The Doctor Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Sorry Al, Gilbert was dire, I can't even remember Spearing and I don't class bringing in loanees as "developing" our players. You may be right about our current Academy players - I saw little to get excited about in the FA Youth Cup - but that in itself says little for our recruitment and, again, our recruitment even at senior level seems indifferent.. Neither do I, all I said was if he's willing to give those young loanees a place in the team then it suggests he's not against giving youth a chance.
deep blue Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 any of these kids he's not played gone on to better things! oh yeah billy kee went burton albion! whoooooooop Billy Kee's doing alright at Burton and is still very young. It's much too early to write him off yet.
MPH Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Quite frankly Pearson's problem is not the future, its the now. Unless there is a player in the youth team who can come in and blast us to promotion with 30 goals in the second half of the season he needs to focus on the now. Which is the first team. That's the greater mess that needs sorting out... Once the club is more settled then that's a different matter... but i would be more concerned if he WAS focusing on the youth team right now...
Thracian Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Quite frankly Pearson's problem is not the future, its the now. Unless there is a player in the youth team who can come in and blast us to promotion with 30 goals in the second half of the season he needs to focus on the now. Which is the first team. That's the greater mess that needs sorting out... Once the club is more settled then that's a different matter... but i would be more concerned if he WAS focusing on the youth team right now... Dog 4 sums up what Leicester's youngsters have to put up with by way of the sniggering I mentioned. Kee suffered serious injuries during the time he should have been emerging at Leicester and has done extremely well to resurrect his career. But Dog's comment just typifies the mentality. We must have done right by them because they've never become stars anywhere else. In fact we've wasted stacks of talent but arguing the point won't change anything. As for MPH's comment that is so short term...and 100% typical of our club. Let me spell it out. If you have lots of money to sign whoever you like the one thing you're guaranteed is not promotion but disgruntled footballers. Because not everyone can get in the team. And when the discontented incomers mix with the displaced youngsters coming through there's even more bad feeling. Truth is that using two or three youngsters as back-up for the first choice "stars" serves several positive purposes. The youngsters have good examples around them and develop more quickly as a result. And, being involved, they become a positive influence around the place instead of feeling bitter or disgruntled. Part of the reason we're now in a slump is that certain players either didn't want to play for Pearson, didn't get the chance to play for Pearson or knew they were likely to be out in January and didn't have any reason to feel motivated. Combine those problems and it's little wonder we're looking so shit on match days. Having some Academy lads coming through would have provided an antidote, Schlupp being the most obvious example. But not even he has received any proper encouragement.
Happy Fox Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Well at least their keen in Tom Hopper's case http://www.bostonsta...uture_1_3369710 Tom Hopper hopes 2012 will be the year he breaks into the Leicester City first team. The teenager has had a memorable 12 months after signing his first professional contract with the Foxes... and receiving his first international call-up. Hopper, whose family home is in Stickney, was the first player in his age group in the Leicester Academy to be offered a deal this term. “It’s a good feeling knowing the pressure of getting a contract is off. But you can’t relax, you have to go on and keep proving you’re good enough,” said Hopper. “It was a nice feeling, but it’s just one small step up a long ladder.” After spending this season turning out for the under 18s and reserve teams, the striker hopes his contests with the second string will catch the eye of manager Nigel Pearson, as well as some famous teammates. “I’ve got to work hard in the reserves to prove to people at the club that I’m good enough for the first team. Because, at the end of the day, it’s my aim to be there,” Hopper added. “It’s a strange feeling to watch Gelson Fernandes score in a World Cup and then be playing alongside him. “But you can learn a lot from players like that, which is good for me.” With players such as Jermaine Beckford, Darius Vassell and David Nugent on the books, Leicester have an abundance of striking talent. However, Hopper pledges to work hard in a bid to turn out for his club’s first team.
