Grant was a semi-professional in Israel. He started managing at a very young age _late-teens I think) but Bobby Robson literally picked Andre up in Porto in his mid-teens before reaching any level of professionalism.

The article was mainly a focus on the English and while you’re right that Barca and Real have spent big in recent years (the former more so than the latter) it’s still not really on the same level. Also, even in that summer where Real bought the likes of Karim, Ronaldo and Kaka, Manchester City weren’t far off the pace in the summer of 2009, spending around £120m themselves. Two clubs in Spain spending that much, whereas there’s about four in the English game. Also, the article was focusing on how the ‘Manchester City effect’ is now dropping to the lower leagues, something you don’t really see in the Liga Adelante. The Primera division also has a much more diverse aristocracy, where more teams combat for the top spots. England, it’s a lot more specific.

I think you’re touching on key areas in regards to caps there, Tom. Whether or not we will see such a system employed in the near future is doubtful, but if enough people push an idea, who knows? Also, Richard Brodie,Matt Tubbs and Sergio Torres were all brought in before that FA Cup run ever occurred, for a combined £500,000, unimaginable for a non-league side.
Along with this, Bruce Winfield injected over £1million into the club just to save it from the brink of being scrapped altogether. The match against Manchester United just repaid what they had spent if anything.

Admin: SkySports have ran the same story in the day, just so you know.