The Academy/Development squads watch thread 2024/25

[Ian Royal]

Jack Stacey set to be recalled from Carlisle for the final fixture

Good stuff. Hopefully not to just sit on the bench...

With Gunter and McCleary fit, and Obita still out(?) I'm guessing he'll slot in at right back to push McCleary forward, with Gunter staying on the left. Hopefully a sign of using some width and ditching the diamond.

[genome]

I think he'll persist with McCleary at right back and see how he does on the wing (hopefully)

[shaka's shorts]

Tennai Watson signs new 2 year deal.
Lewis Ward also signs a new deal and loaned to an Icelandic club for the summer.
Both on O/S
Good news

[Vision]

New deals "offered" to the following players.

Defenders Rob Dickie and Dominic Hyam have spent much of this season out on loan, gaining valuable experience with Cheltenham Town and Dagenham & Redbridge respectively – and both have been offered new deals at Madejski Stadium.

20-year-old Hyam only made his professional debut in February but now has 16 starts under his belt – keeping a clean sheet for Dagenham in their final home game of the season against Crawley last month.

Dickie, meanwhile, has played an integral part in helping the Robins regain Football League status, making 26(+1) appearances for the National League title-winners and scoring three goals in the process, as well as bagging a hat-trick in an FA Trophy win over Chelmsford earlier this year! He was also part of Brian McDermott’s first team squad that travelled to Ewood Park last weekend, coming on at half-time to make his Royals first team debut.

Republic of Ireland Under-21 internationals Shane Griffin and Sean Long have each been offered new contracts – the duo made 29 starts between them for our Under-21s this season, with Long also enjoying short loan spells at both Luton and Braintree in 2015-16.

20-year-old midfielder Aaron Kuhl spent some time on loan north of the border this season, playing in the Scottish Premier League for Dundee United before returning to Reading at the end of the year – he has also been offered a new deal at Madejski Stadium.

Liam Kelly has found the net on a number of occasions during a loan spell with Bath City and the creative midfielder has been offered a contract, while goalkeeper Lewis Ward accepted a new deal at the club last week before heading out to Iceland to begin a loan spell at Hermann Hreidarsson’s Fylkir FC in the Icelandic top flight.

Under-21 players Zak Jules goalkeeper George Legg have also been offered new deals, while a clause in the contract of Andrija Novakovich was taken up earlier this season, ensuring the Wisconsin-born striker will be at Reading next season.

And a number of our Under-18s have also been offered professional deals at the club; defender Omar Richards, midfielders Harrison Bennett and Ryan East, top scorer Sam Smith and keeper Luke Southwood all featured in an FA Youth Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge this season and, alongside fellow second year scholars Billy Collings and Joe Tupper, have been offered new contracts at Reading.
Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... qqEqd9D.99

and

And a number of young professionals will be also leaving the club this summer - Pierce Sweeney, Noor Husin, Hammad Lawal, Nana Owusu, Lewis Collins, Sammi Fridjonsson, Conor Shaughnessy and Bogdan Vastsuk will all now continue their careers elsewhere

.

[Rollerbob]

All good news - just need them all to accept these terms.

[Maneki Neko]

with the likely increased emphasis on youth, and our clear path through to the first team, will mean theyd be mad not to
imo

[SCIAG]

Didn't think Kelly was out of contract. Maybe some of them are extensions.

Slightly surprised to see Long and Griffin being given new deals, particularly given they'll be overage for the U21s next season. Griffin's only a year younger than Jordan Obita who has been playing in the first team for three years. Long's just not that good imo, would much rather see Watson or Akinwumni.

On the flip side, I think Husin's a little unlucky to be released. We've shown more faith in less talented players. Still, he wasn't exactly banging on the door.

