Post by Roller on Apr 18, 2015 8:58:25 GMT
I doubt that many QPR supporters needed Les Ferdinand’s recent interview to remind them that not one single player has emerged from our youth academy to play a significant number of matches for the club since Richard Langley was given his debut by Gerry Francis way back in 1998. The academy has been shamefully ignored by a succession of managers who, under increasing pressure for results, have focused solely on the first team. The shock appearance of Michael Doughty on the pitch against Sunderland rapidly followed by first team debuts for Darnell Furlong and Reece Grego-Cox, and an increasing number of our other youth players making the substitutes’ bench, is a substantial and very welcome change of philosophy at a club where the tendency in recent seasons has been to throw yet more money at the same old problem. Although this has been partly dictated by circumstances, new head coach, Chris Ramsey, must take an enormous amount of credit for his willingness to promote the best players from the academy into the first team.
Thanks to our media department I was given the opportunity to go along to Harlington to talk to three of the beneficiaries of Ramsey’s brave new world and observed what I would suggest to anyone is the main rule to follow under such circumstance, ensure that Clive Whittingham is going on the same day. The three players, Darnell Furlong, Reece Grego-Cox and Frankie Sutherland may only have made a handful of first team appearances between them but are all well established at the club.
Furlong was signed by QPR after impressing in an Under 11 trial game featuring players from Sunday League teams. As might be expected bearing in mind who his father is, he initially played as a striker but was converted into a right back, via a berth in central midfield, by the academy coaches as they assessed the strengths of his game. Furlong was familiar with Loftus Road long before he signed. He grew up watching his father play for Rangers and, of course, has very fond memories of the play-off semi final second leg against Oldham which he describes as “a crazy moment”.
Grego-Cox’s career was rescued by academy scout Terry O’Sullivan. His frustration at Brentford’s reluctance to make good their promise of a contract eventually resulted in him quitting their development programme and football. After a year out of the sport, O’Sullivan persuaded him to play a season for his local team, Bedfont Eagles, where he proceeded to smash their all time goal scoring record, before signing for QPR as an Under-14, brimming with confidence and with “a smile back on my face”.
Understandably Frankie Sutherland feels like he has been at Loftus Road all his life. A couple of years senior to the other two, he attracted the club’s attention while playing for Ruislip Rangers and was smartly signed up and the tender age of nine. Now 21 he is a veteran of a number of loan deals, the obligatory ACL injury and that storming pre-season goal against Udinese.
Sutherland’s loan moves could not have been more disparate. A change of strategy at Portsmouth almost immediately after his arrival restricted him to just one substitute appearance and a very frustrating spell on the south coast and his subsequent loan move to Leyton Orient, which promised much more, was cruelly cut short when he ruptured his ACL just over half an hour into his debut. Sutherland enjoyed a far more productive two months at AFC Wimbledon, the highlight of which was a particularly sweet goal away at Portsmouth.
Regardless of how the various spells turned out, Sutherland values each of those experiences and learnt from the different styles of play, different managers, different tactics and different pressures that playing competitive matches bring. In discussing his spell at AFC Wimbledon, which followed his ACL injury, he revealed “I felt it was a good opportunity to go down there and start my league experience again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got chucked in the deep end, started straight away and to see that side of football compared to the 21s really opens your eyes up. I think my first start was York away, cold, rainy, the game may have been called off for a waterlogged pitch, that was a definite wake up call. It was a good experience, and then to come back here and realise how lucky as players we are to have such good facilities and although Loftus Road isn’t as big as some of the bigger clubs it is still a fantastic stadium, it is somewhere I’ve been all my life really, but the staff around, the fans coming to away games, we are really lucky so I’m glad I did go and got to see the other side of it.”
It could be argued that both Furlong and Grego-Cox have overtaken Sutherland, but as Furlong modestly states, it is down to opportunity. “I got my chance because Isla and Onouha were both injured so the only right back here was me, so it was either me or someone who doesn’t usually play there who’d probably do just as good a job because they’ve been in the first team game along time”. Furlong refreshingly admits to feeling nervous before his debut but approached it, when Ramsey broke the good news to him, with a typically level headed attitude: “I didn’t know for definite [that I was playing] until the dressing room, I knew that there was a chance, when we were doing team shape in training and things like that but I didn’t know until we got there, I think that was more so that I could stay relaxed until the game, but after that I was really nervous but I just tried to go out and have a good warm up and just do everything the same as I’d done before.”
