- Birthday for Junior Hoilett (Turns 23) Flashback to his QPR Signing
- Hoilett Training with Toronto FC (to keep fit)
- Former QPR Goalie, Alan Spratley Turns 64....On This Day: Chis Barker Joins QPR from Cardiff
- Why Clubs Should Beware Signing QPR Players
- Official Site Feedback Wanted: QPR Questionaire
- The Declining Number of Young English Players in the English Premiership
- UEFA Under-21 Tournament Begins Today in Israel
- Year Ago: QPR CEO Philip Beard on how QPR wouldn't make the same Transfer Mistakes
- Four Year Flashback: Jim Magilton Appointed QPR Manager
- 15 Year Flashback: Vinnie Jones Wants to be QPR Manager!
- Less than 18 Months Ago: The Arrival of Mark Hughes: Big Plans for Little QPR!
%20%20France:%2071.6%%20Spain:%2061.6%%20Germany:%2055.4%%20Italy:%2045.6%%20England:%2042.9%%20%20National%20players%20are%20those%20born%20in%20the%20country%20or%20who%20have%20moved%20to%20the%20country%20for%20non-football%20reasons.%20So%20Victor%20Moses%20is%20classed%20as%20a%20national%20player,%20Rafael%20is%20not.%20%20Source:%20CIES%20Football%20Observatory%20%20It%20says%20that%20two-thirds%20of%20under-21%20players%20in%20the%20top%20flight%20are%20English%20and%20via%20its%20%C2%A3320m%20Elite%20Player%20Performance%20Plan%20-%20brought%20in%20last%20season%20-%20clubs%20are%20set%20to%20improve%20standards%20in%20their%20academies%20by%20increasing%20the%20number%20of%20hours%20youngsters%20train%20and%20the%20quality%20of%20coaching.%20%20The%20introduction%20of%20the%20under-21%20Premier%20League%20is%20also%20intended%20to%20improve%20the%20flow%20from%20the%20youth%20team%20to%20the%20first%20team.%20%20The%20Premier%20League%27s%20director%20of%20youth%20Ged%20Roddy%20said:%20%22I%20don%27t%20subscribe%20to%20the%20view%20that%20it%20is%20going%20to%20take%2010-15%20years%20to%20see%20an%20impact.%20%20%22Within%20a%20relatively%20short%20space%20of%20time%20you%20should%20be%20able%20to%20see%20players%20coming%20through%20hopefully%20in%20increasing%20numbers.%20There%27s%20been%20a%20lot%20of%20very%20good%20practice%20going%20on%20for%20many%20years%20and%20what%20we%20are%20doing%20is%20building%20upon%20that%20good%20practice%20and%20adding%20some%20new%20impetus%20along%20the%20way%20as%20well.%22%20%20According%20to%20new%20research%20by%20the%20CIES%20Football%20Observatory,%20the%20percentage%20of%20playing%20time%20for%20national%20under-21%20players%20in%20the%20English%20top%20flight%20is%20also%20the%20lowest%20of%20the%20five%20big%20European%20leagues%20and,%20barring%20a%20peak%20because%20of%20the%20introduction%20of%20the%20homegrown%20rule,%20is%20suffering%20a%20downward%20trend.%20%20The%20Premier%20League%27s%20figure%20falls%20behind%20Italy%20(2.38%),%20Spain%20(3.40%),%20Germany%20(6.22%)%20and%20France%20(7.32%).%20%20Only%2035%20English%20under-21%20players%20made%20appearances%20in%20the%20Premier%20League%20last%20season,%20the%20lowest%20figure%20since%202005,%20and%20the%20overall%20use%20of%20under-21%20players%20in%20the%20Premier%20League%20has%20fallen%20from%20the%20highest%20of%20the%20big%20five%20leagues%20in%202005%20at%2010.33%%20to%20the%20lowest%20of%20the%20big%20five%20now%20at%204.45%.%20%20According%20to%20the%20same%20source,%20England%20already%20has%20the%20lowest%20number%20of%20national%20players%20across%20all%20ages%20at%2042.9%,%20compared%20to%20Italy%20(45.6%),%20Germany%20(55.4%),%20Spain%20(61.6%)%20and%20France%20(71.6%).%20Sports%20statisticians%20Opta%20claim%20the%20figure%20is%2036%%20in%20the%20Premier%20League.