Player Development

Football Academy · Cult Status

Player Development

Tezza · Cult Status

I would like to see a small group of youngsters attached to every club.
Their ages should range from 13 to 18 and their development should be random.
Ratings should change every 6 months, either up or down.
Every club should have the opportunity to find a "star."
Finding a Star should be the main feature.

It should also be possible to sell a young player, at anytime.

The youngsters could initially be posted on the Free Agent list.

Terry.

Stu · Cult Status

I like Terrys idea having young players attached that we can see. We could have a youth youth academy in each team. We would control the first team the under-21s would be the youth academy we have now and we could have an under-18 team of even younger players we can see before they move into the under-21s
The manager could get 1 rating point every season and pick where the player improved. When they got to 18 they could go into the under-21s and they could come through in the draws we get every half season

I like the idea of having players on a free agent list to start with and we would have to sign them to our under-18 teams. If each team can only sign 1 a week the small teams could pick up some good players to

Stu

Luke_C · Cult Status

Its not a bad idea but I think maybe its a step to far? I dunno, i dont have a lot to add really.

I would still like to see a way where players can play in more than one position

paulh_85 · Cult Status

id like to see something a bit different if this is going to be done. as undeveloped players i think their positions should be just GK DEF MID ATT, and id also like to see no stats for these guys untill they turn 17 or something (dont think something like this should be a massive factor in deciding where managers make their next move, but should be seen as a bonus)

every half season, you can sort out a simplistic training regime for each player (speed, control, shooting etc) and you get a report (when i say report, i just mean "so-and-so excelled in his training program... etc) saying how the player has done in that period (perhaps this could also lead to a youth team coach being brought in too?)

when they turn 16 or 17 you can have the chance to promote him to the first team or release him. for older players i think the current rules can apply?

Jozz · Cult Status

I think either idea posted would be quite good.

The only thing I would like to add is that I dont really like the idea of a free agents list. The problem with it is that the smaller clubs would not have a chance to compete with the bigger clubs.

Cheers JD Cadiz

Tezza · Cult Status

On the Free Agent list, it would be a lottery because you would be buying, not knowing how the youngster would develop over time.
Well that was the way I saw it working.

Ashley-ccfc16' · Cult Status

on the free agent list just for bigger clubs to get them?!

richj363 · Cult Status

Personally i think the free agent list should work in reverse

ie The lowest team should get the player and not the highest.

I think a youth set up would be good but sounds like a lot more work for Richard to have to do.

Maybe if we just had a handful of players and not a full squad.

madhibee · Cult Status

I like the idea of young players on a free agent list but I also understand Ashley's concerns about bigger clubs cherry picking the talent.

How about a second free agent list solely for young players with an extra attribute listing their ambitions i.e. first team football, big name manager, only interested in money etc. They are unlikely to want to go to a bigger club if they want first team football.

An example in the real world - Hibs have a young player who came from Celtic because he thought he would get more of a chance at a smaller team. He is now, at the age of 19, a first team regular and been picked for the Scotland U21's. There is no way he would be at that stage if still at Celtic.

The young players should be able to choose what team they go to. The only problem is that it is likely to be difficult to incorporate into the game. What are your thoughts?

tonymdf · Cult Status

not sure i like the free agents bit either - even with some atributes added or with no stats there its still possible to pick out potential star players ie, if you saw wayne rooney in the free agents as a 15/16 year old you would attempt to sign him!! also if its done in reverse and they go to a small club they will be picked up by the bigger clubs anyway....

how about any club wishing to invest in a youth acadamy either from bank balance or managers balance then do so along the lines of the scouting window - where a list of players is displayed with there stats - teams could then offer apprentiships (2 or 3 year contract depending on age) at the end of the youth window the players pick what club they want to go to based around length of contract/ wage/youth coach skills/assistant manager skills/manager rating. the length of contract could be tracked similar to the loan system with a 1 2 3 etc, when an apprentice is in the last year of his contract he can then be offered a proper contract by his club or released

my other problem is what would a manager do with a 13 year old as they cant play for anybodys first team until 16 (real FA rules) so something needs to be developed either by way of training camps (for each league as nobody would have enough youth players to make a team)

obviously teams with an assistant (or introduction of youth coach) with bonus for training the players will develope better then some...

needs a bit more work but its just an idea to throw into the pot lol

-- Edited by tonymdf on Wednesday 9th of December 2009 03:04:27 PM

Ashley-ccfc16' · Cult Status

Yeah but you look at smaller clubs, like myself we dont get high wages, good coaches etc..

