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Belokon buys club to 'feed' Pool
VALERY Belokon has bought a football team in Latvia to act as a feeder club for the Seasiders.
The club – in the capital city Riga –will send its better players to Bloomfield Road to gain experience and to test whether they are up to the standard of English football. When Belokon invested in Pool a major part of his plan was to get Latvian players playing for the club – and it is clear he is wasting no time in realising his vision. "It is an issue we are going to discuss at the next board meeting but I can tell you it is very far down the line already," revealed chairman Karl Oyston. Ability "Mr Belokon has done more than inquire about a club – he has actually already acquired a club in Riga who will be our feeder club. "He has bought it and the focus will be on under-19 players that we will bring into our youth team. "Which players we take will be entirely down to their ability and the manager will always have the final say in which ones come over here. "If he thinks they are good enough then we'll have a look at them. If he doesn't then we won't take them. "There is no significant factor on time and we will only take players that are as good or better than we have already got." The Seasiders need permission from the Football League to succeed with such a move but talks are already in progress and so far there has been no obstacles to the scheme. "We've had discussions with the Football League about the merits of bringing Latvian players into our current system and up to now we've had no negative vibes," added director Gavin Steele, whose responsibility for the youth set-up at Bloomfield Road will see him particularly closely involved with the running of the feeder club. "Everything has been very positive and they are quite happy to go along with whatever we propose." Meanwhile Simon Grayson has admitted Scott Vernon has given him a huge dilemma when it comes to choosing his strike partnership for Saturday's clash at Crewe. n FROM BACK PAGE In a match where Pool are aiming to keep an unbeaten three-match run going, Ben Burgess is hoping to be available again after making good progress in his bid to shake off a hamstring injury. The £100,000 arrival Burgess had knocked Vernon out of the side but with Vernon scoring three goals in his last two outings, Grayson faces a big decision. "It's a tough one but Scott has scored goals lately and that is all you can ask a striker to do," said the manager. "I'm left with a headache everytime I pick my team these days. "I've got Scott, Ben, Andy and Keigan as well and its difficult for me to make that decision and I've got the next few days to decide. "But when you score goals you don't do your chances of keeping your place any harm."
18 October 2006
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