I understand our EPPP audit begins today, with the club hoping that we can be verified as a Category 1 Academy. I'm sure, with the work carried out at Colney over the summer, that we'll have no problems getting the grade required and the club can start to re-discover some of the talent it once found and nurtured from a young age and brought through its system. Other than keepers and the odd rough gem, its been some time since we genuinely produced a really talented outfield footballer from our academy - this is mainly due to the 90-minute rule which hinders Norwich City more than just about any other club in England, so this really is the start of something exciting.
Given that the requirements relate principally to funding, staff numbers, teaching hours and facilities, confirmation of our Category 1 status is more or less assured. Without wishing to devalue the efforts of our Academy staff over recent years, my feeling is that we need to enhance the Academy's image and reputation with one or two new faces, appointments that will say "we mean business". It is all very well relaxing the 90 min rule, but the wider we cast our net, the more competition there will be from other Cat 1 academies. I think having Chris Hughton managing the club will, in itself, help us, as of course will our reputation for playing good football, but so much depends on who you have in charge. Good schools are created by good heads, who in turn ensure good teaching staff. Same principle applies to academies I think.
regarless of what happens on the pitch this season, this is an exciting development, if you conisider it along with the planned early paying-off of the external debt. It puts us in a strong position going forward. i tend to agree with Robbie about recruiting a big name would help us. Norfolk is seen to many as a bit of a backwater, especially compared to the premier league areas that dominate i.e London / the Midlands / the North West / the North East, so this would be a bit of a pull if it could happen. in terms of what we have now at the academy, the striker Loza seems to be banging them in. He might be able to make it.
Even if we don't unearth too many gems, the whole exercise proves worthwhile if you can get the odd one. Swansea have paid for their setup for a long time to come with Allen and Saints know that they could get a lot of money for Lallana. Thats not counting the bonus they have had in these guys improving their team for the last few years.
Category 1 clubs have to commit a minimum of £3.25M per annum to the academy. So the net return from Allan's transfer to Liverpool is probably equivalent to 3 years worth maximum. When you think about it, £3.25M per annum is a considerable sum for a club like ours, but IMO it is absolutely essential that we do it.
But what would the contribution to nurture Allen alone have cost Swansea? Less than £3.25M a year. Its a winner for them for the next three years if they are wise.
I realised you weren't disagreeing, I just didn't put mine into words very well. I was trying to emphasise myself how important an academy is to any club rich or poor. Joe Allen may have only cost Swansea £100K to produce for instance but went for a phenomonal sum.
The difference is that we don't have an academy as yet, we have been so unstable in the years before our current owners took over that it was out of the question. It's only now that we can afford to do something about it, like yourselves we have lived within our means and can fix this glaring shortfall at our club. It will still take years before we see anything come from it, first it will be a school of excellence then onto academy status in a few years.
Well you now have a sound basis on which to build, in particular the attractive style with which you are becoming synonymous, a succession of managers committed to playing football the right way, and a chairman/board focussed on the long term as much as the here and now. All good. [Edit] So, no academy, but he did come through your "youth setup" (whatever that is) from age 9. I was reading his Wikipedia entry which says he was at one stage kept out of the team by a midfield featuring Owain Tudur Jones . How fortunes change!
