The Academy/Development squads watch thread 2015//16

[Maneki Neko]

Read the report on the Brentford website, once again our lot didn't bother

The Royals, who have beaten Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea in the PDL Division One this season, were looking to play out from the back but The Bees pressing meant they turned over possession time and time again in dangerous areas.

Looking at that team Conor Davis is a fairly new name I think? 18 year old striker from Ireland apparently, not sure if he's been at the Academy for long

On another note, I was in an Academy dressing room the other day and they had the 'Reading Philosophy' up on all the walls



Ready 4 Reading

aiming to play through, around or over the thirds pretty much covers everything

[SCIAG]

Friendly played v Brentford and lost. However there were a couple of trialists by the look of the line up....

Tupper (Collins 46), Vancooten (Andresson 46, trialist, trialist (McIntyre 46), Richards, Kuhl; Rinomhota (Bennett 46), Frost (East 46), Smith (Novakovich 46), Cardwell, Davis.

Interesting to see Kuhl in the line up. Aaron back with us or Martin reliving his youth ?
Suspect the defence would have struggled if it had 2 trialists in it although not quite sure whether we had 2 trialists at centre back for the first half and then a trialists and McIntyre in the second half ?

Vancooten seems to be a right back and Richards is a left back, but Axel is a centre back. Either Vancooten started at centre back with a triallist, or one of the trialists switched to right back at half time when McIntrye and Axel came on. Don't really understand why we're taking on triallist defenders considering the strength we have there already though.

Davis has been playing in the U18s for the last two years. He was described as a striker when we signed him but he mostly plays down the left. Looks like he's been given a chance due to the players on international duty.

[muirinho]

Read the report on the Brentford website, once again our lot didn't bother

It was a friendly, maybe they were being asked to try out different things rather than going for the win? Two trialists are going to disrupt stuff a bit as well

Yeah I wasn't on about the players

Doh! yeah, me being dumb, sorry. I've complained myself to the club about having to follow academy/youth teams on their opposition's twitter account

[Sutekh]

Kuhl can play i believe as, even though he is on loan at BW, the game being just a friendly doesnt impact the terms of the deal. And the club would want Kuhl to play in the game seeing as BW arent giving him much time on the pitch.

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

They do it all the time with a lot of non-league loans, like for example Sam Smith has been playing competitive U23 Premier League matches for us whilst on loan at Bishop's Stortford in the National League South, so it's not just friendlies

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Don't think there could be an argument about Abraham being the best player on the pitch - I thought he was very ordinary. Take away his size advantage and his athleticism and he had very little. His touch was poor and he lacked an eye for goal. I can't see him anywhere near a Chelsea first team (OK, no Chelsea youth players tend to make their first team) and he'll be lucky if he has the career Carlton Cole has had.

Only scrolled back a few pages to find this comment from our Youth Cup defeat to Chelsea earlier this year

11 Championship goals later...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... hford.html

[Nameless]

Yep, he has done well at City.

To be fair to me it seemed a pretty widespread view amongst those at the game that he was a bit of a donkey,

I may be reconsidering my part time scouting role ....

[Sutekh]

Yep, he has done well at City.

To be fair to me it seemed a pretty widespread view amongst those at the game that he was a bit of a donkey,

I may be reconsidering my part time scouting role ....

Wouldn't worry about it. Reading wouldn't let Sam Bartram play in goal when he was on trial here in the 1930s despite him continually asking to play there and Reading thought Peter Osgood was kak as well in the mid 60s.

So there's hope for you yet....

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Shock as Reading are actually live-tweeting the U23 game against top of the table Everton

We're having a bit of an odd season so far where we're beating the bigger teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, City) and struggling against everyone else (Brentford)

Given they're top of the league I'd class Everton as a big team, so unsurprisingly we went 2-0 up after 15 mins, Novakovich with both

That Niasse bloke who cost £14 Million and has been in the press all week just got one back for the visitors

Our team is...
Moore, Vancooten, Richards, McIntyre, Jules, Rinomhota, Frost, Bennett, Novakovich, Cardwell, Barrett
(9 Teenagers)

Bench...
Southwood, Andresson, East, Davis, Smith
(5 18 Year Olds)

[Nameless]

It's a bit odd to say we are having an odd season because we lost a training game against Brentford !

