The Academy

Several of the members argue that the entire Academy system has failed but I doubt that Middlesbrough or Everton would say that was true. They continue to produce locally born players who are good enough for their 1st team. The majority of players playing in the Premiership may be from overseas but in the Football League the majority are British born players so they have to come through the "system". If you have no "system", how do they get there!

At a club like ours, what are the true measurement of "Academy Success"? Return on investment only? Players produced for the 1st team? And what are the timescales? If we sold RNL for £0.5 million (a figure similar to the amount that Palace received for Bostock) would our Academy now be deemed "of value"?

If heaven forbid, we were ever relegated down to League One again, could we afford to keep the current players or would we have to pin our hopes on locally produced players?

Too many members are quick to shoot down the system without either thinking or offering an alternative.

 

RE: A well written piece.

If the success of the academy depends on the quality of kids we get through the door, then we need to be looking into why parents choose other clubs. Every kid we get in for trial, or to look round but picks another team. We should be following up with them, to ask why they picked another club, and asking what we could do to improve things. If they just go for a 'bigger' team, then there's not much we can do, but I would imagine that other things will be brought up that can be used to improve things for future years.

 

RE: A well written piece.

Just depends if we want to hear what they'll say....

 

If we accept that there are no alternatives and all the coaches are doing their job - where are the academy produced 1st team regulars for Barnsley FC ?</p>

Are we not taking the right calibre of youngster ?</p>

If we are - then are we not coaching/developing them correctly ?</p>

If we are - have successive 1st team managers had some sort of prejudice against the Academy 'products' ?</p>

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Something or some people somewhere isn't working correctly.
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Wiganred

It's frustrating that a small club like Crewe can keep producing class multi million pound players and we produce nothing at all, instead we either release players or give them to lower league clubs for nothing.

 

RE: A well written piece.

Or if we can be arsed to ask, no need to rock the boat when things are going so well.

 

I have read through this debate and there are some good points made by all contributors. In the end, we all want what is best for Barnsley FC and are frustrated that, as far as the academy is concerned, the best is not being achieved. If the academy could point to a past record, and the past is all that we are certain of unfortunately, of producing players that have gone on to either establish a place in the first team (thereby saving the club a transfer fee) or being transfered to another club for a fee (I can only remember Scott Flinders) then there would be no debate. The debate arises because many of the contributors to this board would like to see changes in order to facilitate some improvement rather than just carrying on as we are and hoping. Indeed, a recent article on Mark Stokes' site alluded to similar frustrations within the club. I will just make some points that I have made before when this debate has come up:

1. We only have first choice on boys from the Barnsley area. Has Barnsley stopped producing good young lads, because aside from Beevers at Sheffield Wednesday, I have not heard of us missing players from this area. Very few of the lads in the academy list Barnsley as their place of birth. If indeed Barnsley has stopped producing players, why has this happened.

2. The Newcastle player who was earning £1,700 per week was a foreign national (Swedish I think). My guess is that this would apply to many young foreign players which rules this strategy out for Barnsley.

3. We do run trials for players rejected by bigger academies at the age of 16. What do we need to do in order that we attract the best of these youngsters. My guess is that we need to convince their parents that they will get the best chance possible to make it in the game. We have good facilities, so that must work for us. They are offered early promotion to reserve teams, again another good point. All we have left to convince them of is quality of coaching. Now I do not know whether our coaching is good, bad or indifferent. I am sure that the coaches all have a line of badges as long as your arm, but then again,so will all the coaches at accademy level. So what do the parents go on when making their dececision. I would suggest there are 2 things. The first is how good is the academy's record at producing players in the past. The second, have I ever heard of the coaches and what are their achievements in the game and reputation amongst other coaches.

With rare exceptions, our academy will not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. I do worry that the reverse might also be possible in the case of RNL. I am deeply committed to the continued existence of the academy, but that does not blind me to the fact that improvements must be made.

 

Sorry.

