Development/Youth Squads 2024/2025 Thread - U18/U21

[Ric Flair]

20 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Don’t think the club can be blamed here as long as we get a good fee. It’s an awful reflection on what the sport has become though.

All the club can be blamed for is not bringing through academy players and giving them a chance in the first team earlier. We might well be scrabbling to try and get better at that to prevent this but we need to actually do it and maybe some of them will stick around.

[indierich06]

I think possibly we need to accept that the best talent is going to leave for big clubs - the likes of Monga, Nyoni, Noubissie - and that the tribunal fees we get for them are what pay for the academy.

 

What we need to get better at is providing a pathway to the first team for the 'best of the rest' - the likes of Jake Evans, Alves, Braybrooke at the minute - formerly KDH, Chilwell, Barnes etc. We need to start bringing through the youth that we've actually got a chance of keeping. And I don't buy that loaning them out until they're 23-24 is the best way to do that either - when they hit 18, we should be looking to have them involved in and around the first team.

[RowlattsFox]

Jake Evans will be OK, his name is too boring to get attention 

[LCFCJohn]

2 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I don't think it's even the money, or the pathway to first team - kids would rather sign for the likes of Man City than us, we're circling the drain of the PL and look to spend the next few seasons bouncing between Champ and PL if we're lucky.

It’s the money. How many academy players make Man City‘s first team? Only a couple. They flip them for PSR profit, hence signing them young to be classed as ‘home grown’. 
 

His end result probably won’t be much different (assuming we pull our finger with our own progression route). Put it this way, he could be playing Championship football at 16 next season. But his bank balance will be fatter there.

[coolhandfox]

7 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

This is how the likes of Man City and Man Utd are taking 15-16 year olds from academies the same size as them. Offering them the wages of £20-40k a week apparently. 

 

The issue for us is we haven't even shown what the pathway is for these talents previously. We've never given an academy player under the age of 18 regular first team football, even to the modest degree that Nyoni has had at Liverpool that you quote. So until we do that, then i can't agree there's nothing more we can do to hold on to these talents. The club will point to how Monga and Evans are being immersed in the squad in training and travelling etc but we almost have to go over the top right now to erase the past which may be preceding us and losing these players.

Whilst I agree with your point, most will still choose Man City and the money.

 

Even being in the first team and getting minutes, they will still go for a life challenging wage and the chance to play for one of the big boys.

 

Son's has a mate who left Celtic at 16 to go Man City, even after being included in there pre-seaons tour and games, signed a 4 year contract.

 

Never kick a ball in anger for the Man City at first team level and was released after 4 years

 

[Ric Flair]

2 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Whilst I agree with your point, most will still choose Man City and the money.

 

Even being in the first team and getting minutes, they will still go for a life challenging wage and the chance to play for one of the big boys.

 

Son's has a mate who left Celtic at 16 to go Man City, even after being included in there pre-seaons tour and games, signed a 4 year contract.

 

Never kick a ball in anger for the Man City at first team level and was released after 4 years

 

Of course, we simply have to offer both. But the wages won't keep them on their own either, it will help but we need to play some of them and prove it's a major priority of ours. Otherwise I don't blame them for fcukin off.

[coolhandfox]

2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Of course, we simply have to offer both. But the wages won't keep them on their own either, it will help but we need to play some of them and prove it's a major priority of ours. Otherwise I don't blame them for fcukin off.

Need to pick the right manager! 

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

Need to pick the right manager! 

Should be a pre requisite that starts with the club culture and strategy from Top, Rudkin, Whelan et all. Any prospective manager has to have it as one of their main priorities.

[K789]

Think ric pointed out earlier about the arsenal kid going utd for 20 to 40k pw. We couldn't and shouldn't get involved in this for a kid 

[Sly]

I think this is fairly black and white.

 

If they have potential, they need to be around the squad and be playing first team football. We could have played Monga every game this season and I doubt we’d be much worse off than we are now. 

[davieG]

We’ve gone from no subs to 7 and still there are excuses for not having one of them an academy graduate.

They can only use 5 of them so how about getting the tactics better with the first choice 11,  Tactically you shouldn’t need to use all 5 subs and it’s not an everyday occurrence where you’re forced to play someone out of position. 
 

There’s always an excuse going for promotion, top six, top ten - more money, avoiding relegation. 
 

We have one of the best training facilities in the world that in itself should justify having at least one academy graduate starting their LCFC career on the bench for most games. 

 

[HoustonFox]

10 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

All the club can be blamed for is not bringing through academy players and giving them a chance in the first team earlier. We might well be scrabbling to try and get better at that to prevent this but we need to actually do it and maybe some of them will stick around.

Isn’t part of the reason we got Seagrave because it was to boost our attractiveness as an academy to get top talent to then….

 

 

I forget the rest… 

[Sly]

1 hour ago, HoustonFox said:

Isn’t part of the reason we got Seagrave because it was to boost our attractiveness as an academy to get top talent to then….

 

 

I forget the rest… 

It’s a bit like having a mansion, then filling it full of furniture from Temu. 

 

[surrifox]

4 hours ago, HoustonFox said:

Isn’t part of the reason we got Seagrave because it was to boost our attractiveness as an academy to get top talent to then….

 

 

I forget the rest… 

That’s before they realised that the surfaces were shredding their tendons and ligaments like a packet of frazzles 

[studentofthegame]

9 hours ago, davieG said:

We’ve gone from no subs to 7 and still there are excuses for not having one of them an academy graduate.