But to be up away at Everton cannot be bad.
It's always hard to know what any results at this level really mean as judging how strong the line up,of different clubs are. We essentially play a second string U23 side but other clubs are probably using players even further down the pecking order. Still as they say, you can only beat what is put in front of you...

[genome]

Ahem...

5-2 down after 55 minutes now.

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Obviously I didn't just mean Brentford, we've lost to Derby and Saints as well, while Spurs are the only other team to beat us this year

Anyway yeah it's now 6-2, here's an interview with tonight's hat-trick hero
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... o-martinez

[Platypuss]

U18s smash Arsenal 5-1 to go joint second in PL Southern league. Not that you'd realise it from the O/S.

[sandman]

Probably under orders from the first team manager to not draw attention to any success coming from the academy.

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Another Academy update not courtesy of the OS, we played Sunderland U23 today, and drew 1-1

Omar Richards put us 1-0 up after 12 minutes, and they equalised just before HT

Team included Yakou Meite and Jake Cooper, whilst Sunderland had three players called Robson in their starting line-up...

Southwood
Sheppard
Bennett
Cooper (Vanvooten 69')
Jules
Rinomhota
Richards
Andresson
Barrett
Novakovich (Cardwell 81')
Meite (Frost 46')

Unused: Tupper, East

[SCIAG]

Lots of good news there.

Three left footed centre backs in the team? Looks like a left back on the left wing? Crazy.

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Looking at that team again, will be interesting to see if Meite getting subbed at HT is with Tuesday in mind, or if 45 minutes is literally all he can manage at the moment

Doesn't look like we'll see any youngsters on the bench at Arsenal given they pretty much all played today, McIntyre is away with Scotland U19s until the end of this month, other than that it's only Griffin and Wieser who could have played but didn't

Presumably Niall Keown is injured as he's completely disappeared, which I vaguely recall him doing a few times last season, think the last game he played was that Swindon friendly

As for the Under 18s, good win against Arsenal (omen). Jordan Holsgrove, a Scotland U17 international, missed a penalty, then scored a penalty, and got one of our other goals

The team didn't include Danny Loader of England U17 fame (3 goals in 5 games for our U18s, despite only being born in 2000) but we did have Cameron Green playing who we signed from Met Police a few weeks back (although the internet suggests he's actually over 18...)

Just glancing over the Under 18 squad, I notice we have 3 Australians, including the delightfully named Kosta Sparta

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

Here's a few quotes on Gabe Rosario, an American goalkeeper who joined us this summer, although this is actually a year old

Gabe Rosario has an exciting year ahead of him. The Carolina Rapids Academy goalkeeper is entering his last season in the Development Academy. For most players, that's a massive step in the path toward a college scholarship or professional contract. For Rosario, it is a swan song.

The teenager already has his next step lined up. He will join Reading in July of 2016, his father Bobby Rosario told TopDrawerSoccer last week. The English Academy offered the youth a two-year scholarship after a training period this past summer.

Rosario’s path to the contract had a lot to do with the road that his father had already paved. Bobby Rosario was born in England, and like many, fell for the game quickly. He was blessed with some attributes that not many had and conveyed that into a lengthy career in the game.

“I played for 18 years with Norwich City, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Carolina Dynamo and the Charleston Battery,” Bobby Rosario told TopDrawerSoccer. “My son’s motivation with soccer has nothing to do with fame, glory or money but simply to outdo his father!”

Gabe’s been carving a name out for himself in his own time. He has been a star of the Carolina Rapids Academy in the Development Academy for the past three seasons. In 2014, he earned a spot on the Development Academy Select game during the December Showcase in Florida.

Prior to the success on the elite club stage, the younger Rosario had a spell with Charlton Athletic.

“Gabe has been on the fast track since he was 13 years old and whilst he was guest playing for a U15 team I took to England, he got the attention of Charlton Athletic when we played them in a friendly game,” Bobby Rosario said. “He spent two weeks with them and then returned to America for school.”

After the initial success, Bobby lined up a couple of opportunities for Gabe during this past summer.

“Our plan this past summer was to spend two weeks with Reading and two weeks with Aston Villa,” Bobby Rosario said. “My colleague Neil Orridge set up our visit to Reading and I connected with my former teammate and Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood. After his first week the Reading academy director met with us and offered a two-year scholarship which we greatly accepted.”

Gabe Rosario will join Reading on July 1st and play with the U18s at the club, according to his father. Reading offers a number of positives that stood out to the family.