Finnegan Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 It's alright accusing people of "sniggering" over the players not being good enough but whether or not you "accept" it, a lot of them weren't. Even if you buy into the idea that we actively harmed the progress of Sheehan, Dodds, Porter, Chambers, Odihambo, O'Grady and co' by not giving them enough time on the pitch during their eighteen or so months as potential candidates, it still doesn't account for the fact that they all went elsewhere and have done absolutely **** all at any noticeable level. As far as I'm aware, we loaned most of them out to lower levels before eventually giving up on them and none of them really stood out. And all have now departed and, with the surprising exception of O'Grady (earning a move to Sheff Weds through sheer graft where he isn't exactly setting the world alight) none have proven the doubters at Leicester wrong. At all. I do accept that Pearson seems to have little interest in investing in our home-grown youngsters (much to the detriment of Max Gradel, who I feel we as a club DID give a good chance to - we simply had one manager who disapproved of him enough to sell him for what now looks like a pittance) but he certainly can't be accused of disregarding youth all together and I don't really blame him for pillaging the academies of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United for the pick of the country's young players instead of relying on what's been, let's face it, a fairly limited crop at City since we pulled through Mattock, King and Stearman in the same generation.
jamesmilner Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 what tosh !!!!! 98% of academy players dont make it , FACT. pearson doesnt interact with the academy ? well just before xmas the academy did a sponsored row for charity . instead of driving home after training one day , he waited and turned up to support the lads in their venture .that was at fossepark shopping centre . overlooking the lads ? just look at their results lately , maybe why ! a certain martin o'neill also didnt frattonise with players (1st team players at that !!!!!!) , was martins way ! tell them to shut up and work at results and then maybe they might miraculously turn into of one of the 2 % !!!!
scousefox4 Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Derby county currently have three 18 year olds & one 15 year old all playing 1st team football & are currently on the same league points as us , young players coming through the academy system is the way forward imo
AyewJoking Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Surely if any academy players had real potential then its Rudkin and co's job to recommend them to Pearson. Having the first team manager watch academy games would be a nice boost for young players but its not necessary IMO.
Captain... Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 The biggest problem at the moment is there is no real reserve team to speak of and has been for years, you can't put an academy player straight in to the first team, they need a chance to play with the first team players feel comfortable doing so in a reserve set up, a handful of games a season is not good enough, this also impacts the players not in the first team. I'm sure the likes of Tunchev, Danns and Weale would love to be playing regularly even if at a lower level it may have helped get Johnson fit and given NP/Sven a chance to experiment with different formations, let Abe take a few free kicks, and give the youngsters a chance. The fact is academies are becoming marginalised in England and it is a problem much deeper than us. Thracian is right that our coaches don't fill me with confidence that they know how to develop youth players, but we have had more come through in the last 20 seasons than the handful mentioned above. Jordan Stewart and Matt Heath spring to mind, Stef Oakes as well a bit further back. Let's not forget that the league decided to reduce the number of subs to 5 so limiting places for younger players, even the transfer window makes it more difficult for youth players. I don't expect to see any young players in the team any time soon, it's sad really.
Thracian Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 what tosh !!!!! 98% of academy players dont make it , FACT. pearson doesnt interact with the academy ? well just before xmas the academy did a sponsored row for charity . instead of driving home after training one day , he waited and turned up to support the lads in their venture .that was at fossepark shopping centre . overlooking the lads ? just look at their results lately , maybe why ! a certain martin o'neill also didnt frattonise with players (1st team players at that !!!!!!) , was martins way ! tell them to shut up and work at results and then maybe they might miraculously turn into of one of the 2 % !!!! Academys are not about those who don't make it but those who do and if we're not getting people up to first team level then, just like in seemingly every other football aspect of Leicester City whether it be recruitment, training, coaching, the team structure or whatever, we're doing something seriously wrong. While we waste millions on fees and wages for people who hardly merit a place in our side this gives some indication of what the 2% you refer to might realise. Cos at Southampton - a club much like ours in size and support - that 2% from the youth ranks has recently included England internationals Arsenal winger/forward Theo Walcott and defender Wayne Bridge, Wales and Spurs left-winger Gareth Bale, and Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird. Other players who have come through are Andrew Surman, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Adam Lallana. And what is that investment worth? The 2%? Well here's some indication starting with a notional £50m for Bale and Walcott. http://www.sport.co.uk/features/Football/1622/What_is_the_secret_behind_Southamptons_youth_academy.aspx And while Southampton spend around £1m on Richard Lambert and get 66 goals from him in 111 games, we get a couple of goals from Beckford and virtually send our Schlupperman into the wilderness. Yet some still defend what we do and seem to celebrate the fact that highly talented players have failed to blossom instead of being ashamed. I sure wonder what Southampton might have made of people like King, Gradel, Sheehan, Porter, O'Grady, Stearman and a few more but I guess we'll never know and will keep making excuses for our ineptitude. Me I'm still waiting for someone to name one single player who has significantly improved since arriving in our first team since, say, Levein was manager. Even today you could get a list of our current squad and circle the players who've got better! It really isn't many and with the resources we've got in terms of money and facilities that's shameful and there's no excuse for it whatsoever. If Southampton can find/develop youngsters like Bale, Walcott, Lallana etc. and have scouts drooling over what they do in the first team, why are we so inept? Perhaps we should actually send Schlupp to Southampton as a Chistmas goodwill gesture with a note asking them to put him through their finishing school to see how good he can really be.
