Confirmation from the Premier League - Balotelli is an U21

[Tricky_Trev]

Huh? I'm confused as to where the confusion was. Balotelli is 19 years old, meaning he is U21, meaning he would not have to be registered as one of the 25.

Why did we need a Premier League source to confirm this?

I think there are 2 areas causing confusion.

1. Fans are blending the Under 21 rule (Under 21 years of age at the beginning of the season in which the competition begins) and the homegrown rule (3 years trained at a British or Welsh club under the age of 21).

2. The Europa league rules are different for Under 21s (have to be registered with the club 2 years between the ages of 15 and 21) and I think most people expected that the PL rules followed the UEFA ones.

Hence, people have been arguing he doesn't qualify as Under 21 because he's not 'homegrown". Just a misreading of the rules imo.

Ah, i see. Well if more people played Football Manager they'd understand the rules! People should stop knocking it! ;)

 

[macmanson]

I think there are 2 areas causing confusion.

1. Fans are blending the Under 21 rule (Under 21 years of age at the beginning of the season in which the competition begins) and the homegrown rule (3 years trained at a British or Welsh club under the age of 21).

2. The Europa league rules are different for Under 21s (have to be registered with the club 2 years between the ages of 15 and 21) and I think most people expected that the PL rules followed the UEFA ones.

Hence, people have been arguing he doesn't qualify as Under 21 because he's not 'homegrown". Just a misreading of the rules imo.

Ah, i see. Well if more people played Football Manager they'd understand the rules! People should stop knocking it! ;)

Yeah, I think games like FM and the FIFA series can give you quite a bit of insight into how things work at a club level and also understand tactics. Unfortunately it can sometimes leads people to believe that you can buy a bunch of superstars and make them a winning team in 1 season though. That and also that the manager buys all the players. ;)

 

[johnny crossan]

I have made the same point on a thread somwhere.
Of course Boateng is the same as well isnt he?

Its one reason why we are so keen on the current targets as there is no stress for the EPL list

The reason why whis is surprising is that throughout the PL has insisted that their new squad rules mirror the UEFA regulations except for the local/club trained distinction.

My source said that this additional difference surprised her too and must be because of commitments already entered into by clubs. She also said that they were also surprised the new rules were voted through by the clubs and that she wouldn't be surprised if the regulations changed again quite soon. Surprising eh!?

Boateng is too old btw “Under 21 Player” means a Player under the age of 21 as at the 1st January in the year in which the Season concerned commences (ie for Season 2010/11 born on or after 1st January 1"989);

 

[Barcon]

To be perfectly honest, I would be shocked to find out that a 19 year old boy is not under 21, unless I'm missing something here, this was never an issue.

 

[johnny crossan]

To be perfectly honest, I would be shocked to find out that a 19 year old boy is not under 21, unless I'm missing something here, this was never an issue.

No, the issue was whether he could be counted as an U21 in terms of the Premier League rules and included in the B Squad - it turns out he is - unlike UEFA where he is not qualified for the U21 B list for the Europa League.

 

[Barcon]

To be perfectly honest, I would be shocked to find out that a 19 year old boy is not under 21, unless I'm missing something here, this was never an issue.

No, the issue was whether he could be counted as an U21 in terms of the Premier League rules and included in the B Squad - it turns out he is - unlike UEFA where he is not qualified for the U21 B list for the Europa League.

I understand johnny, I personally didn't think it was an issue. Obviously some people thought that it might be, I'm just not one of them. Can't wait to see him in blue, I watched an Inter game last night (first game back from being dropped by the super ego), he scored a nice goal and had some good movement off the ball. Seemed to be on the right side a fair bit.

 

[Brendan110_0]

B list? me no understand.

 

[johnny crossan]

B list? me no understand.

Trap question eh? There is no reference to a B Squad in the PL Rules, just U21s
but here is an example of the phrase being used liberally by the press

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1213502/New-Premier-League-rules-boosts-hopes-young-guns.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -guns.html</a>

and here is the PL run-down of its rules inviting comparison with the UEFA B Squad concept

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~2094341,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headl ... 41,00.html</a>

 

[DonRobertoManciti]

Only an idiot would have thought that Balotelli would have required to be registered for the squad this or even next season.

Not sure how many papers have tried to convince me of the fact we would need to sell a RSC, Bellamy, Adebayor or even Robinho if we bought Mario in, which is all bollocks, but unlike some worried easy fans, I don't believe the shit they print.

Anybody born after 1 Jan 89 (as stated last year) qualifies as a unlimited under 21 year old player for this whole season, even those born on 2 Jan 89, who will be 21 now and 22 next Jan will still be eligable as an "unlimited under 21 year old for this season", not sure what part of that rule was hard to understand.

We have absolutely nothing to worry about in this rule, I don't think even David Platt would sell a Robinho over a Caicedo, or a de Jong ahead of a Etuhu, or even keep Gonzales there instead of Hart/Given or god forbid choose Logan instead of Zabaleta.

Balotelli was never going to be required, the difference is that in Europe you are only allowed 25 nominated players as part of the Europa Lge squad, age regardless, I can see this rule being shot out in a few years, it is already giving enough managers enough trouble (Hodgeson, Redknapp and Wenger) have all expressed dissatisfaction with it, I think maybe this and next year and then we will be back to an unlimited number of players to select from, which is the way the game should still be.

 

[johnny crossan]

Only an idiot would have thought that Balotelli would have required to be registered for the squad this or even next season.

Not sure how many papers have tried to convince me of the fact we would need to sell a RSC, Bellamy, Adebayor or even Robinho if we bought Mario in, which is all bollocks, but unlike some worried easy fans, I don't believe the shit they print.

Anybody born after 1 Jan 89 (as stated last year) qualifies as a unlimited under 21 year old player for this whole season, even those born on 2 Jan 89, who will be 21 now and 22 next Jan will still be eligable as an "unlimited under 21 year old for this season", not sure what part of that rule was hard to understand.

We have absolutely nothing to worry about in this rule, I don't think even David Platt would sell a Robinho over a Caicedo, or a de Jong ahead of a Etuhu, or even keep Gonzales there instead of Hart/Given or god forbid choose Logan instead of Zabaleta.

Balotelli was never going to be required, the difference is that in Europe you are only allowed 25 nominated players as part of the Europa Lge squad, age regardless, I can see this rule being shot out in a few years, it is already giving enough managers enough trouble (Hodgeson, Redknapp and Wenger) have all expressed dissatisfaction with it, I think maybe this and next year and then we will be back to an unlimited number of players to select from, which is the way the game should still be.

I need to think about this subject again after reading that