We sold O'Dowda for £1.5m, Baptiste for £2m and even Canice Carroll for a small fee, so I think the reward is well worth the outlay.
I think the cold hard truth is that no academy really exists to create players for the first team. It costs more to bring a player through and develop them than it does to sign a journeyman on a free transfer. They exist to make clubs money by developing and selling on the gems that slip through the Premier League scouts net. Money is why many academies in the lower leagues shut down after the EPPP was brought in.
EPPP probably was a net benefit for the development of young English players (just look at the young PL talent coming through), but it was to the detriment of lower league academies. Which is why the 'one a season' target in unrealistic, as most players who do show potential are likely snapped up by level 1 academies. There just isn't the quality of player around (or the money to persuade them to turn down PL clubs) to be able to create that quality of player consistently.
This is why our model works, because not only are we bringing players through like Long and Stevens, as well as players to sell on like Baptiste, but we're also supplementing our squad with players who haven't made it through Premier League academies but are perfect for our level. So in a way, we do have one academy player come through a season, it's just not our academy that they've come through.