Harrison Panayiotou

[Guest shearfox]

I think our academy is producing the goods, I'm hoping they certainly don't get shafted for some names during the summer...

[Bettsj2]

G'won Panneh.

Pure finish.

Panneh and Schluppenator up front next season with Hoppoh just behind.

[THEFATBASTARD]

do they sell lcfc nappies in the super store?

[AKCJ]

He didn't know what happened <laugh> it just hit him.

[smudger63]

King's the only ex-Academy player he's used regularly and the bloke is beyond recognition these days he's gone so far backwards.

Otherwise it's been emergencies or meaningless matches like yesterday's.

Pearson's been quoted as wanting eight new players next season. And with so many others on expensive contracts I don't see any Academy players coming through in any meaningful way...and I doubt Gradel would disagree.

The problem for Leicester is that these youngsters aren't the finished article when they leave under 18 level and I've seen no evidence to convince me we have the faintest idea how to add the final polish.

People will moan at my frankness and I'll see it happen before I change my mind.

I pretty much agree with this actually.

I also think we desperately need to have a reserve team playing regularly in some kind of reserve league next season too, so that some of our better youngsters have another stage to move on too, and with the opportunity to impress.

Also, for our first team squad players who are not getting in the first team, or who are just coming back from injury, to keep up their fitness and match sharpness

[ramadaone]

King's the only ex-Academy player he's used regularly and the bloke is beyond recognition these days he's gone so far backwards.

Otherwise it's been emergencies or meaningless matches like yesterday's.

Pearson's been quoted as wanting eight new players next season. And with so many others on expensive contracts I don't see any Academy players coming through in any meaningful way...and I doubt Gradel would disagree.

The problem for Leicester is that these youngsters aren't the finished article when they leave under 18 level and I've seen no evidence to convince me we have the faintest idea how to add the final polish.

People will moan at my frankness and I'll see it happen before I change my mind.

Next year we will have a team in the Academy under 21's league so hopefully that might improve the situation by giving the lads more game time if Pearson continues to ignore them - hopefully the under 21's manager will be part of the Academy set up rather than the "proper" management one

[Trav Le Bleu]

We've persisted with Steve Howard making no impact all season. Maybe if we were willing to take a chance on Hopper or Harry sooner, things could have worked out differently. Can we finally learn from this? We've had 10 years of failure for a reason.

The only thing to learn is that he is a young lad and if he'd been blooded halfway through the season and gone 3 game without a goal the fans would have been on his back and destroyed his confidence and thereby his career here before he even began.

Here endeth the lesson.

[Daggers]

Hope you're not talking about me?

I'm coming over all Carly Simon.

(Isn't it amazing how word order effects the meaning?)

[AoWW]

I'm coming over all Carly Simon.

(Isn't it amazing how word order effects the meaning?)

I once taught a kid called Simon Carly. That changes the meaning even more.

[dannythefox]

Did well when he came on one for the future hopefully!

[whitlock]

haha he jumped to get out the way, ball hit his foot and sent the keeper the wrong way best bit of luck we've had all season!

[Daggers]

I once taught a kid called Simon Carly. That changes the meaning even more.

Potentially.

[bluesbrothers]

King's the only ex-Academy player he's used regularly and the bloke is beyond recognition these days he's gone so far backwards.

Otherwise it's been emergencies or meaningless matches like yesterday's.

Pearson's been quoted as wanting eight new players next season. And with so many others on expensive contracts I don't see any Academy players coming through in any meaningful way...and I doubt Gradel would disagree.

The problem for Leicester is that these youngsters aren't the finished article when they leave under 18 level and I've seen no evidence to convince me we have the faintest idea how to add the final polish.

People will moan at my frankness and I'll see it happen before I change my mind.

And yet Pearson does have a reputation for using young players - he certainly gave some good ones a chance to shine at Hull. Corry Evans, James Chester, Robbie Brady and Cameron Stewart spring to mind. Granted, the academy didn't produce most of them, but his mantra is still of young players being developed. You only have to see that he spotted Cleverly and Spearing and got them in on loan, both now solid top-half premiership regulars, to know he has an eye for a good player.

I trust Pearson to only use academy players he deems up to it. Given his previous stint at the club, he probably knows many of their abilities already, and now they've had a sensible amount of time to develop, we're seeing more come through. Just because a player's balls have just dropped doesn't mean they're instantly ready for Championship football.

Liam Moore is the perfect example, spending time on loan in a lower league with Bradford to help bridge what is, lets face it, a huge gap between academy league football and 2nd Tier professional games. Reports out of the Bantams camp suggest he was pretty shaky at first and couldn't keep pace, but soon adapted to the increased pace and strength of opposition, and by the end of his loan spell he was looking good and ready for a foxes debut.

It takes time. If you see a player out on loan from the Academy, thats a good sign they're on the edge of breaking into the first team. I reckon we might see Shane Byrne sooner or later.

EDIT:

I knew i'd seen Harry Panayiotou somewhere before:

[Kitchandro]

When you look at what Southampton have produced over the last few years and then look at us, you've got to admit we're shit at bringing good players through. It's somewhat about giving them a chance but plenty have had chances and haven't been up to it.

If we were able to get a Walcott, an Oxlade-Chamberlain or a Lallana without paying a fee we'd be laughing.

[Stevosevic]

So did he actually play well?

