Klug: Category One Vital Wednesday, 31st Jul 2013 06:00 Academy director Bryan Klug, who returned to Playford Road last year after two years at Tottenham as their assistant academy manager and head of player development, told TWTD what needs to be done to bring Playford Road up to Category One standard ahead of an audit during the season ahead. “I’d describe us as top end of Category Two,” he said. “But we have to make some fundamental changes to our programme. “People know there are more staff involved, so there are more costs associated with that. Putting the programme together and actually running it will be a big step. “The number of hours it’s mandatory to coach the kids is actually way over the top, so there will be a few changes to that which will have to happen over time. But we’re not far away from operating at Category One.” Despite increasing their staff, he says Town will still be a smaller set-up than at his previous club: “Tottenham have 37 full-time members of staff, we’re nowhere near that, that’s going way over the top. “We’ve got, I think, 18 as a Category Two and it’ll possibly need to be 21 full-time, and part-time coaches on top of that. It’s a massive operation. “There are a lot of staff when you look at Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor operating here and running the first team, but that’s the way the game has gone, that’s what the EPPP is about. “There are big numbers on your staff, probably more than you really require and the one thing that we haven’t got here at the moment is the numbers of players. “Over the last few years, whatever’s gone on at the football club, we’ve not signed very many young professionals. “We’ve probably got more coaches than we really need but gradually we’ll build a base and that’s what’s starting to happen now. The programme is kicking in.” He says that while player numbers are significantly lower than at bigger clubs Town aren’t just going to take players on to fill squads: “When I was at Tottenham I was working with the U16s and U17s and between the ages of 16 and 21 they had 63 or 64 players and they were all very good players. “Here, if you added that number up, including the U16 schoolboys and scholars, we’d maybe get to 30 or 40. “You’ve got to remember that we’re trying to put out three full teams and you’re stretched if you haven’t got them. “We won’t go down the route of having players here just to fulfil teams, we wouldn’t do that because it doesn’t make sense for us. We’ve got to have that right balance of having the right numbers and having a really challenging programme for them.” Stepping up to Category One will allow Town to recruit players nationally but perhaps more importantly help them to compete against the other clubs in the region: “We’ve had competition, Norwich have obviously done very well, they started as a Category One last year and they illustrate how people get better when they’re playing better opposition. “They couldn’t win a game in their league before Christmas and they ended up winning the FA Youth Cup. That’s what can happen if your boys are being stretched. “They’ve invested really heavily, Colchester over the last few years have spent and built their academy and have been a big rival to us, so we’re making up a little bit of ground in footballing terms, but we are getting there.” The 52-year-old says the improved games programme as a Category One club will be an important step forward: “For the boys and us as coaches it stretches you. “No disrespect, the games programme the U18s were in last year, we didn’t do particularly well, but the more you are stretched, certain types of game, certain types of challenge are better for the boys and playing our way and our style it’s better to really test yourself against the Arsenals and Chelseas. That’s your benchmark.” Klug says further improvements need to be made at Playford Road in time for the audit which will take place before next May: “We need another classroom, we need to improve the facilities, the physios’ facilities need to be better because you’re going to have a lot of younger players mixing with older players and there are safeguards and issues surrounding that. “But generally the facilities here are Category One. When we were audited for Category Two last season, we got a very, very good mark as Category Two but there are just one or two areas. “Unfortunately these capital projects can be quite expensive and that’s one of the things that Marcus has got to look at.” The academy chief says Blues boss Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor are more than willing to give academy youngsters their chance: “I think they’re very, very good with the young players and if they are good enough they will use them. “But their priority is to win football matches and if they don’t think the [quality of] players are there [then they won’t play them]. But at the moment we’re doing reasonably well. If they are good enough [they get their chance], that’s the big thing that’s always happened here and it’s the most important thing. “You can do all this but if the manager isn’t on board and doesn’t believe they can do it then you’ve got a problem. “But we’ve no problem with that, we’ve got a very experienced manager who knows what he’s looking for.” Kieron Dyer was at yesterday’s press briefing and is one of several ex-players now at the academy coaching, Klug says: “Kieron’s been out on the training field with the young lads and like most players he doesn’t know whether he’s really retired. “He might get that one big offer, but outside of that he’s very keen to do his badges and sees himself as a manager like Guardiola, stood on the touchline rather than being a development coach. When he comes out with the kids he’s excellent. “We also got Scowcroft here, who is a very good coach now, Dozzell, it’s a bit like a who’s who really, Alan Lee, Micky Stockwell, David Wright, we’ve got quite a good five-a-side team really! Frans Thijssen will come over and do some coaching as well.” Long-term, he says he sees no reason why Town can’t emulate clubs across Europe who fill their teams with players who have come through their youth set-ups, targeting 50 percent of the Blues side coming from the academy by the 2017/18 season. “If you look at the bigger picture and clubs like Freiburg in Germany, who just missed out on Champions League football. They're no bigger club than Ipswich and 80 per cent of their players come through their academy. “At Barcelona or Bayern Munich generally eight or nine players have come through their academy. Athletic Bilbao, Crewe Alexandra. I know they’re League Two but they put a full team out last year.” The plan isn’t limited just to coaching players but also coaches as he looks to hit that target: “Looking to the future, if we can improve the coaching, we’re going to try and do that. "We’re going to try help a lot of coaches, we’re going to start a coaching association. “If you get the grassroots right, the players coming into our academy will be better as well. That’s all part of the plan to get this club to 50 per cent in five years, which would be brilliant.”
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