Goalkeepers
If Stocko is still out then we're down to only the one 'keeper. What are the rules on emergency loans? Or would we have to recall Tyla Dickinson first?
I don't mention Curtis Anderson because he's presumably injured (hasn't been in the Eastbourne squad for a little while as far as I can see).
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Dickinson seems to be doing really well at Hayes and Yeading so it'd be a shame to cancel his loan just to sit him on the bench. I didn't know Anderson was injured, he'd had a tough start there IIRC.
Yeah, I don't know what's gone on there - just seemed odd that he'd dropped out of the matchday squad entirely. I know they signed another (very experienced) GK in September.
Lee Worgan - who played two games on loan for us during the Great Goalkeeping Crisis of 2004.
The keeper who kept shanking his goal kicks into the crowd. "Fore left!"
Maybe we can get Allsop back on loan from Derby ?
Along with a couple of million quid!?
Is Anderson the 3rd keeper during the pre-match warm ups since Dickinson went on loan, or is that someone else?
It would be good to hear that Anderson is OK. It must be incredibly difficult for young lads who achieve outstanding things as young men and reasonably expect to be stars to suddenly find themselves playing at Eastbourne and realising that those dreams are not going to happen. Sadly an inquest is currently underway for a young starlet who didn’t make it at Man City and chose to take his own life. No suggestion of course that Anderson is remotely in the same place but not hard to imagine it may not be easy for him.
I watched a friendly with Arsenal’s u17 team earlier in the year. It was almost a military style set up - discipline, everything done for them, individualism seemingly not encouraged. Most perhaps all of those talented lads will not make the grade - a few may end up in lower leagues most will disappear completely. I wonder what will become of them.
The problem is academy sides are built around the one or two stars they identify early on. Most of those players are ruled out, so to speak, almost from the beginning.
For every Phil Foden there's an Adam Burchill or George Clegg.
Anderson on the bench tonight
Along with Jack Wakely, good to see him too.
Too true, the clubs identify the 2-3 that they think have real promise but they need a squad of 16 at each age group so they fill in the team roles around them.
I say it's a problem, but many of those players will still have professional careers - just not at the highest level. I'd be interested to see a breakdown of what percentage of players from, say, a U10 team end up at which level if they're still playing after 18.
Here you go @ReturnToSenda
https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-calvin-shocking-statistic-why-children-football-academies-will-never-succeed-soccer-sport-2017-6?amp
Not an encouraging statistic (1 in 200 ‘make it’)
"1 in 200 who enter an academy at the age of 9 make a living from the game" isn't really a surprising statistic though is it?
It would be more useful to know how many players who leave school at 16, to join a football academy full-time, make a living from the game.
To be honest I thought the drop out ratio was much much higher than 1 in 200. If I had a talented 9 year old I'd take the academy route based on that.
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Its a bit like how many actors end up making a living? Or media studies students get any job at all. There are always going to be a lot who think they're it or you would not have any making it. As long as you know the pitfalls...
Yeah, I am not shocked by these stats at all.
Of course only 0.0something% of all kids playing across youth football become professional.
That is a good thing. It means a lot of kids are playing youth football. There is only a very small, finite amount of squad places for pro players.
I would want to see the numbers vs kids who are in actual U16/U18 youth squads.
Unless I’m going senile (a distinct possibility) the dropout rate is estimated to be 199 in 200 but, having said that (and if true) that is horrendous. But “dropout” needs to be defined of course. Apologies if the piece for which @bookertease provided a link clarifies the statistics. Breakfast comes first!
Michael Calvin’s No Hunger In Paradise is a fantastic read and watch. So too is the BT Sport clip with Lampard, Sutton, Calvin and Jake Humphrey if you get 10 mins.
A sad consideration in my opinion, is how ‘seriously’ grassroots youth football is taken by SOME parents and even their coaches, which can even lead to things like referee abuse etc etc. When the reality is only 0.012% of kids playing youth football at any one time will ‘make it’.
@Right_in_the_Middle I can’t believe for a minute that 1 in 200 academy 9year olds make it. Maybe 1 in 200 15 year olds. Also, before chucking your kid in an academy at 9 because you like those odds, be prepared that the academy probably ‘signs on’ a squad of 20 a year, retains about 8 and dumps about 12 to be replaced by another 12 every season. Difficult not just for the kids that leave but also those retained who see their friends leave.