Everton Youth Teams Thread

So you don't know if these were the best candidates, would seem a bizarre way to stay in your job just appointing your mates if they're useless

And on the flip side you don't know if they were the best either.
Seems bizarre after 4 months of looking you find ur ex Wolves mate, and promote 2 within. 1 of which has has less than 12mth getting his badges
 
And on the flip side you don't know if they were the best either.
Seems bizarre after 4 months of looking you find ur ex Wolves mate, and promote 2 within. 1 of which has has less than 12mth getting his badges
Unsworth left in April , we advertised the jobs end of April , so about 7 weeks to appointment. You seem hung up on four months for some reason. Tait was deemed the best person for the u21 job, he’s got a pretty sound reputation both within the club and with those who’ve seen what he’s done with the u18s in recent years . After that it seems a pretty logical appointment for Baines to take his place , someone who’s worked with both the u18s and u23s , and again someone who‘s gained a good reputation. Im not sure what your main beef is , you just keep repeating the 4 month thing.
 
Hope Charlie Whitaker can get a good preseason and make an impression on Lampard. He's the one who stands out in the youth teams for me. Don't know what the injury was that he got last year but he was out for a long time. He's 19 in September so old enough to start stepping up to a higher level. Just hope we don't lose him - his contract runs out June 2023 so Prosser/ Thelwell need to think about negotiating an extension pretty soon.
 



Everton has appointed Gareth Prosser as the Club’s new Academy Director.

Prosser will work closely with Director of Football Kevin Thelwell in overseeing all aspects of Everton’s world-renowned Academy, implementing a strategy across age groups, developing talent and creating a clear pathway into the Blues’ First Team.

Meanwhile, Paul Tait has been named as the new Head Coach of Everton Under-21s, with former Blues defender Leighton Baines succeeding him as Under-18s Head Coach.

Prosser previously worked alongside Thelwell at both Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers, joining Wolves in 2008 and progressing to become Academy Manager in 2013 when Thelwell was the Molineux club’s Sporting Director.

Under their leadership, Wolves’ youth system became one of the most prestigious in England, achieving Category One status in 2012 and joining an elite group of only six clubs to achieve an unconditional three-year Category One licence in 2016.

Prosser also played a key role in the recruitment and development of a number of players who graduated from the West Midlands outfit’s academy to first team and other professional football clubs.

In March 2019, Prosser left Wolves to become General Manager of the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC), set up by the Premier League, English Football League and Football Association to quality assure the youth development programmes of all professional clubs in the country.

Prosser holds a UEFA Pro Licence – the highest coaching qualification in professional football – and recently graduated from the University of Salford with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

On joining Everton, he said: “I am delighted and very proud with the opportunity to lead Everton Academy.

“Throughout the interview process, it was clear from our CEO Denise (Barrett-Baxendale) and Kevin the importance of the Academy moving forwards to support the ambitious aims of the Football Club.

“The target is clear: to create a best-in-class academy programme that will allow Everton to attract, recruit and develop top people; players and staff.

“I look forward to working with the Academy, Denise, Kevin, Frank and the wider Club staff to ensure the programme is the best it can be to provide players with opportunities to represent this great club. We all need to work together to make this happen.

“I would also like to thank the Professional Game Academy Audit Board, chaired by Jane Purdon, and the PGAAC team for their support. The PGAAC has made great progress over the past three years, working in collaboration with the Premier League, EFL and the Football Association to ensure the Academy system operates safely and to help raise standards. I wish the company well for the future.”

Director of Football Thelwell added: “Gareth is an outstanding Academy Director and his recent work as General Manager with the PGAAC has continued that development within the area of youth development.

“We want our Academy to operate at the highest possible standards and, after a rigorous and thorough recruitment process, felt Gareth - as the lead practitioner responsible for setting and developing these standards for all academies across the country in his previous role - was the standout candidate to support that development at Everton.”

Prosser’s arrival is part of an Academy restructure that sees Tait and Baines given new positions, with increased emphasis on placing player development as the key focus throughout the Club’s youth operation.

To support that, further Academy roles will be appointed including Player Development Lead Coach, Player Development Senior Coach, Loan Pathways Manager and Head of Performance Analysis and Insights.

Tait moves up to become Everton’s new Under-21s coach after five years overseeing the Club’s Under-18s and helping develop Academy talents including Anthony Gordon, Tom Davies, Ross Barkley and Lewis Dobbin.

Tait came through Everton Academy before going on to enjoy a successful professional career as a striker with clubs including Crewe Alexandra and Bristol Rovers. The UEFA Pro Licence coach joined Everton Academy 12 years ago, working his way up to become Under-18s Head Coach in 2017.

On taking charge of the Under-21s, which from next season will move from Under-23s as part of an ongoing review of the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan, Tait said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to become Everton Under-21 Head Coach.

“I am excited by this new challenge and determined to use my experience and knowledge to help every player in our Professional Development phase realise their full potential.”

