Academy lauded in The Times

[Billy Walker]

A Villa-related piece by Nike on Youtube (sort of) concerning our Academy:

(Apologies - can't do short links.)

[Dave Cooper please]

he is very excited about some of the young lads we have too, apparently...

Be careful how and where you say things like that!

[The Man With A Stick]

at such a young age you should be having fun playing with your mates and being a kid and not having the enthusiasm coached out of you..

I'm not sure they are though.  Bannan, Albrighton and Clark have all come through the same system and they're as enthusiastic as anyone else in our squad, if not more so.

[The Left Side]

Great read, congratulations again to the Villa... thanks for posting the link.

[pablopicasso_10]

only positive thing on what is turning into an absolute nightmare of a season...

[Dante Lavelli]

Great reading.  The value for money seems incredible for me although I suppose the £2m is a bit misleading as they're playing at a £16M training ground...  If we doubled it would it have a greater effect? 

Despite this, there is some logic in trying to repeat the model elsewhere, somewhere away from Birmingham. 
Maybe - if as the General has said - we team up with a MSL team we could do it there (problems with trade barriers i.e. employment).  A scottish version?

[myf]

Assuming Ben Petty is the former defender of that name who started out with us and played for Moor Green, he's also proof that even if you aren't good enough for the top level, our Academy helps prepare young players for a career in other areas of football.

he is the very same one... he is a friend of a friend...

he is very excited about some of the young lads we have too, apparently...

Indeed, left Villa with Brian Little to go to Stoke and then headed for Hull.  I used to know him quite well from School.

[Captain Trips]

Thing is Chris even at that age you can see a child with talent that if nurtured well can flourish. Its the same as a child who has an aptitude for music, spelling, writing etc etc so football shouldn't be any different.

Anyone remember Barry Cowdrill who played for the baggies? I knew his brother and played soccer with Barry when he was 7/8. Even at that age he had ability and was much better than us and we were 11/12. Just shows the difference between parks and professional standard.

[peter w]

One thing that's players of a good standard - porfessionals - apart from the rest of us is their touch. We all can beat players, show a trick or two, have blinding pace, smack the hide of the ball, tackle like demons etc etc but pros do it more consistently and even if they are fat, slow and 50 they will always have their first touch that can kill any team.

[Dante Lavelli]

One thing that's players of a good standard - porfessionals - apart from the rest of us is their touch. We all can beat players, show a trick or two, have blinding pace, smack the hide of the ball, tackle like demons etc etc but pros do it more consistently and even if they are fat, slow and 50 they will always have their first touch that can kill any team.

You see that on that Masters footy thing on Sky.  Old pros that are all stones over weight yet you look how quickly they move the ball and their awareness.  They no-longer look like footballers but they still have that X-factor that separates them from us mortals.

[Bosco81]

at such a young age you should be having fun playing with your mates and being a kid and not having the enthusiasm coached out of you..

I'm not sure they are though.  Bannan, Albrighton and Clark have all come through the same system and they're as enthusiastic as anyone else in our squad, if not more so.

But what about the 100s of youngsters that were told that they weren't good enough to make it along the way, are they still playing football now ?

[Toronto Villa]

The academy is our future, and something GH will be very passionate about. If we supplement our great kids with some astute signings then we'll be in great shape for years to come. We may not be Barcelona, but there's no harm at all following that model.

[Dante Lavelli]

Re Barca.  I think 9 of there team vs Madrid were Youth Players (incl Pique), yet they're in LOADS of debt.  How is this?

[Salsa Party Animal]

Too many staff or staff is paid too much.

When I went to Barcelona in May I have seen more than a dozen Barcelona club shop all over the city. So that is about 100 staff to pay for wages. Assuming they employed 8 people each on average.

[Chris Jameson]

When I went to Barcelona in May I have seen more than a dozen Barcelona club shop all over the city.

Are you sure about that?

They have 5 club shops in the city.