academy questions

[bulivye]

it was in a newspaper here in the usa that freddie adu was starting his tryout w/manu.  which got me wondering about the nufc academy...how does it work--is it like a trade school where football is every class, or are there academic subjects and football is your major course of study?    regarding exchange students, if there was a diehard toon fan teenager over here who wanted to come learn/play on tyneside, how would that kid go about it?

 

 

cheers in advance

[Guest the_serbian_mag]

Interesting question, I'd like to know how that works too...

[La Parka]

Well the way It worked for my friends was that kids are spotted through the school leagues or through football in the community schems and join "the acadamy". I think these are for kids between 8-16. Then they are assessed whether they get a professional contract at 17 or if they are released to go to pastures new.

 

Throughout this time you go through you standard avenues of study (Maths, English, Science History, PE etc.) and most footballers I assume take up PE at GCSE.

 

I had several friends throughout primary school were scouted by Wednesday/Sheff U/ Leeds. None of them made it any higher up than the Conference North as of yet.

 

PS: I love the MLS system (avec salary cap and rules [3 senior internationals etc]) and it will pay off in the future for the national team.

 

In reverse my friend has a scholorship in America (for a football team)

 

 

[bulivye]

cheers, LM.  it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system.  are there ever anything like try-outs?

[La Parka]

No. But he could work his way up. I mean a place at the toon would be almost impossible to get. But DJ campbell went from non league to premiership in 1 season. 

[Guest]

cheers, LM.   it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system.  are there ever anything like try-outs?

 

You need to sign for a club in the barrios of LA, make sure there's a Scottish scout watching, and make sure your gran has been saving up for a flight to London.

 

Oh, and remember the inhaler.

[Guest TheOrder]

cheers, LM.  it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system.  are there ever anything like try-outs?

 

You need to sign for a club in the barrios of LA, make sure there's a Scottish scout watching, and make sure your gran has been saving up for a flight to London.

 

Oh, and remember the inhaler.

 

At watch out for that jealous old timer defender in your first game for the reserves,

[bulivye]

cheers, LM.   it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system.  are there ever anything like try-outs?

 

You need to sign for a club in the barrios of LA, make sure there's a Scottish scout watching, and make sure your gran has been saving up for a flight to London.

 

Oh, and remember the inhaler.

 

realistically an american kid would have to show tremendous potential in another league before the toon would have a look, right?

[Guest ticaL]

cheers, LM.  it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system.  are there ever anything like try-outs?

 

You need to sign for a club in the barrios of LA, make sure there's a Scottish scout watching, and make sure your gran has been saving up for a flight to London.

 

Oh, and remember the inhaler.

 

realistically an american kid would have to show tremendous potential in another league before the toon would have a look, right?

 

Most definately, even then we don't seem to have scouts, so you're fucked in general tbh.

[GeordieDazzler]

cheers, LM. it sounds like it'd be difficult then for a foreign student to get into the system. are there ever anything like try-outs?

 

You need to sign for a club in the barrios of LA, make sure there's a Scottish scout watching, and make sure your gran has been saving up for a flight to London.

 

Oh, and remember the inhaler.

 

realistically an american kid would have to show tremendous potential in another league before the toon would have a look, right?

 

Most definately, even then we don't seem to have scouts, so you're fucked in general tbh.

 

Bullshit! Have you not seen GOAL!

[Raconteur]

Bullshit! Have you not seen GOAL!

 

Ah, but the scout in GOAL had actually been fired by the Toon

 

[leffe186]

The Jay Demerit Story (or whatever it's called) is well worth a watch btw.

[TaylorJ_01]

it was in a newspaper here in the usa that freddie adu was starting his tryout w/manu.

 

was that 6 years ago

[Deuce]

 

it was in a newspaper here in the usa that freddie adu was starting his tryout w/manu.

 

[wormy]

Love reading about Adu because he was so jizz-worthy on early FMs. Quick Google to see what hes upto gives this interesting, if not too in-depth opinion piece.

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/soccerusa/id/1054?cc=5739

 

First, forget everything you know about Freddy Adu. Forget the Sierra Mist commercials and the Pele photo-ops and the "savior of American soccer" stigma. Forget that Adu signed with MLS at 14, that he was traded by D.C. United at 18 when it didn't work out, that he was sold by MLS to Benfica a year later with some measure of hope that Portugal would be where Adu would blossom in the best American soccer player ever. And forget that he didn't.

