Had the game been more of a convincing win, Blues might have seen the debuts from the latest off the Wast Hills production line with three Academy alumni on the bench.
And with manager Chris Davies confirming that Paik Seung-Ho, Tomoki Iwata and Willum Willumsson have all joined the growing casualty list at Blues, it’s likely we may see more of the younger players in the coming few weeks.
Byron Pendleton made the news last week having signed a new three year deal with the club, while Josh Home spent the first half of the season on loan at Gateshead United of the National League.
They were joined on the bench by Zaid Betteka who has had quite a busy few days recently.
Betteka made his first team debut for Blues against Lincoln City in the FA Cup on Saturday and then played 90 minutes for the under 21s in their 3-2 victory over Rugby Borough in the Birmingham Senior Cup on Monday night.
All of this points to a healthy pathway from the Academy to the First Team, bringing fresh blood, depth and potential to the squad.
However, like most things in football the pathway is a little bit more complicated than it looks.
With Blues going through a metamorphosis from the shell of a club it was under the previous regime, things are changing rapidly for the Academy pathway too.
If they’re good enough they’re old enough
One of the oldest cliches in football is that if a player is good enough to play, then their age doesn’t come into the equation.
For a team that has seen generational talents such as Trevor Francis and Jude Bellingham burst into the first team at the age of 16, it definitely feels like that statement rings true.
However, while we have seen the debut of Zaid Betteka this season, it’s also been painfully obvious that there has been less reliance on Academy products than previous seasons.
According to FBref, as of last night only four Academy alumni in the current squad have played first team minutes for Blues this season.
Two of those players – Brandon Khela (6 appearances, 129 minutes) and Josh Williams (1 appearance, 13 minutes) – are out on loan, while Alfie Chang (19 minutes) and Zaid Betteka’s (5 minutes) substitute appearances against Lincoln are the only other minutes gained by Academy players and alumni this season.
However the aforementioned Pendleton and Home are not the only alumni to make the Blues bench this season without playing; George Hall, Brad Mayo and Cody Pennington have all also made the bench this season while I understand that Frank Tattum has also been given a squad number.
This all gives rise to the idea that the pathway from the Academy to the first team doesn’t seem as clear right now and has lent criticism from some quarters about the failure to use players the club have developed themselves.
The hard-nosed pragmatists among us will point out that there is no sentimentality in football; that Davies and his staff will be under huge pressure to get Blues promoted back to the Championship at the first attempt and as such Blues have to make sure they rack up as many wins as possible as quickly as possible.
A quick look through results from the u21 and u18 teams this season doesn’t make for pretty reading either.
Both teams have taken some horrendous tankings this season and on the surface it doesn’t paint a great picture for the future of some of the players we have at those levels.
Yet despite this it is important that Blues do continue to use Academy alumni games in their squad.
EFL Rule 34.11 states that:
Club Developed Players. Subject to Regulation 34.12, for League Matches which take place after the submission of the Club’s Squad List following the closure of the Summer Transfer Window, each Club shall be required to nominate at least one Club Developed Player on either the Squad List, or on the Team Sheet for all League Matches (including Play Off Matches). Where a Club does not name a Club Developed Player on either it’s Squad List or Team Sheet, the Club will only be permitted to name up to eight (Championship) or six (League One and Two) substitutes on the Team Sheet (rather than the nine (Championship) or seven (League One an Two) as permitted by Regulation 34.4).
Now, like anything with the EFL this is not easy to interpret.
Firstly, the EFL helpfully do not list which players in each squad list are “Club Developed”, leaving me to do the best job I can at guessing on my squad spreadsheet using my interpretation of the rules.
As per the EFL regulation definitions, a Club Developed player is a player who has been with the club for at least 12 months before the end of their age 19 season.
With my spreadsheet in hand, it hasn’t take me long to find games this season where Blues did not have one player that could count as a “Club Developed” player in the matchday squad.
As Blues have not gone into a game with six subs, it would be logical to then go with the assumption that Blues fulfilled the criteria by having a “Club Developed” player in the squad supplied to the EFL.
Unfortunately, using the squad on the EFL page I can’t see any players that fulfil that criteria in the overage squad.
This leaves us with a couple of possibilities.
Firstly, as I’ve said before, I do not believe that the squad on the EFL page is up to date for the simple reason it has Tyler Roberts as part of our squad, when he is on loan at Northampton Town.
There are two players who could have been put into that squad who would both have been overage and would fulfil the club developed criteria – Josh Williams and Alfie Chang.
As Williams made one substitute appearance for the club before departing on loan I think it’s likely he was named in that squad list; once he departed I think it’s probable that he was replaced by Alfie Chang who was coming back to fitness at that time.
On the other hand, it wouldn’t be an EFL rule if there wasn’t an exemption, and this leads me to possibility two.
Under Rule 34.12, if the club have sold two club developed players and received a fee or compensation for them and they went to a higher division and they were under 24, then the rule above doesn’t apply.
