Academy challenges, plans and crucial decision – Reid
The consequences of Sunderland’s relegation to League One have been farreaching and the club’s academy, an immense source of pride in recent years, has been no exception.
It’s an area of the club that has inevitably suffered as the struggle soft he first team have filtered down.
The Black Cats have found themselves struggling to compete with the top Premier League clubs when it comes to recruiting players in the upper age groups, and are vulnerable to losing their best players before they are able to offer professional contract sat the age of 17.
To that end, this week’s decision from the Premier League to again award the academy category one status is a major boost.
It does not, of course, alleviate entirely any of the major issues.
What it does ensure, however, is that Sunderland are as protected as they can be and it also offers a vindication that the coaching processes and programmes in place are of an elite standard.
Sunderland continue to produce players catching the eye of the very best in the country.
The auditing process required the club to produce a 400-page plan outlining their vision and programme, which was then stringently tested in a visit from the Premier League.
The club had initially failed their previous audit three years ago, but on this occasion they passed first time and were credited with having achieved a significant improvement.
That serves as a reminder that investment, particularly in the upper age groups, was a challenge and concern pre dating the current regime, and moving forward, the latest verdict protects vital funding for the club, as Academy Director Paul Reid this week explained.
“Going down to category two or three, you lose staffing which clearly affects the programme that you’re trying to implement,” he said.
“It has a big impact on playersleaving the club, in terms of voluntarily or when big clubs come in, you get a vastly reduced compensation package because of our lesser status.
“Recruitment wise, you would obviously struggle when you have two category one academies either side of you in Newcastle or Middlesbrough.
“The games programme would be different, and that’s a big draw for parents when we can say we’re playing against other category one academies, there’s a prestige in playing these teams.”
The issue of compensation and player departures has been a thorny issue of late.
16-year-old Logan Pye recently became the latest player to leave the club at an age where Sunderland are facing major issues.
He has joined Manchester United and over the last 18 months, there have been similarinstances of players joining the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Under the Elite Player Performance Plan, the process in which the current category system was set up, the levels of compensation are set by the Premier League.
The challenge for the club losing a player is to try and then secure the best deal possible, often meaning securing sell-on or future appearance clauses.
This is not an issue exclusive to Sunderland, but it has been exacerbated by the quality of player they are producing and their status as a League One club.
The perception and criticism levelled at Sunderland under the current regime is that they have been too content to allow that process to happen.
Reid says there is a realism about where Sunderland find themselves, and that the money raised can be of benefit to the club, but rejects suggestions they have not fought to keep their best talent.
He also rejects any suggestion that the club have been the architect of the moves.
“The first thing to say is that rarely is it the [other] club approaching me that is the first time I’ ve heard about an offer ,” he said.
“Often agents will get involved and tell me these details before clubs make official contact.
“Once that happens, we sit down with the parents. The player can then speak to the club, and start talking about the personal terms the player would possibly sign.
“There is a set compensation structure in place that sets out exactly what we’re entitled to.
“We will always negotiate that and try and get the best deal for the football club, but there isn’t too much room for manoeuvre given that those levels are set out by the Premier League.
“As I mentioned, an advantageof Category One is that you get the highest level [of compensation].
“We’ve had conversations with the parents to map out how we see their pathway over the next five years, offered professional contract sassoon as we’re able that are very competitive for where we are right now.
“It’s certainly not a case of actively trying to lose players, it’s the exact opposite.
“It’s a constant challenge,” he added.
“Again, it’s a consequence of where the club has found itself.
“We’ve got strategies in place to keep our high-potential players. Some have been receptive to that, some haven’t.
“It’s certainly not a case of us sitting waiting for offers to come in, or us actively trying to seek these offers.
“We’re approached by agents who are facilitating these deals, and at that point the player has a decision to make.
“At no point am I able to tie those players down to a professional contract.
“We have alerts and spreadsheets to say at what point is the earliest time to offer these players professional contracts, we’ve done that, so anyone who leaves this club, I’ m confident we can say we’ ve done everything we can.
“We try and create an environment where they want to stay, but sometimes they want to take that opportunity.”