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Posted

I thought Bannan was a centre midfielder?

From what I've heard he's not going to cut it at Villa anyway. Other than that barry'sboots, it's a decent looking young side!

Posted
-------------------- Siegrist -------------------

[?] ---------- Clark ---------- Baker -------- [?]

--------------[?] ------------- Bannan ---------

Gabby ------------- Gardner ---------- Grealish

------------------- The Fonz -------------------

6 or 7 of a future XI home grown - an interesting prospect??

Bannan in central midfield? Okay.

:? he played there for Derby and has played there several times for our youth and reserves

Posted
Yeah I seriously doubt MON would play anyone when they're 17.

I don't, if there good enough then he'll play them.

Delfouneso played at 17, albeit in the Europa League

Posted
Also have to remember when he first arrived, he had the likes of Hendrie/Baros but stuck with Agbonlahor and Moore.

This is true, credit where credit's due for that although I do think the current players should have been given more chances

Posted
Yeah I seriously doubt MON would play anyone when they're 17.

I don't, if there good enough then he'll play them.

Delfouneso played at 17, albeit in the Europa League

Okay then I think MON would play a 17 year old in a Europa League game 2 or 3 times a year but I don't think he'd let a 17 year old play in the Premier League like what Leeds did with Milner.

Posted

Leeds only played Milner because they didn't have any other players. I think the question you have to ask is playing Fonz better than playing Heskey, people will obviously say yes but its about pressure situations, Fonz for me tries too hard when it comes to the Premier League, whereas in youth and reserve he's a monster of a player because he has that belief, but that'll come within time.

Posted

MoN might not even be here in three or four years time folks, we all know how quickly things can change in football!

Posted

Yeh thats very true that he might not be here. I would love him to though. But jack is not very small for his age just a below average I suppose. Its just nowadays in academies alot of the players are massive.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
Six teenage Villa stars will get the chance to impress England coaches after being called up for national trials.

Bryan Jones, the club's academy chief, has expressed his pride after the claret and blue starlets were included among a 40-strong England under-16 party.

Defenders Joshua Webb, Bradley Lewis and Oliver Stevenson and midfielders Charlie Ward, Jordan Graham and Jack Grealish will take part in the trials at Burton later this month.

Villa's European Cup winning full-back Kenny Swain - now the head coach of England's under-16 team - will run the rule over the youngsters.

Those involved in the trials are vying for selection for this season's internationals, including the Victory Shield tournament against the other home nations.

It is another feather in the cap for Villa's highly successful academy, with Jones describing this latest batch of players as "outstanding".

"I'm absolutely delighted," said the academy director. "I don't think it has ever been known before for one club to provide so many from one age group in an international set up.

"It is exciting for us for the future. We also have Bradley Watkins, who is an England under-17 goalkeeper.

"Also in this team, Umit Eminoglu is a Turkish international so you can see it is an outsanding group of players."

Villa's academy continues to flourish, with Gabby Agbonlahor, Nathan Delfouneso and Marc Albrighton the most recent in a long line of home grown talents to break into the club's first team ranks.

Ciaran Clark made his Premier League bow against Fulham last term, while Barry Bannan and Shane Lowry have both experienced European competition for Martin O'Neill's team.

The club also reached the FA Youth Cup final last season, where Tony McAndrew's team were narrowly beaten by Chelsea.

From the official site

There's a few new names to ponder!!!

Great news and positive that the youth set-up is continuing to find players with potential - certainly something the club can be proud of.

Posted

We also have Bradley Watkins, who is an England under-17 goalkeeper.

Throw him on the pile! We seem to be well stocked with young goalkeepers.

Posted

Even though the majority of those kids may not make it further than a Youth set-up, it's encouraging to see that we have so many named in international sides!

