SpurSince57
Well-Known Member
- Jan 20, 2006
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Also, there's bugger all point in building a multi-million-pound state-of-the-art academy if you're not going to use its products.
Pochettino: "It is our job to bring through young players..."
- Thread starter thinktank
- Start date
Also, there's bugger all point in building a multi-million-pound state-of-the-art academy if you're not going to use its products.
SlickMongoose
Copacetic
- Feb 27, 2005
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Damn straight Poch. It's a manager's job to bring through youth players. It isn't optional. Preach it.
I hope so!
Maybe Levy has built in a bonus clause in Poch's contract for successfully bringing up youths from the Academy.
I hope so!
Marty
Audere est farce
- Mar 10, 2005
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Our academy was so shit that the only players we brought through in the 14 years pre-ENIC were Campbell, Carr and King. It's well documented that one of the first things Levy prioritised was a complete overhaul of the academy system. I'm really not surprised that it's taken almost 15 years to see the results, but now our academy is undoubtedly one of the best in the country. Worth the wait IMO.
SpurSince57
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- Jan 20, 2006
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How unutterably crass.
Shadydan
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- Jul 7, 2012
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It's Mullers
AB27
Active Member
- Jun 17, 2012
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Nothing to do with the fact that the kids that we put through our overhauled system are only now old enough to have come out of it at the other end?
I think it's more to do with the fact that we spent big on a load of tat and the only alternative is the youth. Had the players we bought performed Mason would have been sold and Kane would probably be on loan.
The academy should have been the priority from the get go because it is clear we cannot match the big spenders, employ a coach who understands this, even if it means taking steps backwards before going forwards. I said before Sherwood was in a way the right guy for us to have as coach because he has worked with the youth and was prepared to blood them into the first team, yes he was a limited coach, yes he talked shite from time to time but he did a good job to take the team to 6th and introduce Kane and Bentaleb into the first team.
If the board think Poch is the man to bring youth through are they prepared for the long haul? Are they prepared to go a couple steps back and be patient as Poch starts bringing through the youth?
Are the fans? I doubt it.
That's what Poch said, he also said maybe it's the best in Europe. I doubt both statements but cannot disprove them, the proof of the pudding will be how many make it with us.
JUSTINSIGNAL
Well-Known Member
- Jul 10, 2008
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Are youth players were shit before. Unless you think O'Hara, Mark Yeates and Jonny Jackson should have gone on to be club legends?!
This Townsend, Livermore, Caulker generation are the products of a new youth program implemented 10 years ago.
Caulker and Livermore have been sold and the majority opinion I'm seeing right now is that Townsend is shit.
O'Hara I really liked him, ability wise reminds me of Mason, he played a great game at left back against United, he kept Ronaldo pretty quiet and that's saying something.
Marty
Audere est farce
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Those three have all become Premier League players though. Our academy grads pre-overhaul almost to a man dropped out of the Football League altogether, with a handful making it to League One-standard sides. And the crop of youngsters a couple of years younger than the aforementioned look even more talented. That is proof that the system is better.
But surely the main point of our academy is to turn out players good enough for us.
The system is better but is it good enough?
Marty
Audere est farce
- Mar 10, 2005
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It helps if those academy grads who don't make it with us are flipped for a few million instead of released into nothingness.
JUSTINSIGNAL
Well-Known Member
- Jul 10, 2008
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O'Hara couldn't even get a game for Wolves in league one last season FFS!
The point is that even though Caulker, Livermore and Townsend might not be good enough for us, we are at least now producing good quality premiership level players. This is the first generation we have produced quite a few of them and that is all down to the programme implemented by your mates at ENIC. Before the youth programme was revamped you could count on one hand the amount of premier league level standard players we had produced from our academy.
It depends how the money is spent.
I think Sherwood wanted to keep Livermore and get rid of Capoue to be fair.
Borks
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- Jun 22, 2014
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If anything Poch is overplaying Bentaleb. Sherwood didn't use him all that often in the latter stages of the season but Poch has pretty much used him at all times except when he's been injured.
Caulker and Livermore play for relegation threatened clubs they don't compare to the likes of Bale, Lallana, Ox, Wallcott, Shaw and Chambers that Southampton a club with much less resources have brought through.
JerryGarcia
Dark star crashes...
- May 18, 2006
- 8,694
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Surely the point of an academy is not only to produce players for the first team but to make a profit on the ones who aren't quite good enough for us. It's not a sign of failure that we sold the likes of Caulker and Livermore, it's progress. The club invests money in these youth players and they can't all make it with us but we get to pick the best ones for our team, look at Barca and the number of their academy players at teams in Spain, Italy and England now. Players like Bojan and Dos Santos were talented but were sold and the same will happen for us.
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