Everton's Academy is our Foundation

I would prefer if we looked towards Spain for top coaches for our youngsters.

The biggest problem we have as I see it is the amount and quality of coaches that has been with us this far.

Ray Hall was the one who saved us, but now except for Alan Irvine I think we need to invest more money into the quality aspect of our youth system.

If you look at Arsenal and United they have perfected their youth system, but we have stood still for many years in that department.

Hopefully RM will find out that he needs better coaches and scouts to be able to perfeect the youth system at place here.

Once the facilities came there should have been a large upgrade in the quality of coaching and scouting towards our youth players.

I think the fact that we have Alan Stubbs as our U-21 manager speaks volumes. Coaches brought based on old history with the club, not actual talent in coaching is a very bad way to go about it.

I accept Duncan Ferguson belongs inside the club because he is a striker legend, but David Weir and ALan Stubbs I think was a waste.

We hardly hear talk of top youth coaches, why is that? Ajax has only top coaches in their youth policy, so why are we not following that example.

We need to study succesful clubs like Ajax further, that is where we can gain an upper hand in the PL.

It seems there needs to be a culture change somehow, and I think RM is the right one to bring it.

So far what RM represents in youth work David Moyes has things to learn.

I think we need to give RM at least 3 years before we can really say if he has made a change for the better or nor.

Based on league placings alone so far I think there is little difference to pick out, but it is about so much more then that.

A structure needs to be put up, just as Ajax have and only then will we become truly great at developing youngsters.

Yeah, the guy was great with the young lads wasn't he. Always willing to give them a chance...with 20 seconds to go.

The cheek of the arrogant prick.

No it was Moyes who gave Rooney his debut, I think it was the start of the 2002-03 season.

I remember he played against Spurs in the first game of the season and set up a Pembridge goal. Moyes gave him plenty of opportunities which resulted in him becoming the youngest player to play for England in a competitive game. Moyes gave many other 16- and 17-year-olds their chance including James Vaughan who still holds the record for the youngest Premier League goalscorer, so lets give the man some credit and try not to ignore the facts.

Rooney was born in Oct 1985 I think, which made him 15½ when Walter left the club.

And for a club not as flush with cash; it's even more important that we have a top youth academy who can bring (and more importantly, spot) the best and brightest of our young talent.

Furthermore we need to show these young players that with Everton there is a good track record of Academy products being brought through to the first team to inspire them - hence the importance of examples such as Barkey, Ossie, Rooney et al.

Jimmy I don't know where to start on your post mate. On the one hand you've criticised the club for employing former players like Stubbs, Weir and Unsworth, and then said that we should be following Ajax's lead who.......employ all their former players as coaches: Bergkamp, Frank De Boer, Ronald de Boer.

I don't see how United have perfected their youth system. They had their one golden generation which was ages ago and since then their best product has only just broken into the team at West Ham. Who have been their big names? Welbeck? Cleverly? Not a patch on Rooney Barkley and Rodwell.

Likewise Arsenal didn't produce a player of note until very recently. I'm not talking about players like Fabregas they bought from others and spent a bit of time in the reserves until they made the first team Off the top of my head I can only think of Wilshere and Gibbs, the latter of which is only decent, as any players of note who have made it into the first team.

Other players such as Oxlade Chamberlain, Jenkinson, Walcott, and Januzaj for United were bought from elsewhere. That would be like counting Coleman and Stones as ours. Our academy seems to be doing fine. Now and then it throws off a potential world class talent and all anyone does is moan about why there aren't more of them as though we have La Masia on our hands but because Stubbs and Weir are there we're not getting a Messi every year. Who is? Who was the last class academy player Liverpool brought through (not those bought from others such as Sterling), Tottenham? Man City? Chelsea? Newcastle have managed to rear one donk in about two decades (who has also found his way to West Ham). Where are all of Villa's world class academy products? They are all looking on in envy at what we're producing. There's some exceptions such as what West Ham used to produce (not any more though) and perhaps their modern day equivalent Southampton (although it should be noted they have the almost the entirety of the South coast to choose from largely uncontested whilst we have three of the biggest clubs in the world right on our doorstep)

Harry Charsley, midfielder — I've seen this lad play a few times but he didn’t stand out to me at first as he was being played as a forward midfielder; however, the last few times I have seen him he has been in more of a central role and looks pretty good in that position.

Gethin Jones, who is down as a midfielder on the Everton website, has been playing as a right wing back for the U18s and has blistering pace, good on the ball, can see a pass, impresses me when I have watched him in the U18s and U21s.

In the U21s, the guy that stands out to me just (as he did when he was playing for the U18s) is Matthew Pennington; he could be a real star in the future... great engine, great footballer.

Tyias Browning, how fast is he, great defender England star very soon.

I'm watching the U21s play Blackburn later today: 7pm kick off at Ewood Park and may get to see some new starters with a few away on international duties, George has told me he may get to start so I'm looking forward to that. It will be a nice boost for him just before he goes away with England U18s. So if you have a free evening, get along to Ewood Park tonight and cheer the Young Blues on — a good night out for a fiver.

Arrived at Easter Road a couple of minutes after kickoff, and tried to spot a 16-year old kid in a blue shirt, but was surprised to see this lad built as a boxer who was running the show for Everton, and it took me some time to realize that this was the little kid I've been reading about.

Not a pretty match though, 2-2 I think, and Unsworth (?) equalizing on a penalty.

PS: James (255), good point about Southampton, they have potential. I was quite impressed with them in the away match last year, thought we were lucky to get the draw then.

I think we are definitely up there in the top 3 clubs in England for producing good quality youngsters over the past 10-15 years. Some players might not quite be Premier League standard. We seem to have a batch of players every couple of seasons that can play at a decent level and then every 3 or 4 years we produce a player who is good enough for the first team and usually good enough to play for England. It's not bad going. Certainly nothing to complain about.

Not many players have come through but that's due to the scouting range of the scouts being world wide.

You can't put 6 local lads in the side and expect it to compete, so the numbers are probably on par for the rest of the prem.

As for being our foundation? Maybe, when Rooney pays off the banks and others have helped bring in reinforcements. Kone anyone?

So actually no. Not our foundation, that will be Sky money for a considerable future.

Give the boys an ongoing and relevant education; decent accommodation at a family club and convince them we have a record of giving youth a chance.

Surely RM has the right contacts to bring in a couple of REAL quality people who can do the job and keep our record going and indeed improving.

Sorry guys, on my soap box but I really feel this is so important to EFC to improve an already good academy.

Okay they're ex-Everton players, but I can't say that having Stubbs as an Under-21 coach inspires me much, I might be doing the guy a disservice, I don't know.

Play in the Premier League now relies more on skill than physicality so I would prefer a coach who was that sort of a player, not your typical British player of years gone by!

Their physical development will be overseen by specialists in that area but they will still be miles away from properly understanding football at a high standard professional level.

This is where Stubbs comes in and I believe it's an area where he excels. Unsworth also has the necessary attributes.

When Lundstram played a blinder several weeks ago, it was not his skills which impressed. It was his new found mental maturity. " He had suddenly grown up," observed Stubbs.

At that moment I decided that we had the right coach in the right place. He knows the game inside out and is very hard to please. Also, being very big on experience, he is continually trying to get promising youngsters a loan spell at a club where they are likely to get regular games.

OK, we might get the odd genius like Rooney who shoots straight to the top, but most lads get there gradually and our Academy is a great place for them to start.