General Academy watch

[Marked Ox]

Perhaps someone could tell me what happened. We used to have a development squad or an u-23 squad in the last decade.

Or are they just different names for youth team / reserves?

We still have an u23 squad of sorts and arrange friendlies as and when. Fringe 1st team squad players and those coming back from injury will play in those also if they need matches.

 

[Sarge]

Anyone know how old these players are (eg. Adam Smith)?

In an ideal world these players would be given until they’re 20/21 - but appreciate that this can’t happen with the majority. All the more reason to maintain good relationships with local clubs and to keep monitoring players after they leave us. Also helps when the likes of Banbury and Oxford City are doing so well.

Adam Smith is in the U18 / academy side as are Mac Masters, Clinton Nosakhare, Elijah Coe & Ben Watt ... at a guess 19 tops

 

[Sarge]

We still have an u23 squad of sorts and arrange friendlies as and when. Fringe 1st team squad players and those coming back from injury will play in those also if they need matches.

theres an U23s Fa cup competition, but OUFC U23s haven't progressed far in it ... the U23s 'friendlies' are few and far between (sadly)

PJT gets a few youngsters , those not punted out on loan, a few minutes in cameo appearances

there is an EFL Professional Development League North .... and Professional Development League South

From L1 level or below Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan, Ipswich, Crewe and Colchester all have U23 sides in those two leagues ( alongside Championship club U23 sides)

then there's the Professional Development National League fed into via promotion/ playoffs from , and with relegation to, the South and North leagues

instead of developing youngsters then discarding them at 18 .... why not continue to develop our own players by entering an U23 side- even if its in the main more of an U21 side) in a 'competitive' league.... up n coming players would continue be developed into playing the Oxford United way, and if required,due to injuries etc, be ready (ish) to slot into the first-team squad if called on ...... developing our own is supposed to be part of the OUFC model, yet apart from being punted out (to get match time), the minimal amount of OUFC U23/ Dev squad matches isn't, to me, much in the way of development ..... cmon OUFC get a (young) U23 dev squad in one of the leagues

 

[gingerox]

Just as devils advocate here, is it worth having the youth programme at all? Recently it’s got us Baptiste and the reserve goalie, but must have cost quite a lot.

Would be interesting how much we spend on the academy - Brentford closed theirs in 2017, saying it cost ~2mil a year (https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ditched-their-academy-premier-league-outcasts)

I'd have thought being a Championship team based in London and having teams from U8s to U21s means our price would be lower but don't have too much of an idea.

If we call it ~1mil, and we've made ~4mil from COD + Baptiste, seems like a lot of money lost. Quite surprising more teams don't follow Brentford's lead?

edit: I suppose money saved from buying Stevens/Long/Ruffels could be added too, but probably not much relatively

 

[SteMerritt]

It does annoy me when having an Academy is distilled down to money. One Club, One County - we are getting the local community invested in the club from a young age and doing a lot of good around Oxfordshire, the youth setup is a major part of it. I don't want to see talented Oxfordshire kids turning out for Reading because their club didn't have an Academy. Bring them up with us, and hopefully we will get the occasional Joey Beauchamp, Kevin Brock, or Jamie Brooks come through. Some thought does need to be given to what happens when a player gets to 21 and isn't quite ready for the First Team squad however, maybe more season-long loans for them to get actual playing time.

There is nothing like one of our own making it through to the First Team.

 

[Junior_1]

Disappointed with some of the names let go. I rate Smith, Watt and Masters. Now this isn’t a dig at Robinson but for me he gets a lot of praise for bringing youngsters in but that’s often hidden away with it being the JPT games.

So forgetting Baptiste and Stevens. Have the youngsters been given a go? I appreciate the top end of L1 isn’t the time to throw in a young lad but some of these players could have made a difference. Certainly at the back.

Time will tell I guess but I’d rather we have a young lad like Smith on the bench over a injury prone player like Winnall. Be a lot cheaper, too.

 

[gingerox]

It does annoy me when having an Academy is distilled down to money.

There is nothing like one of our own making it through to the First Team.

Not denying that + if it were up to me, we'd definitely keep one. However its easy for me to say that when its not my money being lost!

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Quite surprising more teams don't follow Brentford's lead?

If youth setups were scrapped across the board then the production line would completely stop as there would be nowhere for any kid to play football outside of the park. They wouldn’t get the dedicated coaching and development over several years (sometimes entire decades) that pro academies afford them, they’d just be stuck in their local leagues and training for an hour a week on a midweek evening. The quality of player would fall off a cliff and send the national team back to the Stone Age.

Brentford may have been fairly shrewd but they still depend on 95% of other clubs to keep at it. If everybody did what they’re doing it would no longer work.

 

[werthersoriginal]

It does annoy me when having an Academy is distilled down to money. One Club, One County - we are getting the local community invested in the club from a young age and doing a lot of good around Oxfordshire, the youth setup is a major part of it. I don't want to see talented Oxfordshire kids turning out for Reading because their club didn't have an Academy. Bring them up with us, and hopefully we will get the occasional Joey Beauchamp, Kevin Brock, or Jamie Brooks come through. Some thought does need to be given to what happens when a player gets to 21 and isn't quite ready for the First Team squad however, maybe more season-long loans for them to get actual playing time.

There is nothing like one of our own making it through to the First Team.

Yes I agree, but the club will have to look at the benefits in purely practical terms. They may feel that the community engagement does pay off in monetary terms as well.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

It does annoy me when having an Academy is distilled down to money. One Club, One County - we are getting the local community invested in the club from a young age and doing a lot of good around Oxfordshire, the youth setup is a major part of it. I don't want to see talented Oxfordshire kids turning out for Reading because their club didn't have an Academy. Bring them up with us, and hopefully we will get the occasional Joey Beauchamp, Kevin Brock, or Jamie Brooks come through. Some thought does need to be given to what happens when a player gets to 21 and isn't quite ready for the First Team squad however, maybe more season-long loans for them to get actual playing time.

