Interesting take on youth football from the dad of former West Ham youngster Kieran Bywater

[Tetteys Jig 830]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/parents-warning-football-academies-side-one-talks-simon-bywater

This sort of thing suggests a lot of what is wrong with the development of young British talent. Appreciate it''s an industry where only the elite make it, but the section about the agents is pretty bad.

Cam McGeehan spoke about the graveyard that was under 21''s football and left to go get some professional football under his belt.

From the few bits I''ve seen and read about him (check his volley in training assisted by Nene) and his goalscoring record, i''d be happy if we gave him a year or two. Looks a good player...

[The Walking Man 13]

Sounds like a bitter Dad to me who''s plugging a book.

Or, it''s bad, or at best naive, parenting to not be telling your son to always have a Plan B. Football clubs (especially those with Cat A academies) offer an incredible opportunity for young men both in the a sporting capacity but also educationally that they otherwise wouldn''t get.

I also have no sympathy for not getting an agent earlier. An agent isn''t just someone who sits down and negotiates a contract. An agent is there to market you as a player. As a young player that is crucial, it goes back to having a Plan B. If West Ham goes pete tong then Crystal Palace will have him, Leyton Orient will take him, whoever.

If he was actually any good he would have a club by now. I don''t buy the crap of "Well its simply because lower league clubs can’t afford to pay or take a risk on a young untested player when there is little money in their annual budgets for squads." The lower leagues are littered with examples of players who have been released and are picked up by those lower down the food chain. But the simple fact is actually that there more players get released than there are spaces available in lower league clubs. Again it goes back to the point of he should have had a decent agent with contacts hawking him around the clubs or he''s not as good as his Dad thinks he is.

I accept that the academy system isn''t perfect. It never will be but it''s better than what it used to be and it''s a damn site better than ''real life.''

But hey ho, it''s just my opinion... maybe I''ll write a book...

[Tetteys Jig 830]

The thing that gets me is the whole agent thing at West Ham. Why did it matter he picked someone else as his agent? It was the same thing that supposedly did for Ravel Morrison (well as well as the other stuff).

I do find it odd sometimes how youth players are released by worse teams then get into better teams, like the young lad we just signed from Leeds.

Sounds like he''s got a short deal at Bishops Storford for the time being while he plans his next move. I reckon he''ll find a league club though. You''d think his agent will be onto that otherwise he''s not earning his money.

[The Walking Man 13]

I''m not convinced by the picking the academy manager''s choice. We have to remember that we''ve only heard of one (very biased) side of the story and I can guarantee that there are a few things that have been omitted from that article. It wasn''t the same thing with Morrison because Morrison had a contract that was terminated after he''d agreed to sign for Lazio but the author doesn''t seem to mention this.

With regards to youth players signing for better clubs, I guess football is simply a game of opinions. One coach may not rate a player, another one does, bigger clubs can afford to take a punt for a year or two. What would be interesting would be to see the stats for players that have been released (i.e. not bought or tapped up) only to sign for a higher club and see how many actually played for the first team.

[Grant Holts Moustache 105]

I found it a really interesting insight into youth football (James Kent take note). Also into Sam Allardyce who has had accusations of misdeeds with agents thrown his way previously. Did anyone read the comments below it as it seems some other people involved in football academies and agents have backed up the article saying that it isn''t an unusual happening.

The most disappointing thing to me as a football fan is where he talks of the lack of feedback young players get on how to develop as players. Something you would think would be a key element in trying to develop good technical players. Are academies just taking on too many players in the hope that some will come good rather than taking on a smaller number and really working closely with them to develop them. Also there were some comments about the education side of it where lads of 17/18 are supposed to be studying for A Levels giving them some form of fall back as very likely they won''t make it as professional players but only doing sports science rather than a mix of academic subjects enabling the potential for further education. If true this isn''t a way young people should be treated theirs one thing them not making it a players but to add then hinder their future away from football too is a pretty poor showing.