Ajax youth setup-a lesson for us?.

[jcb 1,167]

For those of us who take a interest in our youth set up todays edition of the New York Times has a excellent article on the Ajax academy in their magazine section.Due to the financial restrictions we now find ourselves in i feel this is something we should be concentrating a lot more on and would be interested to hear what others think.

[Stu1993 101]

agree mate, we should be trying to get the best out of our youth at this time but the fact they never see 1st team football stops them from becoming what they can be.

[clashcitystalker 27]

Will never be done in Scotland because people will make excuses. Really there is no excuse, but people have been calling for us to implement the Dutch method for decades.

[Stu1993 101]

Where in Oban do they sell the New York Times?!

maybe he went online

NYT

[Togs 179]

The Dutch have always been the best at youth development. We should really take a leaf out of their book.

[caseyjones 3,009]

There is no will to change the way the game is run in Scotland. There are too many managers, coaches, players and fans who still see the 'Scottish way' as the ideal.

[adam2102 577]

i thin the Ajax method is a lesson for almost every club in world football.

[bluenose andy 1]

The dutch have always been great at bringing talent through there youth set ups

[mac444 6]

The Ajax model should have been adopted years ago, and maybe would have when Advocaat was here, if we actually had a proper youth set-up, training ground etc when he arrived, rather than when he was leaving.

[TexasGers 96]

It takes a long time and the right set up and coaches to get where Ajax is. If it was as easy as flicking a switch, every club in the world would have a setup like theirs.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

There is no will to change the way the game is run in Scotland. There are too many managers, coaches, players and fans who still see the 'Scottish way' as the ideal.

Sad but true.

[jcb 1,167]

There is no will to change the way the game is run in Scotland. There are too many managers, coaches, players and fans who still see the 'Scottish way' as the ideal.

Sad but true.

I agree but feel we should be leading the way in youth development,Teams at all levels full of players with touch,technique,game awereness,vision&passion should be achievable through a proper structure being put in place.Dundee United last year appointed a 23 year old (Iain Cathro)to revamp their entire youth set up as he was producing a far higher quality of player than the clubs own set up while Celtic i believe are combining education with coaching through a link up with a nearby school.

[mrwin 393]

Where in Oban do they sell the New York Times?!

I laughed

[MisterC 12,269]

We certainly have to be resourceful given the current financial climate and certainly we should be copying the Ajax model. Just think of all the players who came through the ranks and then were sold for silly money. Ok, they lost out on a few bosmans but the production line keeps turning out the talent. I think though it works because the dutch are very disciplined people and the problem with this country is that the kids arent disciplined enough and are too lazy to really work at their game. I noted someone mentioned the guy at Dundee United, I was reading about the work he has been doing and by all accounts it seems to be working. Maybe Rangers should think about bringing him in. If nothing else it would really piss their chairman off! Anyway back on topic and I hope any new owner who comes in will encourage us to bring on the youths.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

Tell me about it

Actually Boyd shouldn't be in there at all, as he didn't come through the youth system

The point though remains that Murray Park is producing a decent level of talent, it's the management's fault that we're not getting as much financial return as possible from them.

Yup i knew what you were getting at,if clubs aren't willing to pay any more money for them there should be clauses inserted for promotion,sell-on,international caps etc.

[jcb 1,167]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

Stay away from drink?They get started very young over there while our wee ones are on the PS3,X Box,Bebo etc.

I dare say they will put in a lot of extra practice as well.I do think the drinking culture is one of the biggest drawbacks and lack of facilities IMO.

[caseyjones 3,009]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

They take boys in at 7 or 8 and they are coached to perfect their technique. We take the biggest, strongest and fastest before discarding the rest.

[caseyjones 3,009]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

Stay away from drink?They get started very young over there while our wee ones are on the PS3,X Box,Bebo etc.

I dare say they will put in a lot of extra practice as well.I do think the drinking culture is one of the biggest drawbacks and lack of facilities IMO.

The drinking culture is part of it but the Germans have a similar attitude to drink. They still manage to produce many high quality players at a young age. Their WC squad has an average age of 24.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

Stay away from drink?They get started very young over there while our wee ones are on the PS3,X Box,Bebo etc.

I dare say they will put in a lot of extra practice as well.I do think the drinking culture is one of the biggest drawbacks and lack of facilities IMO.

The drinking culture is part of it but the Germans have a similar attitude to drink. They still manage to produce many high quality players at a young age. Their WC squad has an average age of 24.

