There's going to be a fly-on-the-wall documentary on the U23's. They thought long and hard as to what to call it, then came up with this idea..................
It's getting a bit depressing now. Without wishing to sound like being Premier League gives a sense of entitlement, I'm a bit confused as to why clubs in a parlous financial state can produce academy teams that are consistently better than ours. Is it really just that our lot are younger?
If I had a child who was good enough to consider Pro Football as a career option, I think I would probably encourage them to sign for a lower league team where he or she was more likely to get a chance of progressing through the ranks and making a name for themselves. I think the problem with signing for a PL side as starting point for their career means they are more likely to slip through the system and not make the grade. Whereas being a big fish (talent wise) in a small pond gives them more chance to stand out and develop. Which IMO could give them more opportunity to move on to bigger and better things when they were more established. Perhaps more parents of talented youngsters are thinking along these lines these days, which might explain why some of the so called lesser clubs youth teams are whooping ours!
Numerous factors probably at play. The age. The large catchment area we have with plenty of competition, potentially it's not a great intake.
What was the issue in the past then when we produced a number of decent players, who went on to play professionally? We can't even blame age this season as a lot of the players have had a season of under 21/23 football already.
Presumably like any other process where you end up with a faulty product after manufacture you can often go right back to the start to find the blame. A good starting point would be looking at who was in charge when the current crop were taken on 5 or 6 years ago in much younger age groups.
We're still probably doing around the average. I think 2% of academy players in the UK eventually make it pro (that's probably way higher at U21 level due to the level it's at) . I'd say recently most of our players either get given a pro contract or find another club (like Luke O'Nien), which isn't too bad. It's not often academy players make the first team in the PL or even the championship. I'd say we're no better or worse than others.
New contract for Folivi including Mazzari handshake picture.. https://www.watfordfc.com/club/folivi-signs-new-contract
Given that everything else since Gino arrived has been brilliant, it's a shame our academy teams are a bit pants
Another good nights work. Lost 5-1 to Bishops Stortford now. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp...ed_by_Bishop_s_Stortford_in_Herts_Senior_Cup/
Another defeat - this time 2-1 against QPR. What happened to the idea of playing at St Albans? Guess they think no-one would turn up.
In all fairness, with how well city are doing and being in lots of cup games, I am not too sure they want the pitch being used. City won again at the weekend and have signed Jamie Cureton! Even if he is in his 40s!
Blooding Young Players I was involved in grass roots football over the years, and I have seen many boys who have starred at schoolboy level not make a very good transition to men's football, and often they never do, however I have also seen many run of the mill youngsters make the step up and blossom in men's football. Basically, IMO you really don't know who will make the step up until you actually give them game time in a competitive match! Apparently Mazzarri has had 3 youngsters training with the 1st team this week, but he is saying that it is difficult to give young players a chance in the first team, however I think he has got to give it a go especially in our current injury situation, because the odds are that one or two them will actually take to the step up like ducks to water!
Name one of our academy that has really made a mark in the last 10 years, more to the point one that was EPL material.
It might sound harsh but I cannot see too many of our current youngsters making the step up - loved to be proved wrong though.
I think Folivi should be given a chance, either against Stoke or Burton, with our current injury crisis there is little to lose, and well..... you just never know. pretty sure GT would have. just the sort of thing he used to do.
I think to some extent we need to trust the manager and the club that when we have a player that's good enough and ready they'll be given a chance. It's in the clubs interests from a cost point of view to produce our own. Jakubiak is a good example. A lot of people (me included) were hoping he would get a chance last season having scored loads for the U21s but now he's out on loan again he is struggling to get a place on Fleetwoods bench.
Considering how many injuries we've got they'll get their chance against Burton. No point sticking them in for the Premier League games if they're not really up to the standard, tend to believe the coaches who watch them on a daily basis to make that decision
It is difficult, because, much as we would love to include U21s in the squad, we can't mix it up for the sake of it. We have to remain competitive.