Quote Originally Posted by Swissclaret View Post
I have to hold my hand up and acknowledge that I know nothing about the Academy requirements. However, it doesn’t seem to produce anything - not even players who can cut it in the lower leagues, with very few exceptions.
Sadly, the whole system was very much in decline and I am led to believe that people were brought in during the Eddie Howe era and it dropped even further. They lost a lot of 'scouts' during this period, although I am unaware of the 'politics' involved. Things started to improve about five or six years ago and we progressed from Category 3 to Category 1 in a short period of time. This meant that, two years ago, many of the lads at under 16 did not progress because better players were required to compete at Category 1 level. They brought in Jon Pepper who was doing a good job in raising the standard and responsible for our Cat 1 status.
Sometime, during the last year, he left, I know not why, and quite a number of staff seem to have been laid off and this has led to the downgrade to Cat 2.
There is a lot more to all this than I know, however, there are some very strict regulations that come into play whenever you are coaching and managing children and young adults.
Had we been playing at a lower level it is possible that a few more players would have developed and been given a chance. However, because our recruitment had been at a lower level for several years as a Cat 3 Academy, it meant that we virtually started again just a few years ago and it takes time to develop young players. I am hopeful that one or two who have been included in pre-season may get an opportunity this season, however, from a manager's point of view it is his job that is on the line. We shall see what transpires.