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Author Topic: Reserves and Academy 2020-21  (Read 98849 times)

Online Lsvilla

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #105 on: September 18, 2020, 09:30:54 PM »
It's not him.  This one is Philogene-Bidace, can't remember the name of the lad we got from Norwich.
Shakpoke

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #106 on: September 19, 2020, 12:15:11 AM »
3-0 (Aaron Ramsey, Dominic Revan and Jaden Philogene-Bidace)

Match Report - https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2020/september/U23s-Aston-Villa-3-0-Norwich-City/

None of the new players were involved.

Offline pooligan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #107 on: September 19, 2020, 11:30:32 AM »
Good win for the U23 last night,pity the coverage by the club these days is so poor .I use to love watching the second team until they decided to play at Bodymoor ,now its almost impossible to follow them on line

Online paul_e

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #108 on: September 19, 2020, 07:53:50 PM »
Under 18s won 1-0 away at Norwich earlier despite 2 red cards.

Offline Legion

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #109 on: September 19, 2020, 07:55:22 PM »
Good win for the U23 last night,pity the coverage by the club these days is so poor .I use to love watching the second team until they decided to play at Bodymoor ,now its almost impossible to follow them on line

It's better than last season but still very poor compared to the coverage provided by other clubs.

Offline pooligan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #110 on: September 19, 2020, 10:19:29 PM »
Sounds a impressive win at Norwich today for the u18, Norwich thrashed Sandwell 5-1 last week and according to one of their players on their website were ready to give us some of the same today

Offline Legion

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Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #112 on: September 22, 2020, 06:05:15 PM »
In the past two years, the club have recruited some of neighbours West Bromwich Albion’s leading academy brains, set out to corner the local market at junior level and gone on a recruitment drive for talented teenagers, including Lamare Bogarde, pictured top, who had interested Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and whose arrival is to be announced soon.

It has been a revolution.

The objective of Villa’s academy is not to produce players who can then be sold on for significant profits in the future. It is for the club; to develop talent for the first team. If in doing that some players are subsequently snapped up by rivals, then it will only be to benefit Villa financially.

Purslow has played a big part in reshaping the academy. He set out to find a framework that would help bring more players through in the future but recognised there would be no quick fix.

“Villa still have some way to go before they can start getting excited about the next batch of youngsters,” one source told The Athletic.

“They haven’t had much to shout about from the academy in recent years but you can see the clear change of direction in the last 12 months or so. They mean business, and other clubs are starting to take note.”

Villa’s planning over recent years has been strategic and deliberate. It wasn’t so long ago that West Brom were recognised as having the best academy in the Midlands, so Villa made it a priority to not only break up what was working so well just a few miles down the road, but also hire their standout staff members.

Mark Harrison ended a 13-year association at The Hawthorns to become academy manager in 2019. The vision for the future appealed and he’s already committed to a long-term plan that is now starting to take shape.

One of the first objectives was simple but rewarding, if executed correctly. Villa’s aim was to start gathering the best talent in the local area by making sure they get hold of the leading players at primary-school age and then monitoring their progress at the club. To a similar end, Villa also wanted to increase their links with inner-city clubs.

Villa also strengthened their coaching staff when Mark Naylor moved across from West Brom last summer too. He has helped to bring through goalkeepers at England youth level in the past and is now working with Villa’s.

There is also a huge recruitment drive underway, which is being led by a former Albion talent spotter, Steve Hopcroft. Villa have targeted players around the ages of 15, 16 and 17 of late.

First through the door was Louie Barry — another one formerly of West Brom — as he returned from a spell with Barcelona for £1.5 million in January.

Striker Ruben Shakpoke, 16, arrived from Norwich City last month in a deal that is understood to involve a significant transfer fee. Defender Sil Swinkels and holding midfielder Bogarde, also both 16, have agreed to join from Vitesse Arnhem and Feyenoord respectively. Official announcements are expected to follow as soon as they receive international clearance.

The capture of Bogarde is particularly impressive considering the other Premier League sides who were interested in him. Ben Chrisene, a 16-year-old from Exeter City who has already been unveiled, went on trial at a host of other clubs including Bayern Munich but chose Villa as his new destination, too.

