a question of youth

By Bill Howell on Feb 15, 08 05:25 PM

VILLA's progression once again into the last four of the FA Youth Cup reminds me of one of the almightiest dressings down I have had from any manager in my eight years covering Villa.
The manager? David O'Leary. The reason? I wrote a full-page feature in the Mail waxing lyrical about Villa's magnificent youth policy down the years.
You know the names: from the likes of Shaw, Deehan and Little, through to Walters, Gidman, Daley... through to Barry, Vassell, Samuel and on to Hitzlsperger, Ridgewell, Whittingham, Luke Moore, Davis, Cahill, Gardner and Agbonlahor.

I'd also looked at the amount of players still playing in the league, at that time, who had cut their teeth at Villa Park. There were dozens: Boaz Myhill (Hull City), Wayne Henderson (Brighton), Jamie Ward (Torquay), Steven Foley and Stephen Cooke (Bournemouth), Stefan Moore (on loan at Port Vale), Michael Husbands (Port Vale), James O'Connor (Doncaster), Michael Blackwood (Wrexham), Sam Williams (loan at Brighton), Alan Brazil (Arbroath), Ryan Amoo (Lincoln), Danny Jackman and Darren Byfield (Gillingham), Alan Lee (Ipswich), Aaron Lescott and Richard Walker (Bristol Rovers), Robert Edwards (Wolves) and Michael Standing (on trial at Colchester).
The point the former manager made, and forcefully too, was that Villa had produced the likes of Cahill, Ridgewell and Davis were no where near the quality of his golden generation at Leeds (Woodgate, Kewell, Smith, Robinson, Milner), and for that matter Nottingham Forest's (he picked out Dawson and Jenas to illustrate the point).
"Those are quality players", he barked. "Not your Cahill's and Davis'!"
I was left in no uncertain terms that such articles were of no benefit to him or the club.
In a small sense he was right. It is wrong to make superstars of these kids when they have yet to achieve anything.
But surely he could see that the Academy deserved some credit. What is it? Two Youth Cup Finals in seven years and on current form surekly Port Vale or Chelsea have little hope against them (touch wood here).
Funnily enough, I cannot see Martin O'Neill taking such an anti-media stance with regards to the kids.
This is the O'Neill, after all, who flew back from Spain to Carlisle just to catch the last eight game at Brunton Park.
Hopes are high indeed that Nathan Delfounso will be a senior player by the time the season is out.
That conveyor belt keeps delivering.