[George_]

Happy about Kuhl getting a new contract, just needs to get an opportunity next season (pretty sure he and most of the academy players will)

if we were experimenting & playing 3 in the middle I wouldn't mind seeing:

Tshibola
Kuhl Quinn

[Hoop Blah]

Slightly surprised to see Long and Griffin being given new deals, particularly given they'll be overage for the U21s next season.

I was surprised to read that too. Neither have looked bad players but by the token I've never thought they've looked good enough at U18 or U21 level to think they're likely to make the first team squad. Perhaps it's just a cheap way of making sure that we have some kind of specialist cover around for Obita and Gunter (if he stays) next season.

Happy to see that Kuhl has been offered something too. Fingers crossed it's not just a token gesture to protect our compensation and he feels wanted enough to stay and kick on next season.

[Royal Ginger]

With Fridjohnsson gone does that mean we'll have NO Icelandic players at the club? What is it they say about Ravens and the tower of London?...

[SCIAG]

With Fridjohnsson gone does that mean we'll have NO Icelandic players at the club?

No, at the very least we will have Axel Andersson.

Dunno about Sindri Scheving.

[Royal Ginger]

Oh good. I'll sleep easy now.

[Ian Royal]

New deals "offered" to the following players.

Defenders Rob Dickie and Dominic Hyam have spent much of this season out on loan, gaining valuable experience with Cheltenham Town and Dagenham & Redbridge respectively – and both have been offered new deals at Madejski Stadium.

20-year-old Hyam only made his professional debut in February but now has 16 starts under his belt – keeping a clean sheet for Dagenham in their final home game of the season against Crawley last month.

Dickie, meanwhile, has played an integral part in helping the Robins regain Football League status, making 26(+1) appearances for the National League title-winners and scoring three goals in the process, as well as bagging a hat-trick in an FA Trophy win over Chelmsford earlier this year! He was also part of Brian McDermott’s first team squad that travelled to Ewood Park last weekend, coming on at half-time to make his Royals first team debut.

Republic of Ireland Under-21 internationals Shane Griffin and Sean Long have each been offered new contracts – the duo made 29 starts between them for our Under-21s this season, with Long also enjoying short loan spells at both Luton and Braintree in 2015-16.

20-year-old midfielder Aaron Kuhl spent some time on loan north of the border this season, playing in the Scottish Premier League for Dundee United before returning to Reading at the end of the year – he has also been offered a new deal at Madejski Stadium.

Liam Kelly has found the net on a number of occasions during a loan spell with Bath City and the creative midfielder has been offered a contract, while goalkeeper Lewis Ward accepted a new deal at the club last week before heading out to Iceland to begin a loan spell at Hermann Hreidarsson’s Fylkir FC in the Icelandic top flight.

Under-21 players Zak Jules goalkeeper George Legg have also been offered new deals, while a clause in the contract of Andrija Novakovich was taken up earlier this season, ensuring the Wisconsin-born striker will be at Reading next season.

And a number of our Under-18s have also been offered professional deals at the club; defender Omar Richards, midfielders Harrison Bennett and Ryan East, top scorer Sam Smith and keeper Luke Southwood all featured in an FA Youth Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge this season and, alongside fellow second year scholars Billy Collings and Joe Tupper, have been offered new contracts at Reading.
Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... qqEqd9D.99

and

And a number of young professionals will be also leaving the club this summer - Pierce Sweeney, Noor Husin, Hammad Lawal, Nana Owusu, Lewis Collins, Sammi Fridjonsson, Conor Shaughnessy and Bogdan Vastsuk will all now continue their careers elsewhere

.

Surprised Griffin and Long are staying and that Husin and Owusu are going, otherwise seems all fairly standard and expectable.

[royalp-we]

Looks like the fridge is leaving for valarenga.

[Royal Ginger]

That's a phrase you're unlikely ever going to need for a different situation.

[Ian Royal]

Good luck to Sammy, I can't say he ever looked likely to make it here to me, but he's certainly not a washout by any stretch. Could certainly have a decent career ahead of him.

