Wheres the Youth gone?

[colbo68]

Does anybody know whether we are even contemplating bringing through some of our youth players? Have we got anybody thats gonna make the grade? This team is crying out for another good striker cos Big Steve, despite all his effort, just dont score enough goals. I have heard that we have a 'Strong Academy' but if so, where are the fruits of this? Yesterdays bench had no good young talent on it and City have always been good at bringing through some good young players.....

Enlighten me please.....

[whitlock]

I think now with all the money avaliable its going to restrict youth players the opportunity to come through the ranks. More likely to make a signing than give youth ago unfortunatly. Stearz mattock king, great players coming through the system, can't see anyone else having the chance to now.

[Jimmy]

Does anybody know whether we are even contemplating bringing through some of our youth players? Have we got anybody thats gonna make the grade? This team is crying out for another good striker cos Big Steve, despite all his effort, just dont score enough goals. I have heard that we have a 'Strong Academy' but if so, where are the fruits of this? Yesterdays bench had no good young talent on it and City have always been good at bringing through some good young players.....

Enlighten me please.....

Chambers, Schlupp & Chamberlain are all good young strikers that came through the academy, Crncic is only young as well I don't know why none of them made the bench the past 2 games as we haven't had a striker amongst the subs

[conradno1]

there quite clearly not ready yet or else sven would have had them on the bench he is the sort of manager to play the young lads

[lcfcsnow]

Chambers, Schlupp & Chamberlain are all good young strikers that came through the academy, Crncic is only young as well I don't know why none of them made the bench the past 2 games as we haven't had a striker amongst the subs

We don't have a reserve team so its much more difficult to see who can make the big step up. The above players should be out on loan to a L1/2 or even conference team to get some experience, add John and Parkes to that. They are all good prospects but need league experience not academy games week in week out.

[colbo68]

We don't have a reserve team so its much more difficult to see who can make the big step up. The above players should be out on loan to a L1/2 or even conference team to get some experience, add John and Parkes to that. They are all good prospects but need league experience not academy games week in week out.

I agree, I've heard that Parkes is gonna be good?

[Father Ted]

Exactly my thoughts, you're not going to know how well they'll do unless you give them a chance!

We could have done with bringing a fresh striker on yesterday and with not a single one on the bench yesterday what would have been the harm in sticking Schlupp or Chamberlain on there?

[Guest Mee-9]

DUDUDUDU Matty Fryatt

He's back after Leeds, he'll do well under Sven.

[Cat Burger]

I really hope you take this up with Sven if you get the chance. Please make sure you sing it to the West Ryder album track tune though, thanks.

[Jimmy]

yes but would it hurt to have Chambers, for example, on the bench instead of either of the full backs or Moreno? just after we took Howard off Gally got clattered and we'd of been fooked if he was injured as we didn't have any attackers left, we'd of been forced to go to a 4-3-3 system with no wingers at all

[Thracian]

I'm afraid that with the "how much do you need" mentality of foreign owners there's no way any manager is going to take the risk of relying on some through-the-system kid who cost nothing when the manager can go out and buy any sweets in the shop.

Jorrin John or Abe on the right wing? Reseves team or not, it's no contest. But it's far easier to leave local lad Jorrin in the wilderness than World cup international Abe. And there in a nutshell lies the demise of English football.

Look at the total number of youth players we've brought through to our first team in the last three or four seasons since Pearson's arrival. Zilch. Not one. But look at the chances we've given to all those supposedly "brilliant" foreigners - and where we are in the table!. Yet a huge percentage of our fans condone it by getting all excited about foreigners they've mostly never heard of and barely registering a flicker of interest in the Academy prospects.

Trouble is that, much as I deplore our club being prostituted around to the highest bidder and sold to people who have no connection to or spiritual interest in Leicester City as such, other than its potential as a cash cow, I have supported City well over 50 years and would watch them if they played in the Senior League on some parks pitch.

I support City despite the mercenaries not because of them and couldn't give a shit about the Premiership if we can only make that level with a team of random imports.

Not that there seems the slightest signs of us making an impression on the Championship as yet, let alone anything better, for all our money and newspaper hype.

What we've got is a club that's shackled by fear - even against Hull - and by it's own misguided belief that money is all you need to have a decent football team.

Well, if every biggish club ends up with a big money backer there will still be only one champion, one runner up and one in third place. All the rest will be nowhere - and probably broke.

And the three "winners" will probably be off to play some of their matches in foreign lands before long. But never mind, if we were one of them, we'd still be able to watch our beloved team on pay per view - with a special Boxing day game coming live from the Sing-a-Song stadium which will be flowing with Sing-a-Happy-Song beer and, doubtless, Sing-4-Supper pies.

