birdman

I will no longer be able to update everyone on the youth team as I have been offered a job in Leeds so I will now have to rely on others to report the Academy news. I have enjoyed watching the lads and hopefully the Academy will be fruitful in the next few years. Good luck to all the teams.

Here is is paying for his petrol.

Depends if they play him in his correct position as IMO he is not a right back.

I think you will find that the rule is for school age players, it is up to the clubs to secure the best players on scholarships that start after the boys leave school before the other clubs come sniffing

Never is Ricky Martins fault and yet he is the Academy Manager, I can assure you as I know his dad that it was Martin who made the decision. I think you might find that Jason Shackel was the last Academy player to make the team on a regular basis and I believe Sammy Morgan was in charge?

As for Tom Miller he was released by Norwich and promptly snapped up by Glasgow Rangers and unless Roeder and Ricky Martin had a crystal ball he would not have been able to see that Tom was going to get a leg injury shortly after signing. Instead they signed the average players and let the better ones go

I would disagree with you slightly, Iwould not say he was our brightest star but I do not think there was anyone better than him in the youth team, as I have said many times it''s a very fine line and there is a massive element of luck. Only time will see if any of the current squad are good enough, I would say they have a better chance of getting a call up just because of the league we are in and the finances. But I could not see any of them in the championship.

No, I have seen some very good players turned away and some very average ones kept on.

I am not sure why anyone would, he is smug, arrogant and has a terrible record of training youth team players, the only two that will make it in football from the current crop is the goalkeepers and he does not train these. I am not sure what he has done that so many people stick up for him, if he was the manager of Norwich he would have been sacked years ago, the boys deserve better.

I am not sure who the Muppet is as Tom Adeyemi has never played for Charlton, he has played for Norwich from a very young age. As for Jackson as soon as he was released by Ricky Martin Cambridge signed him up, he then played in an early FA youth cup game and Blackburn and Manchester United showed an interest in him, Cambridge kept hold of him for another season after an agreement with Blackburn, this also lead to a big fall out between Ricky Martin and Jez George the Cambridge head of youth as Ricky Martin new he had made yet another massive blunder and tried to get Jackson back...good luck to the lad, I not sure why people keep harping on about players ending up in non league as the majority of players end up there. In my opinion it just adds to all Ricky Martins blunders and just because the boys released end up in non league it does not make them lesser players than the ones kept on as there is a massive element of luck when you get to the level all the scholars achive.

I think Hoolahan might of hurt the cause of shorter players.

Another question Chirp is what would be your advice to young players that have been released and still have the passion and drive as from my experience from talking to players and their parents it is very hard to get a foot in the next door.

Your son should never give in if he has the passion and skill, another observation on Academy football is the majority of boys that are signed up at a young age 8-10 never make it all the way through the Academy system.

Manny Richardson disappeared from the youth team at the start of the season, the only information I could find out is there was a problem with his visa and work permit. Good luck to your son, I think it depends which position your son plays in as far as height goes.

http://www.leedsunited.com/page/LatestNewsDetail/0,,10273~1667007,00.html

Don''t mess with the Wizard he will put a spell on you making you aimlessly repeat yourself

Good news Beckford is leaving Leeds, I know he will not be coming our way but this will weaken one of our rivals.

Your right, he will more than likely be playing for a lower league side along with 99.5% of the other boys in the Academy. I would say that the only two that will make a big impact will be the goalkeepers, Most of the teams this year had first and second scholars in them, if there is an improvement in the Academy we will see next year if we are back in the reserves league and the academy plays scholars and not yound pro''s, this season was a farce. Roeder pulled us out of the reserves so the young pro''s played for the Academy team, that meant that some first year scholars sat on the bench most of the season (a year wasted). the boys that get released have a very small chance as other clubs have invested in their own boys and that''s why most of them do not get a second chance. As you want to talk about Nick the good news for Nick is that some lower league coach who knows very little about football called Glenn Hoddle has shown an interest and Nick has made it to the final trials in Spain from 1000''s of applicants to join his Academy but perhaps Mr. Martin is a better coach and has more experience and can spot a player. Your also right that I have replied several times on this subject as I am passionate about the young players and I have witnessed some very poor decisions this season.

Please stop harping on about second place and a great cup run, here are some facts from someone who has been watching the youth team for many years, we had 5 young pro''s playing for us this year, I have never seen this before, the teams we have played had 16/17 year olds in them, so we should be beating them if our young pro''s have the potential to be playing for the first team. second the cup run we played two teams who don''t even have an Academy, played well against Everton and then got mauled by Man City but managed to walk away only losing 1 - 0, the most one sided 1-0 I have ever seen. If a football manager was in a job for 4 years and produced nothing he would be shown the door, why should an Academy manager be any different and why is it poor form? The man is not bullet proof

If you think like that there is no point in having an Academy, we might as well scrap it and pick up the scraps thrown away by the big clubs.

When he broke his leg he asked the doctor if he would have pace and the doctor said yes, Renton replied great cos I didn''t have any before...and he was telling the truth

No, the Academy had a very false look about it this year as there was no reserve league so the young pro''s played in many of the Academy U18 games.

Oh no not the old chip on the shoulder, name one player who has made it to the first team who has held down a regular place after being trained by Martin. Yes I have had an opinion on some of the boys being released and one of those was Nick Davey, what more could the boy do but end up as the top scorer in the Academy, but Mr. Martin had already made his mind up that his great idea of turning Danny Kelly from a good center back in to a striker, not going to happen in a million years. If you ask me Chirp you are one of those people that accept second best and Mr. Martin is not the best man for the job. In my line of work you produce results or you know where the door is. Why do people attack Gunn but are more than happy for the Academy not to produce one player that can hold down a regular place? It''s time to want the best in every position in the club from the bottom up instead of ploughing along the same line and failing again.

I don''t think the gap would be as big if the scholars had an X pro training them for two years. Hopefully Hucks will return to the club and dedicate some time to help the younger players. Perhaps he could be the Pro to run the Academy when he retires?

Mantra started by Nigel Worthington bring me bigstrapping athletes and I''ll teach them to kick a football". Talented, average sized players need not apply. Another reason why the Academy should have a new manager and start fresh at the moment the Academy is not working. I am a firm believer that boys need talent and then they should be coached to a higher level.