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Old 09-09-2017, 04:47 PM
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Martin H Martin H is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woosie View Post
Wycombe Eagle's post is an excellent one and is well worth reading.

I don't know, it's not an easy thing to have a full opinion on from the outside looking in, regardless of how much information I can retain on how the academy process works.

Until this year I found it very difficult to find information about any age group below the U18s.

Ultimately, I think the academy set-up is the best idea, but it depends on the way in which it is structured, the coaches, the pool of talent you are able to attract, the funding provided etc etc.

The academy also has a lot to be grateful for in respect of educating and developing young men in their personal lives, providing them with a lifeline from a difficult start in life - especially in some of the areas Palace recruit from.

Huddersfield's catchment area is significantly smaller than Palace's, and Palace often take Chelsea's cast-offs. That plays a part in it.

EPPP was a step in the right direction but was also deeply flawed. It has (literally) created a four-tier system. Whereas before, Palace would play Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, they know no longer have that chance. If you can't play against the best then you have less of an opportunity to develop into the best player, and the club also has a slimmer chance of attracting the best young players to the club and the best coaches.

I don't agree with scrapping the entire academy and focussing on a B team, but I can see why some clubs have done it. If everyone does that then it kind of defeats the point. It would be far better to collectively lobby the PL/FA to create a new plan for the professional development of youth footballers.
Thanks - As ever insightful. From a far less well informed position I would agree re EPPP which seems to me to yet another example of something defined in the name of developing the best players that has even more to do with protecting the status quo re the 'big clubs' as does STCC and FFP.

The dilemma is that it is very difficult to bring the youth players into a Premier League side unless they really are an exceptional talent (I.e. can compete at 19-21 with senior, experienced players). Players of that talent are few and far between, by definition, as senior players are drawn from the best in the world. So when they are that good they attract the big clubs who steal them early leaving us with the cost of them and the rest covered by a pittance if we are lucky. Southampton after many years investment and a class leading academy/scouting setup, seemed to have nailed that but I think even that may be slowing down a little in terms of flowing through to the first team.

I would be gutted if they were to stop funding the academy and I hope they do crack the facilities, structure and investment. I think they have been upgrading the quality of the youngsters and there are some exciting ones by the sounds of it in the pipeline but can we keep them and can we harness them. I would say DeBoer is the first Manager we have had for a long long while that would consider them seriously. But ......
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