As someone who has watched a lot of academy over the years, due to where I live, this isn't a big shock.
Remember the likes of Louis and Tony got through despite the system not because of it. Then Brian and Phil Jones got to work and laid good foundations. Then Tony Rea returned. I never saw him at Aldershot, the money ran out and Phil Jones jumped. The new guys all but had to start from scratch with fewer resources - both financial and playing wise. Rob Powell is good with youth but he's not able to pull money or players out of fresh air. (Know less about Danny Ward but suspect he's sound too from what I have seen.)
It's also worth taking note of how many of the London lads are League One or below now. Even the best of times turned out to be a little less fruitful than we hoped. The loss of several good players to union, Harry Lightfoot-Brown in particular, should be remembered as that hit the academy set up.
The loss of Phil Jones was always going to be massive. As already stated things may well improve due to the centralisation at Ealing. Personally I think the lack of development staff getting people up to a level where they are ready for the academy is probably the bigger issue immediately. Doesn't matter if you have the worlds best academy if those it picks up are well behind the curve.
One thing I do hope is the first team and youth are more aligned at Ealing, as is promised. Craig Gower often popped down to Aldershot, Luke Dorn occasionally, Dan Sarginson would pop along to catch up with old friends and that was usually about it. That's a lot of knowledge not being imparted to the youngsters. You can't expect the first team to watch every game but the odd one shouldn't be too big an ask.
I also hope that the next generation of youngsters are watched by the 1st team head coach more often than by the 1st team's captain's dog. Lovely though Craig's dog was the presence of Tony Rea occasionally would have been more valuable to the academy. It reached its nadir a couple of years ago v Leeds U19's when Brian McDermott came down to watch - on a weekend the Leeds first team were not playing Broncos. Tony didn't show.
Looks like a great topic for discussion at the LBSA Forum on Thursday. It's one of the areas we as supporters can make a real difference in, and with the Club starting to signal their willingness to work with us all Thursday will be a great place to start the dialogue. See you there - Ealing Trailfinders 7pm
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