luke waterfall - another academy product let go at 17 years old. why the hell do we keep letting them go after bringing them through. ronnie moore says of him "luke is a very talented defender, big, strong, knows how to tackle- promising future ahead of him. why do we bother spending time bringing kids through and letting them go before seeing the end product. i wonder
obviously he isn't considered good enough down at oakwell, but its getting more and more annoying seeing academy lads leave for next to nothing and us not even giving them a go, you can see why Simon Jordan has had enough of it all
The problem has got to be the quality. I dont know what the answer is unfortunately. If you look at the clubs we loan out to they were conference and below last season (Atkinson the exception) At least League clubs are interested in Heslop this season, thats where they need to be.
*Cough Cough* I'm not being biased here, however; Barnsley FC is a club on the rise. We are investing in the team for now and from the looks of it, we have a very shrewd team behind the scenes doing the dirty work so to speak. I'm pretty sure, that Davey, with all his experience working with youth setups both here and at Preston will know what he wants in a player, and if a player is looking good enough to make that step up. In a football world, where players at 16/17/18 are making the step ups to first team football all across the world, there is a fine line between making it and not making it. I am confident that Davey and his back room staff will have watched the progress of many of the youth teams and determined that the lad is just not good enough. It's not like he isn't giving the lads a chance. You only have to look at Butterfield and Potter (Atkinson too) who he is trying to bring through slowly. From what I've seen of Atkinson, I'm not sure he is good enough (even now, at 20?21?) to make the step up to our first team, whereas you look at someone like Nyatanga at 19 years old, and he for me is good enough to step into any Championship team at the moment. Age dosn't matter. If a player isn't good enough, the guys behind the scenes are shrewd enough to know it.
One more thing... You can throw as much money at it as you like, however, it all depends on the PLAYER. Not the coaches, they can only nurture the existing talent along. It's down to the player to make the step up. We, unfortunately can't compete when it comes to attracting young talent at an early age. Given the chance, a young 11 year old from Stairfoot would rather go to Manchester United or Liverpool or Chelsea probably even Leeds United for that matter, than go to Oakwell (that is unless he is a deep rooted Reds fan). The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have extensive scouting networks - not just locally, but GLOBALLY. Along with that, they have millions to throw at it, but that's not the important thing - they have the REPUTATION. That's why it will be so hard for the likes of Hull City to compete in the Premiership next season, sure, they have £40 million to spend. But who are they going to attract of PURE quality that the likes of Aston Villa or Everton or Manchester City won't nip in and get because of their proven stature and reputation. The same goes for those said three up against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - if they want a player, they WILL get them. Money isn't the be all and end all anymore, reputation plays a HUGE factor and ultimately, Barnsley don't really have much of one.
whilst everyone challenges to quality of players, it gets me thinking that someone in the acadamy aint employing the right staff, or also not allowing them to be trained in an academy style. if we aint bringing players through, then you have to look at why, and this must be one of the aspects too. Just an alternative view
RE: One more thing... So answer me this. Why can Crewe - slap bang next to both Manchester Teams, Everton, Liverpool and the Midlands giants, consistently produce academy players who go onto bigger and better things??
Good scouting network. With the proximity to the clubs you mention certainly very helpful. Excellent youth development, especially through Gradi, who was always prepared to give youngsters a chance. Amount of good it's done them through the years - nil. Except for a bif of cash now and again to help cushion their relegation and fight for survival.
I watched some academy games last season,players not allowed to express themselves,coach stands on touchline barking out when and what to do with ball and not too pleased if his orders arent obeyed.Ithought there was some decent looking lads there last season Waterfall,Butterfield kept on but others such as Jennings and one or two more were just cast aside although I thought they looked decent.Suspect the same will happen again at the end of this season all those above age just told to be on their way.
RE: One more thing... I can't really. Crewe are a rare gem in this footballing day and age. The quality of players they bring through have been very good, Ashton is the best example. I can only think that they have a superb set of scouts who really do know how to find the players, and tap their potential at a very young age. There aren't too many more teams out there, like Crewe who have consistently lingered in the lower realms of the table whilst churning out so many good youth players. That being said, would you rather be in OUR position, the Championship, with a great team and a brilliant ground Or in Crewes position? I know which I'd prefer.
To an extent this is true. I think this, perhaps, explains the Crewe paradox. They have had to bring youth players through due to the lack of turnover to provide a big transfer budget. Maybe, because of this, they have cultivated a reputation as a club who give graduates of their youth setup a good chance of progression into the first team. Promising youngsters will therefore go there ahead of somewhere that history suggests will train them for three years then chuck them out on their ear. Thus they attract a better standard of youngster than other clubs, who are left with kids who go on to not make the grade and so the situation self-perpetuates. Just a theory, like.
Got to disagree with you there Gaz It has done them the world of good. They have no financial worries and they've played a fair few years in the Championship. For a club the size of Crewe that is amazing.
I'd obviously like to be in our position However, if a club like Crewe can do it with a poor fan base, small ground and inferior facilities then a club in our position should be able to do it much better. Their academy is run well and is a great success. Why isn't ours? They're doing something right that we obviously aren't.
RE: To an extent this is true. They started picking up discarded youngsters from Man Utd and Man City (e.g David Platt. Robbie Savage, Neil Lennon) then these were brought through to their first team and sold Crewe then became more interesting and an option to youngsters who could see progression happening for young players.
