Newcastle United Fan View: The kids are alright

Kevin Keegan transformed Newcastle United in the 1990s into one of the best clubs in England; whilst never winning anything, we got close and had a great time along the way. To this day it was the greatest Newcastle United team I have ever witnessed.

Teams under the late Sir Bobby Robson have come close but nothing matched Keegan’s attacking side. Flying wingers, exciting forwards and a dodgy defence. Magic!

However, Keegan later went on record to say it was his ‘biggest mistake’ when he scrapped the reserve team at Newcastle United. Some say this one decision set the club back years, but I don’t agree.

Back in the 90s, reserve team football was where you put anyone who wasn’t getting a game for the first team; the aim was to get some match practice so they could play for the first team but in truth, players went to reserve team football to rot. They played in the wind, sleet and rain, at night, in front of a mainly empty stadium.

No-one cared about the result, nor the performance. In those days, there was no age limit to who played in that league, players were referred to as “stiffs” and not many fans followed the reserve teams’ fortunes. The reports from their games were normally shoehorned in to a small corner of the matchday programme.

They were often managed by a washed up ex-pro who couldn’t quite cut it as a first team manager and they normally played on the first team’s pitch on a wet Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 150. I can see why Keegan had a fairly negative view on the whole setup but I don’t think that scrapping this level of football set us back.

Lack of investment and development in the youth setup over the years has put us behind the leading pack in England, not Keegan getting rid of the stiffs.

A few years ago there was an overhaul of the old reserve league in England. Academy categories were brought in and an age limit was set, although over 21s can still play, the amount that can feature in the squad is limited.

It was introduced following a trial in the Scottish leagues to only allow players under the age of 21 to play; the aim was to give younger players more competitive football and to encourage teams to invest in youth. Categories are given to teams who satisfy a range of issues; namely finance but I’ll not bore you with the ins and outs of that!

The overhaul seems to have worked, games are a lot more competitive and there has definitely been a surge in teams investing in youth players from both home and abroad but I would argue that the U21/reserve league has still a long way to go. Clubs may be investing in youth but rather than filling the under 21 league with the worlds greatest young talent, teams are choosing to send their talent on loan to clubs in lower leagues.

For me, this needs looking at – there needs to be a limit set on how many players clubs can loan out at any one time; in the same way as there is a limit to how many players a club can loan in. There was an article written in the Guardian at the start of the season saying Chelsea had 38 players out on loan. That is utterly crazy but Chelsea are not the only ones guilty of this. Newcastle United have the likes of Sean Longstaff, Callum Roberts, Freddie Woodman, Alex Gillead and Ivan Toney, all players who are eligible to play in the under 21 league but instead, they are out on loan to lower league sides.

For the 25-odd years that I have followed Newcastle United, I have always kept my eye on the reserve/youth setup at the club; I wouldn’t go as far as saying I am an avid fan, I have attended a couple of games when I’ve had the chance but I have got a bit of knowledge on the players at this level.

The idea of a youngster coming through the ranks and ending up in the first team fascinates me and I greatly admire the likes of Southampton, Middlesbrough and Manchester United who are famed for giving youth a chance.

What do they do differently though? Why have they had so much success? From a purely financial point of view (which would of course please our owner) it is very much worth investing in a good youth setup. The idea is to attract the best kids to your academy, train them well, educate them, take care of them and with a bit of luck, you end up with a Gareth Bale.

While bringing a player up through the ranks is not free; there are contracts, wages, education, insurance and travel to consider but if you then get £30m+ for that one player it is a no-brainer. That might sound a crude way of putting it – money – but how many players in world football have come through the ranks and remained at that one club for life?

Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes but there can’t be many others? The academy can be a real money spinner if done right.

Newcastle United on the other hand have not had the best success at this level. Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle are the exceptions obviously; players who have come through the ranks, played for the first team and had highly successful careers elsewhere but you could argue that these are the only real success stories over the last 4 decades.

What does success mean though? Is it a player who is so good he ends up making the club a fortune with a big money move away? Or is it someone who brings the club success on the field in the form of trophies? I’d say it could be either but ideally a bit of both.

I am sure we can all name a few players who have come through the ranks and have featured for the first team but whether you can class them as successes is another story. Steven Taylor and Shola Ameobi are the obvious ones that spring to mind but could you name 20 others? Go on, give it a go, starting from 2000 up until 2015?

Players who have come through the Newcastle United ranks, played for the first team and have remained at a decent level in professional football? I think you’ll struggle. Fraser Forster – there’s one for a start but unfortunately for him we had Shay Given and Steve Harper ahead of him. As much as I would liked to have kept him, a move away from the club was probably the best for all parties.

Over the years we have always had youth players who have showed promise but they have never quite made the grade. We seem to have “the new Alan Shearer” in the academy each year; anyone remember Bjarni Gudjonssen? Paul Brayson? Adam Campbell? And now Adam Armstrong?

What is disappointing is looking at the players who have slipped through the net; Alan Shearer being the standout one obviously but I know of other players, past and present, who have been local lads and we haven’t managed to get them in. I’m by no means an expert in the field but the contact I have with parents these days have been fairly negative towards Newcastle United.

They often say they would pick Sunderland or Middlesbrough academies over Newcastle when they have been given the opportunity to choose; despite their allegiance to Newcastle United. Quite simply, our academy has not been good enough.

The last couple of seasons, and in particular this one, has seen a bit of a shift though and we have seen a few youth players breaking through; Dummett being the obvious one but we also have seen the likes of Sterry and Barlasar playing in the first team as well as some other younger players who have been bought in; Findlay from Celtic and El Mhanni, from, err, YouTube(!). We have also seen players leave the club on loan deals, playing in the Championship and League One and actually being successful; Adam Armstrong at Coventry and Barnsley and Sammy Ameobi at Bolton.

It seems we now have kids who are capable of playing at a decent level with Armstrong in particular looking like he could have a very, very bright future, hopefully with Newcastle United – avoiding a similar scenario to the one which saw Fraser Forster leave the club for a relatively small fee. The signs are there, things are improving but we are years behind the likes of Southampton, Chelsea and Manchester City in terms of their youth setups, recruitment, infrastructure and financial dominance.

Rafa has certainly given youth a chance this season, more so than other managers and that can only be a good thing. The results at youth level have also improved and we are competing with the very best youth teams in the country. New coaches have been brought in (although the likes of Peter Beardsley and Dave Watson remain in place) and there has been investment in youth; something sadly lacking over the years. We have brought in two young Spanish players this season which have gone pretty much under the radar and whilst there has been criticism over the club’s lack of investment at senior level, I am very much encouraged by what is going on behind the scenes with the kids at the club. The future does seem bright.