• All - as you will understand, the forum is exceptionally busy at this time. The admins and moderators simply don't have time to read every post in every thread. Could you PLEASE use the "Report" option below a post to flag any content that you feel we need to be aware of. We'll review everything reported as a priority and deal with it accordingly. Thank you.

The Gary Brazil appreciation thread

Haych

Haych

John Robertson
I like everyone love GB and feel very thankful for what he’s done.

Obviously the club feel it’s time to go a different direction, I understand why to a degree, PL teams recruit kids from all over the world to their academy’s so that’s what we have to do now to compete.

Unfortunately we’re not going to push on further if our academy only recruits lads born within 10 miles from the City Ground, when we do bring a local lad through its obviously a bonus but we’re going to have to sell the club to youngsters from everywhere going forwards.
 
S

stockers

Jack Armstrong
SouthManchesterTree said:
That’s a running theme - we rarely know why these departures happen and on the face of it those departing don’t know either
Click to expand...
BryanRoy22 said:
The boy from Tunbridge Wells did well for Forest. Such a shame to end it like this.

I can only think that the club has such high ambition that they view Gary Brazil as Championship level, which is extremely sad.

I can sense a feeling this summer of 'We're now Premier League established, we need to be ruthless to take it on to the next level'.
Click to expand...
Given the Greek man’s constant chopping and changing I doubt there is some grand long term vision and more likely Gary Brazil just looked at him the wrong way or didn't wear the right colour tie..
 
Otis Redding

Otis Redding

Try A Little Tenderness
Haych said:
I like everyone love GB and feel very thankful for what he’s done.

Obviously the club feel it’s time to go a different direction, I understand why to a degree, PL teams recruit kids from all over the world to their academy’s so that’s what we have to do now to compete.

Unfortunately we’re not going to push on further if our academy only recruits lads born within 10 miles from the City Ground, when we do bring a local lad through its obviously a bonus but we’re going to have to sell the club to youngsters from everywhere going forwards.
Click to expand...
Even if recruitment has no primary bearing on this decision H, it most definitely is a hugely important part of the academy level we now operate and wish to progress in.
 
G

gamble

Stuart Pearce
TrickiestTree said:
Love the bloke, but since Brennan made his debut in 2019 has anyone else been close to breaking into a Premier League first team? With how much we spend on our academy im sure theres only so many Lawrence-Gabriel's & Fornah's you can bring through before Marinakis starts to get twitchy.
  • We spend similar to Leicester and they've had Barnes, Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall & Chilwell come through since 2017.
  • Birmingham spend less (but also Cat1 like us) have had 2 Bellinghams, Jordan James and George Hall come through since 2019
  • I'd even put Sheff Utd's Cat 2 academy above us for the past 5 years - David Brooks, Ndiaye and Ramsdale all since 2017.
  • Compared to us, Brennan of course better than all of the above (not Ramsdale or Jude), but who else? Mighten never kicked on, Cash & Worral's debuts were nearly a decade ago and Yates' was over 5 years ago now.
We're really on the levels of Fulham's, Reading's and Charlton's when it comes to producing Premier League players and behind similar sized Leeds, Everton and Southampton.

We defo peaked around that Arsenal 4-2 game where it seemed like every player was from the academy, Cash, Brereton, Worrall, Osborn, Walker & Smith all started. Since Marinakis took over though, very little has actually come through. I'm so glad he kept the club alive from the Bamford era to Burke era, but maybe it is time for a more modern roll of the dice just to see if we can reignite the flame? Hope this opinion doesnt get me killed!
Click to expand...
We only got temporary Cat A rating 2 years ago, and it takes time to get players through.

Leics have 4 players that have come through we have 3 in the first team squad.

Our facilities are no where near Premier League quality yet.

Also we sack people for fun, most of us want some form of solidification where back room staff aren't changed every 6 months, which will now happen with the academy and is never a good thing when trying to develop young players.
 
