doddisalegend Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Just seen this article on the BCC http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17910274 Southampton boss Nigel Adkins says he wants a youthful side to consolidate themselves in the Premier League. Adkins wants to fill his newly-promoted team with young talent from the club's own academy. "We endeavour to get 50% of our home-grown players through to the first team," Adkins told BBC Radio Solent. "It's about a spirit that we've got, a Southampton way. We've got a good environment to improve, to learn, to work hard and to develop." He added: "The object is to get them through, we've got to make sure there's a pathway for them. That's the vision that we've got, we've got to keep driving on." Do people think we are planning to have 50% of next season 1st team as academy talent? I know NC has talked about a team built around our own youth products in time but this article seems to suggest this going to happen from next season which I really can't see happening.... IMO I think the jurno has got a bit confused with our long and short term objectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37762 ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shropshire Saint Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 I cant see wholesale changes with the emphasis on youth. The Dutch Duo tried that with catastrophic results. What I think we will see is the gradual integration of some of the more promising youth team players - JWP, Hoskins, Sinclair, Stephens, Shaw and possibly Reeves and Moore utilising the 7 subs rule. Some may become regulars as the season goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Most of star Saints youngsters are still too young for regular first team games in the Premier League. The "50% home grown" aim is a long term ambition for Cortese, not one I expect to see next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 probably...none Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Wanting 50% of the Academy scholars to make it into the first team is fine... but that doesn't mean that 50% of the first team will comprise Academy players. There are around 7-8 players in each year group, and Adkins is simply saying the *aim* is to get 50% into the first team *at some point*. I think we might see one break through next year, but it is more likely to be in a couple of years that we'll see more progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Ward-Prowse had been mentioned as the next 'Walcott', 'Bale' and 'Oxlade-Chamberlain' not so long ago. As was Jake Sinclair. Maybe not so much now? No doubt they will both be good players though when they finally break through. Surely another thing we have to consider is the 25 squad rule, we won't be taking up many if any of these places up with some of our youngsters in case we have some bad luck with injuries. We don't want to be forced to play them (anyone remember a strikeforce of Best/Blackstock vs Everton in 2004?). Maybe a loan spell in the Championship for Ward-Prowse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
student Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Just to emphasis if you are under 21 then you do not need to be registered as part of the 25 man squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 1 May, 2012 Author Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Most of star Saints youngsters are still too young for regular first team games in the Premier League. The "50% home grown" aim is a long term ambition for Cortese, not one I expect to see next season. That's what I thought. The way the bbc article worded it though (IMO) gave the impression that it was on the cards for next season Southampton boss Nigel Adkins says he wants a youthful side to consolidate themselves in the Premier League. Adkins wants to fill his newly-promoted team with young talent from the club's own academy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsarum Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 The Premier league now has a quota in place of 25 players in a squad plus any number of under 21's http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8902975.stm Of the 25 only 17 are allowed to be not home grown or a minumum of 8 home grown Home Grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21). So of current squad the following players amongst others would count as home grown Adam Lallana Morgan Schnederlin Arron Martin Jack Cork Dean Hammond Richard Chaplow Kelvin Davis Danny Fox Billy Sharp Rickie Lambert Lee Holmes Danny Butterfield Frazer Richardson And we could have players such as Luke Shaw Jamie Ward Prowse Ben Reeves Jack Stephens all available to play even if they are not in the 25 man squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkeith Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 If you read the whole interview, he states that we are 2 years ahead of schedule, so we will have to plug the gaps with signings. I would expect a lot of younsters to go out on loan, although we will be in a proper reserve league which might boost development. In two years time JWP,Sinclair, Chambers, Corby-Moore , Stephens and Shaw might well have developed into first team regulars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintedwill Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 The Premier league now has a quota in place of 25 players in a squad plus any number of under 21's http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8902975.stm Of the 25 only 17 are allowed to be not home grown or a minumum of 8 home grown Home Grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21). So of current squad the following players amongst others would count as home grown Adam Lallana Morgan Schnederlin Arron Martin Jack Cork Dean Hammond Richard Chaplow Kelvin Davis Danny Fox Billy Sharp Rickie Lambert Lee Holmes Danny Butterfield Frazer Richardson And we could have players such as Luke Shaw Jamie Ward Prowse Ben Reeves Jack Stephens all available to play even if they are not in the 25 man squad Just to be clear on this - players under-21 are available to play even if they're not named in the 25 man squad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Just to be clear on this - players under-21 are available to play even if they're not named in the 25 man squad? