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Author Topic: Reserves and Academy 2020-21  (Read 99214 times)

Offline TonyD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #330 on: February 06, 2021, 11:01:52 PM »
Why hasn’t Barry played?

Offline Legion

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #331 on: February 06, 2021, 11:12:58 PM »
Why hasn’t Barry played?

Ankle injury. Out for at least another month.

Offline chrisw1

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #332 on: February 18, 2021, 12:33:16 PM »
Greg Evans has done an article in The Athletic about Philogene-Bidace.  Aparantly conract is up in the sumer and lots of clubs after him (I haven't seen full article it's behind a paywall).

Can't say I know much about our youngsters, anybody know much about this lad?

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #333 on: February 18, 2021, 01:07:05 PM »
Quote
Aston Villa knew they were on to something special as soon as Jaden Philogene-Bidace pulled on the claret and blue.

The winger, now 19, was taken on trial back in December 2018 and given an opportunity in a behind-closed-doors game. Lining up alongside fellow trialists — all internationals or players connected to other professional clubs — Philogene-Bidace had little in common with those around him.

Unlike the others, he didn’t have a longstanding academy upbringing or the security of going back to another club. Brentford let him go in 2013 and subsequent trials across London were unsuccessful. Watford, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers all decided he wasn’t for them, either, so he joined up with two different development centres to help kickstart his career.

At the Pro:Direct Academy, he was able to learn on the pitch as well as receiving an education. Then at Prolific Sport Management, he built up a small support network with a trusted representative who helped secure a trial at Villa.

Early into that trial, he began to show what he was about.

“An hour into his first training session, the coaches came over to me and said, ‘Where have you got this lad from?'” Villa’s former head of emerging talent, James Beaumont, tells The Athletic.

“They were saying that he was both technically and athletically unbelievable, and that he could have a really bright future.”

It was Beaumont who had recommended Philogene-Bidace after receiving a speculative call and corresponding video from a member of his inner circle saying that he should be checked out.

“When you work in recruitment, you get so many videos saying look at this guy or that guy,” Beaumont continued. “This video had been filmed from behind a criss-cross fence at a college in London. At first, I thought, here we go…

“But I watched for about 10 minutes and I noticed he had something different, something special. I had to get him in for the coaches to have a look at.”

Then came the trial game. Within minutes, all eyes were on Philogene-Bidace. A blistering display of direct and purposeful attacking football left those on the sidelines purring. The player with the lowest profile, who paid for his own digs for the three days while he tried to impress, and who had been rejected by rival clubs because of his size, turned out to be the real undiscovered gem.

“How was he not already signed up to a club?” those at Villa thought.

Tom Brady, Villa’s former head of academy recruitment, adds: “He was excellent, the best player on the pitch and he blew us all away. From the first moment we saw him, it became obvious that he was going to be a star player for our under-18 team, and potentially long-term for Villa as well.

“As he wasn’t with a club, his situation was very favourable. It was almost as if it was too good to be true. We decided to take him. It was a no-brainer.”

Not only a success story for Villa, but a shining example for other young players who often feel lost and deflated during times of rejection in their teenage years, the attacker is showing that it’s not impossible to recover from early setbacks.

When he first joined Villa, he was described by those who coach him as a “raw talent”. “He had loads of skills and was tricky, which is exactly what you want in a winger,” adds Brady. “But, as is the modern-day game now, he still needed a bit of time to be a bit more refined.

“The coaches have taught him that since.”

Developing a rock-solid mindset will be his next task. Those close to him talk about a youngster willing to listen. He’s well-liked at Villa, one of the most exciting teenagers at the club, and already doing the business, too. Although yet to make a first-team appearance, he’s scored six goals in 11 games for the under-23s and is attracting interest from a number of clubs on the continent.

Had he not been training with the senior “bubble”, and, therefore, forced into isolation with the rest of the group when there was a COVID-19 outbreak at Villa last month, he would have made his senior debut alongside a number of other development players in the 4-1 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.

For his age — he turned 19 at the start of February — he’s progressing nicely, and the selectors at England like him, too. Bagging a hat-trick on his debut for the under-19 side in a behind-closed-doors friendly at St George’s Park last year certainly helped.

Less than three years ago, he was playing college football. Now he’s representing his country and pushing to become a regular in Villa’s first-team training sessions.

What happens next is still unclear, though, and his future remains uncertain. With just a few months remaining on his contract, there’s a big decision to make before the summer. Staying at Villa is the priority. He’s happy at the club and there’s a new contract offer on the table.

But there’s also the option of earlier exposure by moving elsewhere. The pathway into the first team at Villa will require a loan spell first and then patience. A number of big clubs in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Portugal are willing to fast-track him straight into the first-team set-up.

For a kid who was rejected as a youngster, the sudden interest is somewhat overwhelming. That a decision is yet to be made over his future only highlights that.

The weeks and months ahead are important for both Philogene-Bidace and Villa. If he sticks around in the Midlands, a plan to shape him into a future first-team player will be put in place.

If he moves on, there may be more people wondering why he slipped through the net again.

From the Athletic

Offline eamonn

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #334 on: February 18, 2021, 01:41:52 PM »
Sign him up long-term with sweeteners and loan him out to the low countries next season?

Offline pooligan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #335 on: February 20, 2021, 10:16:10 PM »
Aston Villa U18  1  Spurs  U18 1  It turned out to be a useful result as the two teams above us Palace and Fuham both lost We have a couple of games in hand over both and play Fulham who are the only team to beat us nexr week 

Offline cdbearsfan

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #336 on: February 20, 2021, 10:19:20 PM »
Glad we equalised. Was quite annoyed that Tottenham had a player called "Scarlett" in the team and he wasn't their skipper.

Offline Legion

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #337 on: February 20, 2021, 10:20:15 PM »
Sign him up long-term with sweeteners and loan him out to the low countries next season?

Agreed.

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #338 on: February 21, 2021, 11:24:00 AM »
If Jack is out, I wonder if Philogene-Bidace will get a place on the bench.

Offline dcdavecollett

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #339 on: February 22, 2021, 02:05:55 AM »
If he's ready, give him a chance.

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #340 on: February 22, 2021, 11:27:47 AM »
Noteworthy that Chukwuemeka and Kessler were on the bench yesterday. I know the former had been training with the first team since the turn of the year but presumably Kessler has only been with the 1st team squad for the past week. It would be good if he can start doing well in training and if he can, we could be set at right back next season with Cash and Kessler.

Offline eamonn

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #341 on: February 26, 2021, 11:02:56 PM »
Such a shame those lads missed out on the FA Cup game because they were training with the senior squad.

Offline GRTourist

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #342 on: February 28, 2021, 06:43:56 PM »
Hi,

I was the photographer at your U18 match against Fulham yesterday, and I've put together this match report with a fair few of the pictures.  Hopefully it's of interest to a few:

https://thegrassrootstourist.com/2021/02/28/fulham-u18-vs-aston-villa-u18/

Regards,

GRT

Offline OCD

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #343 on: February 28, 2021, 06:45:45 PM »
Nice one GRT. It would be good if the club could produce more content about the U18's and U23's.

Offline Legion

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Re: Reserves and Academy 2020-21
« Reply #344 on: February 28, 2021, 06:48:32 PM »
Nice one GRT. It would be good if the club could produce more content about the U18's and U23's.

Yes. That's been a real bug-bear of mine for years.

 


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