Academy recruitment

[hollo]

Do you think Wolves are one of the leading academies in the country?
In recent years we have produced Morgan Gibbs White, Dion Sanderstead, Owen Otasowie, Theo Corbaneu who should play at a decent level.
How do we compare to teams like Aston Villa?

Jeff Shi has in the past emphasised the need to produce and sell for ffp purposes academy players. Is the recruitment as good as it could be? Should we have done better and found the next Robbie Keane? Lescott was 15 years ago and I can't remember too many big sales since.

 

[WS10Wolf]

It depends entirely on what you think success should be.

Wolves are rated as a category 1 academy, which means that in terms of facilities, coaching, player education, player welfare, safeguarding, we’re one of the leading academies in England.

 

[giantwolf]

Do you think Wolves are one of the leading academies in the country?
In recent years we have produced Morgan Gibbs White, Dion Sanderstead, Owen Otasowie, Theo Corbaneu who should play at a decent level.
How do we compare to teams like Aston Villa?

Jeff Shi has in the past emphasised the need to produce and sell for ffp purposes academy players. Is the recruitment as good as it could be? Should we have done better and found the next Robbie Keane? Lescott was 15 years ago and I can't remember too many big sales since.

Honestly, I think we do ok and clearly as we’re Cat1 we do put a lot into it however I feel we lack with the recruitment and therefore some of the better prospects go elsewhere. Whether the recruitment is lacking as we’re poor at identifying talent or because we’re lower in the pecking order I don’t know….. I suspect the latter.

That said, much of what we’re seeing now in terms of graduates are from x years ago when we were championship/league one (as less attractive prospect). I believe some of the younger prospects coming up now who have been more recently recruited will fill that void a little but we are still lacking a little

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

No, not many make the first team. We will see how good they are if Lage trusts any of them to play.

Apart from MGW I can’t say Otasowie has had a fair chance or Kilman based on last season both in and out the team which is no good for a young players development

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Well my daughter has a job as a physio at another Cat 1 academy from September but knows people at various top academies, including Wolves. In her view we have a very good academy.

 

[Deleted member 4184]

You'll need 10 years to see the fruits of fosuns investment

 

[Dan G WWFC]

Villa and Birmingham have better.

Overall standard is good but lack the superstar academy players outside MGW.

Villa have Grealish, Ramsey and Chukwuemeka.

Blues Grey, Redmond, Butland and Bellingham brothers.

 

[Dan G WWFC]

No, not many make the first team. We will see how good they are if Lage trusts any of them to play.

Apart from MGW I can’t say Otasowie has had a fair chance or Kilman based on last season both in and out the team which is no good for a young players development

Kilman isn't really academy joined when he was 20

 

[JonahWolf]

You'll need 10 years to see the fruits of fosuns investment

This. Same with England. Started coaching properly and putting more emphasis on technique, possession, rather than winning, largely by brute strength and early developers.
Then St George’s park.
Now there is a conveyer belt of exciting young England players waiting in the wings.

At least 10 years, probably 15. For all the hype and impressive statistical run of Yanited academy players in consecutive match-day squads...how many are starters?
Our return of academy players making the starting 11 isn’t much worse than those that have had decades of infinitely bigger resources.
Until the transfer ban, Chelsea hardly had any, ever, despite trolley dashing their way across the nurseries of Europe.
If that’s who we’re trying to emulate, then think 10-15 years to start really seeing the fruits, although if we’re still going strong in the league by then, still expect very few to make the 1st 11.
They’ll mostly just be a cash machine.

 

[DDPPwolf313]

Give it 10+ years to really see. IMO everything points to the academy being used as a tool to develop and sell players for profit rather than blood them for the first team.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Kilman isn't really academy joined when he was 20

You get my point he played u23 team so on and so forth

 

[Boss Hogg]

Facilities - yes
First team output - no
Producing quality players for lower league - yes
Financial return - no

 

[lyechris]

Of course it isn't!, the key indicator is end product we haven't really produced anything that's maintained or influenced the first team. We also play league 2!

 

[JOSWolf]

Talking of the academy there has normal been an article on the new players joining the u18 squad by now as 1st year u18's. Nothing yet unless I am mistaken.

 

[JOSWolf]

Slightly concerned that the u18's only appear to have 8 players currently according to Steve Davis the u18 Head Coach. Why is this?

 

[AndyWolves]

It's improving, which is the main thing

 

[Contrarian]

It takes a long time for Academy investment to pay off. Heard this said many times at other clubs, 10 years at least.

And a couple of years ago, didn't Jeff give a really insightful interview on this? He basically said Wolves had an Academy capable of producing good Championship players - we've produced many of those and can do so consistently. However, it is that typical big leap up to match the top Premier League academies. We are (or were, at that time...) in the process of bridging that gap. But it will take years before we can expect to produce our own home grown "European League Top Division" level players in any number.

 

[Contrarian]

No, not many make the first team. We will see how good they are if Lage trusts any of them to play.

Apart from MGW I can’t say Otasowie has had a fair chance or Kilman based on last season both in and out the team which is no good for a young players development

For all those three, I'd say if they are only going to get the occasional first team appearance - and even worse, sometimes shoe horned into their wrong position - then they should be out on loan getting proper first team football every week. There are Championship clubs (and probably many others across Europe) who would love to have any of those 3. I guess this is another down side of that small squad strategy. You have to have them around as cover because the real first team is so small.

 

[Ned]

No, we are nowhere near the level that our ambition needs. It’s not the fault of Fosun at all though; the first team success has left the rest of the club behind massively.

Players who would have been tipped to make the grade are now competing with world class players with the highest of standards and are no longer looking make it at a team that’s safely in the championship.

Clubs like Chelsea have been doing this for years and we will get there in 10 years or so when the standards needed even from the U10’s is far beyond what we have at the moment.

It’s all good, the club will 100% recognise this and know the issues.

 

[Deleted member 8123]

Dion Sanderstead

 

[hollo]

Predictive text is such a pain lol

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

Predictive text is such a pain lol

I carrot conker. Prescriptive sex sucks in the rain.

 

[Monketron]

In terms of producing players who go on to play at the very top, we're nowhere near the best. But most of the academies who do that either pay big money to bring in the best kids or are based in huge cities which have a much higher local population density to pick from.

 

[Wigan Wolf]

Villa and Birmingham have better.

Overall standard is good but lack the superstar academy players outside MGW.

Villa have Grealish, Ramsey and Chukwuemeka.

Blues Grey, Redmond, Butland and Bellingham brothers.

Bellingham brothers, didn’t they do “Let you love flow” and “If I Said you had a beautiful body”?