EDS/Academy Games

[Wonderwall]

Pellegrini says that from the team that played yesterday, we will soon have 3 or 4 players who play in the first team.

In that case, the stewards should be given tazers & anybody caught moaning at them on the pitch, immediately shocked into silence. A repeat offence should mean being taken to a cell beneath the stadium, soaked in water, kept in the dark for 10 weeks, fed on only bread and water & given electric shocks, on the hour, every hour .

I spoke to Zabapoopoo's mate, who works at City, & he told me Khaldoon has already drawn up plans for this ready for next season.

Its a good point you make Ted, although we might need to take preventative steps rather then the extreme :-)

I think the players and management need to come out and say how much the younger players (who are brought into the team) need the positive backing from the crowd. Explain they will make mistakes and this is part of their education, everybody needs to make them to learn and get experience. Sometimes those mistakes are small that some fans may not notice and others may be game changing, however, it should always be a positive experience moving forward.

We need some big players to state this and get the "trophy brigade" backing the younger players to the hilt. After that, and only after that, if it does not alter the booboys attitude, I am all for the tazers!

[twosips]

Interesting to hear Pellegrini say that. He definitely wasn't basing those comments on the first half. We were dog shit. Leicester should have been 3/4 nil up. Sloppy in possession, slow and weak. No one did anything of any note.

Second half onwards was much better…. We took off Horsfield at right back (sadly he's really naff, no way he'll be here next season), switched Smith-Brown over to RB, who was poor at LB but then good at RB for the rest of the game, and brought on Angelino. We took off the ineffective Intima and brought on the Nigerian wonderkid. That was enough for us to basically dominate then. Angelino's energy brought loads to our team immediately, and the balance was much better. A natural left back with loads of energy, and then a good right back in Smith-Brown meant the team felt a lot more balanced.

Bringing Kelechi on (though initially on the right before he switched) meant Pozo didn't have to be the more traditional no. 9…this really, really helped his game. Kelechi looks a lot more natural forward whereas Pozo loves facing the goal, that's pretty obvious. It was those two that played a lovely little one two to set Kelechi through on goal. His finish was brilliant. One on one and kinda toe-poke curled it into the far corner. Just sheer natural ability. He later on turned provider for Pozo too, playing a lovely ball through the middle before the little Spaniard slotted it past the keeper from around the edge of the area. The arrival of Garcia for Glendon had further changed the game in our favour too. I was really impressed with Garcia. More so than normal as it was the first time I saw him take control of a game like that at this level and really stamp his mark on it. He already looks so much more assured than he did a few months ago and to think he only turned 17 in January and he was running this game against a big Leicester team. He capped a great little cameo with the winning goal after some really dogged work by Pozo to create the chance and I was just really impressed with his all round game. It was the most 'Silva-like' i've seen him, and the similarities were already really obvious given his style. Strong despite his size, spinning this way and that and playing great through balls. What a talent he is.

Sadly that's about it really - it was only them that played well I thought. Evans isn't a centre-half and he didn't look totally comfortable there and was even sloppy with his distribution. Likewise Plummer, despite him actually being a CB I think he's just not cut out for what City want to be. Gunn flapped a bit every now and then and I was really disappointed with Ntcham, Glendon and Byrne throughout most of the game. Glendon is another that I think is a nice little footballer but he's just far too predictable. Dispossessed easily and his radar was off, but in general he didn't do much more than pass it pointlessly sideways, which contrasted to Garcia's take on the role made his overall game look quite poor. Ntcham was in Joey Barton mode sadly. Headless running and naff first touches and Byrne was more than little reckless too - he should have been sent off at one point for a proper bad tackle but the ref was lenient. Not the first time he's done that this season.

The latter two improved when the others came on but I do get the impression that the likes of Garcia, Boadu and Bryan will overshadow Ntcham, Byrne and Glendon very quickly. The main disappointment was Barker. He looks knackered - he did absolutely nothing of note last night. He actually spent the best part of an hour (the game went to extra time) on the right hand side (with Pozo on the left and drifting about well) and he was totally ineffective there, and barely touched the ball when he was on the left either. Perhaps he's knackered - he certainly looked a little jaded, though he does wear a relatively sullen demeanour anyway. He's had a great season and perhaps he just needs to recharge his batteries.

