One of our own

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Originally Posted by crazyfists

I would love to see our own youth players in the team, I just think as soon as you get a good one then other teams hear about them and they're snapped up.

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That's the problem. The fees we get might make the youth academy self-financing, but it doesn't do a lot for the first team.

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Originally Posted by queenslandpie

The model of buying semi established young talent like Roberts / Langstaff / Wootton and so on is far more likely to yield results than sticking hundreds of thousands of pounds every year into an an academy which will take an age to get much from in a far more competitive market for talent . Notts average squad age has plummeted since we took the drop into non league which is fantastic. I don't think an academy is pointless but in terms of a return for the money spent and getting back into the EFL an academy is as it stands not something that has a lot of point to it. Especially given we rarely blood any talent that comes through it, even now with a philosophy on younger players. Money better spent elsewhere in my mind.

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I totally agree, Etete was very good but he’s been the only one in the last few years and we got 200k for him. Footballs changed, prem clubs have ridiculous riches and eyes everywhere so it’s near impossible to keep players, we would have never kept Draper and Johnson now, they would have barely played a game for us before being snapped up for nothing.
It’s a romantic idea but I have no doubt the owners have a fact based view and they seem to want to invest not just just in the first team squad but our infrastructure so I doubt it’s not without reason, plus we have now lost the EFL funding.

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Originally Posted by Elite_Pie

That's the problem. The fees we get might make the youth academy self-financing, but it doesn't do a lot for the first team.

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It probably doesn't feature high on the list of priorities for fans, but the youth team does have a value beyond the players it produces (or doesn't produce). It provides the club with a strong link to the local community, with lots of kids and parents becoming associated with the club from a young age. We shouldn't ignore that, in the same way that we should never underestimate the value of our Football in the Community work.

Maybe it's a 'chicken and egg' situation in terms of getting youngsters into out first team. We've been guilty of letting a few good youth team graduates walk away, but we've also seen Premier League teams plunder others before they've even had chance to play for us, albeit for a small amount of compensation. If we can return to the days when we were competing in the League One or Championship levels, then maybe it will be easier to hold on to some of our talent especially if we gain a reputation for giving them first team opportunities like we did in the early 90s. At the moment, if a club from higher up spots a potential talent in our youth team and decides to poach them, most kids (and parents) are likely to go for the big prize and bigger money rather than stick around at a National League team.

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Originally Posted by matt_magpie

I totally agree, Etete was very good but he’s been the only one in the last few years and we got 200k for him. Footballs changed, prem clubs have ridiculous riches and eyes everywhere so it’s near impossible to keep players, we would have never kept Draper and Johnson now, they would have barely played a game for us before being snapped up for nothing.
It’s a romantic idea but I have no doubt the owners have a fact based view and they seem to want to invest not just just in the first team squad but our infrastructure so I doubt it’s not without reason, plus we have now lost the EFL funding.

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I’d say the lack of EFL funding is the key point. I’d love to see us spend money on the youth network purely for its benefits to tie us to the local community, but right now every penny needs to be focused on getting us back into League 2 and ensuring we’re never in this mess again.

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Originally Posted by nw6pie

I’d say the lack of EFL funding is the key point. I’d love to see us spend money on the youth network purely for its benefits to tie us to the local community, but right now every penny needs to be focused on getting us back into League 2 and ensuring we’re never in this mess again.

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The owners are financing the academy out of their own pockets, when we eventually get back in the EFL we will have funds for the academy and a reserve team.

After I retired I liked to go down the lane to watch the reserves to see who was on the way back from injury and who in the u23's might make it into the first team squad.

I really don't think we can compare now with Warnock's days. It is over 30 years ago!

The big teams now have such big academies, massive funding and will be happy to take on a youngster to stop another team snapping them up. You only have to look at the under 23 teams now - they will play a whole team who have probably never played for the first team, and probably never will.

Then there are so many 'surplus to requirement' players who don't make it and are released - clubs either well down the leagues take them on or they fall into oblivion.

I do take note of some non-league football, and it is amazing that down the leagues they are taking on youngsters who have been at league club academies.

There is of course the situation that managers / coaches are under such pressure to win that they can't / daren't blood youngsters. That means it's better to take a risk with a Prem youngster who has had fantastic coaching (although possibly not right for our level of football) than risk one of our own. We really miss imo the reserve team in a proper league. The youngsters had something to aim at other than the first team which being realistic it is doubtful they will ever make it. They got valuable experience with senior players either on the fringe or coming back from injury.

Not that long ago, it would be unheard of that a team at our level would take on a Prem goalkeeper. We are on our second and have also had others from a little lower down. Loans seemed to be much more short-term, often to cover an injury.

Is an academy like ours viable when other teams either snap up anyone with potential and at the same time there are so many other youngsters available?

Munakandafa makes the bench!

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Originally Posted by Elite_Pie

Munakandafa makes the bench!

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Yup, anyone got an irony meter?

All joking aside, great to see Luther in the squad.

It's a bit chicken and egg IMHO. Players like Wildin, Bishop and, to a lesser extent, Gibson all came through during years of turmoil when we were periodically in freefall. The revolving managerial door meant that the new guy always wanted to bring in his own players and, given the triggerhappy state of the place, no manager would take a prolonged risk on kids unless they really had to.

In the last six or so years we've 'sold' Jack Bearne, Dongda He and Etete, all to Premier League teams. I assume we didn't have a sell on clause for Etete as I haven't heard one mentioned and it would fit in with the fact that we were financially at death's door when each one left, hence having our pants pulled down each time.

If the current owners had been here at the time and we had the 'stability' we have now (whatever you think of it) then we could be having a very different conversation.

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Originally Posted by Bernard_Bresslaw

It's a bit chicken and egg IMHO. Players like Wildin, Bishop and, to a lesser extent, Gibson all came through during years of turmoil when we were periodically in freefall. The revolving managerial door meant that the new guy always wanted to bring in his own players and, given the triggerhappy state of the place, no manager would take a prolonged risk on kids unless they really had to.

In the last six or so years we've 'sold' Jack Bearne, Dongda He and Etete, all to Premier League teams. I assume we didn't have a sell on clause for Etete as I haven't heard one mentioned and it would fit in with the fact that we were financially at death's door when each one left, hence having our pants pulled down each time.

If the current owners had been here at the time and we had the 'stability' we have now (whatever you think of it) then we could be having a very different conversation.

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Pretty sure those three players would have still left.