flowwolf Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 What a utter load of bollocks. If a youth is good enough he will make it with or without the manager taking a personal interest in his day to day goings on. Does anyone think O, Neil spent much time chatting away to academy players ? of course not he had better and more important things to be getting on with. That is for who ever is in charge of the academy job. Pearson has enough on his hands with the arse holes he has playing in the first team never mind some whinging kids getting all touchy because no one has recognised their obvious genius. What ever happened to the real world where it was up to you to be grateful put in all the extra training , sit down shut up and learn from the pro's ? Simple maxim if you are good enough your time will come because the manager will have to take notice that you are good enough. End of .
Captain... Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 What a utter load of bollocks. If a youth is good enough he will make it with or without the manager taking a personal interest in his day to day goings on. Does anyone think O, Neil spent much time chatting away to academy players ? of course not he had better and more important things to be getting on with. That is for who ever is in charge of the academy job. Pearson has enough on his hands with the arse holes he has playing in the first team never mind some whinging kids getting all touchy because no one has recognised their obvious genius. What ever happened to the real world where it was up to you to be grateful put in all the extra training , sit down shut up and learn from the pro's ? Simple maxim if you are good enough your time will come because the manager will have to take notice that you are good enough. End of . I agree to a point, NP has better things to worry about, but we should be doing everything possible to give these players the best chance at succeeding, a good player is a good player but at this age the right coaching and set-up is the difference between a player reaching his potential or falling short. From what very little I have seen of Schlupp he reminds a lot of Heskey when he was coming through, the difference is Heskey was playing a lot of football, first team and reserves Schlupp isn't the right coaching and playing environment could mean the difference between an 11 million pound England international or another failure released in a couple of seasons to languish in the lower leagues. I don't think this requires NP to give them all a hug, but does require them getting out on the pitch and playing football.
