Youth System

[wing commander]

I was dissapointed to read, that this year not one of the youth lads is worthy of a proffesional deal,although having watched them a time or two last season that doesnt shock me.The last 3 years have produced nothing apart from the odd player given a year,shipped out on loan then released..
  Whilst you dont expect to find Messi every year,our return has been beyond dissapointing for the precious money the club and vsc have contributed too it.
  What are the reasons for this and how long like any other job is it before the youth managers job comes under threat,i know one kids manager who manages a under 11 side who is guttered when he picks one of his lads as he says he knows he will get him back a year later a shadow of the player who left..
  That of course is down to opinions but there must be a reason why our youth teams produce so little,there must be some future pro players in Donny.???!!!

[coventryrover]

I, like most other rovers, would love players coming through from the youth academy.  Solely buying players isn't really sustainable really.

I really hope we are putting measures in place to capture the young uns from the yorkshire region, we certainly have more pulling power than we used to!

[fudgepacker]

I think that people are forgetting that we still dont have the pull of other teams in the region. The players coming through now have been learning their trade for 6-7 years in either our youth team or another one. We were in the bottom leagues in that time. I know some people who's kids have gone to Sheff Utd and Leeds because the facilities were better at the time.

I suspect that we now might start to take our pick of local talent but they won't start filtering through to the first team for another 5-7 years.

[Thinwhiteduke]

Dont worry....we now have the 'Rovers Alliance'.

Surely that scheme will allow us to develop a steady flow of talented players withing the next few years??  

[Matty]

Things are looking up with the youth team and things are starting to be done properly. The way SOD works means he wants a club that run well and properly which means having a good youth system. This is developing year on year and dont forget we recently signed 8 new youth players from all across the country not just in the local area so things are on there way up.

[wing commander]

Well of course time will tell,as long as the people who are running this side of the club are good enough at there job,i believe you need more than a few coaching badges to teach kids,they are probably the hardest type to teach...
     The moan i hear about our set up is they leave there teams with the love of the game,wingers taking a man on down the line etc etc,but when the club has had there fill of them there sent back like mini robots trained to pass the ball,taking a man on is actually discouraged these days..and are not the same players..
     I have to say they do come across as a arrogant bunch with opposing team managers given instructions on what is allowed and what wasn't in a match,this is all well and good but then they were thrashed by a sunday kids team,im not convinced that the present set up could turn a potentially great youngster to the next step up and until they manage to do just that,then questions have to be asked.!!

[I-was-there1976]

is the reserve team a none starter again this season ? It cant be good for players coming back from injuries and out of form players trying to get into the side.

JR said last week Doncaster Rovers arent a pub team anymore. How many Championship teams dont run a reserve team ?

[fudgepacker]

I-was-there1976 wrote:

is the reserve team a none starter again this season ? It cant be good for players coming back from injuries and out of form players trying to get into the side.

JR said last week Doncaster Rovers arent a pub team anymore. How many Championship teams dont run a reserve team ?

I'm not sure about championship sides but haven't Arsenal just pulled their reserve team out of the reserve league?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Many teams have pulled out of reserves leagues due to the cost and committment it takes to field teams.

Playing 'friendlies' give managers flexibility in being able to play where they want, when they want, as long as they want and with whom they want rather than committ to a rigid league structure.

[donnybez]

Because leeds, wednesday, united and Man Utd are signing the best?

[Mike_F]

wing commander wrote:

Well of course time will tell,as long as the people who are running this side of the club are good enough at there job,i believe you need more than a few coaching badges to teach kids,they are probably the hardest type to teach...
     The moan i hear about our set up is they leave there teams with the love of the game,wingers taking a man on down the line etc etc,but when the club has had there fill of them there sent back like mini robots trained to pass the ball,taking a man on is actually discouraged these days..and are not the same players..
     I have to say they do come across as a arrogant bunch with opposing team managers given instructions on what is allowed and what wasn't in a match,this is all well and good but then they were thrashed by a sunday kids team,im not convinced that the present set up could turn a potentially great youngster to the next step up and until they manage to do just that,then questions have to be asked.!!

I totally understand your points WC, but I would refer back to the recent threads about the failings of the England team and the difference in our youth set-ups and those of (for example) Germany.

I think it was DonnyNOel who talked about youth football wherein players would get the ball to the bes dribbler in the team and watch him run rings round opposing defences, bagging hatfuls of goals but as the same teams matured they would be found out by technically better sides. It appears from what I'm seeing in this thread that we are looking to introduce structures from earlier ages and perhaps those players that stand out to Joe Bloogs, manager of the local kids' team due to their mazy runs and the like aren't really the potential stars of the future and so they go back with a more rounded game that doesn't quite sit with the level they're playing at.

As others have said, 3 or 4 years ago when the current youth garduates were 13/14 years old we weren't anywhere near as attractive a proposition as we are now. It will probably be at least another 2 years before any players of Championship quality start pushing through.

[donnybez]

Anyway, why don't we all sign up for the Alliance to thank the mighty king JR