DRIVEN by the challenge of building Doncaster Rovers from the bottom up, Brian Flynn is full of admiration for the ‘Crewe way’.
Flynn is thought to be keen on resurrecting Rovers’ reserve team next season, or entering the club into the new under 21 Professional Development League.
Developing Doncaster’s youngsters is at the heart of his grand plan for Rovers and the Welshman, whose short term contract expires at the end of this month, has outlined those ideas to the club’s board.
Flynn this week revealed his admiration for today’s opponents Crewe Alexandra, who have a long tradition of developing their own players.
“Crewe have very, very good youth development system,” said the former Wales under 21 boss.
“And the result of that is that they now have a very talented squad. They’re a young team that plays with no fear. They try things.
“One of the main reasons why they’ve been able to develop players is that they kept the same manager [Dario Gradi} for such a long period of time.
“That allows you to build from the back.
“Results aren’t always everything,” he added.
“Crewe have been up and down for a few years, they’ve been a bit of a yo-yo club.
“But they still manage to sell Nick Powell for five million. That sort of money will keep the club running for years.
“And the bigger picture for Crewe, who are able to develop their own players and sell them on, is that the football club carries on for the next fifty years.”
Rovers’ recent history has seen a dearth of young players progressing from the youth team to the first team.
And Flynn is eager to change that by bridging the gap between the club’s Football League Youth Alliance side and the senior team.
Meanwhile, Rovers’ boss has hit out at presumptious talk about when and where the club will collect the League One championship trophy.
He said: “It hasn’t been coming from inside our dressing room, but there’s been a bit of talk around about getting the trophy presented at home to Notts County. That’s just ridiculous.
“Let’s get the job done first before we talk about that.”