Sunderland's Academy in Focus: Inside crucial recruitment and appointment plans amid a lost generation and delving deep into the 'pathway' question

The seismic changes behind the scenes at Sunderland AFC in recent weeks will be felt throughout the club and the academy is no different.

A board meeting, heated on various subjects, in early June, led to the decision to seek a change in direction at Academy Manager level.

Both the club’s statement at the time, and the subsequent remarks from CEO Jim Rodwell, stressed Reid’s achievements in maintaining the club’s Category One status.

There has also been, however, a tacit recognition that the talent drain is something that has to be stopped.

The departure of Richard Hill, the key link to Donald (himself no longer chairman) for all financial decisions with regards to football, is also going to have an impact.

There is, quite simply, a major amount of rebuilding to be done in the academy and given the events of the previous two years, it is both a major opportunity and also a cause for concern.

In the current climate, progress has been slow and that has left many with reservations about what is to come next.

A critical appointment

The first step this summer looks set to be the appointment of a new Academy Manager.

Sunderland have been running a recruitment process in line with rules set out under the EPPP plan, with a swift decision clearly key.

The Echo spoke to sources outside of the club who said that the next appointment would be one that many will be paying close attention to.

Given the departures and difficulties in the previous two years, it will be seen as something of a litmus test as to whether there is a genuine desire for change and progress.

It will also serve as a test of the recent changing of the guard when it comes to decision making. Is there genuine autonomy or does the influence of the ownership still dominate?

Senior club sources have indicated a recognition that the new manager will need to be experienced in academy football, an area that was lacking when Reid, formerly Donald’s head of recruitment at Eastleigh, was appointed to the role in the spring of 2018.

There is also a recognition that the role is one with such demands that a permanent presence on Wearside is absolutely essential. Indeed, this was part of the job advert posted by the club earlier this month.

This is another area where improvement is needed, particularly given how much of the games programme in the lower age groups takes place on a weekend.

This is a vital chance to build relationships and this another key task for the new appointment.

It goes back to Sunderland and the question of their USP.

Sunderland’s Academy in Focus Part One: Inside two years of player departures and why they happened

Right now, it’s not about finances and so it has to be about offering an environment that players and their parents do not want to leave.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the wider picture at the academy in light of the numerous departures, it is a key appointment and potentially a defining one.

As one academy source told The Echo: ”The main thing [needed from a new appointment] is to establish and build a pathway for players instead of selling them on the cheap and young, which is devaluing the tremendous history, staff and work that goes on in the building.

“There’s things that need doing in the short term for the longer term importance of the academy from staffing to the environment and the focus generally.

The next appointment has to have the expertise of long-term development and a want for continuity at the club, someone who has an understanding and has been a part of successfully developing players.”

Clearly, that also requires support at boardroom level and this above all else is the key.

A new appointment will make little difference unless the desire to retain players and maximise their future value comes right from the top.

A slow start to a pivotal summer of recruitment

There is a significant rebuild ahead at first-team level this summer, and even greater one required in the U18 and U23 teams.

Perhaps unsurprisingly after the torrid campaign for both, there have been a significant number of players released from both.

Of those who were offered new deals, Jordan Hunter has opted to pursue first-team football at South Shields and it seems certain that Benji Kimpioka will move elsewhere, too.

In fairness, that is an impasse that has stood for some time.

Kimpioka’s camp have insisted that his U23 days are over and that he will not sign unless he is made a first-team squad member.

From what they have seen so far, Sunderland are unconvinced.

All of which leaves a need for investment and significant reinforcements, yet progress has been slow and Sunderland appear to be losing ground on other clubs.

The situation is complicated given that there is no return date for the youth team games (clubs throughout the lower leagues have been reluctant to commit to first-team contracts in the current climate, never mind within their lower age groups), but some of the bigger Premier League clubs are recruiting and will soon begin training again.

On Wearside, Ged McNamee, who returned to the set-up earlier this year as the new head of recruitment, has been on furlough leave alongside a significant number of the club’s staff.

His other recruitment staff have also been on furlough.

As such, a number of deals that some progress had been made on have not travelled any further.

There was interest in the Hartlepool United pair Josh Hawkes and Kenton Richardson, who are currently free agents.

Sunderland’s Academy in Focus Part Two: Inside Bali Mumba’s controversial sale and the questions it raised

The Echo understands that the club have also been keen on a deal for former Burnley striker Will Harris, who had a trial at the club earlier in the season.

While the recruitment staff have been on furlough, however, no deals have been sealed and staff are still waiting for the green light to press ahead with the rebuilding job.

The list of targets is already beginning to shorten as other clubs begin to make their moves.

The Echo knows of one player who had been expecting and preparing to hold talks with the Black Cats, but amid the uncertainty has agreed a deal elsewhere.

Former Liverpool player Niall Brookwell was a midfielder on the shortlist compiled by academy staff for the summer, but he has now joined Newcastle United.

Whether he would have opted to move to Wearside, we’ll never know, with Burnley and Crystal Palace (both of whom have recently been upgraded to Category One status) also interested, but in the end the Black Cats were never at the table.

Another, talented Manchester United defender Ben Hockenhull, has now joined Brentford B.

Brentford shut down their academy in 2016, citing the unfairness of the EPPP system and the ease with which big Premier League clubs could pick off the best talent for a relative pittance.

Their alternative method has had impressive results in getting players into the first-team environment.

That has led to some understandable concern behind the scenes, with one staff member saying: “There’s a current concern with the lack of depth and quality. There’s been no reinvestment from the club and it’s been left without the vision that’s needed and warranted with the past results and player development plans that no longer get discussed or developed.

“There’s no recognition of the value and importance of the academy and how it could be an even bigger asset to the club for the future.”

