Youngsters

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1

1950canary

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2011
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This is a point I raised on another thread and which has also been touched upon by posters on other threads. Whenever Korey Smith, Adeyemi and Francomb are mentioned there is usually the inference that they are youngsters. Smith was 21 last January and the other two reach that age within a couple of months of the season starting. I do not know how the rules are worded regarding under 21's but I am sure someone does and can imform us. There also appears to be a general assumption that they will be loaned out again next season. In footballing terms they are not youngsters and have really reached the age where their careers should be moving forward. If we loan them out again to Oldham, Barnet, Hibernian etc what is CH going to know better about them at 22 rather than 21? Surely it has reached the stage where he has a good look at them in training in the next few weeks and then either puts them in the squad or lets them go permanently?
This brings me on to the academy. Apart from goalkeepers it has produced nothing for the squad in the last few years and I don't get the impression that there is much coming through in the immediate future although I hope that I am wrong in that regard. Undoubtedly this has been due to the old rules but we have now acquired a new status but I wonder if the Club will give it the funds and profile that would help to promote the club to promising youngsters and their parents. It would mean pushing the boat out salary wise but what about Dion Dublin as Head of the academy and, if he has taken his coaching badges, Hucks as Chief Coach? It might seem to some over ambitious but I strongly feel that drastic action is needed to give the academy a boost.
 
I think Hucks has taken his, Dion is focused on selling his 'Dube' instrument...

Not sure ex-pros are necessarily the solution, but I do agree with what you're saying. Jamar Loza looks kind of hot from what you hear, I'm hoping we will see a few of them in early cup rounds!
 
I may be wrong but I believe the age is taken on the 1st of January each year, IMO Korey is good enough to be a squad player and will improve over the next season or two if he can bulk out a bit as he can bè knocked off the ball à bit to easily at the moment.

Saw the reserves play a few times last season and it looks to me as if we have a few decent youngsters coming through with Loza being the pick of the bunch.
 
I assume the academy has a brief just to produce as many top lads as it can. I assume they pick a bunch and try and develop those into top class league professionals.
Ours used to be a conveyor belt, mainly attacking players it must be said. It appears to have dried up over recent years. Why is this? The club admitted they need to put more resources into it and legislation might help as well.
The three mentioned by 1950 have league experience with us and Korey had almost a full season in League 1. But that is as far as any of our products has gone. Is it our scouting system? Or are the best going to other clubs?
 
The reason I suggested a ' name' as Academy Head is because the Club has to be sold to a promising youngster and his parents and a ' name ' tends to be more impressive than somebody even the parents haven't heard of. Recruitment and general running of the academy used to be partly done by the First Team Manager hence the bond between SAF and the youngsters at Man Utd but those days have long gone. I also feel that a big name coach would also help sell the Club although the majority of work would be done by others and I also think that Hucks would encourage more time being spent on ball skills and less on the darker side of the game such as shirt pulling and deliberate fouling. Whilst we have skimped a bit on the academy over recent years we would still have spent serious money on the project and apart from goalkeepers what has it produced? As Redruth says it is a long while ago that we used to produce good youngsters and , in fact, I cannot remember the last one we produced. All I can remember is mediocrity such as Henderson, Spillane and the Jarvis brothers. Our geographical position has not helped but that will now change under the new status and it doesn't explain the recent lack of local talent such as Gordon, Barham, Sutton etc that used to emerge. Like Redruth I think there is more than one cause and I suspect that a radical overhaul is needed before more money and resources are wasted.
 
Our lack of youth products has, I think, been down to a combination of factors. Financial restrictions on the Club have been a huge part of it, as has the relative instability we've had over the last two decades (different managers want different things), the change to the rules regarding the area youngsters could be picked from however, is obviously the biggest factor. As far as the local talent goes, there's competition from other clubs to take into account, but also the simple fact is you can't make a decent player into a top class one, see Chris Martin.

With plans in place to revamp our youth setup, we could be looking at a much brighter future, hopefully a return to the days when we had something of a production line.
 
Did craig bellamy come through our academy?

This is the future if we want to become more sustainable

Norwich has a huge catchment area - trouble is a lot of it is sparcely populated. on the flip side, there's not much competion, unlike a lot of built-up areas in the country.

do we think george francomb could make it into the first team? i've not seen him, but certainly lambert rated him.
i tend to agree with the comments above about korey, tom etc being 21 and should, if they are good enough, be pushing the first team squad
 
As far as I can think, the last outfield player to go on to have a decent career was Shackell but he's really championship standard. Before that, we're back in the days of Bellamy and Mills.

We should remember though, that some of our youth products played their part in getting us out of league 1. There's a certain irony that at a point when the club produces a few players that can make the first team, the club gets itself to the Premier league. Had the club not risen so fast, perhaps we'd have seen more of some of our home grown players in a yellow shirt.
 
we've been penalised over the past 10 years because of the 90-minute rule. now that has been abolished (but only for clubs with category 1 status, so ipswich will still be screwed) we will set up academies all over the country, just like we did in the early 90s when the likes of eadie, bellamy, mills, cureton, akinbiyi, o'neill etc came through the ranks. we'll be able to pick up youngsters from all around the country and i think in about five years time we'll really see the benefits of getting the academy back on track.
 
canary_max said:
Did craig bellamy come through our academy?

This is the future if we want to become more sustainable

Norwich has a huge catchment area - trouble is a lot of it is sparcely populated. on the flip side, there's not much competion, unlike a lot of built-up areas in the country.

do we think george francomb could make it into the first team? i've not seen him, but certainly lambert rated him.
i tend to agree with the comments above about korey, tom etc being 21 and should, if they are good enough, be pushing the first team squad
Click to expand...

Yeah
 
Do the rules allow overseas academies? (What I mean is a setup similar to Sports Scholarships at US universities, but in this case at secondary school level.)
 
Canary-max Francomb is a very good player and yes I would like to see him get some starts this year out on the right of def. Very quick and can cross a ball very well.
 
STUMADYELLOWS said:
Canary-max Francomb is a very good player and yes I would like to see him get some starts this year out on the right of def. Very quick and can cross a ball very well.
Click to expand...

A lot will depend on how CH looks at Martin and Whitaker. If he sees them as just competing for the right-back spot then I cannot see how Francomb will get a look in. If he sees Martin as a handy centre back and Whitaker as a defensive/midfield utility player then Francomb might get a few starts. I really see no sense in loaning Francomb out again.
 
Much as I appreciate Korey Smith, I seriously doubt he is up to regular top flight football.

I think these players will really only be of use if we get relegated, in which case they will prove invaluable.
 
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