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Academy General Topic


mikeyp102

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We've been confirmed as one of the youth sides taking part in next seasons EFL Trophy, draw will be made this Thursday.

Will probably be similar to last season in that we won't be expected to go very far, but the main thing will be the experience for the young players.

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On 03/01/2021 at 21:26, useless said:

I see that we've signed another player for our U16s from an academy in Gloucester, their twitter describes them as a 'Talent Identification program for players & coaches Aston Villa F.C.Academy' and a 'Development and talent pathway for Aston Villa FC Academy'. Looking down their twitter it seems that previously they were affiliated with West Brom, so that's another academy related thing we appear to have taken from them. Edit: Seems it's run by Paul Gardiner, who is now with us having previsously worked for Albion.

That player was Josh Mason who made his U18 debut for us towards the end of the season, he's now signed a scholarship with Forest Green Rovers...

'Gloucester-born winger Josh Mason joins Rovers from the Aston Villa Academy, having progressed from the Villa Development Centre in Gloucester.'

'Villa Development Centre in Gloucester' now has it's own website.

'

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Just now, MessiWillSignForVilla said:

Another West Brom youth player about to join, anyone know anything about him?

https://www.wba.co.uk/player/91 

BIO

A local boy from Great Barr, Tim’s combative, all-action approach has seen him impress many onlookers in Albion’s youth system. 

Tim joined the the Albion youth set-up at Under-8s level and has spent time in England training camps during his time in the Under-15s.

Iroegbunam operates from the middle of the field and never shies away from a tackle, with his forward-thinking mentality a key element in his combative approach to games. 

Over the 2020/21 season, Tim was introduced to a variety of beneficial experiences in his development.

Having played in England youth camps during his younger years, Iroegbunam lined up alongside Albion skipper and Three Lions international Jake Livermore during a PL2 game at just 17-years-old. His regular involvement with the Baggies’ 23s side towards the end of the season helped Deon Burton’s side improve their form, as a number of well-timed tackles helped keep the PL2 side in the ascendancy to get positive results. 

In addition to his defensive attributes, Iroegbunam has added goals to his game. The central-midfielder netted a long-range screamer against Cardiff City in the FA Youth Cup, before a smart finish in the following round against Tottenham helped Albion take control of the game and, as a result, reach the last-eight of the competition. 

“He’s an important character, a tough-tackler and overall, an all-action midfield player who’s started to add goals to his game” - U18s boss Peter Gilbert. 

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Almost almost feel bad for West Brom's academy. They clearly have some mighty talent there, given that we keep going back to that well.

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6 minutes ago, BOF said:

Almost almost feel bad for West Brom's academy. They clearly have some mighty talent there, given that we keep going back to that well.

Considering we poached most of their Academy staff as well, they should know the most about the talent over there.

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4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

We love our “hard to pronounce” player names don’t we? 🤣

Yeah I was just thinking the same, these lads names are going to be bloody hard to work into a terrace chant. 😂

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5 minutes ago, NeilS said:

Yeah I was just thinking the same, these lads names are going to be bloody hard to work into a terrace chant. 😂

I think we’ll stick to a first name basis from now on… 🤣

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25 minutes ago, BOF said:

Almost almost feel bad for West Brom's academy. They clearly have some mighty talent there, given that we keep going back to that well.

They need to change the locks!

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Watched Iroegbunam for them a few times last season in the FAYC and he looks a very good player. He's older than the players we normally sign for the academy, I think there was talk of him having a chance of getting game time for Albion's first team next season, so kind of surprised that we've managed to sign him, will be interesting to see what plans we have for him, he could conceivably go out on loan, but presumably we will want him to play with some of the other U23 players and learn the Villa style of play before that. Wouldn't be surprised to see him involved in some of the earl pre-season games alongside the likes of Ramsey, Chukwuemeka, Kesler, Barry and so on.

 

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