 

Second, think of Adu as a 23-year-old soccer player and nothing more. Imagine he's one of the many American kids who left the U.S. for the dream (and higher pay) of Europe, only to find the going a little more difficult than he imagined or the resulting opportunities less attractive than he'd hoped. Think of Adu as that American who came back to MLS after a stint abroad -- like Chris Rolfe or Bobby Convey, for example -- mostly because he had to but not exactly because he couldn't hack it.

 

Stripped of his "failed soccer messiah" albatross, Adu is pretty typical for a naturally gifted soccer player of his particular age. Many more fail than succeed, many more drift down through leagues and clubs until they find their appropriate level or comfortable niche (or don't and quit) than rise meteorically to the heights of the world's game. Adu is not unique in his failure -- if you're in fact ready to label his career to this point as such.

 

This isn't an attempt to absolve Adu of his sins, nor is it meant to sugarcoat his latest exit from yet another team.

 

Adu won't be a Philadelphia Union player this season, in part because he's paid a lot of money that the club thinks might be useful elsewhere. But Adu's done his fair share of alienating in Philly, so it's easier to just assume that this is his entire fault, again.

 

Viewed from afar, Adu is too often the easiest target for American frustration in our player development efforts rather than a young soccer player judged by his merits on the field. At times in 2012, Adu dazzled with this passing and vision. Consistency was his issue, not ability. Consistency is the overriding issue for most 23-year old players in MLS, even top draft picks and highly-rated academy graduates. Yet they get a fair bit of slack while they work to attain it, while Adu gets another notice that he services are no longer needed.

 

The difference between most 23-year-olds and Adu starts with salary. His salary is inflated because of his name, but his name is inflated because MLS imbued so much hope in him when he was just a 14-year-old kid with clever ball skills and a winning smile. The predominant cautionary tale represented by Adu isn't one of avarice or ego -- those things are playing a role in Adu's post-phenom career -- but of American soccer's inability to get over its mistakes. No matter how you view Adu's boomerang arc through Europe, he did enough to merit the salary MLS offered him to return in 2011. Two years, a dramatic coaching change, and an entirely new Union approach later, Adu is on his way out because he chooses not to take a pay cut.

 

American soccer doesn't deal well with players who step out of line or make a habit of youthful errors in judgment. It's not built for it. College soccer has long spit out earnest, mature young men who make a coach's life easy with their lack of fame and happy-to-be-here mentality. Young players like Adu -- prone to be the prima donna, disproportionately confident in their own abilities, disrespectful of authority -- get no breaks. Don't make exactly the contribution deemed commensurate with your salary and occasional disruption, and you’ll quickly be on your way to the next stop.

 

If we can convince ourselves that Adu is just another in a long line of immature 23-year-old players who didn't meet expectations, this whole thing will be much less painful.

 

Because there's a truth here that American soccer has long refused to accept when it comes to the ex-next-Pele, who will no doubt land on his feet with another club willing to give him yet another chance.

 

Despite our failing him, Adu is a pretty decent soccer player.

[merlin]

Academies - now THERE is an interesting topic...!

 

Back in 1997, I wanted SJH to set up an Academy in Oz.I spent a lot of time researching this and even had an interview with the Development manager for S.Australia in London to discuss this(the Academy was going to be set up in Adelaide as that was the most central point in the south of the country) Unfortunately, Sir John was suffering from health problems at the time and about to step down as Chairman so the idea never really got going because Shepherd and Fletcher had other -er - ideas about where money should be spent..

 

Once Freddie Fletcher confirmed that the club were not going ahead with the idea, I told a journalist friend of mine and he asked if I had any objections to him letting Alex Ferguson know ; as we weren't going to use it, I said OK. Ferguson was all in favour of it and Man U would have done this had the Sky takeover of that club gone ahead in 1998(it was over-ruled by the MMC).

 

There were a number of reasons for choosing Oz - plenty of kids with British parents/Grandparents which would have enabled them to get work permits and also immigrants from other European countries. The absence of language problems and the ease that Australians can settle in the UK were other factors...Australia is far more similar to the UK in many ways than is the USA.

