Academy/u21s

[Silent Blade]

That waste of money has earned the club at least 20 million in transfer fees alone ,where would we be without that ?

How much of the transfer fees went to the agents pockets? How much does it cost per year to run the Academy? We are in the 3rd division!

 

[Racy]

How much of the transfer fees went to the agents pockets? How much does it cost per year to run the Academy? We are in the 3rd division!

Exactly and no just into agents pockets mainly into Mcabes pocket but not go down that road.

The latest set of youngsters are mediocre the exeption being possibly Mcfazdene but let's see how the rest pan out with the new manager.

But get the scouting system sorted and unearth another gem like Millar.

 

[Pedro Verde]

Exactly and no just into agents pockets mainly into Mcabes pocket but not go down that road.

The latest set of youngsters are mediocre the exeption being possibly Mcfazdene but let's see how the rest pan out with the new manager.

But get the scouting system sorted and unearth another gem like Millar.

You really think Di Girilamo is mediocre you must know more about him than the Italian international set up Ive heard there are some really good young players in the U15 / U17 age group ask Daz
Surley the way ahead is to have an Academy backed by a good scouting network
Scrap the academy and we are fekked as many have said its the only thing United have got right in the last 15 years

 

[gavtheblade]

Our youth system is our future.
I for one am encouraged that we constantley turn out good produce.
Ok,we have flogged them on in the past-jags,kyles etc,but`whilst they are still here`they will be exciting and freshening to the eye.
Who knows,mcfadzean,diego and co may get us up this season and in the process we may accumilate enough money to bolster there wages and contracts.
The acadamy is a fantastic assett to the club that is a proven and solid earner to our club,and until we get back amongst the top 30 teams in the country we cannot compete with wages,so its sods law that over riding talent will move on unless we cannot match or better there offers.
In the mean time,enjoy watching our starlets blossom,and hopefully along the way we may get a promotion or 2 if we are lucky enough.

 

[DazBlade88]

How much of the transfer fees went to the agents pockets? How much does it cost per year to run the Academy? We are in the 3rd division!

Agent fees are paid by the buying club, not the selling club. The academy costs nothing to run because it is all self financed by activities etc. held there.

The latest set of youngsters are mediocre the exeption being possibly Mcfazdene but let's see how the rest pan out with the new manager.

But get the scouting system sorted and unearth another gem like Millar.

107 appearances were made in our first team from players under 21 that we have produced and six of them reached the youth cup final, so they can't be that bad even though some will probably never go higher than L1/Championship. (Long, Maguire, Ironside, McFadzean, Chappel, De Girolamo, Whitehouse, Kennedy)

As for the under 18s, there's 4 outfield players that are youth internationals, have great potential and can influence the first team in the next few years so we'll have to see what happens. We also have George Willis who is better than Long was at his age, and Gareth Owen who has been playing for the U18s at 16 and has represented Wales at youth level. It's no fluke that we're finding these players, and with Nick Cox now part of the youth recruitment I'm genuinely excited about what we can bring through in the next few years.

I agree that we need to improve the scouting for the first team though.

 

[Elsecar_Blade]

I think half the problem with some people is that George and Harry are now "established" players so they don't see the successes of them no more. When we played Yeovil Town at home in the league (0-2), the abuse handed out by some around me towards Long was a disgrace after the second goal. Sure, it was a terrible error but show me any top goalkeeper who hasn't made an error and I'll call you a liar. Similarly, the abuse Harry got in a game late on last season - can't remember which but he had a "mare" - was awful to hear. We cannot forget that these boys are 19-20 and will make mistakes. But when they make errors, we must realise that actually, in hindsight, what a cracking job they are already doing to have almost/over 50 first team appearances already at their age.

The other half of the problem with negativity towards the Academy is the loss of the starlets - people will say "What's the point of producing players if they're going to be sold anyway?" and give up on it. However, ask yourselves this. Where would we be financially without the £15-20m from the sales of the younger lads? We've got financial problems anyway without that money. Also, people STILL need to realise what we are. For three years, we've been a lower Championship, top League 1 side. Those teams do not keep hold of talented youngsters. To keep talented youngsters, you need to be at least challenging for the Premier League if not in it.