%20First%20Premier%20League%20U21%20final%20mostly%20English%20%20In%20the%20first%20U21%20Premier%20League%20final%20between%20Manchester%20United%20and%20Tottenham,%20in%20May,%2016%20of%20the%2022%20starters%20were%20English%20Eight%20of%20Manchester%20United%27s%20players%20were%20local,%20coming%20from%20Bury,%20Macclesfield,%20Manchester%20(x2),%20Stockport,%20Oldham,%20Warrington%20and%20Rochdale%20%20England%20Under-21s%20begin%20their%20European%20Championship%20quest%20against%20Italy%20on%20Wednesday%20evening%20in%20Israel%20and%20with%20former%20England%20players%20such%20as%20David%20Beckham,%20Paul%20Scholes,%20Michael%20Owen%20and%20Jamie%20Carragher%20all%20retiring%20from%20football%20recently,%20there%20are%20fears%20that%20a%20new%20generation%20will%20struggle%20to%20make%20a%20similar%20impact.%20%20Pearce%20told%20BBC%20Sport:%20%22The%20Italian%20league%20at%20this%20moment%20of%20time%20has%20not%20got%20a%20massive%20influx%20of%20foreign%20players,%20I%20don%27t%20think,%20as%20the%20Premier%20League%20has%20at%20this%20moment%20in%20time.%20So%20the%20bar%20has%20been%20raised%20at%20home%20because%20of%20the%20money,%20the%20finance%20and%20one%20or%20two%20other%20things.%20%20%22But%20looking%20at%20it%20purely%20from%20a%20selfish%20point%20of%20view%20to%20want%20England%20to%20win%20things,%20I%27d%20prefer%20obviously%20if%20more%20of%20our%20players%20were%20playing%20more%20regularly%20and%20at%20a%20higher%20level.%22%20%20Outgoing%20Football%20Association%20chairman%20David%20Bernstein%20said:%20%22We%20desperately%20need%20to%20increase%20the%20pool%20of%20real%20quality%20players%20that%20the%20%5Bsenior%20team%5D%20manager%20Roy%20Hodgson%20has%20to%20choose%20from.%20That%20I%20think%20is%20the%20big%20issue.%22%20%20And%20Bernstein%27s%20replacement%20Greg%20Dyke,%20who%20begins%20his%20role%20on%2013%20July,%20has%20admitted%20that%20it%20is%20one%20of%20his%20biggest%20challenges.%20He%20said:%20%22A%20lot%20of%20coaches%20I%20talk%20to%20tell%20me%20there%20is%20a%20lot%20of%20talent%20out%20there,%20but%20they%20can%27t%20get%20through.%22%20What%20is%20the%20CIES%20Football%20Observatory?++The+CIES+is+the+International+Centre+for+Sports+Studies+It+is+an+not-for-profit+independent+research+centre+based+in+Switzerland+set+up+in+2005+as+a+joint+venture+between+Fifa+and+the+University+of+Neuchatel+Fifa,+Uefa+and+top+football+clubs+across+Europe+use+their+research++Dyke+also+claims+that+the+chance+to+learn+in+first-team+environments+is+becoming+more+limited+as+managers'+positions+become+more+precarious.+If+Wigan+boss+Roberto+Martinez+joins+Everton,+Newcastle+manager+Alan+Pardew+will+be+the+Premier+League's+second+longest-serving+manager,+having+joined+the+club+in+December+2010.++Stoke+have+failed+to+field+an+English+player+aged+under+21+in+the+first+team+for+the+last+three+seasons,+a+fact+that+owner+Peter+Coates+is+aware+of.+He+describes+the+new+figures+as+%22disappointing%22+but+believes+there+is+an+urge+to+develop+young+English+players.++%22We+have+a+difficult+transition+between+18+and+21+and+only+the+very+exceptional+players+get+the+chance+of+playing+Premier+League+football+at+that+age+group.+So+it+does+represent+a+challenge,%22+he+told+BBC+Sport.++%22It's+an+issue+that's+well+known,+it's+much+discussed+and+my+own+view+is+that+we+are+going+to+see+improvements+in+this+area+but+there+is+a+lot+of+pressure+on+managers+for+results.++%22It's+hugely+competitive,+they+are+nervous+about+young+players+playing+and+we+are+able+to+attract+the+best+players+in+the+world+and+it's+something+we+have+to+get+better+at.%22++England's+opening+Under-21+European+game+against+Italy+is+live+on+BBC+Radio+5+live+from+19:45+BST++www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22687663?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed++Read+more:+http://qprreport.proboards.com/thread/36303/declining-number-english-players-premiership#ixzz2VKNcFQFE){kind=link}