You'll be able to trust your money to the Sing-2-Bank Betting shop where you will be able to choose the first goalscorer from our front three of Sing, Wong, Song. Exciting times! But sod-all to do with Leicester City as such. We're just the vehicle that's parked in the right place to be hired. And the Academy looks increasingly like a social service.

[pazzini]

to be fair there isnt any teams apart from arsenal & barca bringing tthrough alot of good youth , even united , liverpool havnt brought alot through the past few seasons

[Thracian]

to be fair there isnt any teams apart from arsenal & barca bringing tthrough alot of good youth , even united , liverpool havnt brought alot through the past few seasons

That's really comforting! It only confirms my point about the demise of English football. It's amazing really cos they're still handing out coaching qualifications like confetti. Yet I look at even professional first teams and some of them look as if they've never been near a serious coach.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

That's really comforting! It only confirms my point about the demise of English football. It's amazing really cos they're still handing out coaching qualifications like confetti. Yet I look at even professional first teams and some of them look as if they've never been near a serious coach.

Surely if they were thought good enough they would be played. Perhaps they just are not good enough to be considered. Perhaps our youth coaches are too concerned with winning and not spending enough time teaching them how to pass & move, timing of runs etc.

You mention that they hand out coaching badges like confetti yet the UK has the least amount of qualified coaches amongst the major nations in Europe. Check your facts before posting shite

Football goes through waves. There are not too many gifted stars coming through at the moment but who is to say that will be the case 5 or 10 years from now?

[CosbehFox]

OP has more than a good enough point IMO.

It's nice to see Parkes involved this season in the squad etc. It's a shame Pearson as a centre-back couldn't brought him along. Hopefully a L1 will make a loan punt this season. He looked fairly comfortable when I watched him for Burton

[MPH]

Think its a little harsh to criticise Pearson for not bringing through youth and relying on jonny foreigner.

He really helped Andy king to cement his name in the team, brought in Hobbs, morrison, spearing, kerrea gilbert and a few other young english lads I am sure.

This only proved that during his time here, he thought most of our own youth were simply not good enough... but he certainly had a healthy biase towards young english talent..

[Collier]

If they're good enough, they'll make the match day squad when they're ready.

Don't think Sven has a proven record of not giving youth a chance, everyone calm down a minute.

[Captain...]

Youth has been being squeezed out of the English game since the unlimited foreigners rule, the FA have only just started to address this issue with the recent Prem league squad restrictions (too little too late in my opinion). The last English player to really come through was Rooney, you have a few Lennons, Walcotts, and Johnsons on the fringe but the average age of the England team is quite old and Capello's desire to get old retired shit professionals out of retirement is not going to help matters. We have just capped Kevin Bloody Davies, 30 years old and shit. It is pretty poor really.

On a Leicester related note, we have no reserve team and haven't for a long time now, 2-3 seasons. We can't just throw kids into the first game, we've had a few out on loan but as soon as they come back they rot away or leave. Max was a case in point, on the fringes of the team but not quite a first team regular, playing week in week out in the reserves and a handful of first team appearances would have made him a much better player and also happier at the club.

[Thracian]

Surely if they were thought good enough they would be played. Perhaps they just are not good enough to be considered. Perhaps our youth coaches are too concerned with winning and not spending enough time teaching them how to pass & move, timing of runs etc.

You mention that they hand out coaching badges like confetti yet the UK has the least amount of qualified coaches amongst the major nations in Europe. Check your facts before posting shite

Football goes through waves. There are not too many gifted stars coming through at the moment but who is to say that will be the case 5 or 10 years from now?

I used to take qualifying courses for coaches - and got sick of being encouraged to sanction badges for people who had no idea how to play, demonstrate or teach and not just in football.

A couple of seasons ago I went to watch a junior coaching session and was absolutely appalled by the standards. I didn't say we had more or fewer coaches than any other country. i said we handed badges out like confetti. Often to people who had no sodding idea but wanted the badge to give them another teaching option at school or so they could legitimately pick up a few easy bucks at a community college.

I'd not say our Academy youngsters have any problem learning pass-and-move football nor do i think our youth coaches are over concerned with winning at all. In fact from all i've seen they get the balance just right. But it's a winning business those kids are being prepared for - not some sort of social skill - and it's only when they leave the Academy structure that the winning mentality - and the sound principles that offer a chance of winning - seem to be forgotten or neglected.

[MPH]

I used to take qualifying courses for coaches - and got sick of being encouraged to sanction badges for people who had no idea how to play, demonstrate or teach and not just in football.

