Academy And Under-23s

So depressing isn't it? Sancho, the other kid that got poached by Arsenal, Tomas Galvez and now this.

Just close the academy down.

 

I agree with this completely. Either go all out for Cat 1 and pay the money, pay for the facilities, pay the staff and make it an attractive proposition with a true route to the first team or shut it down. After Brexit, the big boys were always going to do this and basically farm fish young players. Either join them in the game or **** it off.

 

Yup.

I would love for us to be a bit daring, think outside the box a bit, something like what Brentford done.

Or at least have a half decent academy yielding something worth getting excited about. I think no homegrown academy lads in the line up has a big part to do with the disconnect a lot of us feel.

 

Taking it seriously for us would be pointless. Do you know what Chelsea and City pay their youth players?

It's a closed shop these days. They really might as well shut the academy

 

Yep it is sickening and probably explains why very few of our academy students make the break though to the 1st team set up, when all the good ones are stolen by the bigger clubs.

The system is so unfairly set up and something should be done about the so called little clubs like us getting decent compensation for the loss of the player, like say at least a 25% percentage pay out on those stolen players eventual financial worth to the clubs that stole them.

 

Another reason football is no longer the fantastic sport it once was.

 

Why would they change anyhing now? It's working exactly as intended. Small clubs can't now charge large sums for youth players, and all the countries top players are funnelled to 4 sides

Only way we ever keep decent players is by them having parents that see the benefit in having more first team opportunities. Most however will see a financial package where their son gets a contract at 16 paying them sometimes £20k+ per week and sign whatever is put in front of them

 

I don't really have a problem with teams like City and Chelsea stockpiling youngsters, after all it's their choice, and even if they don't make the first team they're going to have access to better facilities than we can offer, but if they are to take our youngsters for pennies, the least they should do is give us a fair chunk of future transfer fees! What was it, a 3% solidarity fee we got for Sancho's move to United? Ended up being about £2m which isn't to be sniffed at, but City got over £10m when he was only there for about 2 years and never made the first team!

 

Perhaps the case at other clubs, but I don’t think it’s a massive stretch to think that players/parents look at our club and see absolutely no pathway to the first-team, nor the likelihood of a structured plan for their development. Yeah other clubs can offer more money, but they also offer more stability and a proven recent history of developing players.

 

Really disappointing to see this. This young lad has been poached by a club who have been accommodated to lose £145m last year. Vast wealth will find a way to by pass rules. The “super” clubs that have access to endless private resources (some of which has been questionably acquired) have the capacity to spend the money on one player that we might spend on an entire squad over a number of years, are continuing to dilute one of the few ways that we can hope to compete by stealing our young prospects. It is simply wrong morally and from a sporting point of view. It would nearly turn a person to socialism!

 

You think if Sancho stayed he'd not have been a first team regular at 16? The club haven't given any youth players an extended run because the ones we have been left with haven't been up to standard.

I don't think there's a single example of a player that made it through our academy under the Pozzo's that actually made Championship level.

I can think of numerous occasions where academy players have been on the bench for us in the Prem. Mason played under Walt and he was gash. More recently Conteh has been on the bench, Angelini as well.

To my mind they get sold the dream, and I can't say I'd turn down the money on offer at 15/16

 

Though Angelini is a different kettle of fish, as we essentially poached him from Celtic's academy.

 

Though for him it's likely he'd have stayed at Celtic and probably still be in their youth side.

The opportunities are there for decent young players, but they leave before they could even be considered for the first team.

The left back Galvez we lost in the summer. Think about the chances he'd have had this season if he hadn't left

Their choice in my mind is to stay and play, or sign a million pound + contract at City/Chelsea and not worry if you make it or not

 

Exactly. We do our fair share of poaching like with him and the kid from Rangers who managed to injure himself immediately. But we throw our hands up in disgust the minute the big boys take one of our players.

I’d actually be angry about it had we any intention of developing young players at the club.

 

Let’s be honest. There aren’t.

Angelini is on the bench down to sheer desperation and he won’t play a minute unless Bachmann gets injured. Let’s not pretend he’s come on leaps and bounds. We’ve signed another their keeper to join in the summer and Dahlberg is out on loan. Angelini is a million miles down the pecking order.

 

Doesn't matter how the opportunities come about. I just take issue with the idea these lads leave because there's no pathway for them. It's nonsense

 

I think it’s a bit lazy to simply say that the only reason we’ve not developed anybody is because the big clubs poach anybody that might be good enough.

We’ve done a bad job developing young players we buy for the first team, so I’m not sure how you can so easily write off the idea that young players in our academy could look at our setup and think they’d be served better elsewhere. We frequently have one of the oldest, if not the oldest, squads in the league. That’s been the case for long enough to realize it’s not by accident, but by design.

Plenty of clubs with resources dwarfed by our own are able to keep young players, develop them, and integrate into the first team or sell higher up the league, or abroad. The rules don’t help us keep hold of young players, I’ll grant you that, but I think there’s a little more nuance to it than you’re willing to give credit.

 

Even though it's a position we were actively recruiting for, I doubt we'd be sticking a 16 year old in our first team.

 

We're seen as a nursery club for BOURNEMOUTH?

 

I just don't see it. We give youth team players debuts every season, and if any of them were good enough then they would have an opportunity to play Premier League football.

For me it's a purely financial decision with which we won't, and can't compete with. Chelsea and City buy youth players, stick them on massive wages, loan them out for big fees and profit.

No player in his right mind is at 16 turning down what these clubs are offering. If I was their age I'd bite their hand off

 

Possible not, but he'd likely have taken Morris' place in and around the side

 

It's a push to say he'd even feature for us as much as the famous Morris!

 

Well you say that, but if you read any of the articles about this kid joining Chelsea, it also references another player called James Hill who TURNED DOWN Chelsea to join BOURNEMOUTH!!

I thought it might be an error but another article went on to say that Bournemouth’s youth setup is getting rave reviews and several players are breaking through into the first team and this was a major reason for Hill choosing them.

 

I'd say that's a smart decision made by a player with first team experience, and a Dad that knows football.

I definitely concede there are examples where players will chose to stay longer at a lesser academy. Bellingham probably had offers, but then he's a blues fan, so that likely played its part.

Some lads will have parents that see the bigger picture, and encourage them to stay put, but it's a no brainer being potentially setup for the rest of their lives without ever having to make it.

 

Exactly and that’s been my point all along. Some of our fans make it like they make a lot of things - a binary situation. It’s pointless having a youth system that works because we don’t have any good youngsters because if they were good, they’ll leave to the big clubs.

Some players will, absolutely no doubt about it. My point is, and always has been, that if we have an attractive proposition, great staff and a modern setup, we’ll keep some of these high potential young players and even poach some of our own. Some of them will want to play football, some will be Watford fans themselves.

I’ll always say that a great youth system, especially for clubs the size of us and Bournemouth is essential. It fosters a connection between the club and fans as well as giving our ‘the original family club’ motto some actual meaning.

But we are a short term vision club. It’d likely take years to build up the youth system after nearly a decade of it being put on the back burner by the real football people owners.

 

Can’t compete with the beach and Brownsea Island Same reason we lost Iturbe to these cowboys.

 

I don't remember Bournemouth producing anyone while they were in the Prem, but they seem to be having a very fruitful system now

 

Erm, who are Bournemouth even producing now?!

 

He was with Arsenal from 6 to 16 (then released), so not really.

 

All of the youngsters that have broken through for them have been discarded by other sides

 

Training with the first team is probably not a good idea for them.