Astrit Ajdarevic will sign for us...

[mchaggis]

Out of the homegrown academy trained lads Hammill and Lindfield look the only genuine prospects to me, which is a bit disappointing isn't it? It's been too long since we had someone break through at a young age and really make a difference for us.

I think Linfield should get a chance or two this season. If he does it we can sell Kuyt

[Rowan]

You are always going to get players who look like real talents at 11 - 16 that just don't make the step up to the calibre needed to break in to a team that competes in the champions league. While i suppose this is slightly off the subject part of the trick is making sure the investment of time in players who haven't made the step up is recupped through sales. eg 4 mil for David Thompson, 1 mill for Stephen Wright, £250K for Raven etc (stick 8 mil for Owen and £11 for Fowler in there too if you feel the need although they moved on for rather different reasons). That way the outlay on capital is recupped throught the long term. We also have a better chance of taking the borderline players to the next level and unearthing a genuine star (Gerrard etc). Theres no harm in signing a youngster for next too nothing working to develop them and selling at an overall profit if it just doesn't happen. And yes if we want to compete in the long term we can't just sign up lads from the local area, we need to steal them from further afield.

[Howard_lfc]

I'm so sorry H

Its just the eway I read some comments and previous comments in the past from other posters.

No harm meant

no sweat mate.

[red g]

You are always going to get players who look like real talents at 11 - 16 that just don't make the step up to the calibre needed to break in to a team that competes in the champions league. While i suppose this is slightly off the subject part of the trick is making sure the investment of time in players who haven't made the step up is recupped through sales. eg 4 mil for David Thompson, 1 mill for Stephen Wright, £250K for Raven etc (stick 8 mil for Owen and £11 for Fowler in there too if you feel the need although they moved on for rather different reasons). That way the outlay on capital is recupped throught the long term. We also have a better chance of taking the borderline players to the next level and unearthing a genuine star (Gerrard etc). Theres no harm in signing a youngster for next too nothing working to develop them and selling at an overall profit if it just doesn't happen. And yes if we want to compete in the long term we can't just sign up lads from the local area, we need to steal them from further afield.

it is going to pay off for wenger in the next few years. they have some right gems

[Resu]

Has Linfield scored for the reserves at all?
I haven`t seen any raving reviews about him, and if you don`t stand out in the reserves you`re not ready for the first team, remember Mellor.

[Marky]

Too old for my liking.

[Guest]

Can't see any up and coming young player from manure's youth team and chelsea's also. Arsenal, having poured huge amounts of money into signing the best youngsters from the continent, are reaping the rewards now.

With Eboué, Djourou, Clichy, Senderos, Fabregas, Van Persie, Denilson etc ... they will have one hell of a team in the very near future. That's a policy we could have adopted a long time ago, instead of pouring money into so called proven talent, who have so far failed (on the whole) to justify the money outlay on them.

[tomasjj]

Can't see any up and coming young player from manure's youth team and chelsea's also. Arsenal, having poured huge amounts of money into signing the best youngsters from the continent, are reaping the rewards now.

With Eboué, Djourou, Clichy, Senderos, Fabregas, Van Persie, Denilson etc ... they will have one hell of a team in the very near future. That's a policy we could have adopted a long time ago, instead of pouring money into so called proven talent, who have so far failed (on the whole) to justify the money outlay on them.

As always, a little bit of both is the best.
Have a great youth set up and academy, buy class when you need someone to build the team around or to complete the jigsaw.

[Guest]

Yeah you're right.

[tomasjj]

Yeah you're right.

Aristotle told me.



You know, he was a centre half.

[Guest]

Aristotle told me.



You know, he was a centre half.

... and he was greek.

[tomasjj]

... and he was greek.

But from Macedonia...

[publiusscipio]

Too old for my liking.

What is the correct age range?

[Pepe]

The academy concentrates too much on the academic education of the players.

It needs to move back to basics ie looking for the best young players out there.

[kopdan]

The academy concentrates too much on the academic education of the players.

It needs to move back to basics ie looking for the best young players out there.

Is that the academy's role though?

The club has youth scouts who go out and find the lads, they then join the academy to develop what skills they already have PLUS its a necessity for the academy to educate players who may not make pro football.