Raymond · Cult Status

I like the idea of a draft pick, bottom of the table would get the first pick , top of the table last pick however its done, it keeps all parties interested and keeps the ying and the yang of the game in place.

Maybe a pool of players per league, maybe when you choose a player he is accompanied by a group of players provided by your assistant to balance out the quality of the player chosen ie. if you choose a great youth product he is accompanied by not such a great pool of youth players......

Just a thought.

Stu · Cult Status

If it was done like the free agent list if all the best teams tried to buy the top player on there only 1 would get him and the smaller clubs could go for the 3rd best player and not have competition for his signature and they would get him? If it was only 1 a week like the free agents is

Stu

Football Academy · Cult Status

I'll look into some of the ideas. I'd like to keep the random introduction as I think this adds something to the half and end of season lottery so any changes will have to work alongside that.

Richard.

Football Academy · Cult Status

I've spent an hour on this so its only a rough idea and if it comes of anything, will be developed further before introduction (start of next season at the earliest).

This would be the view available on the website for each team:

Arsenal Academy		Pos	#	Name	AGE	Report	Training Schedule
State Of The Art		GK	1	Stephen Wright	14	Liam Brady believes he might never make it at the very top.	Handling
Capacity:	5 players	DF	2	Billy Thorpe	14	Liam Brady believes he has a good work ethic but lacks a bit of quality.	Fitness
Academy Director:	Liam Brady	DF	3	Alex Robertson	14	Liam Brady believes he will probably never be a highly paid footballer.	Fitness
Judging Player Potential:	2	DF	4	Paul White	14	Liam Brady believes he could end up plying his trade in the lower leagues.	5-a-side
Working With Youngsters:	1	MD	5	Joseph Hodgins	14	Liam Brady believes he might grow into a really good player for his team.	Tackling

Managers would be able to spend wages on increasing their academy, with state of the art being the highest. The better your acdemy, the more youngsters you could have in it.

Academy Director would be charged with managing the youth team. Like Staff already in the game, there would be chances to sell, trade, and buy a new Academy Director if you chose to spend your teams money in that area of your club.

Judging Player Potential: The better a director is at judging the potential, the more accurate the reports on each player will be. A poor judge will make mistakes over or under valuing players potentials.

Working with youngsters: The better a director is at this, the more likely it is your players will develop in their early years in your academy, and the better they'll respond to the training you pick for them.

Positions: Taken from the suggestion in this thread, exact positions will remain unknown. You'll simply see a generalisation of that players position in his early years.

Age: Players would age along with each season like the players in your first team. At a certain stage (still for me to decide on) players would leave this academy, and move into your teams youth pool which you can't see. They then become eligable for the youth draw at the middle or the end of every season. Players in here don't age.

Training Schedule: Managers would fill in a form each season like for stadiums etc. This would be a simple form as follows:

Player 1: [Drop down menu]
Player 2: [Drop down menu]

etc.

Training options would be shown in the drop down menu's and managers would be able to pick what training schedule each player in their academy used for that season. This would determine what they improve on, if the Director is able to improve the player that season.

As I say, this is only about an hours work and is a rough lay out of various peoples ideas posted in this thread, combined into something that could realistically be used in the game. Half the difficulty of ideas to gameplay if finding a way to realistically introduce them so the fact this hasn't taken long to throw together is promising.

Comments, suggestions welcome.

Richard.

Tezza · Cult Status

First impression...looks good.
You do achieve a lot in one hour.
Terry.

Stu · Cult Status

Joseph Hodgins has always wanted to join Man C smile

Looks nice

Stu