If Pellers was really basing those opinions on last night's games then I think he was referring to Kelechi, Garcia, Angelino and perhaps Gunn or Barker as they deserve chances anyway. None of the others played anything other than average, though Smith-Brown was very good second half.

Kelechi's a dead cert. Even now. He's fucking excellent. There was one moment where he pulled the ball down, flicked it over one guy's head (think Gazza at euro 96), span two other guys and the drilled a great shot across the goal - nearly an absolute wonder goal. He over-dribbled a couple of times, but his footwork and ability to retain possession is fantastic. He's got an absolute hammer of a left foot too - no backlift whatsoever….and HE FUCKING ATTACKS THE NEAR POST. THANK GOD FOR THAT! His goal against Chelsea wasn't a one off. He really does attack the posts every team - properly busts a gut to get in there. Full on sprint. He was unlucky to not score a couple cos of this. When you combine that with the fact he can score basically any kind of goal, he has excellent movement, seems to be a big-game player, has a great touch, good pace, is big and strong already, has that necessary 'arrogance'/self belief or whatever that you see in potential stars then you really do think we're onto something special. And to think he's currently searching for match fitness too.

On a side note I thought Leicester were shite. Long ball merchants all game and pathetic time-wasting from the first minute. This wasn't the exact same side that we played in the u18s semi and it was full of 20/21 year olds who just launched it up to their striker all game.

Edit - one thing that I thought was interesting was that despite the fact that we were 1-0 down at half time and shite, I knew we'd win in the end. The bench, for this level, was fantastic. Maffeo, Angelino, Kelechi, Celina, Nemane and Garcia. I felt really confident that any of them coming on would improve the team, despite them all being kids. And so it proved... things like this season's Uefa Youth League and the FA Youth Cup campaigns would have really instilled a natural self confidence and big game belief in these kids. They're already very experienced in pressured environments against many types of opponents and they have more of a stature than most kids do their age. You can't overlook that as its great.

[Wonderwall]

brilliant report, cheers twosips. Nice to hear pozo get a good report, I was thinking his mojo was lost after his first team jolly.

its interesting this youth International premier league, I wonder what the entry criteria was?

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news ... -2015.html

Final
14 May (TBC)
Manchester City v Porto

Premier League International Cup results

Semi Finals
22 April Fulham 0-3 Porto
30 April Leicester City 2-3* Manchester City
*Manchester City won after extra time; 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes

Quarter Finals
19 February Chelsea 3-4 Fulham
8 April Athletic Club Bilbao 2-3 Porto
16 April Celtic 0-0* Manchester City
Leicester City *2-2 Everton
*Manchester City won 5-3 on penalties after extra-time
*Leicester City won 4-3 on penalties after extra-time

Group Stage
15 October Group B West Ham United 3-5 Athletic Club Bilbao
28 October Group B Athletic Club Bilbao 0-1 PSV
29 October Group C Schalke 0-1 Benfica
18 November Group C Leicester City 2-0 Schalke
19 November Group B West Ham United 2-1 PSV
21 November Group C Manchester City 3-1 Benfica
24 November Group C Leicester City 2-0 Benfica
25 November Group D Everton 1-1 Celtic
8 December Group B West Ham United 2-3 Fulham
10 December Group D Sunderland 0-0 Villarreal
17 December Group B Fulham 1-2 Athletic Club Bilbao
18 December Group D Sunderland 1-2 Celtic
19 December Group A Chelsea 1-1 Monchengladbach
23 December Group A Chelsea 5-0 Norwich City
14 January Group A Chelsea 2-1 Porto
18 January Group C Manchester City 5-1 Schalke
21 January Group B Fulham 2-1 PSV
Group D Celtic 1-0 Villarreal
27 January Group A Norwich City 1-0 Monchengladbach
2 February Group C Manchester City 2-3 Leicester City
11 February Group A Porto 2-2 Monchengladbach
Group D Everton 1-2 Villarreal
4 March Group A Norwich City 1-2 Porto
5 March Group D Everton 1-0 Sunderland

[mr_nool]

Cheers Twosips!

