One of our own

[The_Don_ORiordan]

The problem is, if we started playing a load of youngsters who aren't quite ready, our results would get worse. LW (and every head coach or manager before him) is under pressure to get results NOW, not in a few years. We've got fans booing at half time, four games into the season with us still unbeaten. If you were in that position, would you be willing to send an 18-year-old with virtually no experience into the first team, even if they showed a lot of promise?

Players like Colby Bishop did their developing elsewhere because when they were at Notts, they almost certainly weren't as good as the older pros we had. The manager at the time needed to get results, just like LW does now.

So it's a tricky situation. We don't have the money to invest in a top-tier academy, and our managers/head coaches don't have the time or space to develop youngsters in the first team. So it makes a lot more sense at this stage to scout young talent that's already first-team ready, like Cal Roberts, and then sell them on, or take other clubs' youngsters on loan.

No one is saying we play a load of kids.

But other clubs at our level seem to manage to include some of their own and compete with bigger clubs around them.

We seem to have literally none. Even with tin pot trophy competitions they could appear in.

It’s clearly a philosophy issue (from multiple owners). In which case, why not close the academy?

I honestly don’t think it should be a white flag waving exercise. There is funding towards academies, and not all players come from league academies. We just need to take a punt occasionally, we seem to have had no issue with taking a punt on players we sign, nor a manager who is far from proven.

[Notts78]

No one is saying we play a load of kids.

But other clubs at our level seem to manage to include some of their own and compete with bigger clubs around them.

We seem to have literally none. Even with tin pot trophy competitions they could appear in.

It’s clearly a philosophy issue (from multiple owners). In which case, why not close the academy?

I honestly don’t think it should be a white flag waving exercise. There is funding towards academies, and not all players come from league academies. We just need to take a punt occasionally, we seem to have had no issue with taking a punt on players we sign, nor a manager who is far from proven.

Which clubs at our level have there own grown players? Which of those clubs have been a league club and have the expectation we have?

[slack_pie]

No one is saying we play a load of kids.

But other clubs at our level seem to manage to include some of their own and compete with bigger clubs around them.

We seem to have literally none. Even with tin pot trophy competitions they could appear in.

It’s clearly a philosophy issue (from multiple owners). In which case, why not close the academy?

I honestly don’t think it should be a white flag waving exercise. There is funding towards academies, and not all players come from league academies. We just need to take a punt occasionally, we seem to have had no issue with taking a punt on players we sign, nor a manager who is far from proven.

The academy has produced a few players in recent years that we've sold, probably for a decent amount and certainly with plenty of clauses should they go on to be successful. Jack Bearne, Dongda He, Kion Etete. So it's not like the academy is completely fruitless.

Then there are the ones that got away, like Colby Bishop. But as others have said, he wasn't good enough to play for us when we had him. He had to drop down a few divisions to earn his stripes, as so many other players do. We probably didn't have the resources to keep him on the books on the off-chance he became the player he is today. The only one that genuinely seemed like a poor decision both at the time and in hindsight was letting Curtis Thompson go.

I assume the only reason no academy players are in the starting line-up today is because they simply aren't good enough, not because of some systemic issue that's preventing them from getting a look-in.

As for Grimsby and Wrexham having one player from their academies in their starting line-ups - good for them, but neither club has to compete with a Premier League club a few hundred metres away. If Wrexham had a Forest-style club across the road, perhaps their academy star wouldn't have been with them in the first place. Who knows.

I just think it's unrealistic in our current position to expect to be bringing through first-team stars on a regular basis. We might have the odd one on our books every few years, but chances are they'll get snapped up by bigger clubs if they are genuinely talented. That's just the way it is. It's not a philosophy issue, it's just reality.

The only club that bucks this trend - and has for decades - is Crewe, who seem to have a conveyor belt of decent young players coming out of their academy. But they are certainly an exception.