Last edited:
RedDogChris

RedDogChris

RedDogChris
Don't understand this one at all, the academy under GB has been the one thing that has been constantly stable over the past decade, people can try and justify it all they like but this is something that didn't need fixing
 
Strummer

Strummer

Socialismo O Muerte!
LTLF Minion
Otis Redding

Otis Redding

Try A Little Tenderness
RedDogChris said:
Don't understand this one at all, the academy under GB has been the one thing that has been constantly stable over the past decade, people can try and justify it all they like but this is something that didn't need fixing
Click to expand...
For the level the academy has been at under Gary for the last ten years, probably not, but does it need restructuring in order to become fully established at Cat-1 level in order to progress further and produce more players of genuine PL quality?
 
S

stockers

Jack Armstrong
TrickiestTree said:
Love the bloke, but since Brennan made his debut in 2019 has anyone else been close to breaking into a Premier League first team? With how much we spend on our academy im sure theres only so many Lawrence-Gabriel's & Fornah's you can bring through before Marinakis starts to get twitchy.
  • We spend similar to Leicester and they've had Barnes, Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall & Chilwell come through since 2017.
  • Birmingham spend less (but also Cat1 like us) have had 2 Bellinghams, Jordan James and George Hall come through since 2019
  • I'd even put Sheff Utd's Cat 2 academy above us for the past 5 years - David Brooks, Ndiaye and Ramsdale all since 2017.
  • Compared to us, Brennan of course better than all of the above (not Ramsdale or Jude), but who else? Mighten never kicked on, Cash & Worral's debuts were nearly a decade ago and Yates' was over 5 years ago now.
We're really on the levels of Fulham's, Reading's and Charlton's when it comes to producing Premier League players and behind similar sized Leeds, Everton and Southampton.

We defo peaked around that Arsenal 4-2 game where it seemed like every player was from the academy, Cash, Brereton, Worrall, Osborn, Walker & Smith all started. Since Marinakis took over though, very little has actually come through. I'm so glad he kept the club alive from the Bamford era to Burke era, but maybe it is time for a more modern roll of the dice just to see if we can reignite the flame? Hope this opinion doesnt get me killed!
Click to expand...
Given that Shelvey’s wages are probably the same as what it costs to keep the academy going I doubt the fat man is too bothered about the return on investment..
 
R

redodare

First Team Squad
TrickiestTree said:
Love the bloke, but since Brennan made his debut in 2019 has anyone else been close to breaking into a Premier League first team? With how much we spend on our academy im sure theres only so many Lawrence-Gabriel's & Fornah's you can bring through before Marinakis starts to get twitchy.
  • We spend similar to Leicester and they've had Barnes, Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall & Chilwell come through since 2017.
  • Birmingham spend less (but also Cat1 like us) have had 2 Bellinghams, Jordan James and George Hall come through since 2019
  • I'd even put Sheff Utd's Cat 2 academy above us for the past 5 years - David Brooks, Ndiaye and Ramsdale all since 2017.
  • Compared to us, Brennan of course better than all of the above (not Ramsdale or Jude), but who else? Mighten never kicked on, Cash & Worral's debuts were nearly a decade ago and Yates' was over 5 years ago now.
We're really on the levels of Fulham's, Reading's and Charlton's when it comes to producing Premier League players and behind similar sized Leeds, Everton and Southampton.

We defo peaked around that Arsenal 4-2 game where it seemed like every player was from the academy, Cash, Brereton, Worrall, Osborn, Walker & Smith all started. Since Marinakis took over though, very little has actually come through. I'm so glad he kept the club alive from the Bamford era to Burke era, but maybe it is time for a more modern roll of the dice just to see if we can reignite the flame? Hope this opinion doesnt get me killed!
Click to expand...
Ahmedhodzic will play in the PL. Not sure if we call him a product of the Academy but he did spend a couple of years with us. Now valued at 20m Euro on Transfermarket. Not such a great endorsement of our approach.
And it does look like sourcing players like Ahmedhodzic from elsewehere and bringing them through will become more important as the club progresses.
While appreciative of all the work GazBraz did keeping the fire burning through the dark days, strikes me that there's always two sides to the story.
There's a view I have heard from other ex academy graduates (who have gone on to have careers elsewehere) that is far less complimentary. It's conjecture and of course individuals may have an axe to grind, but the detail was enough to make me think there could be other reasons for his departure.
Good luck to Gaz Braz - I guess his next move will give an indication of his general reputation within football.
 
