Saints Academy Thread
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I don't follow them that closely, mainly just keep an eye on their results but our youth team over the past couple of seasons really seem to be a crock of ****e.
What we’re doing with Olly Lancashire is so fascinating to me. I wish it had more of a measurable outcome because I think the theory makes so much sense. I’d hope he at least comes out of it with a better Wikipedia page photo though. Poor bugger isn’t even in focus!
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Yeah, the sending off pretty much ruined the game from our point of view. Defence stepped up too early for the first goal leaving 3 or 4 Burnley players totally alone in the penalty area deciding amongst themselves who was going to tap it in the net. The second was a poor mans JWP free kick that Wright will have been disappointed to concede after saving an earlier penalty.
Overall there was lot of good individual skill from a few Saints players but as a team they were very poor. It's the basics they seem to miss. No neat triangles. No periods of extended possession. Poor first touches. Lots of balls played into 'space' but as Burnley kept the game very tight in midfield, they effectively became 50-50 balls.
Simeu was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. A performance marred by a silly yellow for 'reacting' at the end. Good performances from Chauke and Watts. Small and Doyle definitely showed a lot of promise for the future. But my MOTM would have to go to Dominic Ballard who, despite being marked by a guy at least a foot taller than him, caused a lot of problems up front and drew the best save of the game from their keeper. He and Simeu were the only players I saw leaving the pitch with very little left in the tank.
One player I've not seen before who I like a lot was Joshua Lett who replaced Small half way through the second half (suggesting possibly that Small will play a part against Sheffield Utd?)
1 down after 2 minutes. 2 down in injury time first half. 3 down 53 minutes. 4 down 72 minutes.
6 down 86 minutes. 0 - 6 FT.
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I really wonder about that U23 manager, he clearly isn't up to the job.
Anybody know how much the academy costs to run on an annual basis?
Based on the last ten years investment, there have been limited results of top players joining the first team
Based on the last ten years investment, there have been limited results of top players joining the first team
It's not just about producing players for our first team though. If we're making money on these players, whoever they end up playing for,then it's very worthwhile you'd imagine. The football league is littered with our academy graduates though granted, majority were released rather than sold.
Callum Slattery joined Motherwell this summer for a fee. Alex Jankewitz, Michael Obafemi to name a couple more. We've even just lost a teenage kid to Man City for a fair sum, so I think it's financially paying for itself.
He needs to turn things around soon for sure, for his own sake. But to keep things in perspective these cup games are very much men against boys. Not sure that the experience is worth the knock in confidence! We need to remember that the B team has been rebuilt close season in the same way as the first team. The difference is Ralph can shield players until they are ready. Horseman is forced to throw them straight in. Also, tonights game featured at least 3 players from the U18s. Harry Lewis was suspended... Simeu and Small both missing from the back line...
In recent year the majority of our kids have left on frees to League One, Two and National league clubs
Obafemi left for a pittance to Swansea
Like to see the accounts of cost vs sales income, I suspect it doesn't look good
I seem to remember the break even point was having one academy player breaking into the first team each season. There have been times over the last couple of seasons when we've had half the first team made up from academy graduates. This season you can count Tella and JWP. Arguably Stephens and Walcott as well. Tella being the 'break through'.
I appreciate the theory you are proposing, but last year Reed went for £6m plus add ons. The year before, Targett went for £10m+ and Gallagher for £5m. We’re probably shifting JWP for £50m next year! Tella emerged as a real threat last year too. We have Stephens and JWP who are players that we could not have afforded as they are, we built quality that can be in our team for 8-10 years. Cutting the academy would be massively harmful (to the reputation too) and I’m sure it would not save the kind of money that sees the first team have a noticeable budget increase.
I still maintain that we should have found roles for Reed and Targett but that’s also part of Crocker’s remit now. He has to guarantee pathways that haven’t been there in recent years. It helps if we can find a way to not be fighting the drop every year too though!
Honestly, the misery and doom over youth team results is the stupidest thing. Youth football is a team sport, but individual development is an individual event. I have said this on this very thread over and over, but these results barely matter. Lallana, Bale, Walcott, Sparv, Best, Dyer. That vintage team. That’s an exception, not the rule, but even they didn’t win a trophy. Dave McGoldrick was preposterously dominant at this level and then went on to be a non-scoring forward who only got to the Premier League in his thirties. These results are not really that predictive of future successes.