Sam Mikkelsen

Check out Nate's video! #TikTok vm.tiktok.com/ZNRuxB5hS/

@PaulHeatonSolo Class that Paul!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

40yrs ago today- walk into No73 studios & play 3 songs after no sleep. After we head to Coventry Poly. Van breaks down just outside Towcester. Hilariously, Norman screams, jumps out the van and runs off into a field! Despite the lack of sleep we win 3-2 youtube.com/watch?v=D81kqf…

Hi Everyone 👋, a little reminder of what we spent the Semenyo money on…

@PaulHeatonSolo What a set list that is!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

40yrs ago today we did a warm-up gig at the Sir George Robey pub. Not sure who Sally Pye was but could've been one of the legends behind the 'Adopt a Housemartin' campaign. Our first ever tour proper- The Twisting Roadshow- was two days away-so this was a good solid start!

@Jonny_artist Sorely missed, here and live on stage. Me and my pals were at the Llandudno gig, had no idea it would be her last 😢 hope she’s okay and happy xxx

Four years since I gave Jacqui this. Hope she's doing well.

Today I walked the 5.8 miles to work. From Withington, through Moss Side & Hulme- the bit Sir 'Jim Rat' has never visited [& never will]. The Claremont pub is still serving, and the area's alright, if a little run down. The final shot is of 'Jim's World', of bribery & money.

@israel_ajoje Really insightful! At what age are academies identifying and training kids these days?

Let me tell you why that 16-year-old wonderkid your local academy just lost to Manchester City can still make your club rich. It's called FIFA Training Compensation, and it's one of the most underrated financial mechanisms in football. Most fans have never heard of it. Most academy owners don't even know how it works. But it's the reason why small clubs can survive and keep investing in youth development even when the big boys constantly come and poach them. Here's how it works. What Is Training Compensation? Training compensation is a payment system designed to reward clubs that invest in training young players. According to Article 20 of FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), training compensation is paid to a player's training clubs in two scenarios: 1. When a player signs their first professional contract. 2. Each time a professional player is transferred internationally, until the end of the season of their 23rd birthday. The idea is simple: if you trained a player between the ages of 12 and 21, and that player goes on to sign professionally or move to another club abroad, you get compensated for your investment. How Does It Actually Work? Let's say a 17-year-old striker has been at your academy since he was 13. He's brilliant. Manchester City comes calling and signs him to his first professional contract. Here's what happens next: Your academy is entitled to training compensation from Manchester City. The amount is calculated based on: · The category of Manchester City (FIFA categorizes clubs into levels based on their league and division, with training costs assigned to each category). · The number of years the player spent at your academy between ages 12 and 21. So if the player trained with you for four years (ages 13 to 17), and City is a Category 1 club (the highest level), you get compensated for those four years at City's hypothetical training cost. It's essentially what City would have spent to train the player themselves, prorated per year. Do you get it? FIFA has classified all clubs in the world into 4 categories. There is a table that shows those 4 categories and how much they believe each club in each confederation and country spends on developing a player in each category. I will attach a summary of it to this post. Basically, so in this case, the terms are that Manchester City will pay you the same amount that FIFA assumes that they spend training their players per year, which, according to the image I have attached to this post, is EUR 90,000. Although I should add that in the calculation, so that the costs are not overinflated, it is assumed that the cost of training the player is that of a Category IV club for each year below age 16. How is training compensation calculated? The Formula is For a player's first professional registration: Training Compensation = (New Club's Annual Training Cost × Number of Years Trained) Where annual cost is from the new club's confederation/category, multiply by years from age 12 to registration. For subsequent transfers: Same formula, but only for years trained at the specific former club. Take this example 17-year-old Ebube from a Nigerian academy (CAF Category II) signs his first professional contract with Manchester City (UEFA Category I, England) on an international transfer. He was trained there from age 13 to 17 (5 full calendar years). The Calculation, Using Manchester City's UEFA costs will be · Ages 12–15 (3 years): Category IV = €10,000/year → 4 × €40,000 = €40,000(because we have to use a Category IV calculation for the years he was trained Under 16. · Ages 16–17 (2 years): Category I = €90,000/year → 2 × €90,000 = €180,000 · Total: €220,000 (paid to the Nigerian academy within 30 days). Do you get it now? The FIFA Clearing House Since around 2022, FIFA has automated this process through the Clearing House. When a player transfers internationally, the system uses the Electronic Player Passport (EPP) to identify every club that trained him. It calculates the amounts owed, verifies the claims, and distributes the payments. I have written about the FIFA Clearing House before. I will attach the post under this one so you can get it. The Takeaway Training compensation is FIFA's way of making sure that the clubs doing the hard, unglamorous work of developing young players actually get rewarded for it. It's not charity. It's recognition that football doesn't start at the Premier League. It starts at grassroots academies, and those academies deserve to survive. So if you're running a youth academy and you're wondering whether it's worth it, remember this: every player you train could be a payday. You just need to make sure they're registered properly on the TMS and their EPP is up to date. That is very important for you. My name is Ajoje and I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I talk about the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Follow me if you want to read more posts like this.

