Article: We cannot do it alone. Football Southampton

shearer says the time at southampton made him the footballer he was.

 

aaaah jake thomson, id forgotten him... not hard to do

 

how slow is your car?

 

This got promoted to an article.

Spelling mistake in the 2nd word

 

yes it is. they dont make them like Shearer anymore.

 

and your point is what actually ?

 

The player that isn't in that Mail article and one of the best of the lot would be Adam Lallana. He didn't stand out early like Walcott and Chamberlain, but I wouldn't swap him for either at the moment. He's already a favourite amongst Saints fans and he could be the Le Tissier of this generation. Jack Wilshere could also be held in very high regard at Arsenal a few years down the line.

The homegrown talents that stick around are the ones that fans love the most.

 

Clearly i didn't mean JUST arsenal, hence saying "united, arsenal etc".....

Arsenal, united, City, Spurs, Chelsea, Everton, fulham, liverpool, stoke, would all be bigger and better clubs with bigger and better scouts and pull etc

And ofcourse THEY wouldn't get 99% of everyone.... but dya really think the arsenal, united etc etc etc scouts would see a player and think he's ****, but the saints scouts would see hes class?!


Which would you rather, Arsenal scouted OXO and signed him to their youth team etc the same with Walcott, which would mean you never had them, it would mean you wouldn't get the 30+ million from us buying them.

 

Considering this is what they are doing at the mo then this is a silly statement. They are already buying youngsters that they either missed out on OR defeating the other argument that these players parents are choosing Saints over them

 

The argument he's trying to put forward is that he'd rather have Walcott, Bale and Chamberlain than the money. It's a valid point, but of course unrealistic as the cream will always rise to the top (or what it percdieves is the next step up).

Southampton are in the Championship, but we are a big player in the youth game with a huge catchment. It's certainly feasable that youngsters could fall under the radar of the other big players.Youth footbqall is about who gives young lads the best start in football. The respective standing of the first team certainly isn't the biggest factor in where kids choose to go. Teams like Watford and Crewe have **** for cash and unglamourous first teams, but do well in the youth game because of the methods they employ. You can throw money into facilities, coaches and scouts, but ultimately being successful with a youth system is about integrating it with the first team. I doubt the big guns will have much success with it while they spewnd silly money on outsourcing their first teams.

 

I think the poster was implying that if Arsenal for example wanted they would get all the good kids and that there would be no chance that Arsenal would pass up on a player thinking he was not good enough only for a Saints coach to think he was good.

This is quite simply proven not to be true as many of our academy players over the years have been plucked from under the noses of the big London clubs. meaning from their own backyards.

I would suggest some have been passed over by other closer academys not seeing the talent where we have but others (parents/advisors) have chosen Saints academy over the big clubs.

Saints Academy is well known as one of the best (if not the best) in the country and therefore it makes perfect sense that many parents either choose or are advised that their child goes to Saints to get the best chance of making it.

 

I think that one issue that you're missing out on is the fact that you're in a position to give more youngsters an opportunity.
If a 17 or 18 year old is up against a seasoned pro in the Championship he may not get the better of him immediately, but he'll probably learn something.
Throw that same kid in against the best in the Premier League and his confidence may take such a battering that he's set back in his development.

Most Premier League teams can't afford to take as many risks with youth either, as they stand to lose out on something important, be it a title shot, European football or even just staying up.
There's very little patience with managers throughout the divisions, but it's heightened in the top flight, I think.

 

This is where Loaning comes in.
playing along side top class players in training, maybe the occasional cup game etc, and then being loaned out to a decent team to get regular football to learn things

 

Actually old bean how do you think Saints got Shearer all those years ago.....exactly because of the type of mistake you are saying won't happen below.! So what you describe does indeed happen.....people are only human after all. We have done the same thing with people like Kevin Phillips. No scout is infallible!!

Nolhman 2.0
"And ofcourse THEY wouldn't get 99% of everyone.... but dya really think the arsenal, united etc etc etc scouts would see a player and think he's ****, but the saints scouts would see hes class?! "

 

All clubs can make mistakes. How many years ago was it that Kevin Davies left us reluctantly because we were only prepared to offer him a one year contract? He did alright afterwards.

 

Super player, which we initially knew when we signed him from Chesterfield, all those years ago. Then he went off to Blackburn and then came back [good bit of business there]. I remember when, later on, people started calling him a bit of a donkey, or that he'd eaten all the pies, and I couldn't believe it. Fact was, our manager back then, one WGS, made one of his [admittedly few] glaring errors and pushed him to one side of his plans. Although he said Kevin was a great lad, he let him go. At Bolton he finally developed into the player he had the potential to become. Of course, Beatts was a similar player, but there was room for the both of them at a Premiership SFC. Really pleased Davies has had a successful career after all.

 

Their the 1%

 

All these prospects who went on to be good or great players at bigger clubs! You might have actually won some silverware if you had kept hold of them By the way, I dont think anyone really counts the Paint Pot Trophy as real silverware. Pompey still the South's most successful club. FACT.

 

SB3, the annoying 'unflushable' that just won't disappear...

Where's Dyno-rod when you need them...