M

McKenzie

Geoff Thomas
TrickiestTree said:
Love the bloke, but since Brennan made his debut in 2019 has anyone else been close to breaking into a Premier League first team? With how much we spend on our academy im sure theres only so many Lawrence-Gabriel's & Fornah's you can bring through before Marinakis starts to get twitchy.
  • We spend similar to Leicester and they've had Barnes, Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall & Chilwell come through since 2017.
  • Birmingham spend less (but also Cat1 like us) have had 2 Bellinghams, Jordan James and George Hall come through since 2019
  • I'd even put Sheff Utd's Cat 2 academy above us for the past 5 years - David Brooks, Ndiaye and Ramsdale all since 2017.
  • Compared to us, Brennan of course better than all of the above (not Ramsdale or Jude), but who else? Mighten never kicked on, Cash & Worral's debuts were nearly a decade ago and Yates' was over 5 years ago now.
We're really on the levels of Fulham's, Reading's and Charlton's when it comes to producing Premier League players and behind similar sized Leeds, Everton and Southampton.

We defo peaked around that Arsenal 4-2 game where it seemed like every player was from the academy, Cash, Brereton, Worrall, Osborn, Walker & Smith all started. Since Marinakis took over though, very little has actually come through. I'm so glad he kept the club alive from the Bamford era to Burke era, but maybe it is time for a more modern roll of the dice just to see if we can reignite the flame? Hope this opinion doesnt get me killed!
Click to expand...
This is a great post. I have no doubt Brazil has done a really good job and I would rather he stayed. But Hart brought players through as did Marshall, as did Brazil - I'm sure the next man will too. Although its going to be more difficult now with the level of player we need compared to when we didnt have a pot to piss in!
 
eyupmeduck

eyupmeduck

Geoff Thomas
Otis Redding said:
I don't expect the FA suddenly came up with this job offer, so it probably explains the silence from the CG following the expiry of Gary's contract with Forest whilst everything was being sorted.
Best of luck to Gary.
Click to expand...
I checked out the job advert for the actual job title on his updated Twitter which ran from 23/03/23 the closing date was 13/04/2023.

It would appear that if the formal process was followed that there would have been plenty of time to both find a replacement for him and also make mention one way or another that he was leaving.

Instead, no one said anything and the club instead of thanking him for his service and achievements has just planted stories in the press about how much better the atmosphere at the academy is now. Even as far as Percy insinuating that he's got something to do with the grantnffc twitter account!

All a bit odd really but personally pleased he has a decent job, he did loads for the club over the years.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
Samba's Water Bottle

Samba's Water Bottle

First Team Squad
McKenzie said:
So maybe the club were not actually in the wrong after all and he was applying for other jobs (as he obviously should be able to).

Good luck to him anyway.
Click to expand...
Tbf if I was on a fixed term contract, around 2-3 months before it expired if my current employer wasn't allowing to to the job I signed on for or offering me a new contract then I'd definitely be applying for jobs elsewhere...
 
BryanRoy22

BryanRoy22

Ian Bowyer
Samba's Water Bottle said:
Tbf if I was on a fixed term contract, around 2-3 months before it expired if my current employer wasn't allowing to to the job I signed on for or offering me a new contract then I'd definitely be applying for jobs elsewhere...
Click to expand...
It's a difficult case when you're employed by a football club or in a sporting environment where it's so tribal.

You've shown so much loyalty and the fans and players appreciate you, but you go into work and that isn't quite the same reality at the top.

If I'm given a short term contract, I'm definitely looking around at options. And that's not to descredit my 'loyalty'. Does a short term contract offered to me show 'loyalty'? Good luck Gary Brazil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom