Williams lets the CAT out of bag on vision for future
IT has been a tumultuous few months for Birmingham City’s youth set-up. On December 7, 2020 the club’s board rocked the academy to its foundations with a statement that threw its very being into doubt.
While its greatest ever product was making headlines across the continent and fulfilling predictions of a bright future, closer to home the outlook was wreathed in uncertainty.
The coaches who had helped develop Jude Bellingham, the players who hoped to follow in his footsteps and, most importantly, all the parents of those ambitious youngsters were suddenly worried there might be no Birmingham City academy.
Thankfully the outrage was instant and the climbdown was swift and by the summer Blues had done a complete volte face and Category 1 status had been attained, placing the set-up in the same competitions as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
And now, the task of steadying the ship and steering it into calmer waters lies with Paul Williams, a former professional with clubs such as Derby and Coventry and – following his retirement – a man who helped the likes of Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse and Calum Chambers come through Southampton’s system.
Williams was appointed academy director in August and in his first interview since says he knows he has to restore confidence in Blues’ youth setup, while simultaneously spearheading its development.
If that’s a huge task, the brief is relatively straightforward. “Craig (Gardner, technical director) has made it clear we need players to get to our first team,” Williams tells the Post.
“I am excited – this is not a PR stunt – I am excited over the next couple of
years to see what comes through. That’s going to be down to the players’ commitment and the work of the staff in the academy.
“The massive word throughout our academy now is ‘accountability’, that the pathway is seamless for the players who have shown the endeavour. We have to make sure they get the right tools to give the manager a selection problem in the first team.”
Making that a lot harder is the fact Blues have some very large tanks parked on their lawns.
Villa have gone into a new stratosphere with their academy, West Brom have a tradition of excellence and Wolves have been a growing force for the last few years.
Youngsters
and parents are not short of choices in the West Midlands but Williams sees a way through.
“Recruitment is going to be challenging, I accept that.
“I think our USP over other academies is we are not spending lots of money on first-team players. We have got to be the best coaches we can be and make sure this is an environment to grow and players can see a pathway to the first team.
“It’s very similar to Southampton, when all those players came through, finding that extra one per cent in other areas is going to make us better.
“You can go and cherry-pick all the best boys but there are no guarantees they are going to make it. We can only bank that our environment will be up there in terms of coaching, sports science, safeguarding and all the other areas.
“We won’t spend a lot of money on players but that shows our commitment to the players in the building.
“We may be looking in different areas, where players maybe have challenges, but it’s for us to deal with and for us to make sure we give them an environment where they can develop.
“We have got to take a holistic view, it takes a lot to become a professional footballer, there are lots of nutrients, in terms of their career, that players need. We have got to be different from the rest.
“If we can say to a parent ‘We have put three or four players into the first team’, that’s where they want their sons to be. They know the money will come after that.
“I can honestly say the vision is to get as many players in the Football League
but, primarily,
get a chunk of our first team in the coming years to be players that are home-grown.”
An academy director could work 25/8 but the most valuable nutrient of all is provided by the man at the top of the footballing pyramid – the firstteam head coach.
In Lee Bowyer they have one who has shown himself to be more than receptive to young players. Alfie Chang, Marcel Oakley and Remi Walker regularly train with the first team, while the likes of Nico Gordon, Mitch Roberts and Tate Campbell have all seen senior game-time,
“Lee has been fantastic,” Williams says. “But, for me, it’s about making sure the players who do go up there are at a level where the manager can’t drop them or leave them out of his squad.
“As a Cat 1 we have got to aim for Premier League standards and if we get a couple of Premier League-standard players with some Championship ones we will have done very well.”
Progress has been made but Williams accepts there is still plenty more to come and bridges to be built after last year’s jolt. Statements like that create a vulnerability and it takes a long time to heal those scars.
“The message for me as academy director is ‘Sorry for that statement’ and to try and build that trust again,’’ he added. “For parents it must have been so hard but we have got to build trust now, communicate with parents with clarity. The owners are 100% committed to the academy, going Cat 1 shows that. The way forward is to get players through and they are fully behind it. They have assured me that statement won’t be made again, the Cat 1 shows they are willing to amend what went before.”
And so intensifies the work of finding the next teenager to unleash first on the Championship – and then hopefully world football.