In May this year Tottenham Hotspur beat off the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United to sign Crystal Palace’s 16 year old prodigy, John Bostock.  Outside the Championship (or, more accurately perhaps, South East London), Bostock was hardly a household name.  Indeed, for many, this has remained unchanged – unsurprising, given that Bostock has yet to feature even at reserve level for his new club, instead finding himself in the relative obscurity of the Academy.

Yet the transfer was far from insignificant for a number of reasons. 

John Bostock - Spurs' bright young hope

First of all, it drew attention to the inadequate framework currently in place to compensate clubs outside of the top flight who cannot hold on to their home grown talent.  Whilst £700,000 (a fee deemed appropriate by a football league tribunal) might sound a sizeable amount for a 16 year old sans Greek first name, for Crystal Palace it was a bitter blow. 

If we were to consider the transfer in isolation, Palace would doubtless struggle to convince a soul that such a figure had been invested in the youngster’s development.  However, as with much in life, taking things in isolation can often be outrageously misleading.  For Palace, the question of remuneration hinged not so much on the individual ability of the player in question, greatly valued though he was, but on the value of the club’s overall infrastructure for developing young footballers.  And, essentially, raised the question: why the f**k do we bother?!  Because whilst Palace do stand to potentially earn quadruple the initial sum through various clauses, right now that is of scant consolation. 

Surely a more measured approach to transfers of this nature would be to land the financial burden at the feet of the clubs that can afford it!  Why should the smaller clubs be left hungering after fees that may or may not materialize when, let’s face it, Spurs and the likes have the capacity to pay those fees outright.  The frequent false dawns of the England national team has, in recent years, brought the issue of grass roots football to the fore and, in the case of Bostock it is perhaps easy to see why.

Crystal Palace’s infamous chairman, Simon Jordan, was so outraged with the transfer that he questioned why he bothered with football, suggesting this might be the final straw in his fractious relationship with the beautiful game.  The scale of his disillusionment only highlights the significance of the Bostock transfer.  Jordan himself was quick to latch on to the wider implications of the transfer, drawing a clear line between the tribunal’s decision and England’s failure to qualify for this summer’s European Championships.

Personally, this isn’t an argument I can whole heartedly subscribe to.  Not wanting to get drawn into the swampy tangent that is the recent shortcomings of the England team, recent failures have, in my view, more to do with the here and the now.  However, Jordan’s apocalyptic view of the national game could ring far truer in the coming decades.  Provided someone kidnaps Fabio Capello in the near future of course.

The problem is two-fold.  First, clubs such as Palace will increasingly turn their back on youth development if it becomes a fiscal imperative to do so.  Second, even if the crucial role played by ‘the Palace’ et al is recognized, and a suitable reward system put in place, to what end if the precocious kids in question are blinkered (read utterly blind-sighted) by the calling of the big boys.  Fighting the urge to defend my beloved Spurs’ reputation as a Premier League power house, let us instead turn to the second major significance of Bostock’s transfer – the lack of loyalty and, worse, given the player’s tender years, the apparent lack of good counsel.

In October last year, Bostock made his first team debut at the incredible if not unprecedented age of 15 years and 287 days.  And although he only went on to make only four further first team appearances that season, as a close ‘Palace’ friend of mine frequently laments (and Simon Jordan eulogized), he was likely to play a much increased part in the side this year.  The club wanted desperately to hold on to their prized asset and Jordan’s argument that the player’s long-term future development would be better executed at Palace did not ring hollow.  And, indeed, as flash as I’m sure Spurs training facilities are, are they likely to prove a learning curve equal to the Oblivion-esque (I heard a rumour that Alton Towers are planning to tear Oblivion down, surely not!) gradient provided by the rough and tumble of the Championship. 

While there is undoubtedly a debate to be had about the merits of both, as a Spurs fan no less, I would rather see Bostock flourishing in Palace’s first team than decelerating in the youth vault at Tottenham.  A cursory glance at Tottenham’s recent track record of nurturing young talent reinforces this point.  But first let me finish this strand: with the club powerless to make themselves heard through Bostock’s inevitably oversized walkman headphones, who could they turn to?  Nobody, is the answer.  Least of all the player’s step-father who, last we heard, was to have his season ticket at Selhurst Park refunded …

So what of Tottenham’s youth set-up?

To my mind, only three players, one idolized, one reviled and one largely forgotten, have truly come through the youth system at Spurs in recent years: Ledley King,  Sol Campbell and Stephen Carr.  Peter Crouch was on the books for a short while before being deemed surplus to requirements, Dean Marney was sent to the lower leagues (and no, the irony of Hull’s current position has not been lost on the author) after doing little wrong besides score two screamers on his debut against Everton and … I’m struggling. 

In fairness, Luke Young has built a decent career for himself but he was never more than a fringe player in his years at White Hart Lane.  So, prolific, the development coaches at Spurs haven’t been.  In Tottenham’s defence, few other Premier League clubs are pumping out babes at any enviable rate of knots, bar perhaps Everton and Middlesbrough.  Even a quick glance across to our dear neighbours doesn’t tell a more encouraging story.  Sure, Arsenal do have a youth set up to cause even the most ardent Spurs fan to salivate into their cereal but home grown it most certainly isn’t.  Which is all very well for the immediate future – few would bet against Arsenal getting back amongst the titles in the coming years – but what about the bigger picture?

One of two things needs to happen to protect that bigger picture.  Either the coffers of the likes of Simon Jordan need to be suitably indemnified for the riches of their precious production lines or, one of the step-father, the agent, the ex-professional or the pet freaking dog needs to sit the young lad down and say, calm down little guy, patience is a virtue.

Or, and here’s an exciting thought for us flagging but ever-hopeful Spurs fans, ‘arry will rediscover the sort of form he displayed at West Ham, that saw the likes of Lampard, Ferdinand, Carrick, Defoe and Joe Cole emerge during his tenure.   And who knows, maybe Bostock will become a household name sooner than expected …

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