Great interview and perhaps another hint as to why Collins went https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/a...ation-to-make-up-half-of-first-team-in-future
A good read, some exciting times ahead hopefully. Can't deny that the academy looks prosperous at the minute - some cracking talent there. Would love to see more of them next season. Completely agree about Bobby, too - Legend!
Credit to him praising Keef who was responsible for Bobby not playing well over 300 games for us and being stuck on 299.
Very impressive that from Bobby (not Billy) the kid lol. I'm not going to have a go at Neil Collins now all of a sudden, because I've respected him as much as I think hes deserved, for this season just ended. However... I totally agree with Bobby there in the unexplained lack of match time for Jalo. He's come back from the injury as well, which we feared might have ended his season. He looks like a real handful when he comes on, and yet, he's only been getting minutes here and there. I just don't understand it. And Devaney even did the same to him in the Bolton home leg, bringing him on as early as the 88th minute!.
He’s right about Jalo’s no backlift. About the rest of his assessment- well, that remains to be seen.
As much as I love Sir Bobby I think it’s a bit silly of him to keep hyping up Jalo & talking up the academy players. Weren’t Stones, Noble-Lazarus, Rose, Clark & Digby all the same age? I find it hard to believe these lads are anywhere near as good based on what I’ve seen from them in the paint trophy.
a cunning plan to boost early big tickets? Or wanting to encourage fans with some positive news of what’s happening behind the scenes?
Cos that's not true is it sometimes he looks a threat but other he comes on and does nothing. He's pedestrian, when the ball comes too him it bounces off him.. Im with Collins and Devaney.. Hes nowhere near ready to be first choice
It's just abit of PR isn't it, I wouldn't expect anything else really. I hope we aren't going to see forced youth involvement to the detriment of the first team tho. The first team squad needs serious investment, no problem with the youngsters complimenting some proper League one signings. The fact no manager has played the youth more would indicate they haven't been of the required standard and coaches are very aware that it's a results driven business.
We shall see.. we've been waiting for 25 years for this 'golden generation' to come through the acdamy If our academy had to be self funding it would have gone bankrupt years ago. What a utter white elephant.. It's no better than just jobs for the boys. It's had no impact or at very best .. next to no impact .. and no relevance to what goes on, on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm with the first team.. If we hadn't have had one, we would have picked as many 'youngens up' from elsewhere that would have made a first team impact.. and it wouldn't have a fraction of what the academy costs.
Tough one Jalo, saw him come on against Northampton & he was terrible although he only got 15 minutes, so I kind of understand why Collins limited his time, he was nowhere near a first team start at that particular time in the season. But ultimately he does need a run of games to get him up to speed with the men’s game. His injury clearly hampered that, so it wasn’t Collins fault really. Hopefully the start of next season he gets his real chance alongside Cosgrove, that could be a formidable partnership
To be fair jalo didn't start a league game last season so it's hard to judge unless a player gets a run of games. But when you give chance after chance to max watters that's very questionable from collins
Bobby has said repeatedly that Jalo needs 20 minutes to get warmed up. So he's probably looking on, wondering why no one is listening to him. Clean slate with Clarke, will be interesting to see how he sees him.
That's not how it works though is it. The Academy doesn't need to cover its running costs year on year, it might be one player per decade that funds it. John Stones and Mason Holgate earned us at least 10 million between them. If we're being critical, it's that it hasn't produced enough league 1 and championship level footballers over the years. If even 3-4 of the current crop can do that, it'll be a huge asset.
We have never been where we are at right now winning titles and beating inter Milan in European games
The whole point of an Academy is to produce young ‘home grown’ players capable of playing for the first team at a cost less than than buying players. The reality is there have not been anywhere enough players come through since the PL season to justify it as a success. A financial benefit should be a bonus as players coming through should make the club more financially stable.