@SibsMUFC It’s a sad state of affairs deffo, it will only attract day trippers who go once in a lifetime and never come back. Local fans who can’t get a season ticket won’t pay, just got to rely on people building safe networks to send the ticket out early enough to trusted members at fv

That’s a seat in my block of the Stretford End going for £349. I pay £43 a game. £300 mark up to have a meal at a cricket ground before kick off… This is why so many PL clubs are looking to get rid of their season ticket holders. It’s only going to get worse.

@AlternativeMUFC 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

@PaulHeatonSolo @FatboySlim Wish I was old enough to have seen those gigs Paul!! I listen to these songs regularly these days though, I imagine what it was like to be there!! Amazing times I bet!? 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

40 yrs ago today it's back to rehearsals at Grafton Street & Sitting On A Fence, Mighty Ship, Flag Day, Think For A Min, Happy Hour, Coal Train to H' Main, Reverend's Revenge, Drop Down Dead, Me and The Farmer. Later to Lockwood Arms & Silhouette with @FatboySlim

@StevenVent101 @hosang 👀

Analysis of youth development systems across Europe revealed – unsurprisingly - that most top talent (players valued over £12m) progressed through the nation’s main academies at some point. However, the final column in the table highlights that most of these players did not start in these academies from the youngest age groups. In fact, the trend is for a wide base of talent to be nurtured in local or partner clubs before they begin to move into a ‘best with best’ environment at the 12-16 stage. These findings suggest that, in the UK, academies either recruit too early or ‘grassroots’ doesn’t have the infrastructure and expertise to develop talent like these European nations? 🤔 @TheS_Resource #Coaching

@AlternativeMUFC Done mate

I have the monthly sub for which I am very grateful but I'm aware that not everyone wants to support that way or is in a position to be able to do so I have a 'buy me a Guinness' for anybody who wants to show support for the comms without monthly commitment Details below: ❤️🇾🇪

@AlternativeMUFC Absolutely one of your best!!

@AlternativeMUFC Just subscribed pal! Keep them coming!!

Been debating whether to do this for a good 6 months now and had a few people suggest it..So here goes. Entirely up to you. You're all top bastard Reds regardless, just for following a bloke who puts robot voices and songs over footy highlights Thanks x buymeacoffee.com/Alternativemufc

@BangerJonny @PaulHeatonSolo 👀👀👀👀

U.K. CRISP PACKETS 1970 - 2000. The book. sportsbanger.com/products/u-k-c…

@AlternativeMUFC Showed my missus and tried to explain the James Blunt song…she didn’t get it, even though I make her watch these every time!!🙄

@AlternativeMUFC Best ever!!!!!

