Foxy-Lady

I totally agree with you.....but isn't that exactly what we used to do under Beaglehole for years to boost our results and that only served to block the pathway for so many talented youngsters for so many years?

You make a lot of points in your last post but i just want to briefly address the point you make above from a business perspective about Jon Rudkin as without doubt, he has a very Autocratic management style which is no doubt borne of his empire building days as Academy manager and the loyal foot-soldiers he continued to surround himself with knowing they would always protect his back in exchange for his loyalty to them. I witnessed it first hand for many years and those i know who know him (including many ex-coaches) will all testify to this and his micro-management style which again is the sign of insecurity in his position. The point is that there are several key disadvantages with an Autocratic management style and one of the main ones is that ultimate responsibility can only fall on one person as they are the ones who are insistent on making ALL decisions and, regardless of whether they are correct or not, the decision is not open to challenge for those who work under them. As such, businesses with very good people often end up following strategic thinking that is misguided/wrong and may have been challenged at an earlier stage by better qualified employees who failed to do so for fear of losing their jobs......just as happened to Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis which is one of the strongest business case studies highlighting the pitfalls of Autocratic leadership (see the link below if you wish to understand how the leadership of one man, Richard Fuld, pretty much brought one of the worlds oldest and most powerful banks to its knees purely because of his own arrogance and self-importance!) Form my perspective having watched closely for several years, this is exactly the type of scenario that was potentially possible at the LCFC academy for a long time as JR simply refuses to relinquish control and leadership or encourage highly qualified people/coaches to challenge the status quo (ie Inni Idiakez who was marginalised because he challenged Beaglehole as a coach....and Beaglehole was JRs buddy!) Other disadantages of Autocratic leadership style?? Micro-management ; lack of accountability : poor employee morale or engagement; Lack of Trust ; Difficulty in Correcting Poor results ; Ignores the skills and knowledge of key workers ; Joyless experience for employees) All these failings sound worryingly familiar from what i am reading in your posts..... https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2017/12/weakness-charismatic-leadership/

I have a real issue with this way of thinking as it is the very definition of "closed loop thinking" I have stated many times on here that the coaches are always very quick to dis-associate themselves from any failures....but very quick to be associated with any successes. From what i saw at the Academy for many years, there were some seriously talented young players who somehow failed to progress from International level at U16s level and disappeared off the radar completely as soon as they became part of Peake and Beagleholes U18s and U21s It is true that being an outstanding prospect and an International at a young level (U16s) does not necessarily guarantee that the player will continue to develop and realise the anticipated potential. BUT....it is also true that if the player does not continue to receive the same level of coaching all the way through his development years as his peers at other clubs, then their development will obviously stagnate by comparison and i have said on several posts previously that Peake and Beaglehole would almost certainly have NOT survived at any other TOP club for as long as they did at LCFC (assuming they ever got a job their in the 1st place...?!?) Leighton Ndukwu was recognised as one of the most talented and technically players of his age group in the whole country when he was 15-16 years old and a regular for England teams.......but he was never going to fit Steve Beagleholes style of lower league "get in their faces, run and kick it long" tactics and his liking for physically big and strong workmenlike players. We will never know if he would have succeeded at any other club..... but we do know that there are too many U16 Internationals that have simply slipped "disappeared" in LCFCs U17-23 system during the past 10 years.....and it is "closed loop thinking" to simply assume that was always because those players were not good enough...! Perhaps we have actually missed out on a Rashford......its just that we never knew it! (PS Marcus Rashford was thrown in as a 19 year old youngster by Jose Mourinho because of an injury crisis. I suspect that without the crisis, Mourinho may never have used him and we might never have heard of him Point being is that all it takes is a bit of good fortune and an opportunity and you never know what can happen......and i always wonder what might have happened to Ndukwu if he had been allowed to leave LCFC at 16 and join a Top club with better coaches...!)

Shock News......LCFC Academy coach blames failure on players. In other news.....LCFC Academy coaches claim all the plaudits for the success of Barnes, Chilwell, Thomas and KDH

You made me laugh.....But on a serious note, i do wonder if the attraction of Ben Petty was his connections to the Villa academy and his potential to attract some of their players as there was an influx at one point (ie Johannsen, Clarke, Brunt etc...). Cant think what else he has done in his time with us as the facilities and talent he has at his disposal is as good as most of the other academies our U21s are playing against.

Dont normally disagree with your views @davieG but im not sure you're factually correct on this one as NO Super6 club is geographically positioned under PL rules to recruit U16 players from within the Leics and surrounding area and similarly, we are not allowed to strecth our recruitment into their geographical catchment areas......so the reason we cant compete with them at that level has very little to do with money or success.

