So i'm really intrigued by what he's done so far.
Our youngest academy products seem like they're being treated with a much more watchful eye than under Moyes. The current crop used to be anonymous names in a youth intake announcement article, but in recent weeks four of them have signed pro deals, 2 years for trying out. They've also gotten runouts in preseason.
We have 2-year contracts for Grant, Pennington, Browning and Long - lids we knew nothing about a year ago. We also have McAleny going out on loan and a bucketload of other talents that yet have somewhere to put themselves - Stones, Garbutt, Lundstram, etc.
This is different from Moyes. He'd let most graduates quietly work themselves out, and tie down bigger prospects on longer deals. Generally, it seemed he didn't have as much esteem for our academy boys as Martinez is showing.
Martinez is also giving Deulofeu a chance in our first team, which is terriffic. It's a move akin to Cleverley at Wigan or Wilshere at Bolton. I have a feeling that Moyes would never do something like that. Some might say it's weak to give our own space out for development of other teams' kids. Myself i think it's a great statement of intent, something exciting for the fans, and especially for the player.
I've always considered we should've done the same - i'm curious if we would be willing to loan out our own to a PL club, f.ex. giving Barkley a stint at Hull (hypothetically). The arguments against this is giving our own talent out to rival clubs, and that's understandable. But come on. Ross needs time turning out against PL greats, not jarg championship-level grocks.
So far, this makes me really optimistic. Yay academy! We've heard of the NextGen league, which i thought it a travesty to not include us in, as our U21's and U18's perform really well regularly. Here's hoping we get in there. And here's hoping Martinez' proactive approach to youth creates value in the club and some nice gems. Sadly, since Rooney i've felt every single of our biggest prospects seemd to trip over the threshold. There's a long list of ****ups: Jeffers, Baxter, Vaughan, Rodwell - none of these really felt like they ever made it. I don't think we'll ever get that feel with Anichebe either, though the feelings he stirs in us have their own entertainment value.
I'm looking forward to the next youth intake, there should be a bit of that movement as well in the academy this summer. How about you guys? Are the youngsters finally getting the chances they deserve, or should they be made to work harder for them till they deserve it?
Our youngest academy products seem like they're being treated with a much more watchful eye than under Moyes. The current crop used to be anonymous names in a youth intake announcement article, but in recent weeks four of them have signed pro deals, 2 years for trying out. They've also gotten runouts in preseason.
We have 2-year contracts for Grant, Pennington, Browning and Long - lids we knew nothing about a year ago. We also have McAleny going out on loan and a bucketload of other talents that yet have somewhere to put themselves - Stones, Garbutt, Lundstram, etc.
This is different from Moyes. He'd let most graduates quietly work themselves out, and tie down bigger prospects on longer deals. Generally, it seemed he didn't have as much esteem for our academy boys as Martinez is showing.
Martinez is also giving Deulofeu a chance in our first team, which is terriffic. It's a move akin to Cleverley at Wigan or Wilshere at Bolton. I have a feeling that Moyes would never do something like that. Some might say it's weak to give our own space out for development of other teams' kids. Myself i think it's a great statement of intent, something exciting for the fans, and especially for the player.
I've always considered we should've done the same - i'm curious if we would be willing to loan out our own to a PL club, f.ex. giving Barkley a stint at Hull (hypothetically). The arguments against this is giving our own talent out to rival clubs, and that's understandable. But come on. Ross needs time turning out against PL greats, not jarg championship-level grocks.
So far, this makes me really optimistic. Yay academy! We've heard of the NextGen league, which i thought it a travesty to not include us in, as our U21's and U18's perform really well regularly. Here's hoping we get in there. And here's hoping Martinez' proactive approach to youth creates value in the club and some nice gems. Sadly, since Rooney i've felt every single of our biggest prospects seemd to trip over the threshold. There's a long list of ****ups: Jeffers, Baxter, Vaughan, Rodwell - none of these really felt like they ever made it. I don't think we'll ever get that feel with Anichebe either, though the feelings he stirs in us have their own entertainment value.
I'm looking forward to the next youth intake, there should be a bit of that movement as well in the academy this summer. How about you guys? Are the youngsters finally getting the chances they deserve, or should they be made to work harder for them till they deserve it?
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