Ballso Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Thats all well and good but whos scouting the local area? The amount of local talent we lose to even teams like Aberdeen & Hibs is shocking Would imagine the new guy being talked about will be scouting for the first team while we have someone within the academy structure who identifies for Scott Leitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 I think it would be down to their reputation for giving kids a chance. However, by their own admission, if they're not in the team by the age of 17 or 18, they're not going to make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 I think it would be down to their reputation for giving kids a chance. However, by their own admission, if they're not in the team by the age of 17 or 18, they're not going to make it. Just listened to the excellent PODcast and yes thats the message thats coming through. Its surprisingly ruthless: in effect "If you're not good enough at 16/17 then on your bike we're not wasting money on you." I can't see that attitude impressing many parents, so there must be more to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Accies have long had a great reputation for the way the treat the youngsters. Seem to go to great lengths to make them happy and give them real chances of progressing through the ranks. Read this piece in the Herald last year which talks about it in more detail; The club has just risen from having around 600 season-ticket holders to a giddy 1000. Apart from three or four seasoned campaigners, such as Martin Canning and Dougie Imrie, Neil basically works with a troupe of home-produced youngsters who, from 15 years of age or lower, have been taught and honed specifically to become Hamilton first-team players. This club might well be unique, in that its manager is under no pressure in terms of the club falling down the pecking-order of Scottish football. Alex Neil, as it happens, appears to be a very good coach, but he operates in a cynicism-free environment. "Continuity is everything for us," says MacDonald. "We want to give Scottish kids a chance. We have a modest budget, but the one thing we don't skimp on at Accies is scouting and coaching and facilities. We try to give these talented kids everything they need, the best they can get. "If they're good, and they want to sign for us, then they'll receive a very modest salary to start off. If they don't want it and want to go elsewhere, that's fine by us. It's no skin off our nose. We just carry on. "I had Alex Neil marked down as a manager five years ago. We put him in charge of the under-17s, with a view to him down the line becoming our manager once Billy Reid tired of it all. "We say to Alex, 'look, we want you to play kids, to give them a chance in the team. And if it doesn't work out, it's not your fault, it's ours.' That's the way we go. People say, 'you can't play kids.' Well, we do, and if we end up at the bottom of division three for doing so, so be it. Our philosophy is, we want to rear and play our own." The Hamilton first-team squad, which is currently putting many other Scottish clubs to shame and will face Celtic in Glasgow tomorrow, is packed with home-grown talent. Still just 19, defender Stephen Hendrie has played almost 100 matches for the club. This season alone Michael Devlin (21), Ziggy Gordon (21), Eamonn Brophy (18), Greg Docherty (18), Darren Lyon (19) and others have emerged amid the usual harvest of bright young Hamilton hopefuls. Neil says it is all part of a club ethos which is absolutely ingrained in the club. "This current Accies team has been years in the making," he says. "I was under-17s coach under Billy Reid, so actually I've been working with some of these lads for three or four years now. A team won't just happen overnight. With good, talented young kids, you still need to be patient. You are basically teaching them the game. "Compared to this time last year, this team has made considerable progress. What I do is, I get a spine of experience in the side. So, within my budget, I've got guys like our goalie, Michael McGovern, Martin Canning, Darian McKinnon, Jon Routledge and others. These are guys who know the game, who have been around. Then I graft our kids on to them. "Obviously it would be easier to just have 11 experienced pros - they would all know their job. But the most enjoyable part of my job is bringing kids along and basically teaching them the game of football. I've brought a bunch of guys through from under-17 level to our first team - Brophy, Ali Crawford, Grant Gillespie, Micky Devlin - and that aspect is hugely satisfying. It's the way it is at Hamilton." Neil came to the club nine years ago as a player and at first thought he had made a career mistake, having been at Barnsley and Mansfield Town, in coming to such a small club. But, gradually, he fell in love with the place, and is now steeped in what Hamilton are all about. "I have 36 full-time - or nearly full-time - players who I work with," he says. "That includes the first team, our under-20 development squad and our under-17s. "But at Accies we go right down through under-15s, under-14s, under-13s right down to under-10s. In fact, if we were allowed, we'd have under-5s and under-6s but you're not allowed to sign players that young in this country. We actually have six year olds and seven year olds in our community programme, which is allowed. It's the only way to go." When he is not coaching, teaching and encouraging his players, Neil spends half his week examining his next opponents, plotting a way for his young side to bring them down. Hamilton have a full-time games-analyst and player-recruitment figure in Joe Savage, who was brought back from Celtic to fill an essential role in the club's success. "Joe's role here is vital," says Neil. "Between us we study our opponents in depth, for their strengths and weaknesses. Every Friday morning, for example, Joe and I will go through our next opponents' game with our players. It is a very thorough job we try to do." Last week, continuing their unbeaten run in the Premiership, Hamilton went to neighbours Motherwell