Earlier on, I read a comment on the Everton – Luton pre-match thread about how Everton’s Academy is useless, what’s the point, etc, etc.?
Below, is the point:
Lewis Dobbin
Tom Cannon
Ellis Simms
Anthony Gordon
Antonee Robinson
Nathan Broadhead
Kieran Dowell
Adam Forshaw
Tom Davies
Jonjoe Kenny
But sure… Our youth system produces nothing.
Our youth system is fine. The issue isn’t the youths, or even the coaching (at least, within the youth system itself), but the way that so many of these players were subsequently managed, and failed, by a club who were too busy wasting a king’s ransom rather than building a squad and working to an actual fucking strategy. These are all players who have, or will, play in the top flight.
There’s so much wrong with Everton, you could literally write a book. But the youth system is low on the list.
The Academy sometimes produces players we can use. More often, it produces players that, if the club was more effectively run, could be sold at a decent price to help pay for other players. Instead, up until recently, we’ve held onto players for far too long, costing us a decent fee, and costing them the ability to develop and thrive in a stable environment.
For a long time, fans have wanted to see our young tyros sent out early, to play men’s football, and for the club to be more pragmatic in making a decision on whether or not they’ll make the grade. Happily, that’s looking like one of the long-overdue changes being ushered in by Kevin Thelwell.