Probably Calvins experience at Rangers that turned him into a £20m player as he was told by us that there was no pathway for him to the first team...!

Ideally, It "should" exist to enable us to develop the most talented players within our allowed catchment area to their maximum potential in the hands of the most technically gifted coaching team. They would then hopefully progress to our 1st team to minimise our need to buy players or.......become a source of future transfer revenue. At times, certainly in the past when i watched it in action, it seemed to exist simply as a way to "prevent" other clubs (Forest, derby, Cov etc...) from poaching talented local youngsters from within the LCFC catchment as there was always a sense of embarrassment if ever a 'Local' boy went on to become successful at another club as it was seen as our recruitment team "missing out". The expression "Fishing with Dynamite" was often used around Belvoir Drive as our Academy scouts seemed to just "hoover" up all the stand-out youngsters in the hope that one of them might prove to be "the one" in the hands of our Academy coaching staff. If you throw a lighted stick of dynamite into a lake, there is a pretty fair chance you will catch at least one fish......it doesn't make you a genius or even a good fisherman! Of course, that all falls down if you don't actually have the calibre of Youth coaches to develop the players to their maximum potential.....which is why i always find it more significant that Chilwell, Barnes and KDH were so keen to secure loan moves rather than play for Beaglesholes U23s.....and that they developed better as players AWAY from our U23s Academy system than they ever did WITHIN it

That is so spooky as that is exactly the voice i hear in my head whenever i read your posts...!

After reading his posts for so many years, I have a @Ric Flair voice that speaks in my head whenever i read his posts.....and Im not sure if im ready yet to shatter that "illusion" by hearing the real @Ric Flair..?!?

I might be wrong but im not sure clubs can release players when they are recovering from long-term injury as i think they may have a duty (possibly just a moral call?) of medical care if the player sustains long-term injury while in their employment. At academy level, it was certainly the case that any scholars who missed their 2nd year through injury were generally given a 1 year extension to their scholarship as approved by the EPL. Hopefully, Alves will be given at least 1 further year on same terms while he is still convalescing as other clubs will probably not be willing to take on the risk or medical/rehab costs associated with his recovery

What a GREAT post...! Well researched and the points you make are absoiutely spot-on.....and should be equally concerning to all who run the club if they are actually paying any attention to this?.

He will be revolutionary for us...!

Im surprised he didnt pick himself at left-back instead of signing Kristiansen having had such a "distinguished" career at LB in local football...?!?

Probably borrowed it from his son who i now believe is one of the academy coaches.......alongside Beagleholes son! All bodes well for our Youth Development that we now have a 2nd generation of Rudkins and Beagleholes to develope our young talent.......and Im sure the interview process for both was all above board and transparent.

Rudkin is a master manipulator who was always quick to recognise advancement opportunities for himself (especially in the early days with the new owners when he became their self-appointed personal butler...!) and whose primary concern has always been his own personal empire building ambitions. For years he has surrounded himself with his "yes men" as a form of self-preservation as he knows they will always have his back as a result of his misplaced loyalty to them. It is one of the reasons why he never wanted to relinquish responsibility for the Academy.....and why inadequate coaches like Beaglehole and Peake remained in strategically key development positions (U23/U18) for way too long at the expense of top quality coaches like Idiakez who was always prepared to challenge the comfy status-quo...! Rudkin has become "The Teflon Don" at LCFC and it is difficult to see how any business/team can grow to become world class without world class leadership.....and anyone with the ego and self-importance of Jon Rudkin will never be a world class leader!

Post of the day for me Sir...made me laugh out loud

Was this a U21s fixture? Lashebela is 23 years old now so I would expect him to be a stand-out player in a fixture where the avg player age was probably closer to 19-20.. It would be disappointing if he DIDNT stand out....and if he doesnt stand out against significantly younger players when he is 23, what does the future hold for him at LCFC...?

That may be the case going forward....but I worry that Kristiansen may suffer the same way that Thomas has in terms of having no defensive help in front of and being exposed defensively.