Grego-Cox was also thoughtfully treated leading up to his debut: “The day before I knew I was involved in the squad, the day of the game I found out I was on the bench, it was only in the last few minutes that I got called up”, and then with just a few minutes remaining in the match, with his mum, an avid QPR fan, watching on, he was told to “just go out and have a little jog and when I came back I sat on the bench again for a minute or so he said you’re going on”. He barely had any time to make any impact in that match, but got a longer run out in the following match: “I didn’t really get much of the ball against Tottenham, but when I came on against Crystal Palace, 15 minutes or however long it was, I felt comfortable, I wasn’t really feeling nervous, I was feeling more excited, and the adrenaline just hit me and when I got a couple of touches of the ball I felt comfortable”.
All three are enjoying training with the first team squad, particularly noting the increased intensity, and, of course, greatly benefit from the experience and encouragement of the senior professionals:
RGC: “Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips, they are probably the two main players always boosting me up, telling me if I make a mistake don’t worry about it.”
FS: “You’ve got the likes of Rio Ferdinand ex Man United one of the top English centre halves, defensively I think a lot of the lads are in awe of him ..... for me personally, Joey, his intensity every day, that is something that I aspire to.”
Darnell is no stranger to receiving advice from a seasoned old pro but feels no additional pressure from having a father who is a cult hero at QPR as that is all he has ever known, but he is appreciative of the advice he has received over the years: “If there are scenarios where I could have done anything better then he will tell me but he won’t tell me in a way that is going to make me go into my shell or anything like that, just in a constructive kind of way which I’m very grateful that I’ve got”.
and are in complete accord as to who to thank for their opportunities:
RGC: “As soon as Chris Ramsey came in, he said straight away to the youth squad, 21s, you are all in contention, if you’re playing and training as well as the first team then why not and he told us from day one, from that moment on I just thought we’ve all got a chance so I thought I had an opportunity.”
DF: “Ever since Chris has come in you could see a pathway to the first team and obviously with a couple of us being able to play the other boys can see it and that is what they want so they are just trying even harder to get there. In the squad there are more players starting to be on the bench and more players in the squad not quite making the bench, it is better than it has been for a long time because the players are actually able to see it and it makes them even more hungry.”
FS: “With Redknapp leaving and then Chris coming in as manager and Les being here all of a sudden this has become a fantastic opportunity to develop and hopefully play for QPR for many years, maybe six months ago that wasn’t the case so obviously you have to keep working hard and hopefully something will happen.”
I’d wholeheartedly agree with their assessments, they all spoke eloquently about a significant change of culture at the club emanating from the manager and the increased optimism in the various youth squads. Whatever happens during the remainder of this Premier League season I urge the club to stand behind Chris Ramsey, he is starting to recreate the club I fell in love with. But I think I’ll leave the last word to Frankie: “I think there is light at the end of the tunnel now”.
Many thanks not only to Messrs Furlong, Grego-Cox and Sutherland, but also to Ian Taylor and Paul Morrissey for organising the opportunity, and to Andy Watkins who has probably never had an easier afternoon’s work, the players were refreshingly open and did not shy away from any question asked. And of course Clive.
Thanks to our media department I was given the opportunity to go along to Harlington to talk to three of the beneficiaries of Ramsey’s brave new world and observed what I would suggest to anyone is the main rule to follow under such circumstance, ensure that Clive Whittingham is going on the same day. The three players, Darnell Furlong, Reece Grego-Cox and Frankie Sutherland may only have made a handful of first team appearances between them but are all well established at the club.
Furlong was signed by QPR after impressing in an Under 11 trial game featuring players from Sunday League teams. As might be expected bearing in mind who his father is, he initially played as a striker but was converted into a right back, via a berth in central midfield, by the academy coaches as they assessed the strengths of his game. Furlong was familiar with Loftus Road long before he signed. He grew up watching his father play for Rangers and, of course, has very fond memories of the play-off semi final second leg against Oldham which he describes as “a crazy moment”.
Grego-Cox’s career was rescued by academy scout Terry O’Sullivan. His frustration at Brentford’s reluctance to make good their promise of a contract eventually resulted in him quitting their development programme and football. After a year out of the sport, O’Sullivan persuaded him to play a season for his local team, Bedfont Eagles, where he proceeded to smash their all time goal scoring record, before signing for QPR as an Under-14, brimming with confidence and with “a smile back on my face”.
Understandably Frankie Sutherland feels like he has been at Loftus Road all his life. A couple of years senior to the other two, he attracted the club’s attention while playing for Ruislip Rangers and was smartly signed up and the tender age of nine. Now 21 he is a veteran of a number of loan deals, the obligatory ACL injury and that storming pre-season goal against Udinese.
Sutherland’s loan moves could not have been more disparate. A change of strategy at Portsmouth almost immediately after his arrival restricted him to just one substitute appearance and a very frustrating spell on the south coast and his subsequent loan move to Leyton Orient, which promised much more, was cruelly cut short when he ruptured his ACL just over half an hour into his debut. Sutherland enjoyed a far more productive two months at AFC Wimbledon, the highlight of which was a particularly sweet goal away at Portsmouth.