A couple of seasons ago I went to watch a junior coaching session and was absolutely appalled by the standards. I didn't say we had more or fewer coaches than any other country. i said we handed badges out like confetti. Often to people who had no sodding idea but wanted the badge to give them another teaching option at school or so they could legitimately pick up a few easy bucks at a community college.

I'd not say our Academy youngsters have any problem learning pass-and-move football nor do i think our youth coaches are over concerned with winning at all. In fact from all i've seen they get the balance just right. But it's a winning business those kids are being prepared for - not some sort of social skill - and it's only when they leave the Academy structure that the winning mentality - and the sound principles that offer a chance of winning - seem to be forgotten or neglected.

On an almost side note, I think the players who have suffered most from us not entering a reserve team the last couple of seasons have to be youth players who have the most talent. They need to be tried at a higher level and its understandable (imo) if some managers think the first team is too much of a step up from playing youth team football. 'Can we afford the luxury of giving them enough games to develop at the potential cost of lost points in the league' is legitimate cause for concern, I believe.

Get as many of them out on loan, I say. Heck, offer to pay all their wages if it gets them first team experience in the lower leagues...

Our youth team have been consistently good over the last few seasons...but is this a false dawn? Most other teams with promising youngsters ship them off to the reserves ( they can't play a full season for reserves AND youth because of burnout.. this MIGHT explain why we look so good) so sending them to a lower league club I think would be the best way of seeing who actually has any genuine talent.

[kimsalabim]

Surely if they were thought good enough they would be played. Perhaps they just are not good enough to be considered. Perhaps our youth coaches are too concerned with winning and not spending enough time teaching them how to pass & move, timing of runs etc.

You mention that they hand out coaching badges like confetti yet the UK has the least amount of qualified coaches amongst the major nations in Europe. Check your facts before posting shite

Football goes through waves. There are not too many gifted stars coming through at the moment but who is to say that will be the case 5 or 10 years from now?

I think something definitely has to be done about the coaching system in this country, even if each league side was made to include just ONE player brought through by the club from this country it might make the situation better.

There also needs to be a more accessible way to get into coaching, because i don't reckon many ex pros would have the inclination to get up early on saturday morning to give a training session to an under -8 side (which is the grass roots of the game) so more people from outside the game need to be brought into these roles.

Making it more accessible and maybe better paid would help the grass roots of the game, because if these youngsters were trained to be TRULY good enough, they would be getting in the team.

(We tend to forget that!)

[Alexikokopops]

You mention that they hand out coaching badges like confetti yet the UK has the least amount of qualified coaches amongst the major nations in Europe. Check your facts before posting shite

Just a point on this. A large reason for this is because Spain/Germany etc. have been signed up for this system for years now, where as we've only come into it a lot more recently. I can't give you the exact figures (because I've had a five pint Wednesday), but I DEFINITELY remember reading something about it.

[Thracian]

I think a lot of potential coaches are put off by the law in this country and the potential for being sued at every turn, even if you put your arm around a kid cos he's screaming in pain cos he's broken his ankle. You've really got to have a sick mind to see fault in that!

But they did and at one time you couldn't even take photographs of your own kids at a youth game in case you were some sort of closet paedo.

It made coaches feel dirty and I know of lots who decided they no longer wanted the potential or invented stigma.

It's perhaps different now - people today are brought up and conditioned to putting up with such shit - but the seeds of our coaching demise were sewn years ago when people of my generation just felt insulted and quit.

I certainly wouldn't want to work as a coach in such conditions - and that's as one who was a county, regional and national coach at one time as well as manager/coach of a part time professional football club.

[Alexikokopops]

I think a lot of potential coaches are put off by the law in this country and the potential for being sued at every turn, even if you put your arm around a kid cos he's screaming in pain cos he's broken his ankle. You've really got to have a sick mind to see fault in that!

But they did and at one time you couldn't even take photographs of your own kids at a youth game in case you were some sort of closet paedo.

It made coaches feel dirty and I know of lots who decided they no longer wanted the potential or invented stigma.

It's perhaps different now - people today are brought up and conditioned to putting up with such shit - but the seeds of our coaching demise were sewn years ago when people of my generation just felt insulted and quit.

I certainly wouldn't want to work as a coach in such conditions - and that's as one who was a county, regional and national coach at one time as well as manager/coach of a part time professional football club.

If I've learnt anything from the tabloids, its that you are never more than three feet away from a paedophile at any time.

[Thracian]

If I've learnt anything from the tabloids, its that you are never more than three feet away from a paedophile at any time.

And all all big dogs need to be restrained cos otherwise they're likely to bite your head off.