Peller's comment is really different from what he said at the start of the season (something about that it would take years for the academy to bare fruit). It might be an indication that he's been promised another season with clear instructions to start playing some kids.

[Wonderwall]

Cheers Twosips!

Peller's comment is really different from what he said at the start of the season (something about that it would take years for the academy to bare fruit). It might be an indication that he's been promised another season with clear instructions to start playing some kids.

or he has actually decided to get off his arse and see what they can actually do!!

[mr_nool]

Cheers Twosips!

Peller's comment is really different from what he said at the start of the season (something about that it would take years for the academy to bare fruit). It might be an indication that he's been promised another season with clear instructions to start playing some kids.

or he has actually decided to get off his arse and see what they can actually do!!

Touche.

[Cocacolajojo1]

Cheers Twosips. I appreciate the time you take to write down your impressions on here. Wuvely.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Interesting to hear Pellegrini say that. He definitely wasn't basing those comments on the first half. We were dog shit. Leicester should have been 3/4 nil up. Sloppy in possession, slow and weak. No one did anything of any note.

Second half onwards was much better…. We took off Horsfield at right back (sadly he's really naff, no way he'll be here next season), switched Smith-Brown over to RB, who was poor at LB but then good at RB for the rest of the game, and brought on Angelino. We took off the ineffective Intima and brought on the Nigerian wonderkid. That was enough for us to basically dominate then. Angelino's energy brought loads to our team immediately, and the balance was much better. A natural left back with loads of energy, and then a good right back in Smith-Brown meant the team felt a lot more balanced.

Bringing Kelechi on (though initially on the right before he switched) meant Pozo didn't have to be the more traditional no. 9…this really, really helped his game. Kelechi looks a lot more natural forward whereas Pozo loves facing the goal, that's pretty obvious. It was those two that played a lovely little one two to set Kelechi through on goal. His finish was brilliant. One on one and kinda toe-poke curled it into the far corner. Just sheer natural ability. He later on turned provider for Pozo too, playing a lovely ball through the middle before the little Spaniard slotted it past the keeper from around the edge of the area. The arrival of Garcia for Glendon had further changed the game in our favour too. I was really impressed with Garcia. More so than normal as it was the first time I saw him take control of a game like that at this level and really stamp his mark on it. He already looks so much more assured than he did a few months ago and to think he only turned 17 in January and he was running this game against a big Leicester team. He capped a great little cameo with the winning goal after some really dogged work by Pozo to create the chance and I was just really impressed with his all round game. It was the most 'Silva-like' i've seen him, and the similarities were already really obvious given his style. Strong despite his size, spinning this way and that and playing great through balls. What a talent he is.

Sadly that's about it really - it was only them that played well I thought. Evans isn't a centre-half and he didn't look totally comfortable there and was even sloppy with his distribution. Likewise Plummer, despite him actually being a CB I think he's just not cut out for what City want to be. Gunn flapped a bit every now and then and I was really disappointed with Ntcham, Glendon and Byrne throughout most of the game. Glendon is another that I think is a nice little footballer but he's just far too predictable. Dispossessed easily and his radar was off, but in general he didn't do much more than pass it pointlessly sideways, which contrasted to Garcia's take on the role made his overall game look quite poor. Ntcham was in Joey Barton mode sadly. Headless running and naff first touches and Byrne was more than little reckless too - he should have been sent off at one point for a proper bad tackle but the ref was lenient. Not the first time he's done that this season.

