Academy & Reserve Team - What is the point in one without the other

Due to pulling out of the reserve league what is the point in still having an Academy?

To me, to be successful we need to have both, as in my eyes the are both vital to our success, if run properly.

How can you tell if any Academy player is ready to step into the first team without trying them in the reserves first? I know most of the reseve teams put out last year were mainly consisting of academy players, but the reserves should be a way of progressing the yout team players.

If a player is consistently good enough he should be given a run out in the reserve team, but a reserve team consisting of fringe players and players coming back from injuries - players having plenty of first team experience. WIthout testing the temperament and abiltites of a youth player with established pro's how can you gauge whether they are ready for the first team?

As it stand next season we could have the rpospect of throwing teenagers straight into the first team whereby their only experience of playing a game with established players is 45 mins in a pre season friendly at somewhere like Glossop.

Maybe we'd have seen more of players like Jamil Adams and RNL if they were playing in a reserve side made up of players with experience. Last season the played in a reseve team made up of teenagers against teams with more experienced individuals who'd have been no doubt physically stronger and better individuals - all it appeared to have done is drain confidence.

We've had Rigter on the bench all season, but how do we know he's better than Adams? Past games years ago? They should have both been playing in the reserves - been interesting to see what would have happened with decent service from the likes of Devaney who has been sat on the bench a lot.

Also, the reserves should also be keeping the fringe players fit - it's not hard to tell who the players are that haven't been having a regular 90 minutes - in terms of fitness, confidence and fitting in with the general patterns of play.

Without having a deent reserve set up to integrate youth players into the first ream I can see us either a) producing players thorugh the academy who aren't good enough for the first team and therefore being released, or b) producing outstanding prospects, like RNL, that get poached by other clubs with a decent scouting set up and recognised as knowing how to develop talent, due to them being expected to be droped into the first team without much warning and expecting them to put in good performances and not be over awed by the occasion.

In which case, we may as well not bother with the academy either.

 

Most of the teams were made up of academy players who were forced to play to make up the numbers.

Another argument seems to be that the sports scientists clubs employ these days are able to keep players match fit without the farce or risk of having to play reserve team football.

I was led to believe quite a few other teams would be following suit next year - does anyone know anything?

 

Would the cost be that much for the reserves?

Now most games are played in the middle of a dday in the week, on the academy pitches, the need for stewarding must be minimal. Players will still be paid the same whether they play or not, so the only expense with a reserve team I can see are hiring of coach/driver for away games and any league registration fees.

I'd have thought that we've got a bigger enough squad that for each reserve game we must have been able to provide over half the team from fringer players/players returning from injury?

 

RE: Would the cost be that much for the reserves?

We were discussing this at the last reserve game last night and one of the people in the discussion said that the league fees were around £30k per season and that was one of the reasons that we had pulled out. I understand that Nottm Forest have also withdrawn too!
However I still believe it is a mistake. If Grimsby, Bradford, Scnuthorpe, Hartlepool etc still see reserve team football of value, why do we believe that it isn't?

 

As you know, I attend academy matches regularly. I do not attend reverve team games. The reason for this is academy games are competitive and reserve team games are not. What is the point of reserve team football if it is not competitive. It does not test the youngsters. It does not get the established players fit. It is, in effect, a low key friendly. We have been using academy players to fill out the team, unlike years ago when we had more young professionals keen to impress. There are rules as to how many games academy players are allowed to play, so as not to over-tax their growing bodies. I would think that BFC are finding it hard to comply with those rules if youngsters are playing 2 games each week. The problem is that we have not been producing sufficient young professionals to man a reserve team, not that the few young professionals that we are producing will have no team to play in. We can easily fulfill that requirement by sending them out on loan to lower divisions and even non-league where they will encounter competitive football.

 

years ago there was some prestige attached to winning the reserve league
now it just goes in the to hard basket
players not in the first team had to perform to impress and get there spot back know its all about if the manager likes you or not
more teams are running reserves than are not

 

I have watched about half a dozen reserve team games this season. More often than not, it has been our pros who have not wanted to be "competitive".
Last night we played Grimsby who had there 1st team Manager in attendance together with his assistant and the Grimsby players "tried their arses off". Ask young Teiman if he felt the game was competitive last night. He had to come off mid way through the first half as he had taken a heavy blow to the face. Once the blood had stopped, he returned to the field only to take a late knee high challenge in the second half. Those "painful" experiences against men are all part of the learning experience.
That is another reason for my belief that we like other, should still run a reserve team. How much football will Jamil Adam play next season? Will he continue to improve without playing football matches? Should he go out on loan to a League 2/Conference team to continue his development?

 

I believe other clubs still take it seriously. As I said in a previous post, it is Barnsley whose pros generally go through the motions, not the other clubs.
But the other clubs appear to be motivated by the presence of the 1st team Manager at the matches. Our Manager rarely attends games nor does his Assistant. They obviously don't think it is important and that is one of the reasons why we will not be playing in a reserve team league next season.

 

But is it right that we try to run both an academy team and a reserve team using the same players. There are 28 academy games and 16 reserve games which gives us a potential 34 game season. Furthermore, the academy has breaks in its program during the worst of the weather in December/January so there is even more potential for weeks with 2 games. I think that it is just too much football for young players aged 16 and 17. If the academy was producing more lads of the required standard then there would potentially be 3 18 year olds, 3 19 year olds and 3 20 year olds looking for a game. Then we are only looking for 2 older players to make up the 11 and the subs could be from the academy. This is how things used to be. As for Jamil Adam... I am told that we can play 3 over age players in the academy team, otherwise, he can go on short term loans in order to help him bridge the gap between academy and 1st team. I really do believe that League 2 or Conference will do him more good than uncompetitive reserve team football.

 

will the club be cutting back on coaches if we dont have a reserve squad surely we dont need 5/6 coaches for 1st team and academy