Nottingham Forest Academy And Under 21's

[Salvatore Matrecano]

I realise that Tricky and its not a criticism of current ownership although I wonder if more could have been done to improve facilities sooner. Brazil has been in charge of the Academy since 2014. There have been some wasted years by the previous regime where we were seemingly content to applaud his achievements but not to give him the tools to progress.

[Tricky]

I realise that Tricky and its not a criticism of current ownership although I wonder if more could have been done to improve facilities sooner. Brazil has been in charge of the Academy since 2014. There have been some wasted years by the previous regime where we were seemingly content to applaud his achievements but not to give him the tools to progress.

Yes, I can agree to that mate. As far as Fawaz was concerned, renaming the Academy after Mr Doughty was as much as he could muster it seems

[Reds73]

For far too long the club  been content to sit back and say “well done Gary, isnt it marvellous all these players you are developing.”  but then not doing anything further to expand the Academy or give it a central place in how the club is run. The result is that however well we have done, other local clubs are ahead of us, have a look at Leicester’s development, it is in another universe to the ND academy.

It looks like the current owners are taking it far more seriously with Garys new role and plans for cat 1 status. We can compete because as it says in the article NFFC can point to proven development pathways which will attract good prospects but dont mistake we have some catching up to do.

The club can only apply for Cat 1 status once every three years though SM mate

Yes correct.
And the next assessment is in about 6 months so we are gearing up for then

[Sabricadabra]

An application for Cat 1 status at the next assessment will tell us about these owners level of commitment.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

An application for Cat 1 status at the next assessment will tell us about these owners level of commitment.

No need to wait that long.

I can tell you that they are 100% committed.

[Sausage Roll]

Brennan Johnson made his full international debut for Wales tonight coming on as sub.

[ThePromisedLand]

And almost scored with his very first touch.

[Widdow]

Forest u23s lost 3-0 today to Burton U23 both had young teams out but Forest were expected to win easily. Opps

[ThePromisedLand]

The following has been nicked from another site - the author being a constant source of accurate & balanced views on the Academy.

*Sniff - if this is unacceptable please feel free to delete.

With the belated news arriving that we have applied for Category One Academy recently and the audit taking place at the end of the season - there is a lot of pressure and work to be done to make sure we meet all the criteria.

Requirements
Infrastructural : floodlit pitches, indoor surfaces, year-round match analysis suites, educational facilities etc on top of a certain number of pitches for different age groups (sizes).
Staff (27 full-time positions must be filled) : Head of education, psychologists, sports scientists, strength & conditioning coaches + 1 coach for every 8 players from u11 upwards.
* I've already noticed there is a lot of change in the lower levels with coaches/talent ID'ers leaving etc


Benefits
Catchment area won't restrict us. So basically a stronger hand for recruitment.
Leicester's new multi-million training facilities are 20miles closer to Forest's. Competition in recruitment a major worry with Leicester, Derby, Villa, Stoke + other W midlands clubs all Cat 1. Our staff do well in creating trust with parents from a young age & then they do the rest with the quality coaching and the need for a pathway but it can only take you so far.
The games programme is the most important for me. Playing against better quality week in week out from u16s to u23s level.


With regards to the players. We will need to find that balance to be competitive if we join Cat 1. So there will be some players in our first team and those that have played men's football on loan that we need to ask does remaining competitive u23 level benefit their development. I think each individual case will be different. I think we producing good players but there can be no relaxing because the depth of talent in Cat 1 academies is what makes the step up testing. Better structures in place, more investment, possibly more focused coaching from lower ages than we already do and we can hopefully be competitive in Cat 1 and at the same time continue to promote players early up the age groups which has been a vital way in pushing our young players in Cat 2.

So to the players.

LOANS
Championship : Alex Mighten (u19)
League One : Jordan Gabriel (u22), Tyrese Fornah (u21), Brennan Johnson (u20), Marcus McGuane (u22)
League Two : Jayden Richardson (u20), Danny Preston* (u21), Jake Taylor* (u22), Virgil Gomis* (u22)
* All out of contract at the end of the season

Not sure you want u21s & u22s playing u23s football really. Blocks the system. But we will have to find a balance next season.

U23s have been extremely dominant even with the loan players out. 2 u18 players used but likely would have been 3 if not for injury.
GK : George Shelvey (u20), Jordan Wright (u22), Michael Statham (u19)
RB : Rezart Rama (u20), Malique Spooner (u19)
CB : Riley Harbottle (u20), Baba Fernandes (u21)
LB : Sam Sanders (u19)
CM : Josh Barnes (u20)
ATT/AMF: Ateef Konate (U20), Yassine En-Neyah (U21), Ethan Dekel-Daks (u19), Keith Asare (u20), Luca Doorbar (u19)
FWD: Will Swan (u20), Julian Larsson (u20), Elliot Andrew (u19)

Decisions
1)There are the 2 Greek lads but not sure if they will force their way into the equation to be real contenders here but when deciding about what to do if we get to Cat 1 ?
2) 2nd year u18s : Back & Gibson-Hammond the certainties for full-time u23 promotion next season. Oli Hammond most likely. Sadler & Donnelly got contracts to 2022 on joining. I think Bello & Fankwe are still being decided.
3) I think we will have to look into recruitment here considering a lot of our best u23 players are u20s up. The current u19s and u18 2nd years were never going to provide depth of quality to the u23s.