The latter two improved when the others came on but I do get the impression that the likes of Garcia, Boadu and Bryan will overshadow Ntcham, Byrne and Glendon very quickly. The main disappointment was Barker. He looks knackered - he did absolutely nothing of note last night. He actually spent the best part of an hour (the game went to extra time) on the right hand side (with Pozo on the left and drifting about well) and he was totally ineffective there, and barely touched the ball when he was on the left either. Perhaps he's knackered - he certainly looked a little jaded, though he does wear a relatively sullen demeanour anyway. He's had a great season and perhaps he just needs to recharge his batteries.

If Pellers was really basing those opinions on last night's games then I think he was referring to Kelechi, Garcia, Angelino and perhaps Gunn or Barker as they deserve chances anyway. None of the others played anything other than average, though Smith-Brown was very good second half.

Kelechi's a dead cert. Even now. He's fucking excellent. There was one moment where he pulled the ball down, flicked it over one guy's head (think Gazza at euro 96), span two other guys and the drilled a great shot across the goal - nearly an absolute wonder goal. He over-dribbled a couple of times, but his footwork and ability to retain possession is fantastic. He's got an absolute hammer of a left foot too - no backlift whatsoever….and HE FUCKING ATTACKS THE NEAR POST. THANK GOD FOR THAT! His goal against Chelsea wasn't a one off. He really does attack the posts every team - properly busts a gut to get in there. Full on sprint. He was unlucky to not score a couple cos of this. When you combine that with the fact he can score basically any kind of goal, he has excellent movement, seems to be a big-game player, has a great touch, good pace, is big and strong already, has that necessary 'arrogance'/self belief or whatever that you see in potential stars then you really do think we're onto something special. And to think he's currently searching for match fitness too.

On a side note I thought Leicester were shite. Long ball merchants all game and pathetic time-wasting from the first minute. This wasn't the exact same side that we played in the u18s semi and it was full of 20/21 year olds who just launched it up to their striker all game.

Edit - one thing that I thought was interesting was that despite the fact that we were 1-0 down at half time and shite, I knew we'd win in the end. The bench, for this level, was fantastic. Maffeo, Angelino, Kelechi, Celina, Nemane and Garcia. I felt really confident that any of them coming on would improve the team, despite them all being kids. And so it proved... things like this season's Uefa Youth League and the FA Youth Cup campaigns would have really instilled a natural self confidence and big game belief in these kids. They're already very experienced in pressured environments against many types of opponents and they have more of a stature than most kids do their age. You can't overlook that as its great.

This is the one I was waiting for cheers Steve. Interesting isn't it that a more genuine under 21 side just doesn't seem quite as special as the best under 18 side we can put out.

9 0r even 10 of the side last night would arguably not be in our best side. Gunn would for certain but apart from him it could be argued our best side is all about the under 18's age group.

Denayer would get in and maybe even Rekik but apart from those loanees the best center back we have is Tosin Adorabyio. Cameron Humphries might not be there yet but he is 16 and coming along fast.

No doubt who are the best full back pairing we have and that's Maffeo and Angelino. Bryan gets it wrong occasionally but is probably as good as either Byrne or Glendon in a sitting midfield role.Barker plays in everything anyway but if you need another wide player I would take Nemane before Intima (just about)

Then it's central midfield. Ntcham clearly has strength and experience on his side but I would go for Boadu on what I have seen this season ( and before Fofana as well) Garcia isn't quite up there yet but the signs are very very good.

Up top we have Ambrose and Iheanacho and I would take both of them before Pozo. I havent given up on Pozo at all and really hope that his quality will come shining through again. The good signs have been there in the past month and if played in his best position he has every chance. Celina has disappointed me a little lately but the skill is there.

Then I would add Fernandez yet another skilful player to come through. Buckley Ricketts to keep the other strikers on their toes.

Really looking forward to the 2 EDS games next week.

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Nice one, twosips. Enjoyed reading that.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Great reading on this thread as ever.

Doug, I couldn't help but notice the omission of Lopes from your assessment, was that an oversight or would he not get in our best under21 side?

[twosips]

That'll surely have to be an oversight. He'd definitely get in on the right ahead of Nemane at very least. Top talent.

