Academy report - Tony Pulis

[stockportblue]

Clubs that Pulis worked for might as well shut down their academies. Very strange choice to get involved with youth development.

 

[stockportblue]

To be fair focusing on the education balance is something that needs to be looked at.

 

[Bobby the blue]

Great post BTB. That was a very insightful read.

Thank you. I wrote it out and then nearly deleted it as didn’t know if people would be interested but I’m glad I did.
Thanks once again mate.

 

[LongsightM13]

To be honest I read that with a bit of interest. I think it may be a good idea to take a look at stock piling etc that goes on at academy level. The impact it can have on you and future life can not be under estimated. It can be brutal and is very non forgiving.

I signed at a pro club at 14 was at the centre of excellence for two years. Was a really tough environment but was to be expected. My last year at school I was playing and training really well. Had a few premier league teams looking at me and went on trail at one of them.

For a good three months I could do no wrong. Got called in half way through the year by the youth development manager and told I would be getting a yts contract and how well they thought of me. I played a few reserve games and played in the u18 side and also played in the fa youth cup. Got to train with the first team and made to feel like part of the club. Consequently my school work became second thought as at that age all I thought I was going to do was be a footballer.

Then I got a little issue with my knee. Carried on as I didn’t want to stop playing. Form went downhill a bit then a new keeper turned up for a tr. He did really well and my mindset just went. Just couldn’t deal with the pressure and just before the end of the season was released. No empathy no words of comfort just names read out at the end of a training session. The car park after was just a mass of boys sobbing into their dads arms. Looking back it was pitiful how we were treated. I remember in the car home just being crestfallen.

a little while later I got a trail at another club and did well and did my apprenticeship there. However had to move away and didn’t really enjoy it being away from family and friends. Also I was just bored after training. I even watched titanic twice in one day at the cinema back to back I was that bored.

Suffice to say it didn’t work out and I can back home and messed about in non league for a few years before knocking it all on the head.

my best mate was at Charlton. Was a yt and then got a three year deal but never made the first team. I remember him ringing me when they binned him. He was 20 and was saying he had nothing to do or any qualifications apart from gsce. He played one game for a conference team and never played proper football again. I know of so many really really good players who packed it on or couldn’t deal with the rejection and aftermath. Some players who I played with or against I was sure would make it and others who I thought had no hope did make it.

So yes I do hope that the false hope and stock piling stops because I’m not sure people realise the impact it can have on someone. I know football is a business and a multi million pound one at that but the human cost and toll has to be taken into consideration more. How is it fair to keep someone on and give them hope when you know they aren’t good enough. The problem being as well as most parents won’t tell their kids the truth and admit they aren’t up to it. Most will believe they are protecting their son or hope against hope they will make it when sometimes you need to step back and face reality.

I did a few years ago and admitted to myself that at the end of the day I just wasn’t good enough. It’s hard at the time as everyone tells you how good you are etc. I was just missing that extra quality you need to make it. A few months ago I was chatting to a guy who ran out local shop. He knew I was bang on the football as a lad and had been at a few clubs and it didn’t work out. He asked me how I dealt with it and I replied that I just accepted I wasn’t good enough.

He said it was very rare for some one to admit that and most of the time it is blamed on other factors injuries etc but I learnt to accept it. However not everyone can and it can lead to a lifetime of what ifs and sliding doors moments.

Sorry for the ramble early doors but it wa something I read with interest and hope some reforms are made.

Fantastic insight into the system, fair fucks Bobby.
That said, the likes of Vardy, Ian Wright etc to go from being dumped on the scrap heap to dig in and fight their way back to England caps. Wow. The real mentality monsters

 

[dennishasdoneit]

Hes not what any club needs when running an academy.

I,m not so sure...

The way Liverpool play at the moment, their academy could do with Pullis. .maybe then ..they could produce home grown attacking players ' ready ' for the 1st team.kick it long into the channels,run around like demented chickens( Henderson) and scream at the ref for every decision.It would save them a fortune in transfer fees ;)

 

[Bobby the blue]

Fantastic insight into the system, fair fucks Bobby.
That said, the likes of Vardy, Ian Wright etc to go from being dumped on the scrap heap to dig in and fight their way back to England caps. Wow. The real mentality monsters

Yeah lads like that to force their way back up and have the careers they had is amazing and as you say their mentality is amazing. I wish I had just an ounce of that because mine was awful.