  • 2 months later...
Posted
Republic of Ireland under 16s started off their 1st City of Latina International Tournament in Italy with a convincing win over Ukraine. John Morling’s men have just one player in the squad who plays outside of Ireland, and that youngster, Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish was a constant thorn in the Ukraine’s side. Grealish had been added to the squad who beat Estonia twice at the end of September, and looked a class act.

There were many strong performers on the Irish side, with Gary O’Neill and Adam Wixtead troubling the opposition on many occasions. It was when these two players combined that Ireland took the lead just two minutes into the second half. Wixtead dribbled down the left and crossed it over into the box. St. Joseph’s’ Sam Byrne neatly stepped over the ball to let it run on to O’Neill, who coolly slotted home.

A few minutes later, Byrne himself looked like scoring with a stunning move to get past two defenders, but unfortunately his shot hit the woodwork. Ukraine made a few changes to try to level things, and they almost succeeded on a counter-attack, but the flag went up for offside as Eric Grimes picked the ball out of his net.

Robbie Keane wasn’t the only Irish player to miss a penalty. Byrne was once again denied by the woodwork, as his spot kick rattled off the crossbar. Grealish was taken down in the box after yet another tricky run, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Even with the penalty miss, 1-0 was enough for Ireland, who take on the hosts tomorrow.

http://tinyurl.com/37asoq7

Posted
I've watched a lot of academy/reserve and you can put me down as one who thinks Delfouneso will be a top striker.

Better than Drogba? We'll see, but he is special and could achieve that level with a bit of luck and hard work.

I dont know much about this Grealish lad but he sounds promising. He isnt the only one. We have a number of really exciting players on the horizon. I know fans want the finished article right now but trust me, the future is very exciting for us. We've really invested, financially and physically, in the academy. Without making a big hoo hah about it, we've set ourselves up as real school of excellence for yongsters and we'll attract far more in the future as a result.

We wont get all the best players obviously but we'll be getting more through to the first team in future and even those that dont quite make it will be commanding decent fees that can put back into the club.

Delfouneso, Clark, Albrighton, Gardner and Siegrist will make it as first teamers at Villa. I have no doubt about it.

Weimann has a very good chance. Then there are players like Forrester, Bannan, Simmonds, Baker, Lowry, Herd, Hogg, Collins, Devine, Williams, Halfhuid, Lichaj and Carruthers etc... who all have a decent chance of playing for us or at a decent standard.

I dont know much about the youngsters behind them. But the academy, rather than going out paying a fortune for already established players is where we'll concentrate our efforts I think and I'm happy about that. Its the right way to do it.

Of course, there will have to be blend of the two in the meantime.

I'd like to see that happen, I genuinely would.

But for that to occur would most likely mean one of two things: (1) we have a crop of talent breaking through that only West Ham, Leeds and Man U would have been able to rival in the last decade and a bit (2) We're content to tread water in mid-table and the standard of player needed isn't so high.

I sincerely hope that we have at least five players from the youth team who go on to have big careers for us and form the nucleus of the side.

But I'd say the odds are stacked against that volume of numbers breaking through- unless we settle for mid/lower table. As a recent example, if that was acceptable for us Ridgewell, Craig Gardener, Steve Davis, Cahill, Luke Moore and co would still be good enough for us now.

Again using those players as an example we can say with a fair degree of accuracy that our academy is decent and produces enough talent to make it sustainable and worthwhile. But is it really capable of churning out 5-6 special players? The players needed who could go on to form the backbone of a successful Villa side because - let's not forget- that's ultimately what it's all about.

Realistically I think we'd be doing well to have two at tops three of the names you mentioned carving out long term careers for us. If I was a betting man I'd say Albrighton, Gary Gardner and possibly Clark. Everyone should know what Albrighton is about at this stage - he's quality and looks like he's been playing in the top flight for years. Gary Gardner could be a monster for us. Good touch, technique and decent height and frame -which is useful in the English game.

I've also heard good things about Halfhuid. He was playing to a pretty decent standard in Holland with Excelsior and we actually paid money for him. By no means a guarantee, but he must have something.

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