The Mail Bag
Hope and the Future
Comments (27)
Just thought with all the doom and gloom from some Everton fans there looks like we may have a ray of hope with our youth set-up. Hallam Hope and John Lundstram are performing well with the England Under-17s... Ross Barkley [not 'Barclay', that's the Bank] the supposed next big star and yet our youth team reach the Youth Cup Final without any of them... so surely the future looks bright.
Having watched a couple of the England Under-17s games, there is a real prospect of Hope and Lundstram going the whole way... so, with Barkley as well there's 3 lads should wear the Blue. Now I've only seen Bidwell against Bate Borisov in Europa but I thought he looks useful so can anyone tell me are there other lads you think could make it from our youth set-up? And do you think we have a bright future? I'm always the optimist for Everton as long as they give a 100%.
Tony Cornmell, Posted 10/05/2011 at 03:30:47
Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
Tony, at least one of the mentioned players has got to make it otherwise we're fucked. How else will we balance the books?
I managed to dig up this interesting piece about him from a year ago - http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/hallams-hope-in-striking-distance/ . Unfortunately, it seems that his dream is to play someday for Manchester United!
Being involved in youth football coaching and development myself, I am convinced youth development is the way forward for Everton and we have a much better record than most. The number of kids leaving Everton's academy and finding a career in football in the lower leagues has also improved over the years.
Steven Schumacher banged in a few excellent goals last weekend and is the captain of promoted Bury! (see the goals here http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13247216.stm) John Ruddy got promoted to the Prem with Norwich. I just hope we don't have to spend £10m getting back the likes of Baines and Jagielka after releasing them or miss out on young Evertonians like Carragher, Owen, Fowler etc. I also hope we don't sell our outstanding youth talent; watching Rooney waltz around Shalke and Chelsea in the past few weeks still makes me sick.
Yup, I'm half expecting Ruddy to come back to Goodison next year and turn in a storming performance. I thought we let him go too soon, probably end up buying him back in a few years.
Everton have one of the best youth development programmes in the country and with no cash, is the future of the club.
2 games left, nothing to play for. I hope we see youth given a chance.
I personally am still holding out hope for Forshaw and Wallace to make it also, I know Wallace is playing down in League 2 just now but he seems to be one of the dominant players in every game he plays. (mind you I was still holding out hope for Lewis Codling last year....)
One thing that gets me is we don't even recoup any money for our youth products. Other teams at least get some money in from their failed youth products wheras our just fade completely. Do you remember the next Rooney - Scot Sinclair? Where is he now?
Look at our first team and see who've come through the ranks. Rodwell, Coleman, Osman etc.
Then take a quick look at the reserve and academy teams on the OS. That makes me excited. There is so much good talent coming through which, if Moyes gives them a chance, could prove to be very successfull for our club.
I know I'd rather look at it that way than negatively, lifes too short!
Key question here is what I said earlier; IF MOYES GIVES THEM A CHANCE.
I reckon we're in a fantatsic position moving forward. I think it's imperative that we keep Eric Dier as he and Mustafi look the real deal (not forgetting Duffy). Just to get all FM on you, fast forward 5 years:
Davies,
Mustafi, Duffy, Dier, Garbutt
Coleman, Rodwell, Barkley, Fellaini, Gueye, Hope
Bench: Vellios, Bidwell, Lundstram, McAleny, Baxter, Wallace, Anichebe
Onward Evertonians, don't let your hearts be low. Remember that our song for Wembley is... "WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!"
Got too excited
http://theexecutionersbong.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/everton-academy-5-to-watch
It's a little bit sugar coated and the perspective is definitely through blue tinted specs but I couldn't help but get excited about the prospects who appear to be coming through at the same age group. We haven't had this much quality come through all at once in years so I'm really hoping that a handful of the current crop come through to bolster our squad.
I kind of include these 'bought for the future players' in the youngsters coming through. Players like Garbutt, Mustafi, Vellios etc. They still spend a time with our Reserve setup plus also show the commitment our club has to brining through young players (whether their homegrown or recently bought).
