Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Thread

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fbloke

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Its funny that the very limited land has been bought and developed by a company other than MUFC.

Could you imagine City allowing that to happen near the Etihad?
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

marco said:
jrb said:
Gary Neville.

Hotel Football.

Today.

Click to enlarge.

[bigimg]http://s29.postimg.org/rpcwdhp9z/20141205_140955.jpg[/bigimg]

love the scaffold finish to blend in with the ground, within in a couple of years the ground floor will become a poundland and primark for the men in black and the upstairs a knocking shop
Which one is the building site and which is the ground please ?
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

fbloke said:
Its funny that the very limited land has been bought and developed by a company other than MUFC.

Could you imagine City allowing that to happen near the Etihad?
That's what I thought driving past there few months back why didn't they buy the land and sit on it like tesco do
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

regarding players making the jump to the first team, the lads who are in their late teens now are from a different era of scouting compared to say, the fifteen year olds. By the time these younger players are pushing twenty, we will know if the system is doing the business, or needs to be looked at, be it the scouting or coaching. Barcelona have been the club that people use as the pinnacle of youth development, personally i believe Ajax have been successful for a lot longer. If we cherry pick the best methods from both then the Academy is going to succeed imho. Whether the lads coming through are English is a matter for the future, the national set-up for pre-teens is nowhere near the level of Spain, Germany or France. The noises coming from the FA are like politician's sound bites, no substance all hot air.
Finding a Messi or Kun or Silva is largely dependent on luck, all you can do is look for potential, nurture that potential and hope for the best. The pit-falls are many, lads fall by the wayside for lots of reasons besides football skills. Some just don't have the drive and determination to be as good as they can be, some lack courage, some don't develop the football intelligence you need at the highest level. Some are quite happy to tread water, happy with the financial rewards that fall to even modest players. When a club lets a player go, it can trigger a response or not, either way it is a waste of much time and money on the club's part . An academy is an expensive investment/gamble but the rewards can be priceless.
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

If a kids got talent then he has talent. It doesn't matter how pretty and impressive your academy is. A football club lives or dies by scouts cherry picking the best. Very few players will go from our academy and be a regular in our first team. Football is now a very different beast. Demands on winning are now so great that only the very best youngster will be given a chance. If players like David white and Ian Brightwell were around today then they wouldn't have made the grade. Probably championship players at best.
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

Bale for example didn't become world class till he was moved to having a free role by Redknapp before that they were trying to sell him for next to Nowt with no takers! So you might have a player who doesn't look class until he gets the chance and the position he will feel comfortable in. The main thing is you have to play them and trust them..
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

Prestwich_Blue said:
~The issue facing an academy is that you can churn out decent players by the dozen but it takes more than just that to break into the first team regularly. And Marvin is quite right to say that the barrier has been raised by the level we're now at meaning the likes of Lee Croft, Vladimir Weiss, Stephen Jordan, etc would struggle to get in the first team squad now. That's not to say they're bad players but the level we were at then is so far below the level we are at now. We have to maintain top four and can't afford to take the chances that Southampton or Villa can.

But there's another thing, which is the Academy has to produce players ready for that level and that's not easy. The rags did it with the class of '92 and Arsenal have done it over the last few years but not many others at that level. Barca and Madrid have done it so there is a way. It's fair wnough to say that Messi was a natural but he still needed to develop in the right way and be ready for the exponentially increased demands of the first team.

We had a problem a few years ago, when Hughes was manager and Jim Cassell was running the Academy. Jim produced some great youth teams but Hughes wasn't happy that they weren't prepared for the first team and that Cassell seemed more intent on winning trophies than getting players ready correctly. He didn't use the word "holistic" but that's what Hughes wanted.

So the club used a contact who was close to Arsenal, to look at the way they managed that task. They were told that technique isn't taught after the player turns 16 as they've either got it by them or they haven't. They do focus on developing pace, power, strength, football knowledge, vision and a good understanding of how the first team plays. The players coming through now like Barker & Lopes were probably the first to benefit from that approach but with the further development of the Academy and its facilities, the ones starting to come through in 2 or 3 years or more should be the ones to watch.
Interesting.
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

Marvin said:
Prestwich_Blue said:
~The issue facing an academy is that you can churn out decent players by the dozen but it takes more than just that to break into the first team regularly. And Marvin is quite right to say that the barrier has been raised by the level we're now at meaning the likes of Lee Croft, Vladimir Weiss, Stephen Jordan, etc would struggle to get in the first team squad now. That's not to say they're bad players but the level we were at then is so far below the level we are at now. We have to maintain top four and can't afford to take the chances that Southampton or Villa can.

