Hull City academy boss Billy Russell confident of holding on to new stars
HULL City academy manager Billy Russell is confident the club is now producing enough young players capable of breaking into the first team.
And he is hopeful the Tigers can hold on to emerging stars going forward, despite the impending introduction of football's new Elite Player Performance Plan, which will make it easier for Premier League sides to poach players.
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Billy Russell and Neil Mann.
Six graduates – Tom Cairney, Liam Cooper, Mark Cullen, Sonny Bradley, Danny East and Jamie Devitt – all played for the Tigers during 2011-12, while Danny Emerton and Joe Cracknell also made it is far as the substitutes' bench.
Russell says that is evidence of the club making great strides in its youth development, and insists the club is confident of much more to come.
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"We have made giant strides as a football club in the last decade, but we know we always have to keep improving," Russell told the Mail.
"It's not all about facilities. It's about people."
Speaking in an extensive interview in today's Game On, Russell says it is important youth players at the club win international call-ups, as defender Max Clark has done recently with England under-16s and under-17s, and see a route to first-team football is available.
"We're going to have a new board here naming all the boys who have come through the Centre of Excellence and gone on to play in the first-team," he said.
"It'll be a case of 'Who's next?' for all the boys here and that's a great challenge for them."
Comments
by SnothillBaz
Saturday, October 13 2012, 11:59AM
“Nice to see the hard work of Brown/Horton is paying off with some of these youngsters coming through. Most of the credit to those two for setting up the academy, raising the profile of the club, and attracting some giften youngsters to come to Hull City.”
by Gavhun76
Saturday, October 13 2012, 10:20AM
“Much better recent introductions from Youth Team to Full Team than the Dolan years..... Fewings and Gordon!”
by dbrj
Saturday, October 13 2012, 10:16AM
“mark cullen???? your having a laugh, cant trap a ball, cant pass a ball, cant read a game, and most importantly, for a striker, cant score a goal.no wonder he's been loaned out under the last 4 managers, that shows how much they rate him, so come on take him off your list, then he can join north ferriby like city flops do.”
by adolfo
Saturday, October 13 2012, 9:13AM
“Its has taken Billy Russell a long time to get to the position where the Tigers are with the youth set up, and the players mentioned in the article are a good indication of the progress that has been achieved. The next bunch of players will however be the best, some of the skills displayed by the younger ones are unbelievable, and it is amazing how the Tigers have kept them now!...If allowed to grow and play for the first team,the Tigers will either have/retain some excellent players or earn money for the club in the best way possible.”