I don't really make the distinction: as far as I'm concerned, they are Everton players with good prospects.
"Coleman signed for Sligo Rovers in 2006 having begun his career at hometown side Killybegs".
I stand corrected.
The point remains that bought or not we have a good mix of lads coming through.
I think Kevin @4 makes a good point in that youth football has changed a lot over the last decade. Particularly at U-18 level, it is now felt that kids are given better training and that technically they are now on a level with their French, German and of course Spanish counterparts.
This should result in more of the highly rated players going on to decent careers so long as they stay focussed on and off the pitch... and that a big proviso!!
I for one will be very surprised if we don't see Barkley, Garbutt, Bidwell, Hope and Lundstram having some notable first team influence between them over the next 3 seasons. There's no certainties but I think we have a good crop here, let's hope the harvest reaches its potential.
On a side note, I believe Eric Dier will be going back to Sporting Lisbon after the U-18s final... but I'm guessing he's had a good taste of toffee.
1: It is a significant distance from Premier League standard which is why some of the Tranmeres of this world turn up players more developed and suited to the Premier League than youth players who stay in the Everton Academy.
2. There are numerous temptations (drugs,drink, women, gambling etc) for youth players and their bodies are still developing; also, despite being talented, they may not be good trainers. The Premier League standards are such that only the most talented and superbly fit will make the breakthrough.
I think every youth level player should spend at least half a season in League One (old Division 3) and then, if they prove themselves, half a season in the Championship (old Division 2).
The likes of Rooney are one-offs and are identified at a very young age.
Sorry Gavin, but that is just wrong. If a player is 17 or 18 and breaking into the first team it is probably because he is world class. Its not unusual for players to be in the early 20's by the time they make an impact on the first team - especially in the premier league! How old was Coleman when he got a game for Everton? Do you think he would have been good enough 5 years ago (when he was 17)? Also how old were players like Cahill, Lescott, Jagielka, Baines when they made their PREMIER LEAGUE debut? 17/18? No.
ps: this is NOT the FA Youth Cup Final the lads will be playing in; it's the FA Premier Youth League National Play-Off Final. I see that it will be played at the Reebok sometime on Friday, so we need to start the campaign to get people over there and support them... Fulham and Sunderland have just kicked off the other semi-final.
pps: Everton did very poorly in this year's FA Youth Cup, going out at the second hurdle. Everton last won the Youth Cup in 1998... when the team featured: Hibbert, Dunne, Osman, Jeffers and Cadamarteri.
Your World Class doesn't hold up either unless you are claiming Vaughan, the current youngest goal scorer in the Premier League, who couldn't get a game for love nor money at Everton but played first team at 17. There are plenty of players in the Premier League who also played at 17-18 and I don't think many would be called World Class.
Jose Baxter hadn't even turned 17 ? is he World Class? James Milner took Shrek's youngest goalscorer record off him before Vaughan took it back ? is he World Class?
As for for Vaughan and Baxter they were put in too early because of injuries. Neither were good enough at that point. As for Coleman, neither was he good enough to playt in the premier leagu aged 17 - or he would never have been so cheap/playing in the irish league aged 20.
Just because a player doesn't play in the premier league until they are out of their teens doesn't mean they will never be good enough. To suggest otherwise is absurd.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
1 Posted 10/05/2011 at 07:20:35
Report abuse
How many times have you heard about players supposedly going to be the next big thing? How many players from the youth squad have actually had first team games? If it wasn't for injuries and pitiful squad size, do you honestly believe some of our bench warmers would have been there? If a 17/18 year old is that good, they should be playing for the first team ? remember how old Rooney was scoring against Arsenal or Vaughan against Palace? I haven't seen anything like it.
The only players that have come close to the first team from the youth setup don't look like they could cause much impact so I'll stick with my original stance that I'll expect most to disappear, released by the club.