[Sutekh]

This move raises several important questions :

What is the market size of refrigeration appliances in Norway?
What are the major brands in Norway?
What is the preferred refrigeration capacity size?
What are the growth prospects for fridge freezers over the medium term?

[WoodleyRoyal]

Club retains cat 1 status great news.

Academy complete successful audit process to secure top rating

Reading Football Club are exceptionally proud to announce that our Academy has retained the Category 1 status – a rating we were initially awarded three years ago as part of the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) structure.

Our Academy remains at the forefront of youth development.

The audit process – a root and branch analysis of our facilities, the standard of our coaching, our education methods, our Academy’s achievements and the club’s ambitions for our youth programme in the future – was conducted towards the end of last season and an immense number of employees at every level of the business played vital roles in ensuring we met the criteria to be granted Category 1 status once more.

Many congratulations and sincere thanks must go to all of those who helped to ensure Category 1 status has been retained. Such a comprehensive evaluation of our ability to deliver an Academy of this calibre demands a lot of time and a huge amount of work from a vast number of people working tirelessly behind the scenes at Reading Football Club and their devotion and diligence during the process, not to mention their exceptional standard of work to meet such high expectations as a Category 1 club over the last three years, has been duly rewarded with this announcement.

The shareholders join with our fans in recognising the importance of our Academy and the foundations it lays for the long-term future of the football club. This elite categorisation gives us the best chance of maintaining and building upon the fantastic successes that have stemmed from within our youth setup.

Very few clubs were awarded Category 1 status back in July 2013, especially outside of those with first teams competing in the Premier League – for example, last season our Under-21s were one of only two Championship teams playing competitive football in the top tier of the Barclays U21 Premier League; Middlesbrough joining the Royals in a division with fellow competitors such as Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.

And similarly our Under-18s were one of only three teams in the Southern section of the Barclays U18 Premier League, finishing second in a division which saw us compete on a level playing field with Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Southampton amongst others.

image: http://www.readingfc.co.uk/cms_images/a ... 146512.jpg
Academy 612

Category 1 retention ensures we will continue to play competitive fixtures against the elite in this country. Category 1 ranking also means we retain the ability to attract the very best young players and offer those stars of the future the very best coaching and education throughout their development.

The European Championships are currently ongoing… a competition which includes Iceland’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, Republic of Ireland’s Shane Long and Welsh duo Hal Robson-Kanu and Simon Church. And of course Michael Hector has been playing a part in the Copa America Centenario out in the USA for the Jamaican national team this summer – all players we proudly call products of our Academy.

Our supporters should not underestimate the magnitude of this achievement. Reading Football Club’s Academy continues to be a beacon for other clubs with aspirations to recruit from within and produce talented footballers capable of making an impact on the first team and building successful careers on the domestic, European and international stage.

“This is a magnificent achievement, both rightful reward and true recognition of the time, money and sheer hard work we, as a club, invest in our Academy set up,” said Chief Executive Nigel Howe.

“Category 1 status reaffirms the fact that our youth programme has solid foundations, big ambitions and continues to be the envy of others across the country. Well done to all who have supported such high standards within our youth set up over a number of years and who will continue to run a Category 1 Academy programme which is held in the highest esteem.”

Acting Academy Manager Lee Herron said: “Retaining Category 1 status is a magnificent achievement for Reading Football Club, and it becomes an opportunity for us to continue the great work that has been done over a long period of time.

“The commitment and desire from the staff here is phenomenal, and I’m very humbled to work with them. This achievement is a huge credit to everyone involved, and a testament to the wonderful leadership of Eamonn Dolan over a number of years.”

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... itTEmpC.99

[TFF]

Shane Long an academy product?

LOL

[Sutekh]

So I presume that that means the rumours, of work having stopped there and investment apparently being in danger, are complete cobblers.

Oh and Shane Long did play with the Academy when he joined the club initially.