I think some of the numpty comments on here stem from the fact that for years we desperatley hoped that the academy was going to churn out a premiership team, and when players didn't quite make it at prem level, this resulted in small minded resentment amongst the more challenged fans.
Hopefully, academy products won't be under the same pressure anymore and can be developed at the right pace for them.
Ched, quite clearly, is not good enough for the future here. However, this does not represent failure. Ched is good enough to make a good career in professional football. Hence he is another academy success.
Take Vlad Weiss, for example. He might turn out to be good enough. Maybe not. If this were 5 years ago he would already be under pressure to be 'world class and the club saviour'. Fortunatley, the pressure on him now is much much less. We can just wait and see. Very nice if he makes it with us. Deffo another academy success as I'm sure he'll be good enough at some pro level.