There is nothing like one of our own making it through to the First Team.

Agree completely, if a multi million turn over club cannot give back and be a part of the local community.
Would hate to lose that connection just over money , very much part of the capitalism system .

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

Looking at the quality Oxfordshire has produced , Brock, Andy Thomas , Mark Wright , Garry Parker , Tim Breacker , Robbie Mustoe , Joey , Paul Powell, Chris Allen , Jamie Brooks unfortunately unwell , Gareth McCleary , Jordan Obita , Luke Southwood , Callum O'Dowda etc etc there is talent , and top talent in Oxfordshire which we should be tapping into.
I dislike the fact we disregard alot of local talent at 16 for many cast offs from London clubs as well tbh . Maybe 3 or 4 spaces but surely we must have enough quality to be developed from the locality ?

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

Yes I agree, but the club will have to look at the benefits in purely practical terms. They may feel that the community engagement does pay off in monetary terms as well.

Horrible capitalist approach if this happens

 

[werthersoriginal]

Horrible capitalist approach if this happens

No one is suggesting it will happen, I was just pondering the direct benefits. I would like to see more youth players coming through, even if it's only when we have a lot of injuries, but once they hit 21 they have to be as good as the established pros.

 

[Foley]

Yes I agree, but the club will have to look at the benefits in purely practical terms. They may feel that the community engagement does pay off in monetary terms as well.

I am not sure that we have seen the best if the young players coming through yet.
After the wreckage of the academy under Kassam, it has taken years to rebuild, and Tiger increased risk focus and spend.
It is disappointing that there have been so few making the first team/ squad and it is Important that some do in the next few years.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

No one is suggesting it will happen, I was just pondering the direct benefits. I would like to see more youth players coming through, even if it's only when we have a lot of injuries, but once they hit 21 they have to be as good as the established pros.

We do seem to have a rather odd approach I think to it . Playing some at 16/ 17 , making Captain when really no need to add an extra pressure onto them then having players staying until 20 but not seemingly being anywhere near the first team .
Elechi as a left back when we have been extremely short in that position but not even making the bench seems odd .
Would expect 20/30 minutes from the bench to really blood them into the side.

 

[unification]

2014-15 things changed here and for the better. 'The model' was brought in and we've continued it since. Developing players from the youth team is part of that. In fact, the youth team have their own model for acquiring players released from other academies - a good number are London-born players. We have to view the academy as part of the overall model here - not as a separate entity to it.

From the c.£14m+ we have received in transfer fees since 2015, c. £3.25m of that has come via the sales of two home grown players in Callum O'Dowda and Shandon Baptiste. Whether that is enough to cover the costs of running an academy for seven seasons is one for the number bods. Personally I think we could and should be producing a few more options from the academy but we have a lot of work to do there. Local kids may well still choose the likes of Reading and Southampton (remember when Malcolm Elias used to take any youngster from an OX postcode to their academy) over us and we've got to prove that OUFC is the place to be for youth development and chances to make the team.

Those who are good enough will get their chances here. They have a chance to prove Oxford United wrong if released but many more fail to make the grade than make it in the pro game. Matty Taylor's journey is an exceptional one. Most will simply end up playing at a local level and if you're not being considered for first team action by your 20th birthday, I'm afraid that spaces will have to go to those who can make it.

 

[Gold and Black]

Think it was poor our academy players were not given a chance on the bench when we couldn’t fill it. Would of been an incentive and a good experience.
I think Robinson is doing a good job with the first team squad but seems a bit wanting when it comes to our youngsters

 

[mooro]

Couple of thoughts on this:
Covid has really handicapped this crop as the need to keep separate bubbles has limited the opportunities to be involved in and around the first team at times when we could have put one or two on the bench in games during last couple of seasons.
Kassam nearly killed the system when he came in. Only a lot of effort and persuasion by a number of individuals behind the scenes ( basically showing him how to juggle funding to make it viable) kept it in place at all, and even then only the bare bones.
There was no capacity to 'carry' young players beyond 18, which is why Taylor left and though COD 'might' have clung on, without the new focus when the lenagans arrived Longie would have been released and Ruffs never returned.
And to echo the comments regarding joining a reserve/u23 league, the issue is twofold: the balance between playing these games/playing senior football on loan elsewhere and also the obligation to fulfil fixtures on set dates rather than being able to choose when to play a friendly. Putting out a side littered with U16s against strong side from another club because the first team have a midweek game and a few injuries does not benefit anyone.

God knows I'd love us to field a ton of home grown players every week, but realistically the best we can hope for is 4or5 to be kept on for a year or two after graduating at 18 and given time in and around the senior squad (once COVID allows) and then the rest is up to them and lady luck...

 

[beyondthefourth]

Think it was poor our academy players were not given a chance on the bench when we couldn’t fill it. Would of been an incentive and a good experience.
I think Robinson is doing a good job with the first team squad but seems a bit wanting when it comes to our youngsters

To be fully fair, at the start of the season we had COVID protocols to deal with still, and now we're in a promotion push where we can't necessarily afford to put kids in a sink/swim situation.

It would be good for the EFL to maybe increase the subs slots to 9 if they stipulated that the extra bench slots were for U21 players that have been with the club for 2+ years.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

We do seem to have a rather odd approach I think to it . Playing some at 16/ 17 , making Captain when really no need to add an extra pressure onto them then having players staying until 20 but not seemingly being anywhere near the first team .

A lot of stat padding goes on in the PJT.