and registered their biggest away win over their Lanarkshire rivals in almost 100 years with their 4-0 thumping. "In the games themselves, if circumstances allow, I'll try to continually bring on our young players," says Neil. "For example, in that Motherwell match I deliberately brought on Darren Lyon and Greg Docherty just to give them more experience. That is an important part of my job here." MacDonald insists Hamilton will continue to be a community club, aiming to be a nursery for gifted young Scottish footballers. Nor is the club there for mere charity. Hamilton have taken in nearly £6m from selling the likes of James McCarthy, James McArthur and Brian Easton in recent years. The club, quite rightly, stands tall as one of the best football nurseries in Britain. "It's about hard work and dedication to the club," says MacDonald. "We also try to have a laugh while we're at it. We don't have a big support, for obvious reasons, but we want our fans to have a laugh and make a noise. We're basically just a happy wee bunch bumping along." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dossertillidie Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Just listened to the excellent PODcast and yes thats the message thats coming through. Its surprisingly ruthless: in effect "If you're not good enough at 16/17 then on your bike we're not wasting money on you." I can't see that attitude impressing many parents, so there must be more to it. Not the only ruthless things iv heard about the way they tie players down to longer contracts as they grow within the first team allegedly of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ped_MFC Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Says a lot that they released a 17 year old early in the week, Celtic and West Ham are among those trying to sign him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Apologies if this post is going a wee bit off track. I've just had a look at Accies' website to find out more about their youth academy. The academy is well staffed with a sports scientist and seems to be very efficiently run in business terms. One thing is for sure it won't come cheap. They even have a documented exit policy, which although well set out doesn't actually say very much and sounds sinister. Teams all play in the same system 4-3-3, albeit with variations. They also specify which qualities they look for in each position eg Goalie "Tall at least 6' " I'd sum it up by saying its ruthlessly efficient. By comparison we know little about ours. I'd like to compare the relative budgets. We certainly need to overhaul our set up - probably already underway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullane Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Some interesting reading on Accies youth development. They did have the luxury of substantial financial investment through the sale of McCarthy and McArthur. This has subsequently been bolstered by seven figure transfers recently. However, Accies appear to have also recruited development staff who know what they are doing and have a clear strategy. Motherwell are unlikely to have the funds to invest in a comparable programme at present but with Mr Hutchison's talk of developing a community club, perhaps we will see some changes to the youth structure. I agree with what has been posted already - we are competing with other Scottish clubs for the best of Scottish youth. We have to make Motherwell an attractive proposition too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Apologies if this post is going a wee bit off track. I've just had a look at Accies' website to find out more about their youth academy. The academy is well staffed with a sports scientist and seems to be very efficiently run in business terms. One thing is for sure it won't come cheap. They even have a documented exit policy, which although well set out doesn't actually say very much and sounds sinister. Teams all play in the same system 4-3-3, albeit with variations. They also specify which qualities they look for in each position eg Goalie "Tall at least 6' " I'd sum it up by saying its ruthlessly efficient. By comparison we know little about ours. I'd like to compare the relative budgets. We certainly need to overhaul our set up - probably already underway. I think some will be surprised about current changes and future plans Change definitely being embraced with an introduction of sports science amongst many other positive steps. That positive, I may take a liking to Ian Baraclough at last (just don't tell that moderator fella David - temerity to have a difference of opinion gets lost there). With regards budgets - I'd like to see similar comparison & what is projected by us in future. I'm sure Dundee United invest in excess of £1 million per annum to their development system. Whilst Hamilton have had relative success in recent seasons, the foundations on how they've funded the operation is questionable to say the least (outwith the received fees) & you have to think, what goes up must come down one day... I know of parents who have kids in their programme with various points of view, not much negativity mind, but, they range from fulsome praise to allegations that would expose & embarass some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StAndrew7 Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Just as an example, a work colleague's son was released from his contract at Celtic and was signed by Accies last season. He left after 3 months, moving on to Partick Thistle's system because of a considerable difference of opinion with "How things are done" at Accies, I believe. Ruthless is certainly a word I'd use based on what I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullane Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 On a different subject - I notice there have been no loan signings out of the club since we signed 7 players in January. Does this mean nobody wants Nielson, ZFA, Cummins, Cadden, Ferguson, Carswell or Ainsworth? Given the players who have come in, I can't see any of this 7 featuring in the first team now. Lawson and Vigurs are injured