Our Academy/Youth?

[burntyoungster]

Heighway has huge power at the club particularly at youth level, the Academy is his domain

Whilst Rafa has no direct control over the local / homegrown youth recruitment (under 16's), hes changed a few things that have really put pressure on Heighway

He brought Herrera and then the guy from Southampton (Elias) to handpick players from all over the country to bolster the youth set up (under 18's) we've already seen Anderson, Hobbs, Antwi, Roque & a couple of others arrive to bolster that

Now he seems to be carrying on with this and improving reserve team level

All of this is putting pressure on Heighway to come up with players good enough to play for the club

Theres lots of rumours that Rafa is winning the war of attrition between the Academy & Melwood. I dont think its a personal issue like it was between Houllier & Heighway but I think Rafa believes that recruitment should be more widespread and that Academy based players shouldnt be exclusive to Liverpool (ie 1-16 year olds should be allowed to play for their schools and for other Saturday or Sunday morning leagues - which currently I dont believe they are) because exclusivity has meant kids not getting enough games to develop

you know your stuff lecter because theres been a massive problem over the years is this 'exclusivity' thing that means a boy who has developed just fine with a good boys club is taken by the academy and told he must only play and train with them. this causes a lot of resentment and is not always what is best for the youngster. from my dealings, which are not directly with heighway although i've met him through work many times, his reputation is that he is a tough customer and thats hes a bit of an island if you know what i mean. when someone is god in their own wee place for too long they may resent change and interference, but you sound like you know a lot more than i do about that.

its also not about having scouts in as many places as possible its also about having top quality scouts that are under a slight pressure to find the best players. or even scouts who are already in a position to know the kids as they grow into football, i.e. county manager/boys club manager, selecter etc. if you go to a schoolboy international there'll be more scouts there than parents but they all go for the same 5 or 6 players whenever a scout who does his job well should have found out about the player at 12 or 13 before he becomes an international. at a local level accross the uk thats an area we could improve on. another pet hate of mine is the instance of height as something every player must have, which has seen some fine players have to slip down the leagues before they get picked up. roy keane is a fair example of that.

last point, take stokes thats just signed for sunderland. he took up a room at a hotel where chelsea, ourselves, man utd and arsenal all went in to talk to him and his folks(he was a ****ing smasher of a player) after tracking him for a while. he signed for arsenal after they bought his folks a house, thats the rumour i have to add. now if we had have spotted him and mentored him properly 2 years previous he'd know where he was going no matter who else came in for him.

[burntyoungster]

too add to your point
youonly need to look at internet forums when a player isnt as playing as well as he might to see shouts for youth players to be given a chance
e.g anderson etc when clearly theyre not ready

on a side not burnty did you do your badges here in ireland or the uk?

belfast over ten years ago, it was a lot easier then. even bryan hamilton(then international manager) used to come down and encourage us which was nice. now there are so many more people doing it and they know how to set up drills and get the child protection certificate but they're not always taught how to improve players. on a side note the guy who was taking us was ian mcfaul who was in nets for newcastle when we done them 3 nil in the cup final 1974.

[burntyoungster]

Fellas, this thread is ALSO about BUYING in top quality youth. Just to point that out!!

your right, see my point about anthony stokes in the reply to lecter. theres loads of dough and sweetners rumoured to handed to players as young as 12 to sign for all the top clubs, always has been. we should definately be producing more young players than we have to buy in with the budget and pull that our academy has.

[ronan]

its a bit of a joke trying to do them here at them noment burnty
not only in terms of cos when you go further up the ladder but in orgonisation of courses etc
alot of prople end up having to go to the uk just to get even a basic badge

[burntyoungster]

its a bit of a joke trying to do them here at them noment burnty
not only in terms of cos when you go further up the ladder but in orgonisation of courses etc
alot of prople end up having to go to the uk just to get even a basic badge

where are you and do you want me to suss out things over here for you?

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Arseanls youth makes me laugh they have poached a number of players from other teams. While the rest they have paid a large amount for

ie Cesc and that other player from Barca that was taken from them.

Denilson 3 million, Mathieu Flamini, Theo Walcott 12 million, Alexandre Song quiet an expensive youth team "2nd team" if you ask me

[ronan]

where are you and do you want me to suss out things over here for you?

yes mate thanks, sent u a pm