Cash coming our way soon!!

[Tangled up in Blue]

How do you become so remarkably well informed?

Yes,who's your source at the club ESB? :unsure:

 

[Rayleigh boy]

anyway RM won't let on but we must be the best off club in lge 2

 

[EastStandBlue]

How do you become so remarkably well informed?

Reliably informed enough to know what you've quoted? Well, it was on the OS for a start... Not to mention being stated on a number of sites who reported the story.

Yes,who's your source at the club ESB? :unsure:

Don't you know? I'm Ron Martin.

 

[sufcnum1]

is this the only player that liverpool took from the sucesfull youth squad, cause i thought they took pretty much all of it??

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

is this the only player that liverpool took from the sucesfull youth squad, cause i thought they took pretty much all of it??

Michael Ngoo only made three substitute appearances for the club's Under-18 side as a 15-year-old in the 2008/9 Football League Youth Alliance South East Conference title-winning season, featuring in the games against Gillingham (h), Peterborough United (a) and Leyton Orient (a), and he failed to find the net in those fixtures.

Of that squad, Daniel Bentley, Teddy Nesbitt, Julian Okai, George Smith and James Stevens are now second-year scholars (like Ngoo, they made a small number of appearances at the end of the campaign); Harry Crawford and Merrick James-Lewis are now on professional contracts at the club; Adetayo Osifuwa and Marcus Milner have development contracts with Shrimpers; Kyle Asante is coming back from a cruciate ligament injury and is expected to return to training in 4-6 weeks with a view to getting a development contract; Stuart O'Keefe is at Crystal Palace; Medi Abalimba is at Derby County; Duran Reynolds is at Grays Athletic on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge; Nathan McDonald and Justin Hazell are at Conference South Braintree Town; Davis Abbey is training with Blues recovering from a bad knee injury sustained at Ebbsfleet United; Ronnie Jones is playing for Ryman Division One North Maldon & Tiptree; John Owinja is at Ryman Division One North club Wingate & Finchley; Ricky Byrne spent last year at the University of Stirlingshire, who have a link with Scottish Division One club Falkirk; Gordon Rieck had returned to Germany and is turning out for St Pauli Reserves; Jamie Dennis was offered a development deal with the club but turned it down in preference of looking for full-time employment and part-time football; Jack Morris spent some of last season at Conference South Braintree Town; Kyle Wilkie, who trialled with us, is with Scottish Premier League Hamilton Academicals; Tashan Adeyinka is with the Nike Football Academy; Freddy Ladapo is now a second-year scholar at League One Colchester United; Fredrik Ljungstrom returned to Sweden; Emmanuel Richardson, who trialled with us from Norwich City, was released by League One Carlisle United at the end of last season and, finally, I'm not sure what's happened to Callum Whittaker, who was released by us at the end of last season.

 

[EastStandBlue]

ES, Was there any particular reason why it never worked out for Ljunstorm here? Did he just not adapt to English football or was there a degree of homesickness?

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

ES, Was there any particular reason why it never worked out for Ljunstorm here? Did he just not adapt to English football or was there a degree of homesickness?

I don't think it was too much to do with homesickness - he loved it over here as far as I know and really enjoyed England and the culture here. It was probably more to do with the physicality of the game, it's very different to Swedish football and he did tend to get bullied a bit by opposition defenders. This showed up even more in reserve matches towards the end of his spell with us, even though he was getting stronger. As a result of feeling uncomfortable on the pitch, his scoring record wasn't especially good, and you're always going to get measured on that as a forward.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Thanks, his time here always intrigued me as Duncan waxed lyrical about him for some time. I only actually watched him play the once and whilst his movement was good, I never got the impression that he'd take to senior football. That said, I would've liked him to stay for another year, perhaps on a development contract, just to see how he might have improved with a little extra physical strength.

I like the German system of keeping players on until they're 20, playing semi-competitive reserve football... Although Germany have a far larger base of qualified coaches than we do.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

...I like the German system of keeping players on until they're 20, playing semi-competitive reserve football... Although Germany have a far larger base of qualified coaches than we do.

I think that's something that SUFC have attempted to instigate in a way with the development contracts, giving youngsters until they are 19 rather than making a definite decision at 18. Players develop at different times, and if someone really comes on strong in that additional year, then it's a worthwhile system. It's certainly worked for Merrick James-Lewis, although in his case it's probably more to do with a new manager coming in and liking his style and attributes. That said, he was making rapid progress throughout last season.

With so few reserve games, and some of those being mismatched, the real task is to get those on development deals playing competitive football on loan at a good standard and in a team that plays in a style that, at least nominally, mirrors our own.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Until our Academy comes to fruition - which fingers crossed it will hand-in-hand with the new stadium - .

I still think even if the new stadium is built we would be years away from full Academy status. The cost of getting Academy status as well as being able to meet all the requirements would be a big problem. Then then there is the problem of the running costs which would be huge. It's still not known where or how much money will be available for the first team squad when/if the new ground is built let alone the youth setup.

How many clubs of our size have full Academy status, I can only think of MK Dons and you could argue they are way bigger than us now.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I still think even if the new stadium is built we would be years away from full Academy status. The cost of getting Academy status as well as being able to meet all the requirements would be a big problem. Then then there is the problem of the running costs which would be huge. It's still not known where or how much money will be available for the first team squad when/if the new ground is built let alone the youth setup.

