England's real Academy of Football is

[pablopicasso_10]

Anyway...don't we also have a couple of other continentals in the academy? What happened to those Swiss (or were they French?) twins, Yago was the name of one of them I think.

yago and damon... swiss / spanish... both are gone...

yago is a cheeky little shit who chatted my missus up in sutton... she rang me all excited that she had met a villa player, and he then told her while she was on the phone to me that it didnt matter that she had a boyfriend!

fair play to him for trying though... lol...

[Rudy Can't Fail]

For me, the best thing about our whole youth set up is the way they get the kids playing. As has been evident over these last few months, the kids are comfortable with the ball at their feet. They also give it the full Ron Saunders, something that every Villa player no matter the age or experience should be aware of. Whilst Kevin MacDonald obviously never had that extra something to be manager, he's one hell of a coach.

The other thing of note is how many times our youngsters have commented over the years about the talent of Sid. A true legend that never got the national credit he deserved. I'm so happy he's in there working alongside Houllier, keeping those young 'uns in check.

[luke25]

Anybody have any idea how the dutch Centre half that we converted into a forward is coming along? Have'nt heard him mentioned for a while but was highly rated 6 or so months back

[pablopicasso_10]

halfhuid... he scores a few and is a big lad, but tbh, i cant really see much of a future for him at the villa...

might be being harsh, but i just dont see anything special in him... same as james collins jnr...

[Brend'Watkins]

Has Forrester been dumped?

[pablopicasso_10]

hes out on loan somewhere in scotland...

last i heard he was probably on his way out due to his attitude...

shame really, as he has a lot of ability...

[pedro25]

Whittingham has made it more than L Moore surely?  But he's from Nuneaton so another midlander.

[Bosco81]

Whittingham has made it more than L Moore surely?  But he's from Nuneaton so another midlander.

Didn't Wittingham get released from Coventry or did we just nick him off them.

[Dave Cooper please]

How did we find Bannan by the way?

Looked behind the waste paper bin and there he was.

[peter w]

What's happened to Kurt Bakholt? And Alex Sperr?

[KevinGage]

In an ironic sort of way I think it shows that Villa's set up is better than most because we can turn a whole host of average athletes - Ridgwell, Davis, Cahill, Gabby, Hendrie, etc etc - into premier league players, consistently over a number of years.  Consistency being the key word, from that you get predictability/reliability.

The only youth set up in the UK that consistently produced players capable of the upper premiership in recent years is probably West Ham and that was hmmm ten years ago now (ferdinand, defoe, carrick, fat frank etc).

Basically what I am saying is its only luck that has stopped us finding a world class gem rather than a flaw in what our youth set up does. 

I think Man Citeh have had a pretty good track record of bringing kids through; SWP, Richards, Ireland, Hart, Onouha, Johnson, Sturridge, Boyata, Etuhu.

A few of those have gone on to have decent international careers (baffling as that may be in the case of SWP) and most would generate a decent fee if/ when sold. The sale of SWP alone a few years back was more than we received for the likes of Cahill, Ridgewell and co combined.

I also don't think it can be just written off as 'luck' that we haven't had a major talent making the grade since Barry (Cahill possibly excepted).  Part of the function of any good academy worth it's salt- as well as actually training these players- should be sourcing them in the first place. How did Lee Sharpe fall through the cracks all those years ago? How come the likes of Lescott (who was a Villa fan) ended up at Wolves, Sturridge at Man City and so on. And that's just the players on our doorstep.

Our location in the centre of England should be an advantage it procuring more talent from the north and south, with the possible selling point that any player breaking through with us might have more of a chance of first team football here than they would at one of the big northern/ southern clubs.

This is not in anyway an attempt to put the boot into our set-up, I'm as encouraged as most by the good work and dedication Sid, McAndrew and co have put in. I just think at times there's too much of a rush to pat ourselves on the back (understandable as that may be). I'd be wary of complacency setting in, if we're really saying that bringing through the likes of Ridgwelll, Luke Moore and Craig Gardner is plenty good enough. It's not.

[damon loves JT]

Darius had all the skills to be a top class player - but not the self-belief. O'Leary could have helped, but he couldn't be bothered, the stupid arsehole.

[KevinGage]

I don't think I've ever seen a player look so comfortable at international level and yet so unconvincing for his club.

[Concrete John]

The sale of SWP alone a few years back was more than we received for the likes of Cahill, Ridgewell and co combined.

That wouldn't have been the case had any of those also gone to Chelsea at the height of their spending madness.

[Concrete John]

I'd be wary of complacency setting in, if we're really saying that bringing through the likes of Ridgwelll, Luke Moore and Craig Gardner is plenty good enough. It's not.

good job we aren't then.