UNDER 18s (started the season slowly but have got players back from injury & formulated how they will be playing & are currently scoring & winning for fun)

GK: Alex Akers (shadow is u16 Bott)
RB: Silvio Bello (shadow Osa Solomon)
CB: James Clarridge, Aaron Donnelly (shadow Morgan Sadler & Lewis Barker who are injured)
LB: Pharrell Johnson (u16 Kyle McAdam has been starting recently)
CM: Jamie McDonnell, Jordan Fankwe
AMF/ATT: Fin Back, Alex Gibson-Hammond, Oli Hammond, Sam Collins, Jack Perkins, Alexandros Sarantis
CF: Dale Taylor (shadow has been u16s Osong & Nadin)

* As mentioned above the situation with the 2nd years who is likely to stay past this season. I suspect it will be tough for Boland, Amekortu & Jackson-Davis to be staying.
** First years are looking like the basis of the u18 side this year & next with the possible early promotions of Clarridge, McDonnell & Taylor. Been saying for a while it is an under the radar group when you add Akers, Solomon, Barker, Johnson, Collins, Perkins and Sarantis too.

Under 16s

Now it starts to get interesting with the schoolboy groups. What potentially could be our first scholar intake as a Cat 1 academy.

Decisions are about to be made or have already been. This group was a large and a very successful one at a national level coming through the lower age groups competing with the best. Unfortunately one of the key players broke his leg & couple of years back & is now playing grassroots football. But I would say as a group they were strong in mentality with maybe lacking in midfield class.
I think a good measure would be this group used to beat Derby's group comfortably but now they have lost the most recent fixture. They played Villa on Saturday & lost 3-4 after being up 2-1. I think we will see at least 6 local players (not sure if a recent GK Jake Lovelace is with this group or 15s) sign scholarships with the potential for more (Hanks, Thompson, Carter, Tucker, Flea etc) and they will recruit 1 or 2 from outside.

Formalities for scholarship : Aaron Bott (GK), Kyle McAdam (LCB/LCM), Jack Nadin (ATT), Esapa Osong (FWD)
Most likely : Ben Hammond (CB), Josh Powell (LCM)
Decisions to be made : Tye Simpson (RB), Barney Bullock (RB), Justin Hanks (CB), Jack Thompson (CB), Darryl Powell (CB), Charlie Carter (CM), Fenn Davies (CM), Joe Gardner (AMF), Tayo Tucker (ATT), Dannen Flea (ATT), Keane Darby (CF)

Considering Leicester's new facilities are moving closer & them always being a bit behind us in ethos of the academy even if their output is decent I wonder how things will change. Post Burke we now have Fin Back, Sam Collins, Kyle McAdam, Esapa Osong & even Tucker/Flea if they get scholarships all from Leics. Do they get more aggressive in Nottm and look to protect Northern Leicestershire more. Their facilities will be a pull.

Under 15s

Recently beat Derby 4-3. This group has got better and better. They've never had the depth of options the u16s have had but have some pretty exciting individual talents. Have a controlling midfield with Ingham/Anisjko & then you have athletes/ball carriers in Gbopo/Morgan & quick feet/size/goals in Li.
Certain for scholarships : Tony Gbopo (RB/CB), Elijah Morgan (LB), Ritchie Ingham (CM), Danny Anisjko (AMF), Alex Li (FWD)
There might even be others to come.

Other recent results v Derby who I think is a good measure because since they have become Cat 1 it has taken them to the next level and we just haven't been on equal footing with them but are more than competing still due the qualities within our academy staff.

Under 14s : 2-2 (Think this group has more work to do. Has 3/4 good players but when it gets to Cat 1 academies you need to produce 6-8 good footballers every age group & add 1 or 2 ideally.
Under 13s : 6-2 (This group is really exciting and about 95% of them are from Nottm/Notts)

So the pipeline is there. The work and investment just needs to get done and hopefully if we do face some initial teething issues if we get Cat 1 the benefits down the line will be massive for us in the long-term for the club as a whole.

[PsychoStanleyStone]

yes, well i do, well i did post on other forum's until getting banned, but yes that sort of stuff above is the sort of thing i want to try and take credit for, comprehensive and informative, anyway, where was I, oh yes ... walking across trent bridge towards the City ground ...

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Reds73, how is Larsson getting on?

I remembe when he signed that he was tipped for great things.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Thanks for posting TPL that is an excellent informed overview. Even if we are playing catchup with Leicester it is brilliant to see the improved focus and expenditure on the academy. In the right hands it well serve us well for many years to come.