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[downendcity]

On 30/05/2023 at 15:35, SecretSam said:

It's truly marvellous how the academy is really doing well. Older fans will remember the old days, when 'academy' meant "5 foot 6 weakling, with terrible touch who gets one game"

Mad, when you think about 1982 et al

Don't know about 5' 6" weaklings, butI'm going old enough to remember when academy (it wasn't called an academy back then though) meant Gow, Ritchie, Merrick, Collier, Tainton, Rogers.

That was the nucleus of the promotion winning team so let's hope the current crop of youngsters can emulate their predecessors!

[SecretSam]

13 hours ago, downendcity said:

Don't know about 5' 6" weaklings, butI'm going old enough to remember when academy (it wasn't called an academy back then though) meant Gow, Ritchie, Merrick, Collier, Tainton, Rogers.

That was the nucleus of the promotion winning team so let's hope the current crop of youngsters can emulate their predecessors!

I thought Gow came down from Scotland?

We're talking post-that. And let's be honest, there was a bit of a bin fire when the production line ground to a halt (with due nods to Keven Mabbutt)

[downendcity]

1 hour ago, SecretSam said:

I thought Gow came down from Scotland?

We're talking post-that. And let's be honest, there was a bit of a bin fire when the production line ground to a halt (with due nods to Keven Mabbutt)

As did Tom Ritchie, but IIRC they both came through the youth set up ( nearest thing to an academy back then)

You're right that the flow of young players coming through ground to a halt but was this perhaps due to bringing in mire established 1st Division players like Hunter and Cormack.

It does seem that we now have an academy capable of producing young players able to challenge for first team places at a level we've not had before.

[chinapig]

6 minutes ago, downendcity said:

As did Tom Ritchie, but IIRC they both came through the youth set up ( nearest thing to an academy back then)

You're right that the flow of young players coming through ground to a halt but was this perhaps due to bringing in mire established 1st Division players like Hunter and Cormack.

It does seem that we now have an academy capable of producing young players able to challenge for first team places at a level we've not had before.

I felt it was more a question of almost abandoning the youth policy after promotion, which came back to bite us financially.

Colin Lee for instance didn't get a chance but ended up playing for Spurs and Chelsea.

A strategic error I hope we wouldn't make these days.

[downendcity]

26 minutes ago, chinapig said:

I felt it was more a question of almost abandoning the youth policy after promotion, which came back to bite us financially.

Colin Lee for instance didn't get a chance but ended up playing for Spurs and Chelsea.

A strategic error I hope we wouldn't make these days.

It does seem that we now have a proper strategy as far as where the academy sits within the scheme of things.

It obviously helps having a manager who is prepared to back and trust young players. By the same token it helps having academy players of the quality we are now producing.

 

[Topper 123]

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