Blackpool helping Simms make the step up to first-team football

The sooner all the hangers on are out of the club the better. If this is the best that Unsworth, Jeffers and the rest of Bills luvvies can produce then it is pointless having an academy. The sooner they are out of the club the better. Kenwright and his contracts for former players are a joke. None of them have a bit of coaching nous between them.

We might as well shut the academy now, we will never produce anything of note. Put the money we save towards getting some experienced pros from abroad who might be able to get a game or 2.

I know when observing Premier League footballers I will always think they can do better, but there are a high standard of players who are trying to make sure they are not able to play and maybe a seasoned Manager targeting them in his match preparation coaching.

I know myself that a good team at one level , can be taken apart by a team at a higher level. I have in the past played for a very well coached young team , who gave a higher level team a thorough lesson.

It is too soon to know where he will go. At the same age Ollie Watkins was just breaking into Exeter's team in League 2, for example. Bamford, another who was just breaking into League 1 football on loan. Callum Wilson another. So it is never too late if he has the will power to combinewith his talent.

Here's hopingfor few more goals to help push towards promotion, and another loan next season at Blackpool to continue his development.

Think Branthwaite, Simms and Gordon are the only ones coming back for next year. All the others will be shipped out this summer. Hopefully some will make it back to the Prem, like Dowell next season. At the very least they'll all be at Championship clubs, as that's their level. We won't mention Markelo...

I think this is a great read. The loan system has its critics, but Blackpool appear to be giving the lad a good schooling and taking their pastoral care of Simms very seriously.

It must help his development that Blackpool, who started the season lethargically and were way off the top, are now in a rich vein of form and are in the promotion places to climb back to the Championship. That makes every game important so the players and the team have to be 'on' all the time.

I'm someone who watches as many academy games at all age groups as I can, and I always had a wry smile when some called for Simms to be 'given a chance' in our first team.

Ellis is way, WAY off PL class still. Personally, I don't see him making the leap to Everton's first team, but like so many academy players down the years he will have a career in the game.

The loan system may be a bit of a lottery, but this report shows it maybe isn't a totally forlorn and futile exercise.

The icing on the cake is the player comes good for our own club, or in Blackpool's case, maybe they have an option negotiated for an extended loan or transfer.

The most important thing, from a youth coaching perspective, is we want to give the players to best opportunity to forge a career in the game.

Having said that, I know the goal is the same size, at all levels, but as you go higher up in the echelons of the various Leagues, midfielders and defenders are quicker, and better so it is less a game of Aunt Sally, and more a Game of Chess with football boots and a ball.

I think there are an awful lot of players who seem to ' have it ' at an early age and either score for fun, defend like troopers, or show consummate skill in midfield, and we all start thinking, this guy will save us a fortune, whether it be in any of the positions, but later they seem to just peter out. Okay they will probably earn a decent enough living playing at Lower Levels, but the next Wayne Rooney is like rocking horse dung!

Pat K, you naughty boy there, some will be upset by that, but you have got a point on recent form.

Despite the somewhat gloomy news on loanies, Everton still need to give all young players a chance to prove their worth. I also think that we do not give enough young players the chance to have some games in the first team.

Apparently they have had him train with the first team since and been showing him clips of Allan.

Seems they are impressed with him as I think a few of us were.

Seems that Ellis is in capable coaches with his best interest at heart, and I think now it will be his mental strength and belief that needs to come through.

I’m sure he can achieve success and that will take loads of true grit, courage and belief.

Spot on

Players like Vardy, David Platt, Ian Wright who become world class players from near grass roots level (at one stage) are in the rare minority outlier. If our youth players at 20 can't show many glimmers of fantastic performances at Championship level, then it's a long development process ahead.

However, I think if Simms is in the Championship or say abroad in a top league next year, it will give us a great clue as how much he has to improve, as there are lots of good attributes to like.

We need young players who can match performance levels at 19/20/21 years old of players such as these below if we want to build a foundation of top quality young players:
Ismaïla Sarr
Dwight McNeil
Todd Cantwell
Buendia
Coleman
Godfrey
Lukaku
Lescott
Arteta
Rooney

So unfortunately, most of the youth squad who are 20/21 are I suspect going to be re-homed hopefully in a good club, say at League 1 level. Let's hope some of them do a Lundstrum and make a brief living at Premier League level one day - they all have a chance to do it if they want it more and work on getting better rather than doing anything else in their leisure time. ( It could be anything like watching how sprinters train and get faster times, running technique of sprinters, how marathon runners plan a course, how high jumpers get more lift, how judo people use their bodies - just depends on how much they want it.)

That's a great insight. I've noticed many times you're a man of knowledge on local football and sport, and of course plenty of other things. I do wonder if the club could do with some more local ears at times to keep ahead.

Let's hope our staff at the club have the humility to bring in more coaches who are successful in other sports, even if they are classed as an "amateur". The main thing is, if they have the data to show some evidence and good results, then why not mix it up a bit to see in our own closed door observations on the effect of some new ideas. These boys are brilliant at 14, but not the best-of-the-best at 20. Sometimes, it's worth "stumbling" on an idea/variable that can have a significance on the effect in one of the year groups.

Also, it would make training and homework much more stimulating and interesting to get the insights from non-football coaches with winning formulas to try out and experiement with. And while doing this and the boys are trying stuff out, they might be inadvertantly improving even more.

Or we could bring in legends like Daley Thompson. Image a day where he came round and showed people how he managed his body, rest, gym ideas, improvind different areas and managing his schedule.

I like Michael Garrity, he was under 23 manager of Liverpool for a period, and after having a very bad injury whilst a young player at West Brom, he decided to pursue a career in coaching from a very early age, and this is possibly why he’s very interested in helping out youngsters who he feels might have a chance.

He struggled a bit in his first season for the U18’s, then scored for fun the year after. He struggled at first when he moved up to the U23’s, then started scoring regularly. He’s struggled a bit when playing against men, hopefully he will follow the same trend.

Not every player is a world beater at 19, some of them learn and adapt before becoming top class players. Just ask Harry Kane.

You're absolutely correct though, like in any walk of life, some people learn and develop at different stages. Change of surroundings often results in a step back before moving forward again.

Link

2 nice chances, made one. And I think that's him getting the ball forward for BP's second goal.

Many league teams would be financially better off scrapping the youth teams and simply loaning 4 or 5 players each season as back up or to asses future signings.

Evertons youth success stories are few and far between in recent years. Tom Davies the only first team regular and although I'm a fan and think he's a good player, he's not top class and never will be.

We can't attract the best at any age range currently, Liverpool, the Manchester clubs and others all bring through or sell for millions a couple of players each season.

We have a lot of caching up to do both on and off the pitch. I believe we have started to address these issues but when a promising player like Small and Nkounkou see Godfrey as first choice back up as an attacking full back or wing back, whats the point in sticking around.

Godfrey has been great, possibly our best buy but our general game management has been too negative for my liking. Chasing a game Siggy, James, Gomes, can't get around the pitch quickly enough. All 3 at once is ridiculous.

I want to see more of Nkounkou, he's a proper wing back option should we want to play that formation.