The critical pathway

One of the key issues raised when it comes to players weighing up their future on Wearside is that of the first-team pathway.

Put simply: Is it strong enough?

Some who have moved on felt it wasn’t and did not think that was going to change in the near future. This is an issue because while Sunderland are in League One, that should be a central part of their USP.

In his departing remarks, Reid cited a stat that during his tenure, Sunderland achieved a 100% rate of having two academy graduates in their matchday squads, against an industry average of 68%.

Yet this quite only told part of the story, given that George Honeyman, Josh Maja and Lynden Gooch were already part of the first-team squad before relegation.

Since then, there has only really been Denver Hume who has broken through and had a sustained run in the side.

Even then, Hume benefited from the faith of Jack Ross and also the fact that during the early stage of the season when he had some very difficult afternoons, Sunderland essentially had no alternative.

Ross and his staff, particularly assistant James Fowler, were popular figures throughout the academy and numerous sources have cited their willingness to go above and beyond to make academy players, their parents and representatives aware that their progress was being noted and watched.

Ross would regularly have younger players join his group or take part in bounce games.

There is a sense that Sunderland missed a rebuilding opportunity in the summer of 2018, with the youthful squad that faced Charlton Athletic slowly giving way to a more experienced group.

Clearly, it is harder to prioritise youth at a club where the need for promotion is essential.

This is a process also not helped, for example, when a 100-point target is set out in the run-up to a campaign.

Is that the best way and environment in which to blood, for example, Ethan Robson and Elliot Embleton?

All of which means what should be a major selling point in terms of recruiting players, ends up being not quite so much.

As one former player put it: “Sunderland is such a big club and has such big expectations and because they have a bigger budget they can afford to get more experienced players.

“If you had more examples of players in and around the first team and playing regularly, then it does help the academy.

“It spurs people on and sometimes, when you have a hungry, younger player who wants to prove himself and do well for the club, it's a good thing and would benefit the team."

The player felt that generally, the fact that the first team were not quite hitting the heights meant that experienced professionals would always get the nod given the pressure staff were under.

Phil Parkinson, it must be said, would counter that by saying that he will give Embleton a chance to impress in pre-season, alongside Jack Diamond and Brandon Taylor, providing the latter signs a new deal as expected.

Like Ross, his staff have always been present at home games and one former academy player told The Echo they do feel there is attention paid to their progress.

“He never misses an U23 game, and knowing that he's always watching - it's always good. If you had a good game, you'd be rewarded, whether that was being in his match day squad or training with the first team during the week.

“You did get your rewards. If the first-team were performing at a level that enabled young players to get their chance then I'm sure Phil Parkinson would give that.

"But at the end of the day, you've got to be good enough as well. You have to show that and know you won't just walk into the first-team."

One area where major lessons have been learned

One area where some progress has undoubtedly been made is in exposing better academy players to senior football earlier via the loan system.

This was a major problem towards the end of Sunderland’s Premier League spell and the subsequent descent into League One.

Speaking to The Echo last month, Ethan Robson ‘spoke of the holding pattern’ he found himself in for much of his Black Cats career.

He would be relatively close to the first-team picture, but always an injury or two away from the squad, which then lead to managers denying him the chance to get valuable exposure elsewhere.

He was indebted to Ross for allowing him to do so, giving him a much better chance of breaking through (and more importantly, a much better chance of finding a club now) even if in the end, that didn’t quite happen.

That, too, raises some pathway questions, given the steady influx of midfielders at first-team throughout the last two years, as we have already reflected on in the case of Bali Mumba.

“If anyone in the academy was to ask me for advice, I’d tell them to get out on loan as early as they can and get that experience,” Robson said.

“I was always in that position where I wouldn’t be playing but I’d be in the squad if there was one injury.

“I was so often in and around it, but never playing.

“That halted things in terms of the loans.

“If I could have got out on loan earlier, I think I’d have benefited hugely.”

Under Kevin Ball’s watch, Elliot Embleton has had a hugely successful loan at Grimsby Town and Jack Diamond has thrived in the National League at Harrogate Town. How both now fare and what opportunities they get will be both fascinating to watch and hugely instructive.

With regards to pathway, then, there is much to ponder.

Firstly, there is the concern over the lack of a clear philosophy that connects the first team to the rest of the academy, something that has been completely muddled by the constant churn of managers at first-team level over the years.

While most managers have paid attention to the academy, watching games and bringing players into squads and training groups, those players find themselves back at square one when the cycle begins again.

As Robson explained: “For any player that’s tough but I think for any player in the academy, I think you’ve got to prove yourself that bit more to get the opportunity.

“You think you’re in the plans, that you’re in and about it, then the manager gets sacked and you’ve got to do it all over again.

“It’s happened a few times and it’s been tough for a few of us.”

In turn, the pressure and spectre of change makes it harder for managers to be bold in picking young talent, rather than recruiting in experience from elsewhere.

There is a stark contrast, for example, with Norwich City, where the plan to blood and persist with youngsters no matter what was spelled out from the top. They stuck with it, and the head coach, even when results initially suffered as a result.

Moving forward, there is the simple and pressing fear that as a result of the departures from the previous years, there is simply not going to be the quality in the U18 and U23 groups to even make it a major point of discussion.

Final thoughts

Sunderland, then, will likely have a healthy academy presence in their squad next season, even if there are doubts about just how prominent they will be when it comes to the manager’s starting XI.

The issue is not the current generation, which Reid’s statistic showed has been a success, but the next.

A generation has been lost to the U18 and U23 sides, with the long-term repercussions of that perhaps still to be felt.

The main concern is that at this stage, the issues with retaining talent and the strength of the upper age groups could worsen in the coming months, rather than improve.

Unless there is change and investment, the damage will only extend even further into the future.

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