 

When you look at what has happened since, we missed out on some good players - Harry Kewell was a young kid then, so was Mark Viduka. They are now starting to produce more good kids - Rogic has just signed for Celtic, Marco Rojas was watched by Liverpool and Juventus at the w/e and there are other emerging kids like Walker at Melbourne Heart who we may have been able to snaffle..

 

Strangely enough, Fat Fred DID go to Oz in 2002 to try to buy Newcastle United Jets in NSW but the owner, Constantine, did not want to sell at that time.

 

When Ashley took over the club in 2007, I told Chris Mort about the proposal and he asked me to send him the details which I did ; whether Ashley ever saw it or did anything about it, I don't know....I expect Llambias thinks Australians don't play football but it is the fastest growing sport in the country - Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC was a sell out last w/e and Rojas scored twice in front of the Liverpool/Juventus scouts...

 

I suppose that the club haven't even got a decent set-up in the NE, let alone Oz...they failed to qualify for the top league of Academies which even the Mackems managed.

NUFC has always lagged behind other clubs in obtaining top NE talent - the last ones we had were Gazza and both young FBs, Steve Watson and Robbie Elliott... I suppose Lee Clarke also fitted the bill but he was never a top PL player as Gazza had been 10 years earler in the First Div.

The club seems to think that tbey'll always be the target for youngsters in the NE, but unless you show that you really want to sign them and that their parents are satisfied that the club is going to develop and look after them, they will go elsewhere.

 

The current regime seem happy enough to raid France for cheap quality players but they are still paying out millions for what are basically mercenaries....bringing through youngsters gives you players with at least a degree of loyalty to the club and its an area we have been sadly lacking in recent years.

[Guest Craig-NUFC]

The academy status is still under review.

That is true, largely because the academy was under valued by Shepherd who was happy to chuck money about for first teamers and neglect bringing our own talent through. It also seems like there was never a solid plan of how to use the academy up until 2 years ago.

There is investment in the academy now, something that there hasn't been in a while. This 8 year plan that they have includes having the beginnings of a squad made up largely of players brought through the academy.

We're raiding France because English players on the whole aren't very good and are expensive.

 

As for Australia, I admittedly know very little, but players seem scattered around the world, mainly in average leagues playing for average teams.

 

I'm sure someone could go in a lot more depth than me on this.

[merlin]

The academy status is still under review.

That is true, largely because the academy was under valued by Shepherd who was happy to chuck money about for first teamers and neglect bringing our own talent through. It also seems like there was never a solid plan of how to use the academy up until 2 years ago.

There is investment in the academy now, something that there hasn't been in a while. This 8 year plan that they have includes having the beginnings of a squad made up largely of players brought through the academy.

We're raiding France because English players on the whole aren't very good and are expensive.

 

As for Australia, I admittedly know very little, but players seem scattered around the world, mainly in average leagues playing for average teams.

 

I'm sure someone could go in a lot more depth than me on this.

 

The problem in Oz is that youngsters are directed towards Oz rules once they get past 10 or 11 but there are loads of kids playing the round ball game and an Academy set up there would have enabled us to grab the best ones and improve them. Once players show talent and potential, they are usually snapped up by overseas clubs as happened with ourselves and Curtis Good...Rojas will also go soon and Dutch/German clubs seem to find it easier to get round Work Permit rules than English ones.

 

England is not producing good players because PL clubs can buy foreigners cheaply but that has not always been the case - before the PL began, it was a regular thing that top clubs bought players from lower league UK clubs ; Kevin Keegan was bought by Liverpool from Scunthorpe and Supermac first started his career as a FB at Fulham before Alec Stock saw his potential and took him to Luton where he became a 30 goal a season striker

that cost us a massive(at the time)tranfer fee of 180,000 in 1971. The Charlton Bros, Colin Bell and Howard Kendall were all NE boys who went on to play for England, the former in the side that won the WC and Bell in the team that defended it in Mexico, so we have produced top players....there is a problem with schools not encouraging sport as much now and the French are only producing good players because they set up their main Academy in the early 90s after years of second-rate football - I saw England beat them 5-0 at Wembley in 1969 but whilst they have concentrated on bringing through good technical players, the English FA have made a hash of the whole thing and too many kids now play with computers than with a football...