But yeah, I agree. The u18s are much brighter talents, and I think that's great. Shows the academy's really starting to move through the gears. Our u18s would beat most u21 teams (most genuinely seem to have 20/21 year olds) easy and we've got so much time on our side with them. I suspect one or two might not even 'make it' with us until they're 21/22 but that's fine. We have to be patient.

ps - no problem all. Enjoy writing em up and with no Doug/Ted at the game I kinda felt I had to do the honours!

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Great reading on this thread as ever.

Doug, I couldn't help but notice the omission of Lopes from your assessment, was that an oversight or would he not get in our best under21 side?

An oversight. He would definitely be the right side of a front 3 or somewhere in midfield.

I didn't throw in Cole either . Mainly as I have not seen him play this season but he could possibly have a claim for as place even if only on the bench.

[Ted Hughes]

Cheers twosips, great report & a luvly long post. We need more like this.

I like Nemane. Just thought I'd mention it. Barker has run out of steam once or twice this season I think. Not surprising really for that to happen to any of them. They are just kids & have worked hard.

Pozo imo was one of our absolute biggest talents before his injuries. Then he was thrown in with his back to goal, against big blokes, before he'd even reached anything like his full level in the EDS. I still think/hope there is another 30 or even 50% to come from him. His finishing seemed to have gone to shit as well as his general play. Imo he has been fucking up stuff he would have done much better when he was 15 years old.

I don't think that is because he's lost it, I think it's just a combination of injuries, wrong position, & lack of confidence delaying him getting back to his best. I don't know if he will be as good as we hoped, but I'm pretty sure there is absolutely loads more to come from him, & I haven't given up hope that he still might be every bit as good as he looked when he was 15.

Btw, I didn't see Kelechi last night, but if he isn't a star in the years to come I will wonder of he's been knobbled.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Interesting to hear Pellegrini say that. He definitely wasn't basing those comments on the first half. We were dog shit. Leicester should have been 3/4 nil up. Sloppy in possession, slow and weak. No one did anything of any note.

Second half onwards was much better…. We took off Horsfield at right back (sadly he's really naff, no way he'll be here next season), switched Smith-Brown over to RB, who was poor at LB but then good at RB for the rest of the game, and brought on Angelino. We took off the ineffective Intima and brought on the Nigerian wonderkid. That was enough for us to basically dominate then. Angelino's energy brought loads to our team immediately, and the balance was much better. A natural left back with loads of energy, and then a good right back in Smith-Brown meant the team felt a lot more balanced.

Bringing Kelechi on (though initially on the right before he switched) meant Pozo didn't have to be the more traditional no. 9…this really, really helped his game. Kelechi looks a lot more natural forward whereas Pozo loves facing the goal, that's pretty obvious. It was those two that played a lovely little one two to set Kelechi through on goal. His finish was brilliant. One on one and kinda toe-poke curled it into the far corner. Just sheer natural ability. He later on turned provider for Pozo too, playing a lovely ball through the middle before the little Spaniard slotted it past the keeper from around the edge of the area. The arrival of Garcia for Glendon had further changed the game in our favour too. I was really impressed with Garcia. More so than normal as it was the first time I saw him take control of a game like that at this level and really stamp his mark on it. He already looks so much more assured than he did a few months ago and to think he only turned 17 in January and he was running this game against a big Leicester team. He capped a great little cameo with the winning goal after some really dogged work by Pozo to create the chance and I was just really impressed with his all round game. It was the most 'Silva-like' i've seen him, and the similarities were already really obvious given his style. Strong despite his size, spinning this way and that and playing great through balls. What a talent he is.