The idea of shutting the Academy to save money is, without causing offence, ludicrous. We need it for two very important reasons: (a) it makes more money (long term) than it costs when you count transfer fees; (b) it is our best hopes of unearthing a diamond. If Diego was playing for another League 1 team, what would our chances be of signing a young, promising Italian youth international? No chance. People keep going on about lads like Max Clayton at Crewe because he's a young kid and he's already played a full season in League 1, looks useful. Err, Harry Maguire? Could we realistically sign Max Clayton? No. The only chance of getting talented young lads into SUFC is by producing them ourselves.

 

[Sharrowblade]

But get the scouting system sorted and unearth another gem like Millar.

Shaun Miller signed for Crewe Alex when he was seven.

It's a good job Crewe didn't bother to scrap their academy.

 

[Racy]

Shaun Miller signed for Crewe Alex when he was seven.

It's a good job Crewe didn't bother to scrap their academy.

Then we can pinch them at the right money like Millar

 

[Pedro Verde]

Then we can pinch them at the right money like Millar

Miller was a bargain you might get one a season how do you see us creating a competent squad that may challenge for promotion if we cant produce players of the likes of Maguire Long McFadzean ourselves because a decent proven player at this level will cost you 250/500k

 

[Silent Blade]

Shaun Miller signed for Crewe Alex when he was seven.

It's a good job Crewe didn't bother to scrap their academy.

Crewe's Academy is a very good stepping stone for talented youngsters (I think they were disappointed that they didnt get the fee they were realistically hoping for selling Shaun Miller) but for a club like ours I do not like the idea of our Academy being a similar sort of stepping stone, and they play for our 1st team for a short period before being sold to a club in the higher division for a low fee because we are now in the 3rd division (how much did we sell Steve Quinn for?). We sold the two Kyles at the time when we were seen as a club challenging for promotion to the Premiership so we were able to demand for much higher fees

 

[Racy]

Crewe's Academy is a very good stepping stone for talented youngsters (I think they were disappointed that they didnt get the fee they were realistically hoping for selling Shaun Miller) but for a club like ours I do not like the idea of our Academy being a similar sort of stepping stone, and they play for our 1st team for a short period before being sold to a club in the higher division for a low fee because we are now in the 3rd division (how much did we sell Steve Quinn for?). We sold the two Kyles at the time when we were seen as a club challenging for promotion to the Premiership so we were able to demand for much higher fees

The way things are will we become a feeder club?

 

[DazBlade88]

The way things are will we become a feeder club?

We always will be until we're one of the top clubs in the country and playing Money League football every season. I don't see that happening anytime soon though.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Most clubs are feeder clubs in one way or another, as Spurs will find out this summer!

The key is to get a decent fee for any transferred and try to get as high in the league as you can, thereby holding onto more of the kids for longer (Crewe will never figure high enough to hold any of their decent kids). If we'd gone up I daresay both Kyles would've stayed for a season or two more, but we would've lost them eventually (but for more money).

 

[Racy]

Ive took a bit of stick since posting this thread and off my Blade mates and theres been some good constructive comments posted and the majority are passionate about the youth system we have.

Hope the new manager can find something in the present crop of young uns.
Long live the accademy!

 

[Kenilworth]

The other thing about the success of the kids sold on from our academy is that it helps to attract the best youngsters available. Think about it. You are the parent of a talented youngster and you have Derby, Leeds, Pigs, Blades and Birmingham all offering you a place. Which club do you advise your son to sign for? I'll bet a lot of the decision is based around opportunity to play, quality of coaching and crucially track record of where it might lead your son in the long term. When you look at the success of the Blades youth system compared to almost any other in the UK it has done a terrific job. When you factor in where we are from a first team level then it is probably at or near the top in the UK.

Success breeds success so our youth academy is the lifeline for the future of this club. God knows we cannot attract the level of investment that some clubs enjoy - because of where we are, how we are owned and the location of the city (i.e. it isn't London) - so it's the only route forward.

Yes, we do sell them too early. It is a bloody shame that we cannot keep hold of them longer to make more of an impact on the first team but that's a direct consequence of the shite managerial decisions McCabe has made at first team level. That's what has led us to where we are today.