Baines is one of Everton’s greatest players of the modern era, making 420 appearances for the Club between 2007 to 2020 and earning 30 England caps.

After calling time on his impressive playing career, the former left-back was appointed Professional Development Coach of Everton Academy before becoming Tait’s Under-18s assistant in October last year.

On Tait and Baines’ new roles, Thelwell said: “Paul has been working within our Academy for more than a decade and has an excellent reputation as a coach. I am delighted that when benchmarked against other candidates, he was the outstanding choice to become our new Under-21 Head Coach.

“I am pleased to be able to give Paul the opportunity to lead at Under-21 level and I am certain he will do an excellent job in developing players for our First Team.

“Despite Leighton being at the very start of his coaching journey, he has already demonstrated a high level of coaching capability and awareness around what players need to progress through the pathway.

“These characteristics, among others, made him a standout candidate to become Under-18s Head Coach. Our young players will not only benefit from his outstanding experiences as a player but also his commitment to developing young players for the next stage of their careers.”

He’s delighted to be working alongside Denise? Where will he be working Finch Farm or Spellow Lane? And Paul Tait when bench marked against other candidates he was the outstanding choice to become our new U21 coach, who were the other candidates? I hope they turnout okay but at first glance they look like unremarkable choices to me, even Baines, a great full back no doubt, but he’s been a coach for one season, Leighton must have really impressed the man who has been here three months or so. These will be very interesting appointments.
 
Hope Charlie Whitaker can get a good preseason and make an impression on Lampard. He's the one who stands out in the youth teams for me. Don't know what the injury was that he got last year but he was out for a long time. He's 19 in September so old enough to start stepping up to a higher level. Just hope we don't lose him - his contract runs out June 2023 so Prosser/ Thelwell need to think about negotiating an extension pretty soon.
Okoronkwo will be one to watch in the 21s this year too if his youth cup appearances are anything to go by.
 
Unsworth left in April , we advertised the jobs end of April , so about 7 weeks to appointment. You seem hung up on four months for some reason. Tait was deemed the best person for the u21 job, he’s got a pretty sound reputation both within the club and with those who’ve seen what he’s done with the u18s in recent years . After that it seems a pretty logical appointment for Baines to take his place , someone who’s worked with both the u18s and u23s , and again someone who‘s gained a good reputation. Im not sure what your main beef is , you just keep repeating the 4 month thing.

I just dont see this one as "Jobs for the boys". Tait has done a great job with the u18s, it feels right he should be allowed to step up and see how he can progress players a little higher, and Baines seems to be developing a really good reputation for coaching, so its right to allow that pathway for him too.

The Prosser thing, while yeah he worked with him at wolves, it seems that he got Wolves academy into a good place getting the Cat 1 status, I dont know the reason why they aren't swimming with talent (or maybe i do AHEM Mendes), but I dont have a problem with someone coming in from outside to be academy director.

Its down to Tait and Baines to get players ready now, Prosser to sort the pathway and bring in talent.

Out of all the appointments we could have made, these are ones I am absolutely behind - dont see a huge problem - I imagine we will have a young u21 with Tait there too
 
Hope Charlie Whitaker can get a good preseason and make an impression on Lampard. He's the one who stands out in the youth teams for me. Don't know what the injury was that he got last year but he was out for a long time. He's 19 in September so old enough to start stepping up to a higher level. Just hope we don't lose him - his contract runs out June 2023 so Prosser/ Thelwell need to think about negotiating an extension pretty soon.

It'll be interesting hat happened with both Whitaker and Price this summer, I know price has been name checked by Lampard a few times so would be interesting to see what chance he gets. Whitaker seems to have been training with the first team for a while too.
 

Unsworth left in April , we advertised the jobs end of April , so about 7 weeks to appointment. You seem hung up on four months for some reason. Tait was deemed the best person for the u21 job, he’s got a pretty sound reputation both within the club and with those who’ve seen what he’s done with the u18s in recent years . After that it seems a pretty logical appointment for Baines to take his place , someone who’s worked with both the u18s and u23s , and again someone who‘s gained a good reputation. Im not sure what your main beef is , you just keep repeating the 4 month thing.

Call it 7 weeks or 4 mths, (the strategic review started in Jan) and it was well known that Unsworth job was under review. In either time frame, he has come up with an old colleague from wolves, a guy who has been at the club for years and a fan fav who barely has the L plates off on his coaching badges. Thelwell has played it extremely safe and not as reports suggested 'cast the net far and wide to find the best people'
 
Call it 7 weeks or 4 mths, (the strategic review started in Jan) and it was well known that Unsworth job was under review. In either time frame, he has come up with an old colleague from wolves, a guy who has been at the club for years and a fan fav who barely has the L plates off on his coaching badges. Thelwell has played it extremely safe and not as reports suggested 'cast the net far and wide to find the best people'

do you really think we were gonna appoint guardiola and tuchel as u21 and u18 managers or something? look at the other youth managers/coaches at teams round the league.
 

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