Everton Youth Teams Thread

[mightymoyes]

What happened to Francis Okoronkwo at the latter end of the season? He never appeared for the U18’s or the U23’s at all, was he injured, Everton FC seem to give little information about the Academy players.

no seem about it, its a fact unfortunately.
can see an argument for u18s but they're just crap at providing info in general.

 

[blueloon]

What happened to Francis Okoronkwo at the latter end of the season? He never appeared for the U18’s or the U23’s at all, was he injured, Everton FC seem to give little information about the Academy players.

Yeah I’m sure he picked up an injury , got a brief mention somewhere but nothing afterwards so maybe I’m wrong. We covered Katia Kouyate’s injury, maybe as it was more serious , but as you say we give little info out , it’s really hit and miss at times, no consistency.

 

[Cameron Manning]

Yeah I’m sure he picked up an injury , got a brief mention somewhere but nothing afterwards so maybe I’m wrong. We covered Katia Kouyate’s injury, maybe as it was more serious , but as you say we give little info out , it’s really hit and miss at times, no consistency.

Why I was asking about Okoronkwo is because we paid quite a large fee to get him from Sunderland and he took a few months to get here after the signing then only made six starts and two sub. appearances before he went missing.
I thought maybe he has become homesick and that’s why he hasn’t played.

 

[Nymzee]

 

[oglop44]

Why I was asking about Okoronkwo is because we paid quite a large fee to get him from Sunderland and he took a few months to get here after the signing then only made six starts and two sub. appearances before he went missing.
I thought maybe he has become homesick and that’s why he hasn’t played.

Usually the most obvious theory (injury) is the truth but we'll probably never know for sure. It might even be for the best to keep u18s out of the spotlight, especially ones with price tags.

It should also be noted that he did play all 3 youth cup games as well as the 8 league appearances you mentioned (and was a stand out performer in all 3). I can't confirm this but I'm pretty sure he made his u23 debut at some point this year too.

 

[blueloon]

Looks accurate to me. You can see all the individual results on the official site. It wasn't a great season for the 18s overall, we only scored 28 goals across the 26 game season. It should be noted that our policy of pushing promising u18 players into the 23s will be affecting this too, who knows how that will pay off in the long run.

Indeed , who knows , but for me it’s got to be the right policy. Yep it probably affected u18/u23 results with more u18s playing u23 than ever before , but it cascades down in terms of opportunity e.g. Joe Anderson is a capable defender at u23 level but unfortunately not good enough. Playing Campbell at u23 instead of u18 allowed schoolboy Ishe Samuels- Smith to play left back and left centre back at u18s.

And right on cue ….
.

This was perhaps the most telling statement from Tait. :
“I think the real positive from this season would be the progression of the Under-16s group into the Under-18s.
“I’ve never had so many Under-16s players competing in the Under-18s league for us.”
Its fantastic seeing Lawrence, Sherif, Samuel-Smith close to the top in terms of number of starts .

 

[Cameron Manning]

Usually the most obvious theory (injury) is the truth but we'll probably never know for sure. It might even be for the best to keep u18s out of the spotlight, especially ones with price tags.

It should also be noted that he did play all 3 youth cup games as well as the 8 league appearances you mentioned (and was a stand out performer in all 3). I can't confirm this but I'm pretty sure he made his u23 debut at some point this year too.

Yes you are correct he did play in theFA youth cup games in addition to his league appearances and I can confirm he did play in a couple of U23’s games as well. I understand your view about keeping young lads out of the limelight to a degree but there is nothing damaging about mentioning an injury if they have one.

 

[Simon Buttle]

'Impressive candidates' have applied for the academy roles according to Thelwell

 

[maccavennie]

'Impressive candidates' have applied for the academy roles according to Thelwell

Jeffers and Baxter it is then

 

[blueloon]

'Impressive candidates' have applied for the academy roles according to Thelwell

First interview question “ So Impressive Candidate for the role of u23s Coach, what is it that attracts you to working under the legend that is John Ebbrell. ? “

Reply “ We’ll , as you say , he’s a legend who I can learn a lot from as I’ve shown already “

“ Indeed you have Jose , the job’s yours”.

 

[EFC_FRANCIS]

I haven’t, it’s very rare to hear of kids at this age unless they’re local. The hype only starts coming at u16 really but Sunderland’s under 15s have just beat United in the SF and qualified for the floodlit cup final, which is the FAYC for the younger age groups, so they must have some top players and you’d imagine he’s one of them.

I do love us signing the best players at these ages, I think it can be very lucrative but if must be the elite you’re signing and we should be doing more of it as lots of other clubs are now.

He got 2 goals and an assist in the final fwiw

 

[boris]

Indeed , who knows , but for me it’s got to be the right policy. Yep it probably affected u18/u23 results with more u18s playing u23 than ever before , but it cascades down in terms of opportunity e.g. Joe Anderson is a capable defender at u23 level but unfortunately not good enough. Playing Campbell at u23 instead of u18 allowed schoolboy Ishe Samuels- Smith to play left back and left centre back at u18s.

And right on cue ….
.

This was perhaps the most telling statement from Tait. :
“I think the real positive from this season would be the progression of the Under-16s group into the Under-18s.
“I’ve never had so many Under-16s players competing in the Under-18s league for us.”
Its fantastic seeing Lawrence, Sherif, Samuel-Smith close to the top in terms of number of starts .

I’m not confident that either Emilio Lawrence or Ishe Samuel Smith will be here next season.

 

[EFC_FRANCIS]

I’m not confident that either Emilio Lawrence or Ishe Samuel Smith will be here next season.

Not sure the club could have done much more game time wise for either of them than what they got this season. Can't see either of them landing at any of the top top dogs but it'd still undoubtedly be a loss to see them go. Ah well it is what it is we shall see what happens

 

[boris]

Not sure the club could have done much more game time wise for either of them than what they got this season. Can't see either of them landing at any of the top top dogs but it'd still undoubtedly be a loss to see them go. Ah well it is what it is we shall see what happens

We won’t be able to blame the club in this instance as they’ve threw everything at them and they’ve gave them lots of opportunities but I do think it’ll be City or Chelsea if they go.

 

[EFC_FRANCIS]

We won’t be able to blame the club in this instance as they’ve threw everything at them and they’ve gave them lots of opportunities but I do think it’ll be City or Chelsea if they go.

Would be a bit disappointed to lose either of them to City to be honest. Galvez and Smith in Man City's 18s are both very good and in ISS' positions whilst City's 18 averaged 3.5 goals a game this season so obviously have a bit of class without even including Delap, Mcatee and Palmer etc. above them. Obviously the coaching and facilities are the best in the world and they'd win every week but it'd probably mean at least another year as a U18 for both. Hopefully the Chelsea ownership situation muddles with their signings a bit longer.