[Jimmy]

Next year we will have a team in the Academy under 21's league so hopefully that might improve the situation by giving the lads more game time if Pearson continues to ignore them - hopefully the under 21's manager will be part of the Academy set up rather than the "proper" management one

you want it the other way around, someone in the senior coaching set up that will hammer the point home to Nige so he starts using them more

And yet Pearson does have a reputation for using young players - he certainly gave some good ones a chance to shine at Hull. Corry Evans, James Chester, Robbie Brady and Cameron Stewart spring to mind. Granted, the academy didn't produce most of them, but his mantra is still of young players being developed. You only have to see that he spotted Cleverly and Spearing and got them in on loan, both now solid top-half premiership regulars, to know he has an eye for a good player.

I trust Pearson to only use academy players he deems up to it. Given his previous stint at the club, he probably knows many of their abilities already, and now they've had a sensible amount of time to develop, we're seeing more come through. Just because a player's balls have just dropped doesn't mean they're instantly ready for Championship football.

Liam Moore is the perfect example, spending time on loan in a lower league with Bradford to help bridge what is, lets face it, a huge gap between academy league football and 2nd Tier professional games. Reports out of the Bantams camp suggest he was pretty shaky at first and couldn't keep pace, but soon adapted to the increased pace and strength of opposition, and by the end of his loan spell he was looking good and ready for a foxes debut.

It takes time. If you see a player out on loan from the Academy, thats a good sign they're on the edge of breaking into the first team. I reckon we might see Shane Byrne sooner or later.

Pearson has been shown to buy from Man Utd academy, hardly a sign of developing players, in another era those lads would already be at clubs like ours, Moore was here the last time Pearson was here and he showed no interest in moving him out on loan, Sven sent him out to Bradford, Pearson gave him his debut yes but even when Pelts was way off the pace for weeks he never looked like playing Moore instead.

[Bugg]

you want it the other way around, someone in the senior coaching set up that will hammer the point home to Nige so he starts using them more

Pearson has been shown to buy from Man Utd academy, hardly a sign of developing players, in another era those lads would already be at clubs like ours, Moore was here the last time Pearson was here and he showed no interest in moving him out on loan, Sven sent him out to Bradford, Pearson gave him his debut yes but even when Pelts was way off the pace for weeks he never looked like playing Moore instead.

That's hardly fair, Moore was about 16/17 when pearson was last here. Probably wasn't ready for League football at that age.

[Jakemoore]

I am beggining to feel mildly optimistic for next season

Just stop now to avoid disappointment later!

[ScouseFox]

Great goal.

[stourbridgefox]

Nugent was offside but... shhhhh.

[Raw Dykes]

When you look at what Southampton have produced over the last few years and then look at us, you've got to admit we're shit at bringing good players through. It's somewhat about giving them a chance but plenty have had chances and haven't been up to it.

If we were able to get a Walcott, an Oxlade-Chamberlain or a Lallana without paying a fee we'd be laughing.

It gets even worse when you consider that a lot of Soton's catchment area is in the English channel, and Leicester might be the most central city in the country. It would be good to know exactly why our academy doesn't churn out PL class players like theirs does.

[Haydos]

It gets even worse when you consider that a lot of Soton's catchment area is in the English channel, and Leicester might be the most central city in the country. It would be good to know exactly why our academy doesn't churn out PL class players like theirs does.

Couldn't you apply this to any club that hasn't had any particular success with academy graduates?

[yorkie1999]

Oo oo oo let's all do the choo choo

Oo oo oo Harry panayiotou

[ramadaone]

It gets even worse when you consider that a lot of Soton's catchment area is in the English channel, and Leicester might be the most central city in the country. It would be good to know exactly why our academy doesn't churn out PL class players like theirs does.

That's exactly why they are stronger than us !!!

We have Forest,Derby,Cov etc all on our doorstep whereas they don't really have any competition for miles now Pompey has gone tits up so their catchment area is massive in comparison.

Southampton were due to play 5 or 6 of their youth team this year but because they were close to getting promoted they stuck with playing experienced players and brought in some additional ones in Jan - so even they resorted to not giving youth a chance when the pressure to get promoted was on. If they are not going to play them in the Championship they are certainly not going to play themin the Premiership.

Milton Keynes Dons are the boys to look at if your interested in Academy football - every season they get smashed in the academy games at all ages yet they bring through more players into their first team than pretty much anyone else - so how do they manage to do that ?

[davieG]

That's exactly why they are stronger than us !!!

We have Forest,Derby,Cov etc all on our doorstep whereas they don't really have any competition for miles now Pompey has gone tits up so their catchment area is massive in comparison.

Southampton were due to play 5 or 6 of their youth team this year but because they were close to getting promoted they stuck with playing experienced players and brought in some additional ones in Jan - so even they resorted to not giving youth a chance when the pressure to get promoted was on. If they are not going to play them in the Championship they are certainly not going to play themin the Premiership.

Milton Keynes Dons are the boys to look at if your interested in Academy football - every season they get smashed in the academy games at all ages yet they bring through more players into their first team than pretty much anyone else - so how do they manage to do that ?

I don't know but maybe they have a football strategy that dictates the football style / philosophy that is practised at all levels and they employ managers that are known to favour that so you get consistency and players can move seamlessly from one level to the next without having to adapt or change their style, something we clearly do not do, not with our managerial changes.

This may not be the case but I sincerely wish we did.

They might also have greater emphasis on developing individuals rather than winning games, of course players need to be developed to win but not at the expense of developing the skills best suited to their club. not saying we don't do this but it makes you think when we can win the Academy and the vast majority of the players are worth nothing in terms of return on investment..