular captain).

When he left Bristol City Supporters Club Under 11s (no under 12s team) he had quite a few offers from professional clubs, the Gas offered him the world......Bristol City offered him a trial.

Says it all really.

BCAGFC

Very valid perspective! Which club is reknowned for discovering dozen's of players, developing them at youth level and then fielding them as young pros?? Le Tissier, Walcott, Bale to name but 3!!! The only full international our system has produced in my memory is David Cotterill

[BCFC_Dan]

Very valid perspective! Which club is reknowned for discovering dozen's of players, developing them at youth level and then fielding them as young pros?? Le Tissier, Walcott, Bale to name but 3!!! The only full international our system has produced in my memory is David Cotterill

We had Jim Brennan from a pretty early age I think (although that was pre-academy, but then so was Le Tiss).

Lita should have become an international but screwed it up through his own poor attitude.

I struggle to think of any more but we have been an unfashionable lower league club for quite a long time so it's no surprise really.

[Edge1981]

Not sure that's true.

From memory Skuse had a handful for games at the end of Tins 1st season & some more the following season. I think roughly the same is true for Cotterill. But bearing in mind Tins was sacked before the end of Sept, I can't see how either had "established" themselves.

Maybe if he's harsh & critical, he's actually trying to help them ??

Fair enough. You're probably right. OK, maybe they hadn't exactly established themselves but they had made a few appearances. Maybe GJ had seen enough to see they were ready for the first team.

[BCFC Taunton]

Speaking to someone a couple of months ago who's son was in the academy (has since left and playing non league football) GJ was overheard at the academy saying "If I wanted to work with kids I would have become a head master".

Youth doesn't seem to get a chance, although to be fair GJ has done a fair amount more right than he has done wrong so if this is true we will have to back his judgement.

[William Stand]

Speaking to someone a couple of months ago who's son was in the academy (has since left and playing non league football) GJ was overheard at the academy saying "If I wanted to work with kids I would have become a head master".

Youth doesn't seem to get a chance, although to be fair GJ has done a fair amount more right than he has done wrong so if this is true we will have to back his judgement.

Is it me, or does a lot of the negativity come from friends/family of those that have been released ???

[BCFC Taunton]

Wasn't released left of his own accord. But I take your point.

[Gazred]

"If I wanted to work with kids I would have become a head master".

Not doubting what you were told and this is not aimed at you, but that quote is a total load of crap. GJ is renowned for only wanting people with the right attitude etc playing under him, well what better way is there to get those kind of players than by moulding a youngster yourself into the kind of player you want? If thats not possible then by all means move them on but id find it hard to belive that a large percentage of our academy players are not of that mind set.

[GrahamC]

I think he's 19 but i'll stand corrected.

He won't be 19 until October 2009, so by definition for the first part of the season that's just ended he was 17, I think he's a real prospect but stand by my previous comment that in comparison with say, James Wilson who has been around the squad for a few years, I think it is unreasonable for RS to expect "first team opportunities" in advance of your first pro deal.

[CiderHider]

It's quite simple mate - when you have a first team manager who doesn't feel able to give youth a chance then these players will bugger off and the parents of the better young players in the area will send their boys to other Academies rather than ours. Why would you want your boy to do a scholarship and then be farmed out to Exeter, Kettering, Brentford and Cheltenham for example in the hope that he might be ready for a first team start when he is twenty-three? No disrespect to these lads but when James Wilson sees Journeymen like Iriekpen (I felt he did a good job to be fair to him) being acquired and then Sodge being linked to us then you really cannot blame him for thinking his future may lie elsewhere.

Clearly you have to be careful and sensible when pitching in young lads but I refer to the ridiculous state of affairs last season when Basso walked off the pitch like a big girls blouse, Henderson came on and did fantastically well and then Basso was put straight back in the following week with Chris Weale, who everyone with a brain cell in their head knew was buggering off in the Summer, being promised the game if Basso wasn't going to be fit. At the time Henderson must have been fuming and the Chris Weale departure is probably the main thing keeping him at the club. GJ's loyalty to non-performing first team regulars at the back end of last season was his poorest piece of management since he has been at the club.

The club also has an issue with coaching at the 16-18 years old age group because we get told year after year that the next batch is the best yet and then the likes of Plummer go down to Torquay and can't get close to a first team start in two months. Currently, Wilson and Ribiero seem to have made some sort of step up and Artus has taken three years longer than he should have despite first team players some of us have spoken to thinking he was ready at least two years ago. When was the last time, or any time for that matter, that Bristol City's Academy has produced a decent Goalkeeper? You can knock Ashtonyate all you like but he is not a million miles out and our Academy simply has to perform better.

You clearly have very little understanding about what is involved in football management and coaching.

Would love to see this document from SL and GJ that says "the next batch is the best" don't think it really exists does it?

You can have the best coaches in the world but unless the raw talent is there you wont produce top class players.

