retired_statusquo

I'm playing as Celtic in 2018, but before that I was with Dumbarton for over ten seasons. The only reason I left Dumbarton was because, although I'd got into the top half of the SPL consistently, I couldn't afford to buy players to make the next step up and I couldn't seem to develop decent youth players of my own. In those ten seasons, I only had ONE player who made it into the first team, and then he broke his leg and went out for 8 months..

Now I'm with Celtic though, I've got state of the art youth facilities and plenty of cash to bring in talented youngsters with - I just don't know how to spot those talented youngsters.

Do you just rely on scout reports or is there something I should be looking for in their stats? I believed that a good athlete could be trained into a good footballer, so looking for excellent physical stats is a must.. but then I saw people posting about "he has good physical stats to be a winger" and that has just confused me even more.

I'm also confused about just HOW to train them - keep them in the U19s until they're 19, then stick them in the reserves or the first team if they're good enough? Or should I be putting them into the first team before then? How often? How will I know they're ready?

It's very confusing. If there's a thread about this already, sorry.

Any help appreciated

retired_weeha

I trust scout reports like a bible

retired_walks2train

It depends. When your key players are injured or banned, it's a natural chance for youngsters, just like IRL. If you see a young player doing well in training, reward him with a first team match when possible. I try to play a youth or two in dead wood matches. In order to progress they need match practice. Even if a player's stats are miserable, you might have a chance to sell him, but only if he plays in the first team. On the other hand your team is expected to win now and then, which is hard if it contains of 15-year-olds. So your job is to strike a perfect balance. Pick up the most promising kids and let them play once in a while. Look at their stats to decide which is more ready for real football. Any player, young or not, is better when match fit than when severely lacking match practice.

Hope this helps a bit.

psychodad13th

Yeah, the scouts are pretty much always right about a player's potential ability.

I myself tend to keep the young talents in my youth team until they are about 18, to build up their physique and possibly have them tutored by a suitable member of the first team. Now this isn't so easy to figure out, as the young player may pick up good as well as poor characteristics from his tutor. The tutor should be mentally strong with high determination etc. as his protegé's mental characteristics will be molded after his teacher if the learning experience goes well. In other words, his mental (including the hidden) attributes may increase or decrease depending on the tutor. They should also be similar types of players and play in the same position.

The young player may also pick up the tutor's favored moves. This isn't nessesarily a good thing either. "Runs with the ball" is a good move if the player has good technique, can dribble and is quick. If he's slow with poor technique it's a poor prefered move for him to have as he'll often fail and lose possesion. Likewise you obviously want players with "shoots from distance" to be able to shoot well.

At around 18, depending on their ability, you might want to start introducing the best to your first team. I usually prefer to loan out the players at this point however, if I don't think they will get enough matches in my first team, which is a must for them to develop well. The team you loan out to should preferably have good training facilities and coaches, but more importantly, he has to get enough first team action. Always negotiate a "can be recalled" clause if he's not getting into the first team. It's also better for a player's development to get action at a higher level.

Decent young players who probably won't ever make it into your first eleven should also be loaned out, as this makes it easier to sell them for profit later on.

retired_kellyk

tis one of the hardest things to do really, I've had sporadic success bringing my youth in, but its hard finding the right balance between success and development