U15s Face Tottenham in Academy Showcase Wednesday, 1st May 2013 12:44 Town’s U15s are taking on Tottenham in the academy’s annual showcase game at Portman Road this evening (KO 7pm). TWTD, the sponsors of tonight’s match ball, talked to academy director Bryan Klug about the match and other recent developments at Playford Road. The end of season U15s game at Portman Road has become annual event over recent seasons with Manchester United having been the visitors for a number of years. Klug’s connections with Spurs, he was their assistant academy director before returning to Town last summer, has seen the Londoners take over as this year’s opponents. He says the majority of the players involved this evening will be going into their final year as schoolboys and will be out to win themselves a place amongst next summer’s new intake of full-time scholars. “These boys are trying to get to the stage next season where they secure the offer of a scholarship, so it’s a big year for them. A big year at school and it’s a big year on the football field," he said. “We’ve also got three or four U14s. It’s a mixture and Tottenham will probably be the same. There will be some good players there on both teams. “I’ve coached the boys from Tottenham over the last couple of years, so I know all of them and they’ve got some who are doing very well, one or two who have been around the England set-up, as you’d expect because it’s a top academy. In my opinion it’s one of the top three in the country. “And we’ve got some good local boys who are putting everything they can into making themselves better footballers.” In the past the likes of Jordan Rhodes and Connor Wickham have taken part in these games for the Blues, while a Manchester United team featured England international Danny Welbeck, and Klug says there’ll be players involved tonight who will become familiar faces in years to come: “You see the players of the future, on both teams. “Man United have been good enough to come down in the last few years and have had some tremendous players and there have been one or two who have gone on to do great things from our ranks.” Over the weekend joint-managing directors Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds confirmed that Town’s academy will be looking to step up from Category Two to Category One from the 2014/15 season. Klug says that the move is was always the long-term plan: “For me it always was. Obviously there had to be a lot of work and investment and different things had to be put right. "We’ve got on with them really well, the staff have worked so hard and the owner appreciates it as well. “He realises that if we’re going to get the maximum value out of the academy you’ve got to be up with the top players, the top clubs and competing with them in our own way.” Category One clubs are currently required to spend £2.35 million per annum, including a Premier League grant of £750,000, while Category Two costs at least £960,000 per season, including a grant of £480,000. However, Klug says the Blues have spent more than that Category Two minimum level this season but that stepping up will entail a further increase: “That’s true, financially we’ve just got to push a little bit more. The grant for Category One is a little bit more but you have got to put more in. “It’s just weighing up what is the best way. Every club is different, but from the position we were in Category Two was the right option, but now we’re ready to go [to Category One]. We’ve worked so hard. “On the playing field it will be really, really tough but that’s the challenge that you want. It would be quite easy just to sit in Category Two and be one of the bigger dogs but the players need challenging, the coaches need challenging.” Part of that challenge will be competing with Norwich City, already Category One and in this season’s FA Youth Cup final — “Norwich up the road are doing great things, as are Colchester” — with the switch up requiring more hard work to get the infrastructure in place. “There are lots of things to do,” he says, “The bar is raised in all sorts of areas: sports science, medical, recruitment. The bar is just a little bit higher across the board and you’ve got to up your game. There is a financial thing but there’s also expertise.” That will mean staff numbers growing by at least four or five: “Possibly, although going by some of the Category One clubs that visit us, [numbers will grow] quite considerably, but we’ll do what we have to do.” Category One also includes a European dimension: “There were a series of NextGen games and I think the Premier League are going to take over that part. “There is certainly going to be a Champions League element to U21 football as well, but we’re not quite ready for that yet. “Mick’s doing really well and let’s hope he gets us there. But there is international experience provided by the Premier League and primarily for Category One clubs.” Klug says the restrictions presented by the new Financial Fair Play rules may have influenced the club’s approach to the academy, but from his perspective the aim remains the same: “It doesn’t matter whether there’s Financial Fair Play or whatever, we’ve got to produce players that Mick thinks are good enough for the football club. “It’s part of the big thinking, I guess, but from our point of view it’s just getting as many players up to the required standard as we possibly can.” Ultimately he hopes a large proportion of the senior squad will be made up of players who have come through the ranks, as it was a few seasons ago: “Part of our performance plan is in four or five years’ time to have 50 per cent of the first team squad having come through the academy. “We got very close, we probably were there around four or five years ago. It that makes it value for money for the club then, that’s what we’ve got to do.” In terms of recruitment, he believes that it would have been a disadvantage to have remained Category Two: “I think going forward from now on it would be. “If I was a parent, you’d look at that and you’d want your boy to be playing against the best and be amongst the best, as well as having a really good opportunity. “[Moving to Category One] sort of maximises all the things that we can offer. It makes us competitive in the market for most players, although obviously we can’t financially compete with the bigger clubs on that, just like in all levels of football. “But we can give them a good programme, we can give them a good opportunity. That’s the word really.” The advantage Town have over the bigger clubs is an established path into first-team football at an early age: “That’s what we try and sell, we try and sell that all the time. “With young players and parents of young players it’s not always what they see, but the sensible ones will. They see a club that has the tradition and that there’s an opportunity here.” Friday saw eight of this year’s new intake of scholars — there are more to come — inducted into the academy and Klug says he is optimistic about their chances of making progress, as he always is: “Every group we have we have great hopes for. You give them every opportunity, you give them the time and it’s then up to them. “As the manager said at the induction last week, we help give them the chance and any one of them could be the one.” Two of them, midfielder or defender Matt Clarke and Republic of Ireland U16 international striker Cemal Ramadan, have already made appearances at U21 level, something the 52-year-old believes won’t have occurred at too many clubs. “Maybe more because of lack of numbers,” he admits. “But credit to them, Matt Clarke and Cemal Ramadan have done exceptionally well. They’ve got to carry it on. “There’s not many clubs who have had schoolboys both go on and score goals in the U21s. It’s not happened at many places.” Clarke has been a regular in the U21s in the latter stages of the season but Klug says becoming a full-time scholar next season will present new challenges: “He’s got to cope with full-time training, he’s got to cope with expectation, which isn’t always easy, but he’s showed promise.” The new intake and the current first years will be looking to emulate the five second-year scholars - Jack Marriott, David October, Tom Winter, Mark Timlin and Jonny Leddy - who were recently offered one-year professional contracts. They are all expected to put pen to paper in the weeks to come. Klug wants to see them all getting themselves into Mick McCarthy’s thoughts during 2013/14: “That’s what you hope. “We’ve bought them time and all they can do is work really hard and if they catch the eye of the manager, then you never know. There’s nothing certain but if they work hard and they improve, they’ve got a chance.” Admission to tonight’s game - only the Co-op Stand is open - costs £5 for adults, £3 for concessions and £1 for under-16s, with the programme £1. All proceeds raised go directly to the academy. If you’re interested in becoming involved in academy sponsorship, email Simon Milton or call him on 01473 400942.
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 296 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