You raise more questions than answers for me so im not going to persue this any further as we BOTH know that my original comment about not being easy for a player to leave an academy was related to leaving for an opportunity elsewhere rather than being "imrprisoned" and being forced to attend every week against their wishes...! My comment was about freedom of movement once you are in an academy......not whether or not the child is forced to turn up every week...! As for key metrics, the one that i always recognise is that coaches are very quick to claim their part in the success of any player (ie Barnes, Chilwell, KDH etc) but they are never to be seen or heard when very promising players fail to reach their expected potential....as this is ALWAYS blamed on the players attitude or their failure to develope! The role of an academy coach is almost the perfect job in that they claim credit for their role in everything that goes well.....but accept ZERO responsibility for anything that does not go so well. Steve Beaglehole is the ultimate example of this for me as i know from first-hand experience from Chilwells and Barness parents that they were desparate for their sons to go out on loan at the earliest opportunity so their development did not stall playing for a coach who they had absolutely ZERO respect for.....yet Beaglehole remained in role for several years NOT as a result of his coaching excellence....but because of his relationshipo and loyalty to John Rudkin So, when it comes to the measurement metrics you outline, Beaglehole would probably be classed as a successful coach purely because of the academy players that have now made it through to the first team.. However, When it comes to reality, i doubt you would find any player or parent who would speak highly of his coaching abilities....and i know their are several agents and ex-coaches at LCFC who all share this same view! The ex-acadamy players we see today playing for our first team made it through despite Beaglehole and his coaching team....NOT because of them!

Surprisingly facetious response from you.....i think you know exactly what i was implying in my comment in that the child cannot leave an Academy and go and play elsewhere.....even if he is no longer enjoying the experience! We all know that there are "stand-out" players (4-5 in each age group)....and the there are "filler players" who simply make up the team within each group who will never have a long term future at a PL team like LCFC.....but may have an opportunity at a lower league level if the club chose to release them from their contracts earlier. Thankfully, my nephew was considered to be one of those stand out players so he never had to endure the uncertainty that many other kids/parents suffered. Having said that, i have always said that given the choice, the benefits at being an academy always far outweighed the benefits of not being at an academy in terms of facilities and environment...its just a case of those kids and their parents who are unlikely to make it to the top appreciating the reality of their situation and making the most of the experience for what it is. The TWO disconnects for me were always... 1/. the parents who failed to adjust to the fact that their sons were stand-out players in "local" football....but were NOT stand-out players at Academy level. Just be more realistic and enjoy it for the amazing opportunity and experience that it is... 2/. the club/coaches continually giving the kids/parents "false hope" to keep them motivated.....but knowing all along the player will not succeed so are simply adding to the disappointment when the player is finally released.

His Dad may think he's got the power right now....... but as soon as the kid is signed into a 2 year deal, he will no longer have any power as the kid will be tied to the club and it is the club who will dictate what happens from thereon. If the kid does not continue to develop, his Dads behavior will become a factor......and other clubs would also be aware of that if ever the player is released by LCFC. His Dad may think he is more powerful than the club right now but i know from experience the club have seen this type of parental behavior before and will be taking a seemingly tolerant "hands-off" approach until the dynamic changes back into their favour. At that point, his Dad will start to realise how powerless he actually is and how his behavior may affect his sons opportunities at other clubs........unless of course the boy goes on to become and absolute superstar....! .

In all my time watching LCFC academy play, i can only recall TWO LCFC parents from all the age groups i saw (and only a few from opposition teams!) who i would consider to be overly-vocal towards their kids as parents are generally under the strict instruction that such behaviour will not be tolerated at Academy level.....and most parents were aware that any inappropriate behaviour on their part would potentially have an adverse impact on their kids and potentially lead to the parents being excluded from training adn matchday sessions. In my nephews age group, there NO problematic parents and it was always a joy to watch his team play with NO parental issues.....a vastly different experience to watching my other nephew play in "local" football were some of the parental behaviour/involvement from the sidelines was horrific. Personally, i always found it to be a hugely positive environment at the Academy (both training and matchdays) because of parents not being vocally involved but the point you raise that i have highlighted ironically applies to BOTH of the parents i could mention as there sons were viewed as immensely talented assets.....which probably explains why their behaviour was tolerated more than would have been the case with others "less talented" players..

Absolutely spot-on on all 3 points from my perspective...! I wouldn't go as far as to say that Barnes is Luke's only problem.....but Barnes's lack of defensive ability and positioning definitely adds to the problems of a relatively young and inexperienced left back and leaves Thomas very exposed. And i am absolutely certain that opposition teams highlight this in their pre-match analysis when discussing our areas of weakness and tactics against us As for Barnes playing more centrally and potentially picking the ball up from a little deeper, agree with this 100% as that was his favoured and most effective position throughout his younger playing days. If nothing else, it is at least worth BR giving it a go to see how it works...!

Or any "other" recognised world class or leading youth development coaches to go with our state-of-the-art "world class" Academy facilities...! A simple thought maybe, but one that has been suggested by many others for a long, long time...! Barnes, KDH and Chilwell developed quicker as players when they were "away" from our U21s system.....not because of it!