The Myth of our youth policy

[Ron Manager]

and our youth team produced DJ Campbell who despite current allegations( yet to be proved )has had a good career in the top two flights in recent years.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Don't forget if there is promising young kid were offer a chance to make it a professional, they would more likely to choose Aston Villa than the like of Chelsea.

[Gareth]

I think there has been a shift under Lambert to get the young lads out on loan to experience proper football rather than keeping them at the club to win the reserve league...good plan if you ask me!

There, seems months since gave Lambert credit for owt

[Gareth]

I think we are all desperate for us to produce a worldy from the youths but as Everton found out with Rooney & will soon with Barkley if he continues they are prised away before you get to see them achieve anything

[supertom]

I don't think we did quite enough for them while O Neill was here. There were times when Fonzy was really looking like something special. He needed more game time in the top flight under O Neill. We wasted a lot of playing time on Harewood and Heskey in all honesty, that might have been better given to Fonzy perhaps. I also think between the tail end of O Neill and the beginning of Houllier we didn't really do some of our players any favours by giving them too much too soon.
Certainly in Bannan and Fonzies case, we gave them a ridiculous amount of money before they'd come close to establishing themselves properly, and I think in both cases the application dropped a little.

Now our squad is younger and players are getting chances at this level. It's all a little too much in one go, but slightly disappointingly, is that we could be starting to bring in some of the talent like Johnson, Robinson, Grealish etc into the first team at the moment. If they're good enough, they're old enough. We're producing some technically talented footballers, but we're giving game time to some players we've signed, who aren't technically very good.

But given the quality of our squad now, and comparing to the quality of some of our youth products at pastures new, there's a case to say that a lot of them could easily make our current 18. I'm thinking Myhill (over Steer), Cahill (obviously), Ridgewell, Davis, Gardner, Whittingham and god forbid, even Bannan is missed as an option with a bit of quality in midfield.

It's all well and good giving players from L1-2 a shot at the big time (as long as we have more established quality alongside) but we should really be bringing through more of our 18-22 year olds right now. We've seen enough of the likes of Herd, Baker, Clark, Alby etc to know which are good enough long term and which aren't (Baker, Herd). It's time to start working the next generation of our production line into the first team squad better.
Bowery and Tonevs places should be given to any two of Johnson, Robinson, Burke, Grealish etc. They can't do any worse.

[Legion]

Would you include Gareth Barry in that list?

[PeterWithesShin]

I don't class Barry as a product of our youth system as we poached him when he was 17. He was in the first team within a year.

[KevinGage]

We've been very good at producing winning Youth sides.

But the focus should really be on finding (and then bringing out the best) of a very special player at that level, regardless of overall league placings and cup success. Rather thane decent, functional players.

The amount of players that have come through our academy and are now playing in the top two divisions is impressive. 

But we're not on a par with the West Ham set up who provided the backbone of the England side for the best part of a decade.  Nor Everton, who didn't produce a huge number of homegrown stars, but those that they did bring through (Rooney, Rodwell and now Barkley) have provided (or in the case of Barkley could provide) the funding to remain in the top 6. 

Southampton's praise isn't unmerited either:  Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and now Lallana and Shaw. Even moneybags Citeh have produced Shaun Wright Phillips (sold for £30+ million) Hart, Richards, Sturridge and, er Ireland (who is a shitbag, but a shitbag who moved in a deal worth £8 million to them). 

Going back a bit further, the Leeds set-up produced Robinson, Woodgate, Harte, Kelly, Smith and Lennon -players who either had long careers with them or who provided vital revenue with big transfer fees.

It should always be about quality, rather than quantity.

[richardhubbard]

Barry 15 years ago , I not knocking anyone , quantity great but quality fell short.

Cahill and Barry were high quality , and probably gabby .

Everton that time produced a Barkley and Rooney , sadly Gardner now behind bowrey!

We produce decent level like bannan, Davis and Craig c
Gardner.

Just not what call top 8 players who change games

[PeterWithesShin]

Joe Hart was about 19 when he joined City and had already played 50+ league games. We are really stretching it if that qualifies as their youth system. SWP joined them when he was 17. Obviously the coaching at City helped them, but youth system products?

[Legion]

Chelsea and the likes can pay as much as they want for whoever they want at any age.

[saunders_heroes]

I don't class Barry as a product of our youth system as we poached him when he was 17. He was in the first team within a year.

I think he signed for Villa on his 16th birthday. We didn't need to poach him as he had never signed a professional contract in his life before joining Villa.

[eastie]

Barry 15 years ago , I not knocking anyone , quantity great but quality fell short.

Cahill and Barry were high quality , and probably gabby .

Everton that time produced a Barkley and Rooney , sadly Gardner now behind bowrey!

We produce decent level like bannan, Davis and Craig c
Gardner.

Just not what call top 8 players who change games

Rodwell too, who raked in a tidy sum .

[abc123cox]

We've been very good at producing winning Youth sides.

But the focus should really be on finding (and then bringing out the best) of a very special player at that level, regardless of overall league placings and cup success. Rather thane decent, functional players.

The amount of players that have come through our academy and are now playing in the top two divisions is impressive. 

But we're not on a par with the West Ham set up who provided the backbone of the England side for the best part of a decade.  Nor Everton, who didn't produce a huge number of homegrown stars, but those that they did bring through (Rooney, Rodwell and now Barkley) have provided (or in the case of Barkley could provide) the funding to remain in the top 6. 

Southampton's praise isn't unmerited either:  Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and now Lallana and Shaw. Even moneybags Citeh have produced Shaun Wright Phillips (sold for £30+ million) Hart, Richards, Sturridge and, er Ireland (who is a shitbag, but a shitbag who moved in a deal worth £8 million to them). 

Going back a bit further, the Leeds set-up produced Robinson, Woodgate, Harte, Kelly, Smith and Lennon -players who either had long careers with them or who provided vital revenue with big transfer fees.

It should always be about quality, rather than quantity.

Didn't Sturridge start his career at villa?

[Clampy]

Barry 15 years ago , I not knocking anyone , quantity great but quality fell short.

Cahill and Barry were high quality , and probably gabby .

Everton that time produced a Barkley and Rooney , sadly Gardner now behind bowrey!

Rooney left Everton years ago. Not too sure why you've mentioned Bowery being behind Gardner when they play in different positions.