Adver News: Training at the Kop for Swindon Town starlet Stephens

[News Monkey]

Training at the Kop for Swindon Town starlet Stephens
           

  TOWN teenager Jamie Stephens will spend the whole of next week training with Premier League giants Liverpool.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/5026773.Training_at_the_Kop_for_Swindon_Town_starlet_Stephens/?ref=rss
           

[Oaksey Moonraker]

I heard this on Saturday and that this kid is very, very highly rated by George Wood the goalkeeping coach. Liverpool are very interested in signing him and are able to offer the specialist goalkeeping coaching that the kid will need to possibly reach the top. If he goes the deal will involve a fee and then subsequent fees dependent on appearances but also we get a cut of each subsequent transfer he makes in his career.

[Nemo]

Liverpool are a black hole for youngsters nowadays, he'd be very poorly advised to go there.

[RobertT]

You're basing your assumption on the lad/his parents believing playing football is a gift to be shared with the world, when the odds are usually stacked on it realling being the shed load of cash he could earn even if he got sold on after failing to break through at 22.

[Oaksey Moonraker]

Liverpool are a black hole for youngsters nowadays, he'd be very poorly advised to go there.

It's the old debate do you stay at a smaller club with a chance of first team football fairly soon in your career or go to a big club with an academy coaching structure. From what I am told George Wood rates him as the best keeper he has seen at that age and we just accept we can't offer him the amount of goalkeeping coaching that Liverpool can. We have a part time goalkeeping coach and they will have specialist coaches at academy, reserve level.

This might be more of a case where we would be standing in the way of his development and Fitton is making sure we are compensated adequately. A keeper would benefit more from specialist coaching than say an outfield player and if you look at a couple of the keepers Liverpool have let go they have still gone on to play in the Premier League e.g. Chris Kirkland & Scott Carson. If he get's bombed out at 21 he might have benefitted from good habits coached into him and then make his way through the leagues again

[santasdead]

Liverpool would be the worst move ever. They have very little coming through the youth ranks into the first team. Most of the youngsters they have coming through are bought on pre-contract agreements from abroad at 16.

Not much British coming through, apart from Spearing.

[Dazzza]

He would be mad to move to Liverpool at this stage in his career.  Their youth policy is slowly improving but in recent years it's not so much been a black hole more an abyss.

There reserve side is packed full of foreign players but unlike say Arsenal in recent years Liverpool  have taken a scatter gun approach and packed the side players that are never going to make the grade in the Premiership.  Brilliant to watch, some of the players are a incredibly skillfull but not suited for the pace and physical side of English football.

Good luck to him the experience is a fantastic one but he'd be far better getting experience at this level first.