Quote: BrisbaneRhino "In any event the Leeds Academy has been pretty poor on the one metric that counts, which is developing juniors for the first team, certainly over the last few years.'"
As stated above the Academy can only go so far – up to the age of 19. There’s a need for another tier to enable players to be ready for the first team since many aren’t ready at 19.
Looking back very few players are the finished article at 19. Only the very best fit in seamlessly at that age and they’re very rare. It’s a bit harsh to criticise the Academy set up when it’s the system itself that is at fault.