I agree with what you said above regarding what the Dutch do regarding technique etc.If all else fails in this country it's just

'Get the baw up the fucking park'

Lionel Messi is a perfect example to where we do go wrong,nothing much to him but a genius with the ball,it's a never say die attitude and big strong players we seem to look for here.As said on other threads Messi wouldn't have made the grade in Scotland which says it all really.

[jcb 1,167]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

Ajax have been doing it for ages; we've only started doing it recently. With potential first teamers like Fleck, Wylde, Shinnie, Ness, Campbell and Perry all coming through, as well as a reluctance to spend big, I can see us becoming a much more homegrown side in future years.

Of the players you mention i believe that 5 of them have a chance of playing first team football on a regular basis in the next 1-2 years but is this due to their ability or more the current financial mess we are in,I would like to believe it was the former.

[jcb 1,167]

To be fair, our academy isn't that bad. Alan Hutton was sold for £9m a few years ago, while the likes of McGregor, Boyd and Wilson have attracted quite a bit of interest recently from decent clubs. Also guys like Adam, McCormack, Burke and N'Guessan came through Murray Park, and are now worth a combined small fortune.

The highlighted ones aren't worth a fortune to us though which kinda defeats the purpose.

We're supposed to make a killing on them.

While Hutton,McGregor&Wilson all have the ability to be top quality players why is it that Ajax produce more players like this and on a more consistant basis.What do they do that we don"t.

Stay away from drink?They get started very young over there while our wee ones are on the PS3,X Box,Bebo etc.

I dare say they will put in a lot of extra practice as well.I do think the drinking culture is one of the biggest drawbacks and lack of facilities IMO.

The drinking culture is part of it but the Germans have a similar attitude to drink. They still manage to produce many high quality players at a young age. Their WC squad has an average age of 24.

I agree with what you said above regarding what the Dutch do regarding technique etc.If all else fails in this country it's just

'Get the baw up the fucking park'

Lionel Messi is a perfect example to where we do go wrong,nothing much to him but a genius with the ball,it's a never say die attitude and big strong players we seem to look for here.As said on other threads Messi wouldn't have made the grade in Scotland which says it all really.

Agreed,Once heard a coach scream at a 14 year old central defender who had lost posession of the ball just outside his own box"Never lose it there again"which led to him taking no time to control the ball or look for a pass out of defence for the remainder of the game.

[flecky1 4]

been spoke about for years

its not going to happen

coaches in scotland pick the kids who come from rich families or from families they know(its not what yev got-ie. skill, its who ye know-ie. people in the game) and the kids who are the biggest and strongest, not the best players, been happening for years

the attitude of youth players abroad to those here in the UK is totally different, it cannot be underestimated how important attitude is to a players progression. the kids on the continent want it more whereas the kids here just expect things to happen for them.

our kids are spoiled brats and train more on fitness whereas abroad the kids are already fit while they do all their ballwork, mainly because they havnt been binge eating on shite all their early days and glued to computer screens or hanging around street corners.

ive been to a few tournaments abroad and the scots teams always do well up until they get to late teen years, then they change, foreign kids grow into athletes, ours grow into wee arsehole neds.

generally speaking of course, there are the few exceptions of course.

[jcb 1,167]

been spoke about for years

its not going to happen

coaches in scotland pick the kids who come from rich families or from families they know(its not what yev got-ie. skill, its who ye know-ie. people in the game) and the kids who are the biggest and strongest, not the best players, been happening for years

the attitude of youth players abroad to those here in the UK is totally different, it cannot be underestimated how important attitude is to a players progression. the kids on the continent want it more whereas the kids here just expect things to happen for them.

our kids are spoiled brats and train more on fitness whereas abroad the kids are already fit while they do all their ballwork, mainly because they havnt been binge eating on shite all their early days and glued to computer screens or hanging around street corners.

ive been to a few tournaments abroad and the scots teams always do well up until they get to late teen years, then they change, foreign kids grow into athletes, ours grow into wee arsehole neds.

generally speaking of course, there are the few exceptions of course.

Hard to disagree with anything you say but i would still like to see us adopt a more continental approach in which we combine education (perhaps have onsite facilities)with emphasis on diet &alcohol intake as well as academic studies.With regard to your comments on attitude i once congratulated a player on his performance as he was being substituted after he scored two late goals he replied " big players score big goals in big games" it was a under 19 game v Dundee United,he is no longer with us.