Fascinating documentary from BT Sport about making it in football today. Before the last U21 tournament German players had 14 thousand more minutes of Bundesliga experience then the England players had premier league experience, tells you everything you need to know about why we won't win the world cup anytime soon. Also really interesting interview with the Southampton Youth coaches about how they nurture their young talent and give them the opportunity rather than just buying/wasting money on foreign imports for instant success/failure. I think the biggest change for us could be the move to tier 1 status for the academy in the long run, because its clear there are many talented players who just won't get the opportunity at bigger clubs because they will always look to buy success. Whereas you can sell Barnsley as a place you'll be joining an elite academy where if you're good enough you're old enough and you'll get a game. Also Brian Laws is now a car salesman (ok so its high performance cars for footballers but still made me laugh).
Do we give our youngsters games? We give plenty of game time to young players from other clubs, but our own? I don't believe any young forward at the club could have done less than Ugbo, but ours never get a chance yet Ugbo was tried again and again and again, long after it was obvious he had nothing to contribute. Jarred Bird on the other hand performed admirably every time he was given a chance, but those chances were severely limited and now he's been sent out on loan. Barnsley is certainly a place that will give youngsters from other teams a chance, but if you come through our academy you've got a hell of a job getting in the team. Particularly as we take youngsters from other clubs and play them ahead of our own even when they're not performing.
Interesting comment Jay, Do we give our youngsters games? I mean, obviously we now have a few high profile successes from the academy, BUT like you say, I can't imagine any of the kids from the U23 could have done worse then Ugbo, I mean I reckon I'd have run him close tbh
