I cannot overstate how awesome it is that Bates has gone from Leeds. If he was still around, our Academy would be raped of its young talent, sold off for a song so that he could add to his haul the old pirate!! Warnock was also an idiot, not setting up the training ground correctly and ignoring the Academy and Naylor and Redfearn's work there. Now with McD linking the Academy and the Seniors, it's great to see our Development squad continuing to deliver talent following the enormous success of Sam Byram's emergence as a quality Championship player. Byram's importance is not just confined to what he's contributed on the field, but also the impact his progress has had on the other Academy lads. They will be looking at Leeds and thinking they have a chance at this club if they work hard and fulfil their potential. That breeds the one key thing the young 'uns need to crack it ... DESIRE!! We know the talent is there, but have they got the desire to make it to the top? Looking at our Academy players, it's worth considering their chances of making a contribution to the club in the long term: WITH SQUAD NUMBERS GK - Alex Cairns ... not so much a "youngster" any more at 21, but struggling to make an impact, season loan at a better level than Stalybridge needed. RB - Sam Byram ... LEGEND!! CB - Ross Killock ... another who will benefit from a loan at a League club rather than Conference. Make or break time for him, looks a bit slow. CB - Tom Lees ... progressing very well, worked hard when on loan to improve, will benefit a lot from playing with an experienced head next to him. LB - Charlie Taylor ... sweet left foot, gets forward well, superb crosser of the ball. Just needs to gain more strength and stamina for Championship football. CM - Chris Dawson ... this boy's got a real chance, good touch and good passer of the ball, as with Taylor he needs to bulk up a bit to play 90 minutes over a period of games. CM/FWD - Simon Lenighan ... big and powerful, expect to see him starting to appear late in the season off the bench if he continues to progress well with the Development squad. CM - Alex Mowatt ... this kid will make it, strong box to box player, sweet left peg and not afraid to put his foot in. Eye for goal is a bonus, dead ball specialist. Can play holding midfield role and create from deep if needed. Expect to see him get more and more game time. CM/RB - Zac Thompson ... natural aggression means he can cope in Championship, needs to push on and show his temperament isn't suspect. Maybe lacking a little in pace. LM/LB - Aidan White ... appearances into three figures now, yet still not cemented his place in the team. So much potential, time to step up and do the business. Pace his major asset, needs to play more heads up football. FWD - Dom Poleon ... has started well, seems to be able to find the net regularly. Still young and learning, can become a major asset. Fast and powerful, direct runner who scares the bejesus out of defenders. ACADEMY UP AND COMERS GK - Eric Grimes ... very highly rated FWD - Luke Parkin ... very highly rated FWD - Lewis Walters ... very highly rated ACADEMY SCHOLARS GK - Dan Atkinson ... represented England at U-16s, expect him to progress to Development squad. DEF - Alofabi Coker ... big and powerful, will progress to next level. DEF - Jake Skelton ... giant, good in the air but also excellent with ball at feet, smacks 40 yard left foot passes no problem. Potential star. MID - Kalvin Phillips ... very highly rated, expected to go far. Lacks a bit of pace which may decide what level he ends up at eventually. MID - Lewis Cook ... first year lad, bags of ability, quick feet and sharp brain, should progress to Development squad. FWD - Eoghan Stokes ... quick, eye for goal, high expectations for him. OTHERS IN WITH A SHOT GK - Brad Dixon DEF - Smith Tiesse ... big lad, plays left back but should be able to slot in at CB DEF - Lewie Coyle DEF - Alex Purver ... right back with good positional sense, needs to add pace DEF - Corey Roper ... brave and strong, good attitude and aggression MID - Tyler Denton There we have it. Some fine young talent in our Academy, and with players having already progressed into the Senior squad, these young 'uns really have something to aim for. With FFP kicking in as well, there is even more focus on clubs developing their teams from within. Leeds have a solid platform from which to continuously add to the production line, and I expect to see at least three youngsters become regulars in the next two years. Of course, a lot will depend on if Leeds reach the Prem. Opening up the pot of gold may well curb the club's enthusiasm for giving the youngsters their break, preferring to buy in experience to keep the club up. For now, I am excited at the prospect of more home grown talent breaking through, and Mowatt looks like he's next to make an impact. McD has done a great job at focusing on the Academy, it can only benefit Leeds United in the long term. MOT!!!
A good post Billy. I like White and his pace is absolutely invaluable. But he wasn't involved in last night's game and there is now a fair crop of youngsters coming through. This is a make or break season for him I think. Unless he can carve out a rol as a LW, I think his time maybe coming to an end. Not sure why Zac Thomson hasn't really broken through yet. He may benefit from a loan spell to give him game time, as will a number of other players you mention. But certainly under BMD and this ownership its a good time to be a Leeds youngster.