But there's another thing, which is the Academy has to produce players ready for that level and that's not easy. The rags did it with the class of '92 and Arsenal have done it over the last few years but not many others at that level. Barca and Madrid have done it so there is a way. It's fair wnough to say that Messi was a natural but he still needed to develop in the right way and be ready for the exponentially increased demands of the first team.

We had a problem a few years ago, when Hughes was manager and Jim Cassell was running the Academy. Jim produced some great youth teams but Hughes wasn't happy that they weren't prepared for the first team and that Cassell seemed more intent on winning trophies than getting players ready correctly. He didn't use the word "holistic" but that's what Hughes wanted.

So the club used a contact who was close to Arsenal, to look at the way they managed that task. They were told that technique isn't taught after the player turns 16 as they've either got it by them or they haven't. They do focus on developing pace, power, strength, football knowledge, vision and a good understanding of how the first team plays. The players coming through now like Barker & Lopes were probably the first to benefit from that approach but with the further development of the Academy and its facilities, the ones starting to come through in 2 or 3 years or more should be the ones to watch.
Interesting.

I think the aims for the Academy and its players are this:

1) If possible produce world class football players to go on tom play for City (we may get lucky with one or two per generation)
2) If not world class, produce players good enough to play for City and support the world class players we will have or at least be good squad players (again one or two or maybe three per generation perhaps)
3) If unable to make it at City, go on to have good careers at other football clubs in England or Europe (and City get some transfer funds from their sale and a sell on clause percentage if they go on to become better later at other clubs, and get sold for a higher price) - maybe the bulk of players from the academy will fall into this category
4) If unable to make it in football will have had some education via City and its connections with local colleges and schools, to be able to pursue a career adjacent to or outside of football
5) Have all people who come through the academy taught discipline and good standards to carry forward throughout the rest of their lives
6) Involve and engage as much as possible with the local community, schools, charity projects, local, national and global companies etc to make the facilities a good hub for many organisations to utilise fully for a range of activities
7) Make the academy a part of making East Manchester a vibrant place to live, work and play, something that benefits the local population and beyond.

If this is achieved the Academy will be a very worthwhile project and a credit to MCFC and its owners.
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

To reiterate a point, imo the academy should not be expected to produce wunderkind players like a conveyor belt.

A graduate class each year of 6-10 professional footballers, to any level...

plus 8 players of Premier league standards, of which 4 to be international class. 1 lad every 2 or 3 years to be significantly international class, or world class.

Or hereabouts, should be looked on as the highest practical achievable result. A Steve Gerrard, a Frank Lampard, or a Paul Lake (but looked after properly!), in a decade, would be a wonderful success.

If you've got Dave Silva but you don't buy Nasri because you've got a Wilshere or an Oxlade-Chamberlin (sp?) coming through, yer up £25m. Or maybe you don't bother with sagna because there's a ok young right back, and save £5m.

Naturally there's a bit of a lag in evaluation til lads get to early/ mid 20s, but I don't think we're that far away from the above, on day 1. It's not about improving the best individuals, it's about improving the average capability across a year group.

Some thought should be given to the next phases in the club's future. The longer you're stable at the top, I would argue, the less inherent talent is required to sustain it. Look at that lot, and while they've consistently bought big players, the end of the baconface era revealed just how badly off their playing staff has been. My point being that a decent international class is enough for a second pick keeper or full back if you've got a couple of genuinely outstanding defensive and attacking players, and some good experienced professionals around them.

one sincerely hopes that the evaluatory task of compiling a psychological/ behavioural dossier on prospective signings also informs the work of the academy, and that besides an education, a culture of hard work and ambition is installed into lads as they progress.
 
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Threa

marco said:
jrb said:
Gary Neville.

Hotel Football.

Today.

Click to enlarge.

[bigimg]http://s29.postimg.org/rpcwdhp9z/20141205_140955.jpg[/bigimg]

love the scaffold finish to blend in with the ground, within in a couple of years the ground floor will become a poundland and primark for the men in black and the upstairs a knocking shop
The upstairs, you say?


*makes mental note*
 
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