I’m stretching a bit here, but it’s possible that the sale of Jordan James to Stade Rennais and the move of Trevan Sanusi to Newcastle United might count as the two departures under that rule.
Either way, it’s not as clear as it could be how Blues have complied with that rule – and it shows the importance to Blues that more players come through the Academy.
The step up is huge
Another cliché around football is how the step up from Academy football and reserve team football to the first team is a really big one to make.
As someone who has seen a fair amount of youth football over the years, it’s a cliché I actually believe.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of players I’ve seen at u21 level who have instantly convinced me that they were going to make it big as a player – and as I’ve got older and more jaded it seems harder than ever for players to make that step up.
One way to make a judgement call on how players are progressing on the pathway is the loan system.
However, this too isn’t as simple to dissect as it seems.
For example, Josh Home made just two sub appearances on loan at Conference club Gateshead. Yet within a week of being recalled to Blues, he’s been given a place on the bench in the Vertu Trophy.
In comparison, Brandon Khela who has made six first team appearances has yet to figure for Bradford City of League Two following his move to the Bantams at the start of the month.
Injury can derail a promising career too; George Hall looked like he was finding his rhythm at Walsall in his loan spell at Bescot until another hamstring injury has ruled him out for the forseeable future.
Promising centre-back Tommy Fogarty looked at one point to be on his way back from Dunfermline as he was unable to force his way into regular minutes; however things in football can change quickly and now Fogarty has found himself a regular starter at East End Park.
Loans can also put players into difficult situations.
Romelle Donovan returned home early from his loan spell at Burton Albion with conflicting stories as to what happened.
It’s clear something wasn’t right and that either Donovan, Burton or both were not happy with the way things were and it’s left the youngster in a tricky position.
Due to the rules about the number of teams a player can play for in one season, the club and the player both have to make a decision whether he will be best served moving out on loan again or trying to fight for his place at the club.
There have also been players who have wanted to go out on loan to get first team football who have been refused because they’re seen as cover for the first team squad despite getting zero minutes.
This is where I think Blues really have to up their game.
As it stands, Martin O’Connor is on his own as Loan Manager and I believe needs much more support to build the rapport and connections needed to get the best loans for Blues players.
If Blues are to make this part of the pathway the best it can be, then it’s imperative that the club minimises the risks of what could go wrong in a temporary transfer for a player.
The Mental Barrier
I’ve long held that for young players, the hardest barrier of all to break in making their career is the mental barrier.
As hard as the physical and technical challenges are to making a career in first team football, the factor that seems to set successful players apart from those that fall away is having the mental strength to cope with all that football can throw at them.
Right now, Romelle Donovan is a really good example of this.
In many ways, I have sympathy for Donovan. He’s still only 18 years old yet he’s got burdens upon his shoulders that many adults would struggle with.
Not only does he have to deal with the expectation that he will fulfil his apparently boundless talent, but he also has to deal with the difficult transition from teenager years to adulthood at the same time.
I can just about remember being 18 years old.
I know that I did some stupid things, that I acted like a dickhead more often than not and that I struggled to cope with ordinary life let alone being in the public eye.
I can’t imagine how I would have been able to remain a committed athlete with the sort of wages even a young player can earn and with all the temptations out there.
I certainly can’t imagine how I would cope with all that without a strong support network around me.
Thus I really do understand why Chris Davies has made reference to this and to trying to do the best for Donovan.
When I look at the success of Jude Bellingham, it seems obvious to me that this was down to some really strong mental factors.
Even as a 16-year-old, Bellingham displayed a mature attitude to being around the team.
One only has to look at the strength of his parents Mark and Denise to understand how Bellingham was able to keep his feet on the ground despite the utter shitshow of a club around him.
Mentality is more than just coping with pressure too; it’s about coping with knockbacks and adversity.
I’ve heard stories from a few sources about how hard Davies is on young players in training; how it clearly takes time for him to trust young players even on the training pitch to be involved.
From the outside that might be seen as sociopathic tendencies but I’ve come to the personal conclusion that it’s smart man management.
If a young player throws his toys out the pram because he can’t immediately get involved, is that not an indicator that his mentality isn’t up to snuff?
And if a player grits his teeth and bears the difficult start, does it not show that they’ve got the mental strength to handle what might come their way?
Likewise, if a player finds themselves back in the 21s after a few training sessions with the first team and continues to train hard, does it not show that they have the right attitude to succeed?
Without being present on the training pitch I can’t know for sure what is happening but I’d like to believe that Davies is doing what he feels is necessary to toughen up those on the pathway for their career.
Make no mistake, the pathway of players from the Academy to the First Team is vital for the club’s future.
Having a production line of players not only ensures that the team have extra strength and depth, but also can help ensure that the club can meet financial fair play rules through player sales.
With the Category 1 audit almost upon the Academy there is a lot of focus on how far that has come and if it can take its place among the best in the country.
It’s just as important now we get the pathway right to help convince more and more talent to be part of the project.