I had just signed for a non league club after being released. Played a few reserve games then got called up to the first team for an fa cup qualifying round. I was 18. I got a bit of local press before the game and the manager was talking me up. Felt really good to be honest. Then the game started and stupidly I wanted to make a bit of an impression so I came for a ball I should not have really came for and didn’t make it. Got lobbed and long story short we got beat 5-0. I did ok for the rest of the game but i couldn’t get it out of my head the whole game.

Then the Monday I got absolutely slaughtered in the local press. Some really unfair stuff and it honestly just got to me. Got put back in the reserve team and never had a sniff of the first team there again. Just chipped away at my confidence and I didn’t have the mental ability to let it go and put it behind me.

if I made a mistake it would effect my whole game. I just couldn’t block stuff out. I had one game I let one in early and I just wanted to come off. I was close to feigning an injury. The crowd were on me and the opposite bench were brutal.
“put it on the keeper “ “ the keeper doesn’t want to know “ “ close him down he will give it to you”

stuff you get every week but I could never block it out. Would stay with me and just ruin my game.

I had a few chances to go back higher but my mentality was such that I could never go for it or actually enjoy it.

 

[Skip Donoghue]

They call it "polishing the diamond" and is an unfortunate bi-product of producing the best acadamy players, they'll never admit to it though and it goes on at every single academy

Anything that can be put in place to help the lads who fall away should be put in place and embraced by all clubs with an academy

 

[Skip Donoghue]

To be fair focusing on the education balance is something that needs to be looked at.

The problem is the amount of time that goes towards the training etc far out ways the time put towards education

The clubs really don't care about the education of the lads, I know of one ex pro who was involved with a certain club of the red persuasion that actually told a lad to forget about his education concentrate on your football, now that needs sorting straight from the off in my opinion

the acadamy player involved was a very bright lad who went on and achieved what he wanted with his education and also had parents that made sure his education didn't lapse
He didn't make it at said club but is still in the pro game at lower level

 

[Stoned Rose]

My daughter has recently been at a Prem academy.

I can say 100% that of the 18 girls she played with only 1 or 2 looked good enough to “make it” imo.

The other 16/17 are all cracking little players but you can see they are basically being “used” and eventually will have their dreams shattered.

It’s a very brutal environment and it’s definitely not being done right.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Yeah lads like that to force their way back up and have the careers they had is amazing and as you say their mentality is amazing. I wish I had just an ounce of that because mine was awful.

I had just signed for a non league club after being released. Played a few reserve games then got called up to the first team for an fa cup qualifying round. I was 18. I got a bit of local press before the game and the manager was talking me up. Felt really good to be honest. Then the game started and stupidly I wanted to make a bit of an impression so I came for a ball I should not have really came for and didn’t make it. Got lobbed and long story short we got beat 5-0. I did ok for the rest of the game but i couldn’t get it out of my head the whole game.

Then the Monday I got absolutely slaughtered in the local press. Some really unfair stuff and it honestly just got to me. Got put back in the reserve team and never had a sniff of the first team there again. Just chipped away at my confidence and I didn’t have the mental ability to let it go and put it behind me.

if I made a mistake it would effect my whole game. I just couldn’t block stuff out. I had one game I let one in early and I just wanted to come off. I was close to feigning an injury. The crowd were on me and the opposite bench were brutal.
“put it on the keeper “ “ the keeper doesn’t want to know “ “ close him down he will give it to you”

stuff you get every week but I could never block it out. Would stay with me and just ruin my game.

I had a few chances to go back higher but my mentality was such that I could never go for it or actually enjoy it.

Thanks for this great post. It gives a real insight into the mental side of football. I remember so many talented footballers in my youth who looked nailed on for professional careers but for one reason or another couldn't make it. I have got huge respect for those footballers who make it to the top and stay there and don't begrudge them a penny of the huge salaries they get. Elite footballers play under huge mental pressure that would overwhelm most people. They are the best of the best.
Take Sterling for example. He gets criticism but I have nothing but respect for the hard work he has done to become an elite level player. It is clear he is a "confidence player" and if you read up on his life story it is easy to understand why. But, like Kevin Keegan, he has got to the top through sheer hard graft. There are better natural finishers than Sterling in lower leagues but do they have the mental strength he has shown? I think elite sport is a very complex business and it is great that clubs are recognising more and more that the mental side of playing is more crucial than ever.