“Reading are, I believe, only one of five clubs outside the Premier League that hold a Category 1 status and they are regarded as one of the top academies in the country,” Bobby Rosario said. “The academy goalkeeper coach Shannon Ruth has an amazing reputation of development and promoting players into the professional game and my son could not be in better hands.”

Gabe is leaving after his junior year at Hough High School, but the school has accommodated him and will allow him to graduate following this school year.

His next step is earning his keep in England.

“His goal is to work hard and impress his coaches at Reading so that they offer him a professional contract,” Bobby Rosario said.

Tough competition for our goalkeepers at the minute, even for the U23s and U18s. I think our pecking order looks something like this...

FIRST TEAM:
Ali Al Habsi
Anssi Jaakkola

U23 PROS:
Jonathan Bond (on loan at Gillingham)
Stuart Moore (on first team bench Saturday)
Lewis Ward (on loan at Margate - injured)
George Legg (on loan at Hungerford)
Luke Southwood (England U20s No.1)
Joe Tupper (on loan at Margate, on bench vs Bristol Rovers in EFL Trophy)
Billy Collings (on loan at Hendon, on bench vs Swindon pre-season)

U18 SCHOLARS:
Liam Driscoll (current U18s No.1, Australian)
James Hillson (aged 15, on bench every game for U18s)
Gabriel Rosario (American)

[muirinho]

Finally a report goes up on the website about the U18 clash

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/reading-u18s-back-to-winning-ways-against-arsenal-u18s-3380566.aspx

***********
Reading’s Under-18s secured an emphatic victory on Saturday as visitors Arsenal were on the end of a 5-1 triumph for the Royals at Hogwood Park.

The Gunners went into the game as leaders in the Under-18 Premier League South, and now the Royals sit level on points with Arsenal and Chelsea after nine games.

The Royals missed a chance to go ahead within the first minute as Ben House drew a foul in the box from goalkeeper Joao Virginia, but Jordan Holsgrove missed his kick from the spot. And then, somewhat against the run of play, the visitors went ahead in the opening quarter of an hour through Trae Coyle.

But House levelled up with a curling shot from outside the area soon after, before winning another penalty from former Reading Academy defender Jordi Osei-Tutu which this time Holsgrove converted well. The pair each completed a brace after the break before defender Akinwale Odimayo added a fifth, giving our boys a noteworthy result against their counterparts from North London.

David Dodds, Under-18 manager, said: “What was pleasing was that we started brightly this week, which we didn’t do last week against Chelsea. Ben House won a penalty after 16 seconds after we pressed high up the pitch – he took it round the goalkeeper, who fouled him, and under the new rules it was just a yellow card rather than a sending-off.

“Jordan Holsgrove had been practicing penalties and was sticking 10 out of 10 inside the side netting, but this one he put over the bar. And then when they went ahead after 15 minutes we felt a little bit unlucky because we had started so well.

“But it was pleasing to see how well they reacted to going a goal behind. Ben scored a fabulous curling equaliser from about 25 yards and then he won another penalty… and this time Jordan stuck it inside the side netting.

“We kept our discipline in the second half and scored a few more really good goals, and on another day we might have converted one or two more chances as well. There were some really good performances, both individually and collectively in little units and in little pockets of play.

“Arsenal are one of the benchmark teams and they have put a few goals past teams this year, so it was really pleasing to put in such a good performance. Obviously the lads were buzzing. We aren’t going to get carried away or go over the top, but there were a lot of positive signs.

“Danny Loader is away with England at the moment for their qualifiers and Tom McIntyre and Tyler Frost are involved again in the Under-23s – and with the first-team getting a result on Saturday as well, it’s a good weekend for the club.”

Full-time: Reading U18 5-1 Arsenal U18

Reading U18: Driscoll, Howe, Medford-Smith (Denton 86), Odimayo, Philby, Shokunbi (Nolan 86), Holsgrove, Coleman, Rollinson, Green, House.
Unused subs: Hillson, Wilson, Buchanan.

Arsenal U18: Joao Virginia, Osei-Tutu (Beckford HT), Bola (Omole 68), Medley, Oluwu, Ballard (Olayinka 74), Benson, Burton, Tella, Coyle, Willock.
Unused subs: Barden, Thompson.

[Sutekh]

Liam Kelly is set to be offered a new 2 year deal which will extend his contract to the summer of 2019.