You're now generalising and making dramatic leaps of logic like everyone else.

Everton and Middlesbrough do okay from the system, but they're the exception, not the rule. The rest? Who knows where they come from? It may be there are more British nationals in the Championship and lower leagues, and many of these players may came from the Academy system of Premier league clubs, but again, that means the system has failed.

Clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd et al can afford to have an Academy production line on the off chance that they produce that special player who's going to become a world beater, because if he does arrive, they can afford to keep him. Most clubs - us included - don't have that luxury. For what we're spending on academy coaches, facilities, players etc, we could be scouting other clubs, leagues and countries. If we do find players good enough for us, there's nothing to stop bigger clubs relocating them and their family to make sure they're within the 'radius' rule, leaving clubs like us to pick up those that others don't want or who have such a loyalty to Barnsley - despite its apparent lack of success in developing young talent - that they're willing to potentially sacrifice their careers.

Also, a great young player at 14 doesn't mean a great player at 25 or so when we need them. He may have peaked at 14 and won't improve. Coaching, surroundings, changes in perspective etc may knock the ability or drive out of players by the time they should be phasing into the first team. You can't make a good player out of a bad one, but it's easy to make a bad player out of a good one.

And if we do produce those good young players, how long do they stay? Is a year before being snapped up by a bigger Championship side or a Premier side really worth it for us? We can never build a team round a player like that, and we don't have the financial clout to keep him long term.

Ideally, I would love to see teams all over the country made up in the main of local players developed by the local team, but it won't happen. The odds are stacked in favour of the rich clubs, so let them keep the academies if they want, and we should invest our money looking elsewhere - regardless of age, nationality etc - and find someone who can do a job for us.

 

RE: Well put wiganred, Not watching the academy i cant comment .

Benitez has been moaning recently about their Academy,Gerrard was the last player from the Academy to make Liverpools first team.

 

why has barnsley stopped producing players? it's the most obese town in the country

 

RE: Sorry.

There are not just four tiers in this country. There are tiers within each of the leagues. There at least 4 tiers within the Premiership. Your argument about players moving on to better/bigger clubs happens all the time. It's called progress. There are very few players who would not want to play at the highest level they can. So a club like ours will always be in the situation that players will move on if a better/bigger opportunity presents it's self. There is no loyalty either way.

Crewe have always used this to there advantage. They know that they can not survive as a club with their fan base so they have set up the club giving their academy the highest priority. When Dario Gradi was the club manager he also coached the club's under 15 and under 16 teams. He is still involved today. They have many scouts "scouting" the Merseyside and Manchester trying hard to attract boys to Crewe against the lure of the other surrounding clubs. They hope to find players that they can develop and then sell on. This plan has kept them solvent for years!

As much as some members will find it difficult to accept, we are not a big club! And that's a fact!

 

Silk purses, sow's ears and RNL

If I was a parent of one of our academy players, I would be furious that Red Rain is suggesting that they are not decent players with his suggestion that you can't make a "silk purse out of a sow's ear". This is extremely disrespectful to the boys. What does that say for players of the five clubs who are beneath us in the Academy league?

Secondly how does he feel that the club are in danger of ruining RNL? What have they done now? Are we looking to blame Mr Branson for something else? Other than the 5 minutes he played against Doncaster, I have only seen him play once - in the Youth cup game against Walsall, and he looked okay. He's only fifteen for god's sake! Why don't we all just leave him alone to grow up and develop without any additional pressure.

 

"We aren't a big club"

Okay then. But that doesn't answer :</p>

If we accept that there are no alternatives and all the coaches are doing their job - where are the academy produced 1st team regulars for Barnsley FC ?</p>

Are we not taking the right calibre of youngster ?</p>

If we are - then are we not coaching/developing them correctly ?</p>

If we are - have successive 1st team managers had some sort of prejudice against the Academy 'products' ?</p>

</p>Something or some people somewhere isn't working correctly.

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