Sadly that's about it really - it was only them that played well I thought. Evans isn't a centre-half and he didn't look totally comfortable there and was even sloppy with his distribution. Likewise Plummer, despite him actually being a CB I think he's just not cut out for what City want to be. Gunn flapped a bit every now and then and I was really disappointed with Ntcham, Glendon and Byrne throughout most of the game. Glendon is another that I think is a nice little footballer but he's just far too predictable. Dispossessed easily and his radar was off, but in general he didn't do much more than pass it pointlessly sideways, which contrasted to Garcia's take on the role made his overall game look quite poor. Ntcham was in Joey Barton mode sadly. Headless running and naff first touches and Byrne was more than little reckless too - he should have been sent off at one point for a proper bad tackle but the ref was lenient. Not the first time he's done that this season.

The latter two improved when the others came on but I do get the impression that the likes of Garcia, Boadu and Bryan will overshadow Ntcham, Byrne and Glendon very quickly. The main disappointment was Barker. He looks knackered - he did absolutely nothing of note last night. He actually spent the best part of an hour (the game went to extra time) on the right hand side (with Pozo on the left and drifting about well) and he was totally ineffective there, and barely touched the ball when he was on the left either. Perhaps he's knackered - he certainly looked a little jaded, though he does wear a relatively sullen demeanour anyway. He's had a great season and perhaps he just needs to recharge his batteries.

If Pellers was really basing those opinions on last night's games then I think he was referring to Kelechi, Garcia, Angelino and perhaps Gunn or Barker as they deserve chances anyway. None of the others played anything other than average, though Smith-Brown was very good second half.

Kelechi's a dead cert. Even now. He's fucking excellent. There was one moment where he pulled the ball down, flicked it over one guy's head (think Gazza at euro 96), span two other guys and the drilled a great shot across the goal - nearly an absolute wonder goal. He over-dribbled a couple of times, but his footwork and ability to retain possession is fantastic. He's got an absolute hammer of a left foot too - no backlift whatsoever….and HE FUCKING ATTACKS THE NEAR POST. THANK GOD FOR THAT! His goal against Chelsea wasn't a one off. He really does attack the posts every team - properly busts a gut to get in there. Full on sprint. He was unlucky to not score a couple cos of this. When you combine that with the fact he can score basically any kind of goal, he has excellent movement, seems to be a big-game player, has a great touch, good pace, is big and strong already, has that necessary 'arrogance'/self belief or whatever that you see in potential stars then you really do think we're onto something special. And to think he's currently searching for match fitness too.

On a side note I thought Leicester were shite. Long ball merchants all game and pathetic time-wasting from the first minute. This wasn't the exact same side that we played in the u18s semi and it was full of 20/21 year olds who just launched it up to their striker all game.

Edit - one thing that I thought was interesting was that despite the fact that we were 1-0 down at half time and shite, I knew we'd win in the end. The bench, for this level, was fantastic. Maffeo, Angelino, Kelechi, Celina, Nemane and Garcia. I felt really confident that any of them coming on would improve the team, despite them all being kids. And so it proved... things like this season's Uefa Youth League and the FA Youth Cup campaigns would have really instilled a natural self confidence and big game belief in these kids. They're already very experienced in pressured environments against many types of opponents and they have more of a stature than most kids do their age. You can't overlook that as its great.

Yes, but is he any good ??.........

Seriously though, that was a lovely post TwoSips old chum and it made a terrifically informative read.

Thanks for taking the time to input so much detail.....please keep up the good work as I'm sure we're all avid for information about our youngsters; I know I am.

[iwasthere2012]

I'll say it again. Best thread on the forum. You know who you are. Well done lads.

[Bluedj]

Brilliant read twosips, very enjoyable. Thank you for your efforts. A BIG thumbs up from me

[twosips]

Cheers all. Appreciate the comments. Maybe one day i'll start a blog or something re the academy games ha.

Just got back from watching the u18s. It was an incredibly young team (most of our lads were 15/16) and we lost 2-0 to Middlesborough, who were a team full of men compared to us. In fact, half of our eligible and best under 18s players were quite literally sat next to me. Garcia, Humphries, Tosin, Nemane, Kongolo all literally to my right in their tracksuits, Vieira mooching about too - guess they'd just had training that morning so popped along to watch the rest. Nice to see Humphries and Tosin side by side even in the stands - proper partnership that. Ha. Crazy to think those 'senior' academy lads are either 16 or recently turned 17 too.

