The sad state of North End's youth system

The disappointing reality at Preston North End is that precious few youngsters at the club are making it through to the first team.

Although a select few from last year's youth side including Dominic Collins, Danny Mayor and Tom Smyth have made the moderate step up to the reserve team, this is not an indication that the youth set up has been a blinding success.

North End's Director of Youth Football Dean Ramsdale is the man burdened with the responsibility of moulding the young players at the club into professionals who are ready to slot into first team.

Secret

His quest for knowledge recently took him to Ajax in Holland in an attempt to uncover the secret of why the Dutch youth system has been putting the English methodology to shame in modern times. His findings could not have been more damning:

“They follow what is called the TIPS system, it looks at the touch, intelligence, personality and strength of players,” Ramsdale explained.

“I was watching a game with an international scout on a Sunday and I was trying to write their team shape down and it is really difficult to do because people are interchanging between positions, it is good to watch,” he added.

Difficult

But perhaps the biggest challenge facing the coaches is the issue of lack of contact time with the youth side. Ramsdale explained:

“At Ajax the players are in contact with the coaches all the time, two and three sessions a day at every age group. At Preston we are fighting to get contact with players because we haven't got a facility that can cope with that.”