They can only use 5 of them so how about getting the tactics better with the first choice 11,  Tactically you shouldn’t need to use all 5 subs and it’s not an everyday occurrence where you’re forced to play someone out of position. 
 

There’s always an excuse going for promotion, top six, top ten - more money, avoiding relegation. 
 

We have one of the best training facilities in the world that in itself should justify having at least one academy graduate starting their LCFC career on the bench for most games. 

 

I've always said this, against West Ham we had Okoli and Coady on the bench and also both Winks and Skipp, Winks and Skipp are basically the exact same player and it just seems completely pointless to have both on there. How many times do we really need to sub on 2 centre backs in a game. 

There is never really an excuse to not be having an academy graduate on the bench, it should be a point of pride to be giving opportunities to them and showing that there is a route, we aren't expecting them to throw half the u18s side into the starting lineup, but at least be giving them chances.

We have lost 11 of our last 12 games scoring 4 and conceding 31. It's not like giving academy players 30 minutes here and there is going to reduce the quality much, we are already absolute dross

[davieG]

17 minutes ago, studentofthegame said:

I've always said this, against West Ham we had Okoli and Coady on the bench and also both Winks and Skipp, Winks and Skipp are basically the exact same player and it just seems completely pointless to have both on there. How many times do we really need to sub on 2 centre backs in a game. 

There is never really an excuse to not be having an academy graduate on the bench, it should be a point of pride to be giving opportunities to them and showing that there is a route, we aren't expecting them to throw half the u18s side into the starting lineup, but at least be giving them chances.

We have lost 11 of our last 12 games scoring 4 and conceding 31. It's not like giving academy players 30 minutes here and there is going to reduce the quality much, we are already absolute dross

And the way we're losing it doesn't make much difference to bring one on with 10 minutes to go when your 3-0 down I'm sure no one expects them to turn the game around but the experience gained is invaluable. If we're winning 3-0 then all the better.

It doesn't need to be the same one every game either.

 

Instead of Winks and Skipp pair one of them with Cartwright or Braybrooke for example.

 

 

[notnow john]

57 minutes ago, studentofthegame said:

I've always said this, against West Ham we had Okoli and Coady on the bench and also both Winks and Skipp, Winks and Skipp are basically the exact same player and it just seems completely pointless to have both on there. How many times do we really need to sub on 2 centre backs in a game. 

There is never really an excuse to not be having an academy graduate on the bench, it should be a point of pride to be giving opportunities to them and showing that there is a route, we aren't expecting them to throw half the u18s side into the starting lineup, but at least be giving them chances.

We have lost 11 of our last 12 games scoring 4 and conceding 31. It's not like giving academy players 30 minutes here and there is going to reduce the quality much, we are already absolute dross

That’s absurd!
who’d be stupid enough to blow most of the budget on a player we already have.

 

Ok fair cop.

[pleatout]

18 hours ago, K789 said:

Not at all. Been happening forever. Remember raheem to Liverpool from qpr for peanuts 

"Fergies Fledglings"

 

Lee Sharpe - Torquay

Ryan Giggs - Man City

David Beckham - Spurs

 

 

 

[indierich06]

16 hours ago, LCFCJohn said:

It’s the money. How many academy players make Man City‘s first team? Only a couple. They flip them for PSR profit, hence signing them young to be classed as ‘home grown’. 
 

His end result probably won’t be much different (assuming we pull our finger with our own progression route). Put it this way, he could be playing Championship football at 16 next season. But his bank balance will be fatter there.

I genuinely think most young players would prefer the prestige of being signed up at a 'big club' like Man City rather than playing in the Championship. Yeah, only a few of them make the first team, but at 16 you probably think you're going to be the one to buck the trend. And if not, most go on to be sold to decent sized British and European clubs.

[HoustonFox]

2 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I genuinely think most young players would prefer the prestige of being signed up at a 'big club' like Man City rather than playing in the Championship. Yeah, only a few of them make the first team, but at 16 you probably think you're going to be the one to buck the trend. And if not, most go on to be sold to decent sized British and European clubs.

Way more likely to play as a youth for Man City than with us! Embarrassing that we have this relative wealth of riches and are doing so poorly but they still don’t get a look in. Hearing Ruud going on so much about Monga and other youth training and being on the bench is like teenage me hearing about Halle Berry in Swordfish. A lot of build up for not much… 

[Staff]

On 07/03/2025 at 00:32, davieG said:

We’ve gone from no subs to 7 and still there are excuses for not having one of them an academy graduate.

They can only use 5 of them so how about getting the tactics better with the first choice 11,  Tactically you shouldn’t need to use all 5 subs and it’s not an everyday occurrence where you’re forced to play someone out of position. 
 

There’s always an excuse going for promotion, top six, top ten - more money, avoiding relegation. 
 

We have one of the best training facilities in the world that in itself should justify having at least one academy graduate starting their LCFC career on the bench for most games. 

 

9 subs now!

[davieG]

6 hours ago, Staff said:

9 subs now!

Quite - makes it even more ridiculous. 

[moore_94]

Under 18s are winning 1-0 at half time against Norwich

 

Goal from Dyke

 

1	J. Donohue
5	K. Gray
3	M. Adedeji
11	W. Daniels
8	B. Akolbire
4	K. Dyke
6	A. Diallo
9	L. Hutchinson
7	B. Owusu
2	M. Toko
10	L. Aideed

 

16	J. Fletcher
15	H. Jacklin
12	R. Khela
14	H. Sutherington
13	L. McNab

Edited 8 March by moore_94

[john ridley]

3 -1 up now

[studentofthegame]

3-3, just conceded twice in 3 minutes