Was going to start a similar thread.
Our youth players are just not good enough. A youth policy only works when the youth are Premier League quality. Sorry but Bodymoor Heath is not La Masia. It's ridiculous that nearly half our squad are academy products. It speaks more about how cheap we have been in the last few years than the quality of our academy. It seems like we're all living on that one amazing 2nd half performance against ManU when the kids looked like world beaters. Other than Gary Cahill our youth system has not recently produced a player that is good enough of to play for a Champions League side.
When it comes to youth Everton, WestHam or even Southampton we are not. We pretty much produce Championship level players like Gary Gardner, Ridgewell, Whittingham, etc. When you have youth in the squad, you tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately I think it has blinded our coaches and management about how weak the squad really is.