mooro
Well-known member
- Joined
- 13 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 4,059
The rise of Sam Long is testament to a number of factors around youth development...
i) Good opportunities to progress up to the age of 18 (age teams, youth team) - Sam he has been here since an embryo, and survived through the various hard times, including a threat to the very existence of the youth system under Kassam, where funding was at the very minimum allowed and staff were pretty much working for the love of the game and nothing else.
ii) No pressure to be first team ready at 18 - for many years, either due to tight purse strings under FK or previous salary cap rules (total squad salary (incl new pros) to be no more than 60% of turnover) which meant we were unable to afford carry players who weren't ready to step up and play straight away upon graduation. This saw the departure of many potential stars (incl Matty Taylor) and had the situation not changed by the time they came through, would have seen the same for both Sam and probably Callum O'Dowda, whose early appearances were treated with scepticism by many, who came through at the same time.
iii) somewhere for them to go within the club after graduation so that they are able to develop at their own pace - fortunately, by this time the Lenagans had appeared and invested heavily in the youth system and introduced the Dev Squad for players to continue their development without the pressures of expectation. This not only helped Sam and Callum, who were among the first recipients, but many more after, along with Josh Ruffels who was brought in at this level, rather than straight into the first team. THe Devs have now become the U23s/U21s but that same opportunity remains. Prior to this, any young pro taken on would have very little chance to develop apart from very one-sided reserve games.
iv) Managers willing to work with, develop and include them in senior setup/cup games while they are still developing - Some previous bosses have been actively anti-youth, or at least all but the very best, but more recently MAPP and KR in particular have given Sam and other of our youngsters chances to play and include them in their thinking, rather than having a mental block against ever using them.
v) Finding loans at a good level to give experience of senior football - We are making good use of non-league loans to help many of our youngsters, which Sam and Jack both benefitted from, as have many since (eg Lofthouse among others)
vi) removal of this squad limit ruling which would again result in youngsters jettisoned when they reach 21 - Longy has only really come into his own in the last two seasons, whereas had this squad limit rule been in place then he would probably have joined many others that were offloaded at 21 and we would never have had the chance to witness the finest full back in Lg1 strut his stuff....
An awful lot has had to happen for Longy to get to where he is today and secure this contract, and an awful lot of people have played their part (Les Taylor, his staff, and the U's yOUth group who convinced Kassam to keep the system in place, and anyone who donated to their fundraising efforts, the Lenagans who invested heavily in this side of the club when they took over, the managers who have balanced their own short term success with promoting the stars of the future, the backroom people who have organised loans, and the clubs who have welcomed and used our youngsters, and the myriad of people behind the scenes that have coached, supported and developed these young men to the best they can be.
There are a lot of people who can and should be very proud of their part in young Sam becoming the player he is today, when so many obstacles could have consigned him to be yet another bright prospect marooned in the Southern League, so big up to them and big up to the man himself....POTY 20/21
i) Good opportunities to progress up to the age of 18 (age teams, youth team) - Sam he has been here since an embryo, and survived through the various hard times, including a threat to the very existence of the youth system under Kassam, where funding was at the very minimum allowed and staff were pretty much working for the love of the game and nothing else.
ii) No pressure to be first team ready at 18 - for many years, either due to tight purse strings under FK or previous salary cap rules (total squad salary (incl new pros) to be no more than 60% of turnover) which meant we were unable to afford carry players who weren't ready to step up and play straight away upon graduation. This saw the departure of many potential stars (incl Matty Taylor) and had the situation not changed by the time they came through, would have seen the same for both Sam and probably Callum O'Dowda, whose early appearances were treated with scepticism by many, who came through at the same time.
iii) somewhere for them to go within the club after graduation so that they are able to develop at their own pace - fortunately, by this time the Lenagans had appeared and invested heavily in the youth system and introduced the Dev Squad for players to continue their development without the pressures of expectation. This not only helped Sam and Callum, who were among the first recipients, but many more after, along with Josh Ruffels who was brought in at this level, rather than straight into the first team. THe Devs have now become the U23s/U21s but that same opportunity remains. Prior to this, any young pro taken on would have very little chance to develop apart from very one-sided reserve games.
iv) Managers willing to work with, develop and include them in senior setup/cup games while they are still developing - Some previous bosses have been actively anti-youth, or at least all but the very best, but more recently MAPP and KR in particular have given Sam and other of our youngsters chances to play and include them in their thinking, rather than having a mental block against ever using them.
v) Finding loans at a good level to give experience of senior football - We are making good use of non-league loans to help many of our youngsters, which Sam and Jack both benefitted from, as have many since (eg Lofthouse among others)
vi) removal of this squad limit ruling which would again result in youngsters jettisoned when they reach 21 - Longy has only really come into his own in the last two seasons, whereas had this squad limit rule been in place then he would probably have joined many others that were offloaded at 21 and we would never have had the chance to witness the finest full back in Lg1 strut his stuff....
An awful lot has had to happen for Longy to get to where he is today and secure this contract, and an awful lot of people have played their part (Les Taylor, his staff, and the U's yOUth group who convinced Kassam to keep the system in place, and anyone who donated to their fundraising efforts, the Lenagans who invested heavily in this side of the club when they took over, the managers who have balanced their own short term success with promoting the stars of the future, the backroom people who have organised loans, and the clubs who have welcomed and used our youngsters, and the myriad of people behind the scenes that have coached, supported and developed these young men to the best they can be.
There are a lot of people who can and should be very proud of their part in young Sam becoming the player he is today, when so many obstacles could have consigned him to be yet another bright prospect marooned in the Southern League, so big up to them and big up to the man himself....POTY 20/21