Regardless of how the various spells turned out, Sutherland values each of those experiences and learnt from the different styles of play, different managers, different tactics and different pressures that playing competitive matches bring. In discussing his spell at AFC Wimbledon, which followed his ACL injury, he revealed “I felt it was a good opportunity to go down there and start my league experience again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got chucked in the deep end, started straight away and to see that side of football compared to the 21s really opens your eyes up. I think my first start was York away, cold, rainy, the game may have been called off for a waterlogged pitch, that was a definite wake up call. It was a good experience, and then to come back here and realise how lucky as players we are to have such good facilities and although Loftus Road isn’t as big as some of the bigger clubs it is still a fantastic stadium, it is somewhere I’ve been all my life really, but the staff around, the fans coming to away games, we are really lucky so I’m glad I did go and got to see the other side of it.”
It could be argued that both Furlong and Grego-Cox have overtaken Sutherland, but as Furlong modestly states, it is down to opportunity. “I got my chance because Isla and Onouha were both injured so the only right back here was me, so it was either me or someone who doesn’t usually play there who’d probably do just as good a job because they’ve been in the first team game along time”. Furlong refreshingly admits to feeling nervous before his debut but approached it, when Ramsey broke the good news to him, with a typically level headed attitude: “I didn’t know for definite [that I was playing] until the dressing room, I knew that there was a chance, when we were doing team shape in training and things like that but I didn’t know until we got there, I think that was more so that I could stay relaxed until the game, but after that I was really nervous but I just tried to go out and have a good warm up and just do everything the same as I’d done before.”
Grego-Cox was also thoughtfully treated leading up to his debut: “The day before I knew I was involved in the squad, the day of the game I found out I was on the bench, it was only in the last few minutes that I got called up”, and then with just a few minutes remaining in the match, with his mum, an avid QPR fan, watching on, he was told to “just go out and have a little jog and when I came back I sat on the bench again for a minute or so he said you’re going on”. He barely had any time to make any impact in that match, but got a longer run out in the following match: “I didn’t really get much of the ball against Tottenham, but when I came on against Crystal Palace, 15 minutes or however long it was, I felt comfortable, I wasn’t really feeling nervous, I was feeling more excited, and the adrenaline just hit me and when I got a couple of touches of the ball I felt comfortable”.
All three are enjoying training with the first team squad, particularly noting the increased intensity, and, of course, greatly benefit from the experience and encouragement of the senior professionals:
RGC: “Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips, they are probably the two main players always boosting me up, telling me if I make a mistake don’t worry about it.”
FS: “You’ve got the likes of Rio Ferdinand ex Man United one of the top English centre halves, defensively I think a lot of the lads are in awe of him ..... for me personally, Joey, his intensity every day, that is something that I aspire to.”
Darnell is no stranger to receiving advice from a seasoned old pro but feels no additional pressure from having a father who is a cult hero at QPR as that is all he has ever known, but he is appreciative of the advice he has received over the years: “If there are scenarios where I could have done anything better then he will tell me but he won’t tell me in a way that is going to make me go into my shell or anything like that, just in a constructive kind of way which I’m very grateful that I’ve got”.
and are in complete accord as to who to thank for their opportunities:
RGC: “As soon as Chris Ramsey came in, he said straight away to the youth squad, 21s, you are all in contention, if you’re playing and training as well as the first team then why not and he told us from day one, from that moment on I just thought we’ve all got a chance so I thought I had an opportunity.”
DF: “Ever since Chris has come in you could see a pathway to the first team and obviously with a couple of us being able to play the other boys can see it and that is what they want so they are just trying even harder to get there. In the squad there are more players starting to be on the bench and more players in the squad not quite making the bench, it is better than it has been for a long time because the players are actually able to see it and it makes them even more hungry.”
FS: “With Redknapp leaving and then Chris coming in as manager and Les being here all of a sudden this has become a fantastic opportunity to develop and hopefully play for QPR for many years, maybe six months ago that wasn’t the case so obviously you have to keep working hard and hopefully something will happen.”
I’d wholeheartedly agree with their assessments, they all spoke eloquently about a significant change of culture at the club emanating from the manager and the increased optimism in the various youth squads. Whatever happens during the remainder of this Premier League season I urge the club to stand behind Chris Ramsey, he is starting to recreate the club I fell in love with. But I think I’ll leave the last word to Frankie: “I think there is light at the end of the tunnel now”.
Many thanks not only to Messrs Furlong, Grego-Cox and Sutherland, but also to Ian Taylor and Paul Morrissey for organising the opportunity, and to Andy Watkins who has probably never had an easier afternoon’s work, the players were refreshingly open and did not shy away from any question asked. And of course Clive.