@AlternativeMUFC Excited for comms

How we feeling this morning then? In three words:

@SRFootball_ @hosang 👀👀

🔴 Come work with me in the Manchester United data team! 🌍 On our path to become the best data function in football, we’re hiring for the following positions: • Senior Football Data Scientist • Senior Football Data Engineer • Senior Software Engineer Link below ⬇️

Manchester United used to be synonymous with leadership. In the dug-out, on the pitch, in the boardroom. Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, David Gill and many others, revered, even feared, authority figures, rated, adored, never ignored. Leaders who thought about the team and the club and fought for them. Football (society?) has fewer real leaders generally currently. At United, this great club changed the moment the Glazers arrived in 2005. United gradually came more about what could be taken out (£) rather than put in (commitment). The leadership principle was eroded, and that accelerated when Ferguson and Gill stood down in 2013. United lost expertise, experience and wisdom. They lost leaders. David Moyes and others tried but the culture had changed under the Glazers. They didn’t know enough, didn’t appoint well enough. They spent money - fans’ money - on the football side but not judiciously enough. They seemed more focused on the business side. The brand played on. The tills were alive with the sound of revenue, the distant Glazers were happy. But the football drifted. The squad cried out for more players with the right character, and proper investment in training ground and stadium. The Old Trafford leaky roof summed up the lack of attention – and a lack of love and leadership. New co-owners Ineos promised better. They promised strong leadership. They have delivered some good things, investment in the training ground, but the team continue to slide. How many United players would get into Arsenal’s XI? Arsenal showed leadership and judgement in appointing Mikel Arteta, and backing him because they could see his leadership qualities. Arteta has authority as well as his obvious coaching strengths. United keep appointing managers and they don’t last. Ruben Amorim – an Ineos appointment - was Manchester United’s fourth manager in their four most recent trips to Elland Road on Sunday following Glazer appointees Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 2021, Ralf Rangnick 2022 and Erik ten Hag 2023. Pay as you churn. How much will Amorim get in his pay-off? Millions. For failure. In a period when Ineos culled good staff – people who care about the club - to save a few quid. Poor leadership. And where was the judgement and leadership in recruiting a head coach committed to wing-backs? United are about wingers. Amorim deserved to depart for his stubborn commitment to a formation and philosophy that didn’t suit United’s squad or their DNA. Good managers adapt. Good managers also don’t talk like Amorim did in too many press conferences. Nice guy, but naïve, a headline waiting to happen, rarely positive. “Maybe the worst team in the history of Manchester United” – not great for players' morale? “I came here to be the manager of Manchester United not the head coach” – his job title from the word go was head coach. “That’s going to finish in 18 months and then everyone is going to move on” – basically predicting his departure. No wonder Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Ineos had had enough. At least they’ve showed leadership in taking action. At least they’ve appointed a leader in Darren Fletcher to take the team for the trip to Burnley. Amorim never felt like a leader. A Manchester United head coach should sound the part – defiant, always positive about his players – and carry some aura. Also be appreciative of the great privilege of leading this great club. Look at United’s remarkable and patient travelling support. Total commitment to the cause. The biggest club in the country deserves to be properly led. And so to the pitch. Where are the leaders? Bruno Fernandes is captain, United’s best player, but not a natural leader. Moans too much on the pitch (but an admirable ambassador for the club off the pitch). Harry Maguire’s a good leader but not certain of his place (or pace). Bryan Mbeumo in a quiet way. Casemiro’s ageing. Too few leaders. Under Ferguson, there would be 5-6 you could give the armband to. Where are the standard-setters now? Any complaints about the criticism of pundits Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Keane should be dismissed. Neville, Scholes and Keane represent the standards that United players should aspire to. The levels of commitment. All of them responsibility-takers, winners, and, in different ways, leaders. Manchester United need to recruit more leaders and for those already at the club, from dressing-room to board-room, to show greater leadership. Amorim was a symptom of the malaise as well as a cause. #MUFC