While Villa have picked out players who they believe can flourish in the future, they’ve also been able to keep hold of those who are already well known to staff at the club.

Carney Chukwuemeka, 16, looked set to leave with a host of other clubs keen, but Villa offered him a lengthy contract and he stuck around.

Jacob Ramsey, 19, is making good progress and may be called upon in the Carabao Cup opener against Burton Albion on Tuesday. He’s from nearby Barr Beacon and has been at the club since the age of seven. If he can continue developing as a player, there finally might be another Villa youngster on the way to replicating the early stages of Grealish’s journey.

It’s 17-year-old Kaine Kesler, from the Smith’s Wood area of Birmingham, who is starting to edge his way towards the top of the pile of potential breakthrough players, though.

Smith rates the rapid right-back highly and even included him in his squad at the back end of Project Restart when Villa drew at Everton in the Premier League. One source, who suggested Kesler is now the standout player of the development group, says: “He looks like he’s got a real chance of featuring for the first team in the future. His speed is frightening and that could set him apart.”

Senior players have been taken back by his blistering pace and his desire to make an impression when called upon. Kesler travelled with the first team for the pre-season camp in Wales and has been with the seniors for the past four months.

The aim this season is to create an identity in the under-23 team, which will largely feature first and second-year scholars. If results in matches don’t go their way, it’s largely because they will be much younger than the opponents they are coming up against. Short-term struggles may bring long-term benefits.

Mark Delaney, an ex-Villa defender, is the current under-23 coach and former team-mate George Boateng has now moved up from the under-18s to be his assistant. Delaney spoke of his pride at seeing some of his young group mix in with the first team this summer.

“Before they left for Wales, we said you need to take every opportunity to learn,” he told Villa’s website. “We encouraged the youngsters to ask the seniors questions but we also said they had to bring their own game into it. We wanted them to make their mark.”

A brand-new building at Bodymoor Heath now houses the academy. They also have a purpose-built stadium, where the development teams play their home games. The facilities are excellent, which also plays a part in attracting youngsters to the club.

A major mistake Villa made in the past was keeping young, talented players at the training ground for too long when they should have been out on loan somewhere, sampling men’s football.

One former player, who has now left the club, told The Athletic: “I wanted to go out on loan a couple of times but the club blocked it. That was the only real regret I had from my time in the academy.”

There has been a new pledge to get the most progressive players in the under-23s integrated into senior football as early as possible and Ramsey moved to Doncaster Rovers earlier in the year, scoring three goals in seven League One appearances before the coronavirus shutdown.

Decisions will be made on which youngsters to let out before the transfer window closes next month. Some will benefit from men’s football, others need more time at Bodymoor Heath.

The key to correct development is understanding each player’s individual needs. Villa seem to be managing that quite well now and they have laid the early seeds for what could be a blossoming group in years to come.

Source - The Athletic.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2020, 06:07:56 PM by OCD »

Offline danno

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #113 on: September 22, 2020, 07:08:56 PM »
Thanks for posting that.

Offline cdbearsfan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #114 on: September 22, 2020, 08:31:31 PM »
Yeah, many thanks OCD. Promising stuff.

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #115 on: September 22, 2020, 09:25:35 PM »
Sort of article I like to read so thought others would too.

Offline pooligan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #116 on: September 22, 2020, 11:46:04 PM »
Thanks for posting OCD

Offline eamonn

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #117 on: September 23, 2020, 01:45:11 AM »
Based on what it says about Kesler, it does ring true about Guilbert's days being numbered.

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #118 on: September 23, 2020, 12:29:45 PM »
It would be asking a lot for someone to go from playing in the U23's to Premier League games. You would expect them to go out on loan first.

In the comments section to that article, the Sunderland game was discussed. They said Sunderland played a very strong side and their winger tore Kesler apart.

They also said that it was the physicality we struggled with. They said something about their main striker being about 14 stone and our 17/18 year old's couldn't cope. A lot of their goals came from set pieces and it was only really in the last 20 minutes when we collapsed.

Offline Legion

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #119 on: September 23, 2020, 12:36:12 PM »
Kesler is not as good as he thinks he is.

 


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