so are with us till end of season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishyWell Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 1423731811[/url]' post='432224']Apologies if this post is going a wee bit off track. I've just had a look at Accies' website to find out more about their youth academy. The academy is well staffed with a sports scientist and seems to be very efficiently run in business terms. One thing is for sure it won't come cheap. They even have a documented exit policy, which although well set out doesn't actually say very much and sounds sinister. Teams all play in the same system 4-3-3, albeit with variations. They also specify which qualities they look for in each position eg Goalie "Tall at least 6' " I'd sum it up by saying its ruthlessly efficient. By comparison we know little about ours. I'd like to compare the relative budgets. We certainly need to overhaul our set up - probably already underway. What Hamilton do have is relentless PR for their youth system. I don't know if it's the same across all the age groups, but from seeing my boy's squad play them over the years they seem to fill their teams with giants, and then gain a reputation for winning games. I once saw them win a game against us at under-12s where the score was 7-1 and six of their goals came from corners where the ball and five of their boys, all of whom were a head taller than our centre halves, arrived at the near post at the same time. It was formula football that didn't develop boys as players but gained them wins, and let them use that to say how well their youth teams were doing. They also live off McCarthy, McArthur and Easton, mentioning them at every opportunity, which is a bit like us saying that because McFadden and McAllister came from our youth system, then our Academy has been wonderful ever since. But you can't fault their PR. Our Academy has a lot of talent in it and Scott Leitch, I really believe, has it running on the right lines - it's just that we don't shout about it but just get on with trying to develop good players, rather than big boys. And we now have a manager who is looking to pick a team based on talent and ability, regardless of age. I think these things take time, but I don't think the situation with our youth set-up is as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 On a different subject - I notice there have been no loan signings out of the club since we signed 7 players in January. Does this mean nobody wants Nielson, ZFA, Cummins, Cadden, Ferguson, Carswell or Ainsworth? Given the players who have come in, I can't see any of this 7 featuring in the first team now. Lawson and Vigurs are injured so are with us till end of season. Baraclough intimated that Nielsen might be on his way but nothing was certain, I'm guessing maybe a Scandanavian club was sniffing around and he would agree to a release if he could sign for another club. ZFA is injured. Cummins is mince and has been appalling on his two previous loans and no one in their right mind will want him, Carswell and Ainsworth are probably still required as part of our first team squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi-1991 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Any word on the striker we were ment to be bringing in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Any word on the striker we were ment to be bringing in? He signed for Dunfermline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postiejim Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 He signed for Dunfermline. Andrew Barrowman ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Naw- Paul George. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 http://www.dafc.co.uk/story.php?t=Paul_George_signs_for_Dunfermline&ID=8305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postiejim Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 http://www.dafc.co.uk/story.php?t=Paul_George_signs_for_Dunfermline&ID=8305 Think he was on trial with us ,if he failed to impress he must be bad ,then again..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orinoco Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Maybe wee scotty mcdonald fancies playing for us again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 A small insight into how the Grant loan came about: http://www.motherwell.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=388947 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizwag Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 York fan here. We signed Straker as a winger. Thats where he had played for Southend for the last couple of seasons. Southend fans were not unhappy to lose him to be honest. Im being totally honest when I say he has looked pretty awful for us. He's strong and has pace, but on the downside his final ball is poor, most of his crosses are poor and his first touch can be awful. The only glint of hope I can give you is that he looked a little better when we tried him at left-back. He was orignally a LB so this may be where his future lies. Ive got to say we were all a little gobsmacked when you took him. Best of luck with him. Just thought id pop back and see if my description has turned out to be accurate. How's he getting on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 He has had three MOTM awards and we have made him captain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn_Broomfield Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Just thought id pop back and see if my description has turned out to be accurate. How's he getting on? Worst ever player seems to be getting thrown around with regularity. A truly dreadful signing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizwag Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Worst ever player seems to be getting thrown around with regularity. A truly dreadful signing. Im hoping we have a non-return clause in the loan, so youve got him til the end of the season. Based on saturdays performance we've got another eleven of similar quality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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