Dilemma for local under 14 team manager!

Some of you prob manage youth teams so what is your opinion?

Rewind to start of last season. Uunder 14s league. You are allowed a squad of 16 players and have 14 so everyone makes the cut. You have a poor first half of season getting one win and 6 defeats from first 7 games. Players start to drift away but you win next 5 games but end up with 10-11 players with 4 games to go and relegation looking likely, even moreso now you struggle to field a full team due to injuries to exisitng players. But you get two new players who have never played for a team and you can sign them as emergency players. They are average players but attend every training session and all the last 4 games including two 30 mile trips for 15 minute appearances. You finish the season with a win and 3 draws and avoid relegation and are 2 points off promotion.

Fast forward to now: Out of last years final 13, 2 move on leaving 11. You get 2 new players wanting to join from existing rival teams. You also get 8 friends released from a local 'academy' team. All 10new players appear quite talented after 1 training session.

The problem: You are only allowed 16 players meaning 5 have to be cut. Do you stick with the nine that you had for the full previous season, Do you also stick with the two that came for the last 4 games and helped the team avoid relegation, or do you go with the best 16 and tell some of the original 9+2 that they are no longer required. What is more important at this level - loyalty and having a team that has grown together, or getting the best team you can. I suspect a manager would want the best team possible, irrespective of who he dropped, but the players would like to continue to play with the teammates they had bonded with through the last season, and existing parents wouldnt like to think their sons could be drooped just because the manager had some better players fall into his lap.

 

Disappointment and rejection happens in all walks of life, might as well get them started at a young age!

 

Loyalty is what I'd go with in this situation. After playing regularly myself at that age there's nothing better than getting a good group of lads together who turn up week in week out. I've also seen it happen with my brothers team and they went for the better players option and couldn't field a team half way through the season due to players not turning up......better the devil you know sometimes?

 

Go with the best 16, football at that age is a knife edge between enjoyment & winning, if you keep some 'weaker' players due to loyalty do you want to deal with not playing them for some games, or even worse their team mates making it obvious they are not good enough?

 

Loyalty counts. You need to have a team.

 

It's kids football, not the premiership. Go with the kids who were loyal, out in the real world it's all win,win,win, compete,compete, give em a break for God's sake.

 

Thanks for the comments so far. Interesting its split down the middle - 2 for and 2 against keeping the original 11

 

I think it depends on what the aims and ambitions of the team are. If it is to be the best team possible, winning as many games as possible and competing in the highest league possible then you go for your best players and don't pick players just because they're nice guys. If the aim is to be a community club which allows young lads to enjoy playing organised football with people they get on well with and to allow these young lads to get/stay fit, have an active hobby and do something they love then I'd stick with what you've got because they've already shown that they want to do just that. Neither is right or wrong, they are just different styles of club.

Actually what i'd do is I'd ask the kids you've already got in the team which style of club THEY want to play for, if they want the success and to push themselves then go with the cutting, if they want to have a social and friendly experience then stick with the current crop.

I know some people say that kids have to learn to accept they aren't good enough etc but look at ADULT five a side teams that play in leagues, some are competitive and would swap their players at the first chance if a better one came along, others are good mates who would prefer to lose every week as a group than win every week with strangers.

 

You have to stick with the players who kept you up,including the two who came late on, its kids football its not just about winning leagues and cups .Those that say disappointment is just part of life shouldn't be allowed near a kids football team. Its about loyalty,friendship, team spirit ,winning is a bonus

 

Thanks. BTW I'm not the manager. I'm the parent of one of the 2 who joined late.But was trying to be unbiased in the original post.

 

I hope the manager agrees! But got a feeling the 2 that joined late (my son and his friend)will be dropped

 

Its not Junior Tykes by any chance

 

no, but i need to be careful what i post cos if anyone else on the team reads this board it will be obvious what team it is and manager may not be impressed!!!

 

Just wondered as they were advertising for players in the Chron this week

 

All 10 new players maybe talented, but if they cant work well as a team, whats the point having all 10 there.

Footie is a team game where some players will be better than others,but as a team all the players complement each other,to produce a good team.
Something in there you said also is wrong, at 13/14 year old there shouldnt be a promotion and relegation, its about advancing the players skill level, Too much emphasis is put on players to win.

And thats a fundamental floor in English grass roots football.

 

I coach the same age group

Been doing it 5 years and I've been faced with similar scenarios. As a coach you have to ask yourself why do you do it. For me the motivation isn't about winning per se (although we have been reasonably successful) it's more about passing on what is in my noggin, to lads who want to learn. When I see us score a goal, or defend a corner successfully, or play in nice triangles etc, I think, I taught them that, and it makes taking training on a cold wet December Saturday morning worthwhile.

We've had lads come to us at the beginning of the season from other teams and you wonder why theyve been let go, because they look like really good players that promise you the world. Half way through the season you realise why, because they dont come training, they dont do what you tell them on match day, they are disruptive influences, their parents are a pain in the arse etc etc

If a lad comes to two training sessions a week, it doesn't matter what his ability is, I can guarantee he will be a better player at the end of the season then any of these "stars" that drift from club to club and think it's all about them.

So for me, I'd take a long hard look at all the lads at the trials, judge what their attitude is like, weigh up their parents and the kids ability to get to games, judge their fitness (it goes up to 40min halves next season), and finally, look at their football skills.. Remembering that I need a balanced squad, not 10 strikers!

Tell your lad to stick at it, do his best and hopefully it will come good. If it doesn't there are plenty of other clubs in Sheffield and Hallam looking for players. This age group see's a drop off in players as the lads mature and get interested in other things, so there are loads of opportunities out there.

 

I feel this post almost perfectly highlights the problem in the British game at grass roots level, kids arnt given the chance to grow as a team and develop at a young age, tall players are picked over short ect, my friend had a younger brother who was very Michael Owen esk scores for fun when he plays but at a young age academy's always turned him away because he was so short and not seen as strong enough. You should stick with the boys that helped you stay up show some loyalty and give the kids a fair chance, they could in time turn out to be much better players than the academy lads

 

Welcome to football management. If you need to ask what to do. Pack in now. You've no chance.