Academy Manager Richard Thomas currently in Bermuda spreading the word about Watford and involved in training camps for young age groups. Not so sure about the branding part of what he says but if there are any parents of talented youngsters on and around Bermuda, make sure you have a British passport sorted. http://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/article/20191026/more-can-follow-in-critchlows-footsteps
The u23s had what turned out to be a relatively comfortable 3-1 win over Colchester yesterday and it was good to see Ryan Cassidy come on as a sub and look physically sharp. Callum Whelan continues to impress at this level in centre midfield while both wide men Hungbo and Bennetts are difficult to defend against, Hungbo with good movement and passing and Bennetts running at pace with the ball. Mason Barrett looks easy on the eye as a ball playing centre back. The u18s lost 2-3 to Bristol City last weekend but returned to winning ways with a 3-2 win over Cardiff City this morning. Two more goals for Dom Hutchinson and a late winner from sub Enoch Muwonge means they stay top of the table. New names to me on the team sheet made up 4 of the 5 subs. They were Ben Jackson, Jay Pradhan, scorer Enoch Muwonge and 'keeper Alfie Marriott. Georgian u16 international Teimo Vazagkasvili was the other sub. The u18 North & South tables after this mornings games;
Might be worth putting these forwards in the 1st team squad? Probably wouldn't look any less likely to score than the current mob!
Random paragraph on Sam Dalby in a Guardian article about the differences between youth teams fielded by clubs across the footballing pyramid: "Being taller and blonder than almost everyone else on the pitch helps Sam Dalby stick out, but anyone who watches the Watford striker for long will notice his other more valuable attributes. When Dalby made his debut for Leyton Orient in League Two at the age of 16, other clubs took notice. Leeds paid a six-figure fee for him and, 18 months later, so did Watford. A target man with a deft touch, Dalby’s potential outshines his immediately obvious impact. The 19-year-old makes up for his lack of pace and agility with a confident left foot, a nice touch with his back to goal, and clever vision that helps him feed midfield runners. His intelligence is not limited to the field. A quiet thoughtful young man, he is one of the few footballers with a grade A in Russian GCSE." https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/01/premier-league-talent-efl-clubs-reserve-teams
Another win for the Under 23s. Wonder if a few will get loan moves in January to league sides ? Might be good experience for next season !!
No Dalby or Whelan in the u23s win today - possibly being kept in the 1st team set up? Great to see both Ryan Cassidy and Harry Forster start and play well. Cassidy was making plenty of excellent runs without receiving the ball and looked a lot better challenging in the air than he did last season. Forster was quick on and off the ball, had some nice tricks to beat his man (which is sadly lacking in our other creative forwards) and looked very good. Emmanuel Adebiyi was very good in the centre of midfield alongside an ever improving Henry Wise. Harry Hudson was the leader of the back four, marshalling his charges very well while putting in a decent display himself. Mason Barrett, normally a centre back, came on as a 2nd-half sub at right back and was excellent. A slow start meant Ipswich looked the better side for the opening 20 or so minutes. Watford gradually held onto the ball better and in the end their opponents were made to look extremely ragged as they were left chasing shadows. The only real poor parts of the day were the slow start, gifting Ipswich the opportunity to dominate the early exchanges and the decision making of Jayden Bennetts and Joseph Hungbo. Both held onto the ball too long or went for shots when an easier short pass would have opened up the Town defence. Other notes; Sunny Blu Lo-Everton looks like his involvement for the u23s is becoming more regular and he didn't look out of place when he came on. Bayli Spencer-Adams looked more like the player I saw when he was on trial last season but can and should improve further. Good to see Lewis Gordon back at left-back (on as a sub) after another injury lay off. The trialist who started at left-back (Jamie someone) looks a solid enough player. Two footed & physically strong but didn't offer an attacking outlet. There were more of last seasons side playing today and it showed with a more cohesive display than usual, especially after the 2nd goal. Listening to Jamie Hoskins talking to someone, it sounded like he should've gone back out on loan to Northwood but Watford wanted to keep him here.
Tbf judging by Northwoods results recently it wouldn't have benefitted him much, they're getting pumped most games I believe.
I remember Hoskins played in one thrashing so had a quick check. He played in the 1-6 loss to Waltham Abbey and the 2-8 defeat against Chertsey. Looks like the club have protected him before his confidence is completely shot.
Dom Hutchinson (16mins) and Enoch Muwonge (36mins) scored our goals with Ipswich equalising on 31mins and 89mins. I think that's Hutchinson's 12th league goal so far while Muwonge, who is still an u16 player, scored his 2nd of the season in his first start. Hutchinson Muwonge
The u23s have unusually played at the weekend and today beat Fulham 4-3 away in the Premier League Cup. 1-0 (27') 1-1 (37') Joseph Hungbo 2-1 (48') 2-2 (51') Kaylen Hinds 3-2 (61') 3-3 (70') Sonny Blu Lo-Everton 3-4 (73') Joseph Hungbo Fulham had beaten last years winners Everton in the previous round.