How many clubs of our size have full Academy status, I can only think of MK Dons and you could argue they are way bigger than us now.

Why have you changed what I said?

And achieving Academy status wouldn't require an almighty initial lay-out, as the training facilities are already being constructed as part of the redevelopment. We'd have to prove ourselves able of housing footballers (Not relying on supporters to house one or two temporarily, or Duncan having the occasional player stay with him as has been the case previously), providing a pre-determined number of hours worth of coaching each week (determined by the FA, which would require additional coaches to be hired, adding to the wage bill), whilst also providing appropriate education facilities.

It wouldn't be all that expensive initially, but it would require a significant level of backing and support from the club if were to even be considered. The exact criteria required to achieve academy status is documented in the article I wrote, which is somewhere on this board if you can dig it up.

 

[Fiftyone]

I think Ron Martin has pledged that Academy status will follow upon completion of the new ground.

If this were not the case, perhaps because of a lack of cash, Ricky Duncan and his senior staff will be off to run an Academy elsewhere and Southend's youth system will revert to the waste of time that it has been for the many years that I have supported the club.

In Ricky we trust!!.:)

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

Originally Posted by EastStandBlue

Until our Academy comes to fruition - which fingers crossed it will hand-in-hand with the new stadium - .

I still think even if the new stadium is built we would be years away from full Academy status. The cost of getting Academy status as well as being able to meet all the requirements would be a big problem. Then then there is the problem of the running costs which would be huge. It's still not known where or how much money will be available for the first team squad when/if the new ground is built let alone the youth setup.

How many clubs of our size have full Academy status, I can only think of MK Dons and you could argue they are way bigger than us now.

It was actually myself that made the quote attributed to ESB.

The main crux of what I was trying to say was that work on the Academy will take place hand-in-hand with the construction of the new stadium - aspects such as the training facilities and the indoor pitch required for Academy status have been built into the plans, as I understood them. Therefore we will be in a position, facility-wise, to apply for Academy status should/when we move to Fossetts Farm.

As you correctly assert, there would be increased costs in the set-up and the day-to-day running of an Academy. At the 2009 Shrimpers Trust AGM, in his Question & Answer Session afterwards, Head of Youth Ricky Duncan estimated that the minimum amount of funding required to operate an Academy was three-quarters of a million pounds:

“The main things that you need are an indoor pitch at 60x40 dimensions and more staff, and this allows you access to a better games programme. There are also referees and linesmen on every single game, but you have to prove that you are able to provide for all this.”

“To run an Academy costs a minimum of £750,000 every season, although I know that one Club is run with a £4 million-a-year budget. I want to become an Academy for the games programme where we would regularly get to play against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. That not only helps you improve as you are playing against better players, but it also attracts better players. However, we do have a European Tour Programme, which the Trust has supported, which means we have played the likes of Ajax and den Haag.”

“Ron Martin is very keen for us to become an Academy and get into a new stadium, and I firmly believe that football will soon turn full-circle in that Clubs will have to produce their own players again,” he declared. (Source: Shrimpers Trust website [members section])

So, that's a lot of money, but it's possible in the future, especially if (and it's a big if) the first-team progress back up the Football League.

*There is some information on the requirements for an Academy and contrast with the Centre of Excellence currently operated available to view in The FA Handbook: The FA Handbook: Programme for Excellence and here, on the Premier League website: Premier League website: How the Academies have grown.

Crewe Alexandra's fabled Academy is the only one in League Two; Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town, MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton from League One also have them, although you could easily argue all five of those are bigger clubs than us. In total, 23 of the 40 Academies are run outside of Premier League clubs.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Aplologies to ESB looks like a 'multi quote' did not work and as ES points out it was his post.

Thanks for the info Exiled Shrimper, I know some of the FF plans had been changed to include an indoor training area but not sure it was as big as 60x40 which is pretty big. Can't see where a pitch that big can be squeezed into FF maybe in the Rochford Council side of things but they wont be happy with that.

So £750,000 grand is the minimum cost? Ron Martin is trying to run an entire 1st team on less than that at the moment!

 

[EastStandBlue]

To be fair, the current scheme is costing us £400,000 per season and recieves support from the Trust, the Blues Lottery scheme and various other fundraisers to cover elements of the cost. If the FA 2020 plan is to be followed, clubs who look to achieve Academy status could be in line for grants from the FA which could also subsidise some of the costs.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I'm beginning to think( a sympathetic friend of) Geoff King might be nearer the truth.;)

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

So £750,000 grand is the minimum cost? Ron Martin is trying to run an entire 1st team on less than that at the moment!

This seems crazy for a club in our position at this moment in time.

I think Ron Martin has pledged that Academy status will follow upon completion of the new ground.

Another one of Rons promises. I can see this ending in tears!

 

[Mick]

I'm beginning to think( a sympathetic friend of) Geoff King might be nearer the truth.;)

Friend of Geoff King ? Something doesn't ring true here ... can't put my finger on what it is though.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Friend of Geoff King ? Something doesn't ring true here ... can't put my finger on what it is though.

You're perhaps suggesting that GK doesn't have any friends? ;)

 

[jamesmut2000]

You're perhaps suggesting that GK doesn't have any friends? ;)

No really?? thanks for explaining that - i never would have worked it out!:sherlock: