Man City's plannned Superacademy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14975349.stm

Sounds a bit like what we're trying to do but on a grander scale. I presume they want it up and running for when financial fair play rules come in. The abolition of the 90 minute rule means that it will be easier than ever for clubs to look further afield, put the kids up onsite and give them an education while they train.

We can do the same, but might Man City scouts go as far as snooping around our territory? We already compete with Chelsea and the other London clubs for youngsters. If Man City build this thing, might they also be competing with us?

It seems they want to turn it into an English La Masia.

 

We can't compete with that. However, I believe it's only us and City who are being given the category 1 status for academies in the whole country. Or is it Chelsea?

 

It will take four years to build and a whole lot longer to start producing. You can buy in the best coaches and kids but they won't see any end product for a while.

 

Looks nice on paper, we'll see if they ever actually build it or not. Plus, it takes 8 to 10 years to produce a youth team player to be good enough for first team football, so it has to be a long term vision. So are they being radical or just catching up with exisiting academies such as Saints, Man U, Arsenal & Liverpool?

They are fortunate to have a stadium in such a dump of an area that allows them to scoop up land cheaply and redevelop all on one site.

Don't think we will be competing with Man City for players or vice versa. It's still the ground-work done by scouts and kids coaches that spot the gems early on (5 to 8 years old) and get them attached to a club that appears to be such a key element in the process.

 

90 minute rule?

 

Currently clubs can only sign kids who live within 90 minute travelling time of the club's location.

Clearly, clubs on the coast are handicapped by this because of simple geography, so Saints and others got dispensation to extend their boundary a bit further.

 

At moment, you can't take youngsters from further afield than 90 min travel. It is why Saints have had/has (not sure) a satellite acedemy so we can bring kids in from further away. As it said in The Times once, half our catchment area is underwater. The superacademies will be able to draw from further afield. Nicola has already said that we will be one so don't have to worry.

 

Unfair to us but favoured the Skates.

 

when did nicola say this?
i remember mentions of these new grades of academies but does anyone have a link to where NC says about it?

at the end of the day as CBK says, City are playing catch up for now as us, manure, scousers etc have had the academies in place long enough to reap rewards whereas anyone else will find it takes years for them to come through.
i remember chelsea doing these things and it may be a couple more years before they get youngsters through - problem is though (and man city will be the same), that with the short termism of owners for results, these kids wont get a chance to blood and managers will be under pressure to deliver results and use experienced players thus resigning their youths to the age old system of loaning to other clubs.

this may work to a degree, but if anyone ever wants to emulate Barca - and indeed the late 90's man utd side - then you have to keep the kids together and bring them through as a group together (once you have found the group that will make it).

from the articles earlier this year it seems we are trying this with all the hype about the scholars we have taken on - it will be interesting to see if they begin to get chances to come through as a group.

 

How does anybody actually know who's gonna be a Category 1 academy?

 

I hope this will be good for the English game in general, as hopefully we will see more youngsters having good technical coaching at an early age.

 

Saints, Chelsea and Man City are the ones I know of. There will be 2 more up north, probably Man U and Liverpool. That should mean we get the pick of Hampshire and the South-West. We also have 2 sattelllite centres, one near Bath ando one near Aldershot. I read somewhere that Chelsea have one in Italy! It's a massive game that goes largely under the average fan's radar.

 

Regrettably smaller clubs will lose out, so its a case of 'I'm alright Jack.' That's basically what Cortese said (sorry can't remember when) when asked about it, though he probably said it in a nicer way.

 

love to get some youth talent from across the whole country!

 

For you personally or for the Academy?

 

try Oceana on nappy night Jen that ought to satisfy you

 

Got to agree with CBK, it will take a while for a new academy to really start paying dividends. Until then they will just have to keep on shopping fo trophies.

 

Yeah that's what I heard too but has anyone actually confirmed who is currently prepared to be Category 1 i.e. The FA or Football League?

 

Man City already have a decent academy that's brought through some good players - Barton, SWP, Ireland, Richards, Sturridge etc. It's not like youth development is completely new to them. I don't know if thie owners have the patience to see the project through and are willing to bankroll the senior team while it's happening, They'll be a force if it happens. It's hard to see it, but a few years ago, I probably thought Abramovic would have left Chelsea in the lurch by now. It will take a very long time to be producing a conveyer belt of first team players like Barcelona and even they have to recruit a host of big names to supplement what they bring through.

The player turnover at La Masia must be huge. The vast majority of its products probably play for other teams or don't make it at all.

 

Brilliant