Another good result, I read in the report that this was Lo-Everton's first goal at this level, I think he's still only 17. Two more for Hungbo, Mr Recluse any chance of him making the step up would you say, or is that step too wide?
It does feel as though we actually have some talent in the U23's this season so hopefully we can see some of them make the step up. One in fact would be an improvement!
Another reason to change coach, these kids have no chance of playing under Quique no matter how well they do.
Lo-Everton has only just turned 17 as well (15th September). Very promising without overshadowing those in the u23s. It looks like they're trying to get him playing minutes for the u23s now, really test him, just as Scotland have him and several others playing for the u19 national side. Physically he looks stronger than last year and he just looks confident. I also wonder if they're fast-tracking him because of other clubs sniffing around. I've only seen Hungbo 3 or 4 times and he definitely has something. At this level he has good pace, not easily knocked off the ball and his defensive work is okay. I did say when we played Everton in the cup the other week that I'd have liked to have seen him in the squad, especially as he looks a goal threat from out wide. But... I watched him last Monday against Ipswich u23s and while he was okay, his awareness of when to pass, who to pass to, when to take on his man & when to shoot was all over the place. He still scored a cracking goal but so often he chose an ambitious/hopeful long cross which went nowhere when a simple ball to keep possession was on. Others had half decent shooting opportunities but laid it off to better placed team mates. Hungbo? Shot every time. I think Ryan Cassidy aged about 5 years such was his frustration with both Hungbo and Bennetts with their poor choice of pass. So after that game I understood why he wasn't involved at Everton. Yes, for now it would be too early but it'll be interesting to see where he's at come the end of the season. Dalby is getting lots of praise but the one who is quietly going about things is Callum Whelan. I'm beginning to see why he was brought in now as he didn't show too well in his first few games. He doesn't look very strong for a centre midfielder but he finds space very well so has time on the ball. A decent tackler, a good range of passing and positionally he looks assured as one of two defensive minded midfielders playing behind two wide attacking midfielders, a #10 and an out & out forward. When Daniel Phillips returns from injury and if he doesn't go back to Hemel Hempstead on loan, I'd like to see him and Whelan in the middle of the park (for the u23s) as I think they'd compliment each other well. I still think Phillips is the brightest prospect out of the current bunch and he only turns 19 in January.
The official site/media team look like they're showing a bit of interest in the academy at last. In the list of players called up for international duty (https://www.watfordfc.com/teams/first-team/internationals-eight-hornets-called) they've included news of two from the u15 age group for the first time. Tomas Galvez (Finland) and George Abbott (Wales) join Ryan Cassidy (Republic of Ireland) as the three players from the academy called up so far. Abbott must have joined since the start of the season as that's the first time his name has come to light.
Bosun Lawal has been in the Republic of Ireland set up too so hopefully, if there are fixtures in their age groups this time around, both Lawal and Debayo will be named. I found out the other day Watford's u16 team (with last season's Watford Ladies coach Armand Kavaja in charge) was invited by the English FA to Stockley Park to play England's u15s sometime towards the end of October. Unfortunately I didn't find out the score or who played. You're welcome.
Lawal has been named as a sub in tonights Republic of Ireland u17 game versus Andorra in the first of three European U17 Championship qualification matches this week. Tom Dele-Bashiru is substitute once more for Nigeria u23s in their game versus Zambia in the AFCON u23 tournament. Nigeria currently 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go. Jakubiak has scored against Spurs.
Is Jakubiak coming back from injury? Otherwise why is he playing for basically Gills youth team at 23? Some distinctive names in that Spurs team, e.g. Brooklyn Lyons-Foster and Samuel Shashoua. (our youth team from five or so years ago will never be beaten on that front though)
Jakubiak is usually starting off the bench at the moment for their first XI so I guess it's to give him 90 minutes, keep him sharp etc.
https://www.watfordfc.com/teams/under-18s/academy-langston-signs-professional-deal George Langston, who only turned 17 a little over a week ago and is currently recovering from a ruptured ACL in his right knee, has now signed his first professional contract. He's now committed to the Hornets until June 2022. Sometime back on this thread when he was spoken about it was asked if he was related to ex-Watford player Matt Langston. In the piece linked at the beginning of this post (from the official site) it's confirmed George is indeed his son.
Bosun Lawal has again been named as a sub for the Republic of Ireland u17s in tonights game versus Montenegro, the second of three European U17 Championship qualification matches this week.
As well as this lot are doing, can you really see them slotting into a defensive QSF side? They clearly have a lot of hunger and fire to get better and make a push for the first team. If we had all the U23's in vs Burnley, the setup would still be 5 3 2 or something close to that. They are doing great, and the Academy are producing some real talent. But the only way most of them would even get a sniff of first team football is if we got a more attack minded coach in. That won't happen unless a) we are relegated or b) we shoot up the table and can take a few losses if it means scoring more and winning more than we lose. Fair play to the staff, coaches and players though. Doing us proud.