Billy, great post mate thanks. I have been a big critic of our academy ever since Bates sacked the director and watched him walk into the top job in football at Man City. He took his No2 with him who had all the contacts for every Yorkshire school and club and continued to sign our kids for City. Bates closed the education wing the medical wing and got rid of most of the staff, cleaners, cooks, housekeepers until the place had tumbleweed blowing around. Bates also made a few extra million from Everton, Cheslsea and Man City for our kids and even started charging parents for coaching as he saw it as another revenue stream. This process watered down the coaching of the really good kids and held them back. I'm pleased to say that BMD has sorted a lot of this mess out and hope he can convince GFH to open up the accomodation block again so that we can take boarders again and get our academy back to being the best and the blueprint for the rest. A long way to go however as plenty of Championship clubs have now got Cat1 status like most of the prem clubs.
Thanks, Billy, really enjoyed your article. Can I ask how you managed to make this assessment? I'm assuming you've been watching them closely. I've got a little more time on my hands these days, so would love to see our up & comers. How do I find out when they're playing? Can we get access if they play at TA?
Normally I'd be really surprised if more than 5 out of that list properly made it at Leeds, but now that we have a manager who is happy to give them a chance, I'm slightly more optimistic. Interesting that Mowatt seems to have overtaken Dawson as the next big thing - anyone have any idea what's happened to Dawson, does he just need to bulk up?
I think he took a knock Kiwi. But I have said on numerous occasions that he needs to physically bulk up. He's just too small for this league, as he would get flattened too often. He will make it and I think he may even get an opportunity later this season. But he has to bulk up first and then go out on loan to get game time.
Fair enough. He does look a bit slight - you can get away with that if you're a quick winger, but not so much in the centre. By the sounds of it though he has real quality on the ball, and that's definitely something we need in the midfield. I like Green and Austin, but their technical ability is not their strongest attribute...
Yes, Dawson just a bit light right now. Mowatt already has good natural strength, so he can cope with Championship football better. Dawson will be a star though, just needs a bit more time. Can watch them at TA, although that tends to be the U18s more than Dev squad. Also look at other club sites and see their footage of games vs Leeds Academy teams. Barnsley, for example, have footage of their game against Dev squad.
The problem with all our next up and coming youngsters is they seem to be CMs which we are already packed in that position which gives em even less chance to get into the team.
Josh, 26 Academy players ... 7 midfield = how too many? Expect Mowatt and Dawson to replace Tonge/Green/Norris/Pugh, so we will be two less midfielders anyway. As it stands, no less than ELEVEN of our current Senior squad have come through the Academy. That is awesome, and helps a lot. Wonder if we played them as a 4-5-1 how they would do?
Mowatt, Dawson, Pugh, Thompson, Brown, Murphy, Green, Tonge, Austin, Norris...I make that 10, we really need to sell at least 2 (Pugh and Norris?) and decide what roles Thompson, Dawson and Mowatt will play this season.
Dawson bulks up and he loses his quick feet we have players who can win the ball back and he can distribute it. He can handle himself and can take a crunching tackle so lets get him on the bench and making appearances. He had a shoulder op in the summer so is a bit behind in fitness but should catch up
Maybe we're not that far off of having a load of kids ready again. How great was it under DOL watching our kids rip teams apart and take us into the CL. BMD is Mr Motivator and seems really organised right from the ground up which means TA academy. he wants everything in place to breed success. he knows how to develop kids and is willing to give them a chance and make the breakthrough. He also realises that your own kids are worth cash and can save a fortune in the transfer market.
Totally agree. One slight snag though, in the O'Leary days, we were able to keep them. With the present PL bullshit setup, every time our young uns get an international call up, the big clubs will be sniffing. Whoever our owners may be at that time will need to be strong financially to keep our boys. I never want to see another era at Leeds with the likes of Lennon, Kewell, Milner, Woodgate, Robinson scattered all over the Pl after we did the initial coaching. It still sickens me to see any of those guys in other shirts to this day along with the new crop of Snoddy, Delph and co. Maybe if we start filling Elland Road each week and gfh somehow buy it back, we might have real financial clout to give proper contracts to our best
I'm sure McDermott would rather play Alex Mowatt and Chris Dawson than Michael Brown and David Norris. Don't think it will be a problem!
What's happening with Simon's rape case? I heard it was onto a re-trial or something...haven't heard owt since tho.
He was quite stocky and feisty though! Dawson looks like one strong tackle could break him in half...
