That is surprising to me, since the Academy has certainly enjoyed tremendous success under Dodd. And he seemed to be very dedicated to Saints; I can't imagine that "not spending enough time with players" should be a fireable offense instead of just calling him into the office and directing him to do it. Make him mark a timesheet if you have to, shoot.
But OTOH, it's one of those things where we as fans have pretty much no knowledge or really even much of an ability to guess what's happening on that detailed/inside a level. So all I can say is that it's surprising if true. Think the club deserves the benefit of doubt, but it makes me a little nervous.