Pretty impressive.

[Pilchards]

http://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/04/14/the-southampton-fc-academy-way/

 

I expect this article has been displayed on here already but you've got to be impressed for the future?

Any young kid that shows any promise would rather come to Southampton than any other team in the southern region.

The only problem we have right now is keeping the good ones in the first team.

[slickmick]

Thanks for posting that. Some new stuff in there I've not seen before.

[Batman]

I think we will see far less academy products being regular fixtures in the matchday squad.

 

JWP is the poster boy. but he payed 100 games already. no one else can get a look in now

[Pancake]

I think we will see far less academy products being regular fixtures in the matchday squad.

 

JWP is the poster boy. but he payed 100 games already. no one else can get a look in now

 

Unlike you to be on a downer James.

 

Chin up fella.

[CB Fry]

I think we will see far less academy products being regular fixtures in the matchday squad.

 

JWP is the poster boy. but he payed 100 games already. no one else can get a look in now

It's almost like the top ten of the Premier League is a higher standard than League One and the Championship.

[Tom28]

I think we will see far less academy products being regular fixtures in the matchday squad.

 

JWP is the poster boy. but he payed 100 games already. no one else can get a look in now

 

I think to expect a Luke Shaw or a JWP on a regular basis is naive. They don't come along very often. Kevin Phillips was mentioned in that article; his development took a lot longer and I think that is more typical than a Luke Shaw, JWP or Rooney who were ready to be thrown in to the best league in the world as teenagers and cut it.

 

What I like about Saints now is that we aren't just discarding players once they hit 19 or 20. Lloyd Isgrove is a great example. They obviously see something in him and have been willing to let him take longer to develop. Sam Gallagher is 20, Harry Reed is 20. Neither you would say are in danger of becoming first team regulars any time soon but we'll hold onto them because they see the longer term potential.

 

To wind back to your point; in the short term, you are probably right that we'll see few academy players in the first team. But in the medium to longer term I'd expect that to change as the current crop start hitting 22-24 years of age.

[Bald Headed Jesus]

Three As at A Level, fair play!

[hypochondriac]

Three As at A Level, fair play!

 

Well his father is a barrister so he comes from good stock.

[buctootim]

What I like about Saints now is that we aren't just discarding players once they hit 19 or 20. Lloyd Isgrove is a great example. They obviously see something in him and have been willing to let him take longer to develop. Sam Gallagher is 20, Harry Reed is 20. Neither you would say are in danger of becoming first team regulars any time soon but we'll hold onto them because they see the longer term potential.

 

Hopefully. The other viewpoint is that we become like Chelsea. Lots of development players on the books who never play fro the first team

[eelpie]

That is a very impressive read.

 

It reminds me that in the early 90's, soon after we moved to the new stadium there was a programme on telly about Saints Academy that was serialised for a few weeks. Does anyone have a copy? It would be interesting to see which youngsters featured in it, and if there were names we would recognise now.

[david in sweden]

Nicely-frames article with some quotes from " The Southampton Way " documentary released in January... and available to be viewed on You Tube.

[david in sweden]

I think to expect a Luke Shaw or a JWP on a regular basis is naive. They don't come along very often. Kevin Phillips was mentioned in that article; his development took a lot longer and I think that is more typical than a Luke Shaw, JWP or Rooney who were ready to be thrown in to the best league in the world as teenagers and cut it.

 

What I like about Saints now is that we aren't just discarding players once they hit 19 or 20. Lloyd Isgrove is a great example. They obviously see something in him and have been willing to let him take longer to develop. Sam Gallagher is 20, Harry Reed is 20. Neither you would say are in danger of becoming first team regulars any time soon but we'll hold onto them because they see the longer term potential.

 

To wind back to your point; in the short term, you are probably right that we'll see few academy players in the first team. But in the medium to longer term I'd expect that to change as the current crop start hitting 22-24 years of age.

 

good comments. The end of the " Academy " stage of a young players development is the real key to their future.

They either go on to get a bench place in The Prem, or Championship... or end up with as a part-timer in National League or L2 side, and try to " makeover " their careers.