Scholars released!

I overheard a conversation between two parents of scholars last night at the reserve team game. One said that his lad had been released because he is not ready to play in the Championship yet and as we no longer have a reserve team to allow him time to develop further and the club would only be taking players who the Manager thinks can play in the 1st team now.
How many 18 year olds are there playing in the Championship now? I have been a strong supporter of the Academy programme but I'm not sure there is any value in it if we realistically expect players to come straight out of the Academy into the 1st team!
He said that only Jamil Adam has been offered a contract so far.

 

imho there's a bit more to this than meets the eye.

Is SD in a round about way saying the Academy is **** ? And by extension those in charge of it ?

 

Letheren on trial at Grimsby too.

He'll be off in the summer, along with Heslop.

 

Our Academy Needs Binning

It's just not producing enough to warrant it staying open. What do they get taught there? Whatever it is, definately isn't working.

 

RE: imho there's a bit more to this than meets the eye.

He may well think it's poor.
But decisions have been made on lads futures and I don't know how much Davey has seen of these lads. He has not been to a single home reserve game this season and he has only seen one half of the Youth team at home.
Maybe as has been suggested on here before, he would rather look for players on "Youtube"!

 

Yet another conspiracy theory concerning SD, this one based upon an overheard conversation that may or may not have any basis in fact. Before you set this one running and it becomes one more stick with which to beat our beleaguered manager, exactly how many of the second year students (aside from Adam who already has his contract) do you think should be kept on. There are only 5 and I can think of only one who has shown promise and who may deserve to stay on and develop his game to a professional standard. BFC is not a charity and only the very best will make it at the level we play at. I too am frustrated that the adademy does not produce more players of the required standard, but that does not mean that it can afford to keep players who will not achieve that standard.

 

absolutely spot on red rain. common sense is a rarity on this board. unfortunately many of the 'fans' on this board want every oppotunity to batter SD. irrespective of whether they have foundation to do so. Only the best will be offered contracts. as it should be.

 

RE: imho there's a bit more to this than meets the eye.

This is what I'm asking - has Davey taken a deliberate decision to overlook academy scholars due to his view on the academy management ?

 

You seem to spend a lot of time studying the academy Mr rain, in your opinion why is it that we've come to the end of an academy term and in your view only 1, potentially 2 are worth perservering with ?

 

how many do you think should come through the acadamy each year? I'd happily have 1 or 2 decent prospects a year given our catchment area and the other clubs around us.

 

187.</p>

I don't know, that's why I'm asking a chap that goes and watches the games etc.</p>

It's not just 1 or 2 in a year though is it ? Where are the recent academy graduates in our first team squad over the past few seasons ?
</p>

 

With the reserve team going, the structure needs to change & quickly ....

It looks as though the model from next season will be a trimmed first team squad on first team salaries - I can only imagine that the first team number will depend on our budget projections for 2009-2010, but it could be as little as 18. Any other experienced players needed to cover for injuries, suspensions etc would have to come, as clubs are increasingly doing, from the loan market. We then need to carry an academy capable of putting a few players direct into first team action if needed. I am not alarmed by this and wonder how many decent prospects never made it far in the first team because of the numbers in the reserves. You don't have to look too far to think of Luke Beckett, Jon Parkin etc. I don't underestimate either the potential of players such as Adam, Butterfield, Heslop, Atkinson, Potter. Trouble is that we seem to be ditching some of them as well, which looks a bad decision, giving the disappearing reserves.

I would rather have a local lad, who really wants to play for the club, than a journeyman bigger name, who is quite happy to do a Johnson and turn out, if he feels like it, for the reserves with an occasional cameo in the first team.

Invest in youth - we might get a pleasant surprise, as well as sorting ourselves financially if we get a good price for one or two.

 

Average age of our 1st XI is 28/29 I think

The long term needs sorting now. Otherwise every couple of seasons we'll have to be replacing several players at once. Surely a gradual change is better, within that system introducing an academy player without too much initial pressure on him.

 

We have discussed this on here many times without reaching any significant conclusion. My own view is this. I do not think that the quality of the intake 2 years ago was of a good enough standard. Barnsley schools do not seem to turn out the quality that they once did for some reason. This being so, we are forced to cast our net wider for young talent. Most of the best youngsters from outside our catchment area are already signed to academies so we are competing for the signatures of lads who have been rejected at 16 from the big academies. Of course Crewe seem to survive quite well using this strategy, so what do they have that we do not. They have a reputation in the game for developing the talent rejected by the big academies. So how can we improve our reputation in order to attract the best of the rest. We could employ academy coaches with a reputation for success, someone parents can trust give their sons the best possible chance.

 

Barnsley, as a football club simply do not cast their net wide enough. If you go to any local kids games you can guarantee that there will be a scout from either Leeds, Huddersfield and even Man utd there. I know this first hand because my youngest son is in the Leeds academy . (i know, i am ashamed !)

 

Have you ever spoken to parents who've had kids at the academy, either for trials or spent time there ?</p>

The ones I've spoken to are somewhat less than impressed with how the academy is ran - and it can't be sour grapes as in every instance their youngster is now at an academy - the main ones being Leeds and Sheff Utd.
</p>

 

I really did'nt want to be impressed by the facilities at Thorpe Arch, but in fairness they are top notch.
In all the years i've watched my two kids play football i've never seen a scout from Barnsley.

 

Yeah and look at Huddersfield Town. There academy is very strong. Look at the vast amount of youngsters who have been brought into the first team and made it over the past like five years. Nathan Clarke, Tom Clarke, Jon Worthington, Joe Skarz etc.

 

To be honest, my interest in the academy covers just year 1 and year 2 scholars. To others the academy relates to kids from the age of eight. At the age of 8, I was a world beater. By the age of 10 my career in football was over. I can quite understand that parents want the best for their kids, but I do not think, with exceptions, that you can tell before the age of 16 whether a kid will be any good. Even at that age, I have seen lots of players come into the academy with huge potential and leave it as also rans.

 

what I'm talking about has nothing to do with their kids ability - just how the place is ran.