The development squad

[jcdenton08]

What a **** up that's been eh? They get plonked in there and forgotten about/released/loaned out or in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances play as emergency cover when injuries mount up (Chicksen)

Bergkamp
Monakana
Dickenson
Asmundsson
And loads more I can't remember off hand

We aren't Arsenal, it's embarassing. This season wouldve been the perfect opportunity to bring through the likes of Walton, Goodwin, et al if they're good enough. If not, why are they still on the books?!?

Absolutely ridiculous system we've got

 

[hans kraay fan club]

What a **** up that's been eh? They get plonked in there and forgotten about/released/loaned out or in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances play as emergency cover when injuries mount up (Chicksen)

Bergkamp
Monakana
Dickenson
Asmundsson
And loads more I can't remember off hand

We aren't Arsenal, it's embarassing. This season wouldve been the perfect opportunity to bring through the likes of Walton, Goodwin, et al if they're good enough. If not, why are they still on the books?!?

Absolutely ridiculous system we've got

A good youth /development system aims to bring through two players per season. In the last two years Forster-Caskey, Ince, Walton and March have made the step up to the first team. What were you expecting?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

A good youth /development system aims to bring through two players per season. In the last two years Forster-Caskey, Ince, Walton and March have made the step up to the first team. What were you expecting?

If he's including Bergkamp, then Dunk also counts.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

it's just the reserve team but in a different name (which is now the 'u-21 squad' ). It's the system that everybody has.

It has produced Ince, Dunk, Walton, March and Forster-Caskey who have since played for the first team as well as Cook and Hall who moved on to 'better' things and people like Kasim who are playing well in a lower division

can't really see how it's 'ridiculous', it's probably produced about the same amount as most teams reserve sides

 

[halbpro]

A good youth /development system aims to bring through two players per season. In the last two years Forster-Caskey, Ince, Walton and March have made the step up to the first team. What were you expecting?

Yup spot on. All four regularly in the match day squad when fit. It's not a quick process bringing up youth players, if you get it wrong then you do permanent damage to the player.

 

[El Sid]

Close down the Academy, release all the layabouts and spend the money on a decent contracts for seasoned, hard grafting professionals like Leona Best. You know it makes sense.

 

[Ernest]

We need the development squad/youth system to finally deliver a decent striker, too many Jake Robinsons, Joe Gattings, George Barkers etc who all flatter to deceive

 

[Brian Fantana]

We need the development squad/youth system to finally deliver a decent striker, too many Jake Robinsons, Joe Gattings, George Barkers etc who all flatter to deceive

Who was the last decent striker to come through our youth team set-up?

 

[El Sid]

Who was the last decent striker to come through our youth team set-up?

I guess is if the DS play the same system as the first team potential strikers aren't going to be too prolific.

 

[Horsham Gull]

Who was the last decent striker to come through our youth team set-up?

Lewis Dunk

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

It will be a hard time for a lot of them soon when contracts are not renewed or given, I wouldn't want that job.

We have an elite catagory training facility and all that brings, look at the sides in and around our leagues and city size who have had them years ahead of us, Derby, Stoke, Villa, Wolves and Southampton. Long term it should reep benefits either on the pitch or in the transfer market, the fact the U18 coach is now the U21 coach I think will have a positive Wilkins like effect of the next crop.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Some people need to realise that the benefits of the training ground facility won't be seen for a few years yet.

Having world class infrastructure isn't going to suddenly make the 18yr olds we have now, who've been at the club since they were 13, become world beaters. Look at their results this season. They haven't done all that well, because they were placed into the Academy league with all the PL clubs who have really highly renowned youth development schemes. Most of them, realistically, aren't going to make much of a career in football.

What it is going to do is allow Albion the chance to persuade the best young players (I'm talking, 10, 11, 12 year olds here) to sign for us as opposed to other sides, and then to develop them into a crop of far better players than we've ever produced previously. Shamir Goodwin has been with Albion for years now, so he can't really claim to be a product of the shiny new Academy.

 

[severnside gull]

We have some decent goalkeepers, a number of defenders, and a few midfielders coming through.
We don't have any out and out strikers likely to make the step up from u-18's or u-21's at this stage. I suspect we will have to look abroad for 14 or 15 year olds and even then the competition from big clubs is immense. If it was easy to develop instinctive and predatory strikers they wouldn't be the most expensive commodity in football.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Some people need to realise that the benefits of the training ground facility won't be seen for a few years yet.

Having world class infrastructure isn't going to suddenly make the 18yr olds we have now, who've been at the club since they were 13, become world beaters. Look at their results this season. They haven't done all that well, because they were placed into the Academy league with all the PL clubs who have really highly renowned youth development schemes. Most of them, realistically, aren't going to make much of a career in football.

What it is going to do is allow Albion the chance to persuade the best young players (I'm talking, 10, 11, 12 year olds here) to sign for us as opposed to other sides, and then to develop them into a crop of far better players than we've ever produced previously. Shamir Goodwin has been with Albion for years now, so he can't really claim to be a product of the shiny new Academy.

The reality is that under current thinking we "won't stand in the way" of our best young players being cherry-picked by the first club to put in a half-decent offer and the only compensation we'll get is by way of sell-on fees. No wonder the club are tucking Walton away. Simon Ireland, ex-Albion youth team coach, currently with QPR, will have Walton tucked away in his notebook for future reference tho eh, along with the other highly promising prospects under his charge during his time here. Fair plays, why would he NOT do that? The Albion challenge is to retain that youth team talent.

 

[Munkfish]

Who was the last decent striker to come through our youth team set-up?

Scott Ramsey!!!

From my memory I dont think we really have produced one, however we have a great ****ing long list of defenders and centres backs, un-naturally so.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

We need the development squad/youth system to finally deliver a decent striker, too many Jake Robinsons, Joe Gattings, George Barkers etc who all flatter to deceive

Jakey is scoring goals for fun at Whitehawk