GJ knows exactly how good they are and providing they are capable enough for the first team they'll play why would that be any other way?, would you really expect GJ to field an understrength team? I would personally feel betrayed.

Lets say we take your approach and play youth players who are simply not good enough for the first team and as a consequence we drop points, possibly missing out on Promotion, or the play offs, or even worse we get relegated!

Oh well playing League 1 again, feel a little silly not playing my strongest team, but at least we know where the youth team is

[cinker]

Not sure that's true.

From memory Skuse had a handful for games at the end of Tins 1st season & some more the following season. I think roughly the same is true for Cotterill. But bearing in mind Tins was sacked before the end of Sept, I can't see how either had "established" themselves.

Maybe if he's harsh & critical, he's actually trying to help them ??

The Simon Cowell of footie, only lot shorter ...

[Laner]

Is it me, or does a lot of the negativity come from friends/family of those that have been released ???

No real surprise.. they're hardly going to be singing the clubs praises are they?

[BlowerBCFC]

Well if he is leaving surely he get some money as he is under 24! Cheeky £2mil price tag on his head might get rid of some of the teams

[Tunley Legend]

You clearly have very little understanding about what is involved in football management and coaching.

Would love to see this document from SL and GJ that says "the next batch is the best" don't think it really exists does it?

You can have the best coaches in the world but unless the raw talent is there you wont produce top class players.

GJ knows exactly how good they are and providing they are capable enough for the first team they'll play why would that be any other way?, would you really expect GJ to field an understrength team? I would personally feel betrayed.

Lets say we take your approach and play youth players who are simply not good enough for the first team and as a consequence we drop points, possibly missing out on Promotion, or the play offs, or even worse we get relegated!

Oh well playing League 1 again, feel a little silly not playing my strongest team, but at least we know where the youth team is

My lack of understanding of managing/coaching is only matched by your lack of comprehension of basic written English my friend. "The next batch is the best" has been mooted by the Academy (not GJ) on a number of occasions which I really cannot be bothered to find on your behalf. And where did I say that I think GJ should play youth players "who are simply not good enough"? The example I gave was Stephen Henderson and the way GJ handled that situation was far too cautious in my opinion and based on the lad putting in a cracking 80 odd minutes when called upon.

I also said that you have to be careful and sensible when handling young players and I accept that a degree of caution is required - perhaps you could explain how that marries in with your statement that I "clearly" do not understand managing/coaching. I may not understand it in your view but I do actually manage and coach young players to be fair. As it happens several of the lads I work with have fathers who are/were actively involved in professional football (three of the dads have very strong City connections) and I am sure they would be the first to complain if their boys were spouting a load of crap that had come from me!!!

To get the best raw talent in the area in the future you have to show a firm commitment to developing young players as a club. Parents aren't stupid. They know whether young players are given a chance or not at a particular club and they know if the clubs interested in their boys have produced enough good young players in recent times. It may surprise you to know that one of the parents above who has massive connections to City has decided to send his boy to a different clubs Academy because he feels that the City system is too stifling on the development of younger players. Perhaps he is wrong and City (GJ in particular) always get it right - who knows?

And what is your definition of an understrength team? One that plays crap and achieves a single victory and eight points in it's last twelve league matches of the season perhaps? I don't think there are any players in our squad who could have complained had the likes of Artus and Henderson been given a go in our last couple of matches and I certainly don't think you would have found any supporters who genuinely felt "betrayed". Quite the opposite would have been my guess.

By the way, your last sentence is a bit silly, an abysmal attempt at sarcastic wit, and doesn't really do you much credit.

[john shaws hair]

totaly true signing for biggest club in greece beginnig with a P, 2 year deal big signing on fee 5 times a week what his was being offered by city don't blame him at all

[Red Ferret]

Panathinikos fans discussing Stambolziev transfer rumour....in January 2009!

http://www.footballnews.com.au/forum/viewt...=a&start=30

roumoured players we are intrested in buying .

leonardo - brazilian striker that plays for ajax

cardozo

palacio

stambolziev - is an aussie skopianos with a greek passport currently plays at bristol rovers

rovers!! ha

[Red Ferret]

theres more

http://www.sportdog.gr/new/article.aspx?id=96996

and more again (in English)

http://clubs.phantis.com/sports/index.php?...2517&st=150

"aussie/fyrom/greek youngster Robert Stambolziev is on trial and looking to sign with us..."

thats from May 21st

Rumours are true then

Can't blame him for wanting to go to a big club like that though

[Harry]

and more again (in English)

http://clubs.phantis.com/sports/index.php?...2517&st=150

"aussie/fyrom/greek youngster Robert Stambolziev is on trial and looking to sign with us..."

thats from May 21st

Rumours are true then

Can't blame him for wanting to go to a big club like that though

Seems like they're having the same sort of arguments about their academy as we are ours!! Does AshtonYate have Greek connections??