How do you know they are a " million miles off " have you seen any of them play,?
…the 1st Team.
Probably the current managerial team doesn’t rate younger players at all. I don’t like it, cuz I think it is critical in club prosperity, but what can be done, when someone responsible for football matters wants to push other things first. Development of younger players? Current manager is probably not good at it, so it was pushed aside.
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It’s been said several times on other threads
There is far more focus on developing a structure to see the Commercial side of the Business to grow than there is the Football
Maybe the master Plan is for the football to follow suit. But I don’t think there is the football nouse at the club to let this happen. If we’re reliant on Clarke we are in trouble
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You’re probably right because why would you play Sinclair and Kinsella in the same side when you have Perry available
Bates is still 19 and he must be close to 50 games by now so he’s one at least. Guess they just feel the other yoofs aren’t of his standard although I’d certainly like Perry to get some minutes as season fizzles out.
Perry needs to be on the bench every week and getting some game time. How else is the lad who did very well against Pompey in his only appearance going to improve.
He must feel a bit disappointed not even having the odd 10 minutes having impressed.
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I don’t know if the academy or B team stopped ‘producing’ good young footballers, but I have that strange feeling since DS and DK left, whole development was left alone and is not working as good, as could. I know this is pointless, but I like when my club is progressing. Both on and off the field. And off the field activities are nearly at tip top level, but on the field it doesn’t look that good. I know, money, but for me it’s not a problem how much money some club has. It’s more a problem of how well spent, or invested, what he has. I never said it was an easy thing to do, but at least trying won’t hurt. But probably that’s the phrase I learnt here, that’s Walsall’s way, is painfully true.
By my reckoning these are our youth team debutants in the last 10 years, with apps/goals. Make of this what you will but to me looks like a very poor return.
2010-11
Jamie Paterson 102/16
2011-12
George Bowerman 59/11
Jake Jones 8/0
2012-13
Ben George 1/0
Aaron Williams 8/0
Mal Benning 53/3
2013-14
Matt Preston 50/3
Amadou Bakayoko 107/18
Reece Flanagan 50/1
Kieron Morris 171/20
2014-15
Liam Kinsella 158/3
Jordan Murphy 2/0
Rico Henry 57/3
2015-16
Liam Roberts 137/0
2016-17
Mitch Candlin 9/0
Callum Cockerill-Mollet 26/0
Kory Roberts 32/0
Will Shorrock 4/0
Tobias Hayles-Docherty 2/0
Maz Kouhyar 33/3
Jordan Sangha 3/0
2017-18
none
2018-19
Alfie Bates 49/2
Dylan Parker 3/0
2019-20
Joe Willis 1/0
Sam Perry 1/0
2020-21
none
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There is always an assumption they are good enough, but if we cant bring players through at league two level we might as well not bother.
a) Not all of them were strikers so you wouldn’t expect many goals from them anyway.
b) Strikers generally improve with age/experience so their goal return is usually worse when starting out compared to what it will be in their prime.
c) Compared to how it used to be a few years back, it is fairly rare nowadays for players to stay with the clubs,especially those in the lower division, that originally developed them for the main phase of their career (when was the last time we had a player who started out in our yoof team stay with us long enough to earn a testimonial?) So I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see many goals in stats like this for many clubs not just us.
I think more of a barometer, and where I’d agree with your underlying point of whether we’ve been getting value for money from our academy set up, is how many of those have gone on to have careers in the game - and in particular how much we’ve got back in transfer fees for them?
Well, yes. I wasn’t trying to say Rico Henry was useless because he only made 57 appearances for us or that Liam Kinsella’s 3 goals mean he’s been of no value to us. It was just interesting to see the stats and more to point out all the 1s, 2s and 3s appearances in there, which obviously show they were no value to us and did not go on to better themselves elsewhere. Plus the list highlights how few have even been given a chance in the last 4 seasons.
For a club our size and budget constraints we really should be trying to get at least 4 or 5 youth players integrated into the first team each season with a fair amount of game time.
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I don’t think there is a clear financial case for retaining the Academy. There may be one but to me the most important things about the Academy are really about all the youngsters who get something active to do from a young age and the profile it gives the club in the wider community.
Saw this on social media, guess he’s back in with the first team? Should see him hopefully get a few minutes.
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Good news. The only way we’re going to be able to see if he’s up to the standard is if he actually gets a chance.
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I think it does also highlight how poor we are at developing strikers from youth to first team football, basically nothing since Baka some 7 or 8 years ago, that’s shocking.
I’m of the view that loan signings of other club’s players and in particular development players should only occur when they are clearly better than what we’ve got in our own development squad, or are necessary due to an injury crisis. Far to many Shaibus and Sherons getting game time ahead of the likes of Candlin and Perry over the years for me, plus players that seem to get minutes and look ready for at least some squad time pre-season only to then disappear off the radar when the season actually starts Jayden Campbell being this year’s example. Not so much as a bench seat in the Papa Johns.
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Well as your list shows, the number of “keepers” we’ve unearthed over the last few years (and I’d guess similar if you go back even further) out of the total amount that we will have had through the youth scheme isn’t all that high. The assumption is that the rest of each year’s intake were even less likely to make it.
So is your argument that our youth set up is to blame because we are spoiling decent prospects (though I’ve not heard of many that we didn’t keep on, or left because they weren’t happy with their development, that went on to make it big elsewhere to support this), or is it that we don’t have the raw material to start with? If the latter, are you expecting us to turn more of the sow’s ears into silk purses than we do?
Great Post.
For the past 4 years it’s basically Bates - and that’s it.
WTF is going on with the Academy?
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Was it Keates who ended our participation in the Reserves League for a season?
That’s the kind of ridiculous football decision that can set you back 5 years or so when it comes to bringing through players. Even more baffling that those higher up allowed it to happen!
There will be massive step up from limited U23 football to ultra competitive first team action. It is imperative his is really, otherwise it may set him back 12-18 months.