Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Roach is the Dean Court millionaire
JOE Roach is today unveiled as Cherries' secret millionaire.[LNB] Unfortunately, however, the club's youth and reserve team manager regrets he will not be in a position to shower gifts on the needy.[LNB] Appointed by Sean O'Driscoll in 2001, Roach has seen the fruits of his labours yield considerable riches in recent seasons.[LNB] For the record, the imminent sale of Josh McQuoid to Millwall is set to take the figure crashing through the £1m-barrier for the past three months alone.[LNB] With McQuoid's eventual transfer fee of around £550,000 matching that of Brett Pitman's to Bristol City in August, the Dean Court conveyor belt continues to strike gold.[LNB] And with Roach also playing a major role in the development of Sam Vokes, his move to Wolves in 2008 was another financial feather in the cap of the Cherries' product line.[LNB] Not since O'Driscoll was responsible for unearthing in the 1990s the likes of Eddie Howe, Carl Fletcher, James Hayter, Brian Stock and Steve Lovell has the club's future been in such good hands.[LNB] At the start of this season, no fewer than eight members of Howe's first-team squad had come through the ranks Lovell, McQuoid, Pitman, Joe Partington, Tim Stephenson, Jayden Stockley, Dan Thomas and Danny Ings.[LNB] In some senses, Josh's departure is quite sad for me, said Roach. The next time I watch the first team, it is possible there won't be a player on the pitch who has come through the youth system. That will be a bit strange because it hasn't happened for a while.[LNB] I always try to remember to text or ring the lads who are playing to wish them all the best. On Saturday, I sent texts to Josh, Brett and Joe, together with Jordan Rose at Stockport and Matt Patterson at Southend. It's a great feeling to see them making their way in the game.[LNB] A reshuffle over the summer saw Roach assume responsibility for the club's reserves and first and second-year trainees with ex-Cherries star Shaun Brooks appointed centre of excellence manager.[LNB] Roach's intake combine their footballing education with working towards an advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence at Brockenhurst College. None of the players are paid a wage, while some struggle for sponsorship, although the college programme does include some financial support.[LNB] People should never underestimate how much work and effort goes into developing these players, said Roach. There is a dedicated team of staff on the football side and the help from the college has been monumental. They allow us to run a programme almost finance free.[LNB] When players leave to join clubs at a higher level, it raises the profile of our club and highlights the benefits to us of a productive youth department from a financial point of view.[LNB] Josh was given his opportunity and showed he was good enough. Players mature at different ages and he was a case in point. There were occasions when we thought he might slip out of the environment and we had to work hard with him.[LNB] It is also very evident that we have a management team who are prepared to mould younger players into the philosophy of the first team on the training ground and Josh benefited greatly from that.[LNB] There are other talented players coming through and I am sure we will continue to produce players for the first team. The club has come through so much adversity since my time here and my desire and focus remains as strong as it did 10 years ago.[LNB] We have a fantastic opportunity to move onwards and upwards. The ground looks great, the first team are performing every week and, with the continued support of the directors and management team, along with the hard work of both Shaun and Matty, our department is moving to another level.[LNB]