Bob Weasel Fox Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 What a utter load of bollocks. If a youth is good enough he will make it with or without the manager taking a personal interest in his day to day goings on. Does anyone think O, Neil spent much time chatting away to academy players ? of course not he had better and more important things to be getting on with. That is for who ever is in charge of the academy job. Pearson has enough on his hands with the arse holes he has playing in the first team never mind some whinging kids getting all touchy because no one has recognised their obvious genius. What ever happened to the real world where it was up to you to be grateful put in all the extra training , sit down shut up and learn from the pro's ? Simple maxim if you are good enough your time will come because the manager will have to take notice that you are good enough. End of . Good point Flowwy i agree
MPH Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Dog 4 sums up what Leicester's youngsters have to put up with by way of the sniggering I mentioned. Kee suffered serious injuries during the time he should have been emerging at Leicester and has done extremely well to resurrect his career. But Dog's comment just typifies the mentality. We must have done right by them because they've never become stars anywhere else. In fact we've wasted stacks of talent but arguing the point won't change anything. As for MPH's comment that is so short term...and 100% typical of our club. Let me spell it out. If you have lots of money to sign whoever you like the one thing you're guaranteed is not promotion but disgruntled footballers. Because not everyone can get in the team. And when the discontented incomers mix with the displaced youngsters coming through there's even more bad feeling. Truth is that using two or three youngsters as back-up for the first choice "stars" serves several positive purposes. The youngsters have good examples around them and develop more quickly as a result. And, being involved, they become a positive influence around the place instead of feeling bitter or disgruntled. Part of the reason we're now in a slump is that certain players either didn't want to play for Pearson, didn't get the chance to play for Pearson or knew they were likely to be out in January and didn't have any reason to feel motivated. Combine those problems and it's little wonder we're looking so shit on match days. Having some Academy lads coming through would have provided an antidote, Schlupp being the most obvious example. But not even he has received any proper encouragement. Of course its short term. The Thais want promotion at all costs this season, Pearson wants it, I want it, and quite frankly if you would put Pearsons attention any other place other than promotion this season then you are stupid. Its a very critical time of the season and Our chance of promotion is slipping away rapidly so all his focus has to be on the first team. This isnt the time to try and blood inexperienced young players into the side. Time isnt on his side. he hasnt been given a long term goal for this season... his goal is very very simple.... Promotion this season and that's where his focus needs to be. Perhaps if we get promotion we'll be able to attract a better quality of young players anyway... Go on Thracian... take the bail on that one too.
ramadaone Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Few references above to the recruitment into the Academy which I think we are good at - junior Leicestershire leagues are very strong and Leices teams are top of every league in the Midland Junior Premier League which reinforces that fact. The best players from these teams are in the Academy without doubt - yes there will be a few late developers that may slip through the net and thats an area we could improve on but in general I don't think you can blame the recruitment side of things. There is a school of thought that you can get ANY lad in at the age of 9 and with top class coaching combined with the right attitude from the boy you will get a top class player - in other words recruitment is not really that important but TOP QUALITY coaching is.
volpeazzurro Posted 30 December 2011 Posted 30 December 2011 Modern football persay is very impatient nowadays. We want promotion, the Thai's after all their investment want promotion, Pearson wants promotion. Out of all these it is NP under pressure because who knows what ultimatum he has been given re time scales etc, though to be honest, if he didn't get promotion at the first attempt with the shambles he's been left with, I for one wouldn't be surprised or blame him for it. Who knows how much, if anything, he has to spend in Jan or whether suitable players would be available. Also, some of the players he doesn't rate are probably sitting pretty with long well paid contracts. The amount of pressure he must be under would leave him concentrating 100% on first team matters and I agree with the premise that the club employ other people who they supposedly trust, on good wages, to alert him to someone special in the academy ranks. He is at least putting Schlupp on the bench but probably wants to persist with his arm around Beckford's shoulder for a while longer as he has shown proven ability in the past and sometimes a good run in the team pays dividends e.g. I don't think Andy Carroll's footballing future is suddenly over after a few cameo appearances at Liverpool, though to read some of the twaddle written about him you begin to wonder. I would however like to see Schlupp given more and more of a chance if Beckford doesn't start to come up with the goods in the next 4/5 games though (in his proper position). Either way I think after all the upheaval, whatever happens, we should at least do NP the courtesy of our support until at least this time next year and see what's happening then.
Haydos Posted 2 January 2012 Posted 2 January 2012 after today shhhhhh your mouth !!!!!!! Yeah, Schlupp, Moore and King are world class after that performance, you've showed everyone!
sphericalfox Posted 2 January 2012 Posted 2 January 2012 after today shhhhhh your mouth !!!!!!! Kennedy isn't youth. Neither is Moore for that matter. I know howard looks young for his age, maybe you meant him.
Haydos Posted 2 January 2012 Posted 2 January 2012 youth not the way forward ? it is ! What do you even mean? You think we should be playing our academy team? You're just saying words with no real point.
GianEmmo Zola Posted 2 January 2012 Posted 2 January 2012 I'm sure Moore is only 18 isn't he? Yeh he is very youthful! Kennedy is 26/27 isnt he!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.