Chelsea sign 11 year old

[tonymgc]

Is this a joke?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/northampton_town/9092239.stm

How can they judge a kids potential at 11?

 

[Husty]

He'll never make it

 

[Sam Ovett]

Awww, must be amazing for the kid though. Eleven years old and already been bought by a big club. Pretty exciting

 

[andywhing4england]

Poor lad. He will crumble under the pressure and weight of expection before crash landing back into the real world at your local MacDonalds. Daft purchase.

 

[BensGrandad]

If it is my brothers workmates son he has been with Chelsea since he was 4 years old.

 

[Bob!]

If it is my brothers workmates son he has been with Chelsea since he was 4 years old.

No, not him. They've just bought this lad from Northampton.

 

[supaseagull]

If it is my brothers workmates son he has been with Chelsea since he was 4 years old.

That's illegal so you've probably been told a fib!

 

[supaseagull]

Brighton academy take on players at 9.

 

[El Presidente]

How can they judge a kids potential at 11?

Most Catholic priests think they can.....

 

[BensGrandad]

That's illegal so you've probably been told a fib!

How is it illegal as I know of a lad who was not old enough for school but was with Fulham although not signed by them. The same as this lad I am talking about with Cheslea.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

History is littered with kids who are outstanding at 11 years old, or eight years old, or whatever, who are given a glimpse of stardom, and who are completely lost to the game by fifteen when other kids in their peer group overtake them in terms of size, strength or just will to succeed.

Anyone else remember that lad with the massive hair a few years back who was all over Newsround and in the papers because Ajax had signed him to their academy when he was about seven? I think his name was Sonny something-or-other. His Dad was very disparaging about English club academies etc and was boasting to the press about the fact his son was going to Ajax.

As I recall, he never made it at Ajax and drifted around the English non league game for a couple of years before jacking football in completely.

Some of the best players look average even at sixteen, and suddenly blossom when they fill out.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Nii Lamptey?
Cherno Samba?
Freddy Adu?

All supposed to be potential world-beaters as kids and have never lived up to it.

 

[Gonzo]

Is Graham Rix still there in some capacity?

 

[biggles]

Is Graham Rix still there in some capacity?

do you mean old bummer rix or the ex arsenal player

 

[tonymgc]

That Ajax kids name was Sonny Pike, Apparantly he had a break down too cos of all the pressure put on him.

 

[Beach Hut]

Having managed a football team for 9 years our club had five players recruited at various ages by the BHAFC Academy of which none made the grade albeit one who is there at U13s and his dad played for BHAFC.

Tough business and if it was my kid I really would not do it and call it sour grapes but much of it is who you know as one current youth player at BHAFC played against my son at U13s, U14s and U15s and they were in Sussex Sunday Youth League 2.

 

[RexCathedra]

American professional basketball scouting starts in earnest about two years later, at the end of middle school.

Thanks to our marvelously corrupt university athletics, however, NBA teams aren't directly involved -- they let the colleges do their work for them.

If the EPL, the NBA, and the Conservative Party ever put their noggins together, they could replicate this system in the UK, mitigating somewhat the steep increase in student tuition and top-off fees -- provided you're over 2 meters tall. It could be the Crouch Commission....

 

[bathseagull]

Poor lad. He will crumble under the pressure and weight of expection before crash landing back into the real world at your local MacDonalds. Daft purchase.

In the meantime he'll get decked out in Adidas gear from head to toe, including up to 8 pairs of boots per year and a driver to pick him up and take him to and from training and fixtures...

 

[Nottseagull]

Most

Why do you slur a whole profession when it is obviously a small minority of them that are kiddie fiddlers?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Nii Lamptey is a bad example. He suffered severe abuse from a young age and that caught up with him. Not his lack of talent.

There is an article in the Observer somewhere.

Ahh... Big interview: Nii Odartey Lamptey | Football | The Observer

I remember the kid you are talking about, Edna. Dreadlocks and filmed doing various tricks at the tender age of 10 or so.

Edit: Sonny Pike as mentioned by Tony -
Whatever happened to Sonny Pike? | Football | guardian.co.uk