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appy Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 You can tell who plays FM and who doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Is it just me that thinks what Nige meant was that he'd like 50% of the squad to be home grown (which could be achieved next season), rather than getting 50% of the academy into the squad, which seems like an unrealistic goal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 At a guess,ball park sort of figure in the region of none'ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 Wondering about Luke Shaw (as I've never actually seen him play) and Jack Stephens (as we're not really responsible for him and he scored a mental goal v Man U's kids from right back earlier in the season). Ward-Prowse might grow into it too, or at worst get a loan to someone like Peterborough or Swindon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchards Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 If you read the whole interview, he states that we are 2 years ahead of schedule, so we will have to plug the gaps with signings. I would expect a lot of younsters to go out on loan, although we will be in a proper reserve league which might boost development. In two years time JWP,Sinclair, Chambers, Corby-Moore , Stephens and Shaw might well have developed into first team regulars. My thoughts too, problem with plugging the gap is getting rid of the high paid players that can't take the club forward anymore in 2 years time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintforever Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 None broke through this year so I can't see any being ready for Prem football next season. Even our experienced players lack Prem experience so I would rate blooding kids way down on the list of priorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissyboy31 Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 (edited) May be the odd cup appearance but that will be it. Unless of course a Ward-Prowse, a Shaw or a Hoskins make a major step forward in a Bale like way! Edited 1 May, 2012 by krissyboy31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 None broke through this year so I can't see any being ready for Prem football next season. Even our experienced players lack Prem experience so I would rate blooding kids way down on the list of priorities. That would depend if they're better than the ones who've been starting. There are a few reasons for not blooding kids too early, the contractual status of U-16s being the main one. I can't see Adkins "plugging gaps" with anything except players who are better than the ones we have already, so no concerns there. It's not like we've signed "squad players" in the past 2 years, is it ? Forte and Dale Stephens aside, and one of those was a short term loan to address an injury crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 I predict one youngster will break through in pre-season. No idea which one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westofshannonsaint Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 now that we are back to having a 7 man bench, we have a little more room to offer the youth a chance to come through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itchen_block4 Posted 1 May, 2012 Share Posted 1 May, 2012 The 50% figure is very much a long term plan. The current crop are a good few years away from their best years. Back in 2004, a 16 year old Adam Lallana graduated into the academy. Nobody could have predicted what happened over the next 8 years. The young Adam Lallana had a dodgy ticker and he didn't know if he'd be able to play again. I doubt he thought he'd be a key member of the team that went from the third tier back to the top level. Whatever the situations, a lot will have changed for better or worse by the time the current group are the same age as Lallana and playing at the top of their game. It takes a pretty special player (an early developer physically too) to take to the highest level straight away. Many of them don't, but that's not to say they won't be good players. I can see a few kids being involved next season, but I think it will be a while before they get considered as senior players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 2 May, 2012 Share Posted 2 May, 2012 Sam Gallagher could also come through in the next couple of years. Plymouth seemingly becoming our feeder team, instead of us being Arsenals! http://www.football365.com/southampton/7649669/Saints-snap-up-Argyle-youngster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmore Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 Does squad age have an impact on how well a team does in the prem? I was just looking at Fulham’s squad and thought that they have a pretty old squad. So I looked up the stats and sound that their average age is 28yrs, which is one of the older squads in the Prem. Of the promoted teams QPR have the oldest squad in the premiership but Norwich and Swansea both have young squads and are doing OK. In fact all of the younger squads seem to be doing OK (with exception of Wolves). Looking back at other seasons and the most successful sides generally had the youngest squads. http://www.statbunker.com/football/btb/index.php?PL=competition&CompID=373&statType=seasonsquad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 /\ surely the ability and fitness of the players and managers is more important than the age, yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 /\ surely the ability and fitness of the players and managers is more important than the age, yes? Don't think the fitness of the managers make too much difference to be honest........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmore Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 Yeah. I agree - you would expect ability & fitness of individuals is the key factor. As well as tactics and other variables, but there does seem to be a general trend that younger squads do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 Surely another thing we have to consider is the 25 squad rule, we won't be taking up many if any of these places up with some of our youngsters in case we have some bad luck with injuries. We don't want to be forced to play them (anyone remember a strikeforce of Best/Blackstock vs Everton in 2004?). Maybe a loan spell in the Championship for Ward-Prowse? The 25 man squad size does not include under 21 players. You can use as many of them as you like. The whole point of the squad size rule is to encourage home-grown young talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 I would expect a lot of younsters to go out on loan, although we will be in a proper reserve league which might boost development. There seems to be an assumption that now we are in the PL we will also be in the Premier Reserve League. This is not the case. We may or may not enter, it is not compulsory, there are only 16 teams competing this year. The PRL is not considered to be very good and poorly structured at the moment. There are plans afoot to completely revamp it for the 2013/14 season, with new age rules (u21 I think but caveats to allow over-age players to play), and matches to be played in conjucntion with first team matches (the ideas I saw floated were to play the reserve games following the first team games, though how that would work in practice is hard to see with weekend games, badly cut-up pitches and so on). Bottom line though is that we may well not be in the Reserve league next season, just as Man City, Newcastle and Stoke and QPR are not this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 Don't think the fitness of the managers make too much difference to be honest........ Maybe Fat Sam would suggest otherwise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Warrior Posted 6 May, 2012 Share Posted 6 May, 2012 Can't see any in the first season besides we need to stabilise our position back in the premier first . If any were on the verge of the first team we would have seen them when we recently had all those injuries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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