The team was a mixed one. We had Albinson in goal, Callum Bullock at right back, Sam Tattum and Charlie Oliver in the middle and a young lad called 'Domeko' (or something like that, no idea how to spell it) on the left - I asked Aaron Nemane sat next me who he was. English lad but I'd never heard of him. Apparently nearly as young as 14 and he's usually a right back according to someone else I asked, but the coaches insist on switching positions with players to improve them. Second half him and Bullock switched sides. Both struggled if im being honest. Only young though and they will improve.

We had a midfield three of Wood, Will Patching and Celina. Dilruson on the left, Fernandes on the right and Buckley through the middle. Second half Tom Dele-Bashiru and Lukas Nmecha came on as Buckley and Celina picked up knocks.

To be honest, we didn't really do anything. Couldn't really create or cut through against a much more confident Middlesbrough team who capitalised on our naivety in possession - we tried to passing it out but it wasn't really happening. There were sporadic moments of quality from the two wide men, Fernandes and Dilrosun, but the final ball let them down. Buckley, and later on Nmecha, ran about a lot but they had scraps to feed off. Celina couldn't really get into his stride and found himself a lot deeper than normal, whereas Wood burst forward with pace and power a few times, striding through their midfield impressively, but he kept undoing all his good work by then giving it away cheaply, and often. Patching floated about looking quite elegant, reminding me of Huws at times, but did little really. Tattum was the captain at CB - usually a RB, but i can see why they're trying him there. He's a committed lad and a good little player. I wouldn't think he'd ever make it in the centre though and he's definitely a full back in my opinion. It's a waste of his energy playing him there.

In general it was a poor performance, but as ever I enjoyed the experience of the game and being in and around the academy. It really is a beautiful place and we're lucky to have it. I took this little panorama of inside the academy at half time where the coffee and tea bit was and its very nice.

http://oi59.tinypic.com/xckbvk.jpg

One huge complaint though. Getting in was a fucking nightmare. The clubs a joke with al things re Academy games at the moment. Info is terrible and pointlessly vague. They weren't letting ANY spectators in when we got there - only family, despite on their site saying fans can email at least twenty four hours earlier to get email confirmation to go in. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I didn't do that, but even though it was behind closed doors on the side pitches i'd be in before and just gotten a pass and it was no problem after signing in. I presumed, fairly imo, that i'd be able to do the same today. Others though even had emails back from some bloke yet the security still insisted that no one would be allowed in today as it came from the top, apparently. A shambles - there was only about twenty of us! After about fifteen minutes moaning some bloke came out and begrudgingly apologised to us all saying the bloke had gone on holiday and not forwarded on the message to let some in. Couldn't make it up… he then issued us passes and let us in five minutes after kick off. Terribly run and totally unnecessary. The club really needs to sort it out as they're contradicting themselves left, right and centre and alienating loyal fans who go watch the young lads for absolutely no reason.

[twosips]

U16s with Brahim that Spanish 'messi' playing live on here right now!

http://www.torneodelfuturo.com/

Edit - balls the games are only 60 mins long so it's over. Won 2-0 and Brahim scored. Top of our group apparently.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

TwoSips, old chum, apart from having a great interest in the youth side of things, you've got a burgeoning literary style.

You ought to keep a load of notes about the players you have seen, together with displays in various games and then, in three or four years time when City's first team is populated by the youngsters you've watched over the years, you could write a book about it all.

You could call it something like "In the beginning" and, in succeeding years, you could bring out updates and revisions as required.

Journalism could be calling you.

[twosips]

Dunno about that, but ta! I dropped out of my journalism degree course nearly 10 years ago... think that ship has sailed far, far away! I'll concentrate on the music side of things for now. Ha.

Just gutted that a few more of yourselves can't get along often. Reckon you'd all enjoy it.

Might keep notes though as you said. Who knows? Someone needs to document it all one day :)