Help nuturing that young gem!!

[Glasgowboy83]

Does anyone have a tried and tested routine for training that 16 year old with a high potential??

For example I have a regen in my Celtic under 19s with 6 stars on his potential on assistant reports.

Should I immediately put him on a first team training regime as he has a full time contract?

Should I let him learn from a first team regular. If so, which of the three in the "learn from player" selection should I choose?

When should I put him in the reserves??

When should I send him out on loan??

Anyone with anymore information it would be very much appreciated.

Also I have top training and youth facilities.

[viola29]

Until he's 18, leave him be in the under 19 squad to learn his trade. When he turns 18, bring him into the first team squad and give him a few games, the first few being from the bench. After a season, offer him out on loan or farm him to your feeder club, but make sure his ability far outweighs the rest of the other team so that he'll definetely start regularly. By the time he comes back he sould be about 19/20, which is when you should ask him to learn from a player of a similiar position and they share similar mental attributes. He should now be ready to feature regularly in your team.

[Dose]

Personally i try to get youngsters playing first team football asap.

My subs bench is normally made up of 2-3 promising youngsters in there early 20s with the rest being 17-18 yo, as soon as i get 3-0 up i get 3 of them on the pitch for as many minutes as possible.

League cup is also a great way to get them some starts, as well as the last 2 champions league group games, presuming ofc you've qualified.

I use tugs training which does a great job, post 9.3 ive done what i can to get at least 5 star coaches for all the training areas.

once they hit 23-24 and the coach report says there playing at full potential theyll either go into the first team and the player they replace gets sold ( hopefully for a tidy profit ) or if there not up to standard i sell them off cheap with a hefty sell on clause and a cheap buy back price.

[Glasgowboy83]

Thanks guys, food for thought there. I'll give them both a wee bash and see what happens. Anyone other ideas will be greatfully appreciated.

[bigwills88]

Managing as Val di Sangro in the Italian lower divisions I've often had to resort to using youngsters due to injury problems. One thing I've noticed is at that age it's all about confidence. In my second season I was challenging for a play-off position to get into Serie B and had a massive shortage of players in defence. I had to put my faith in a 17 year old right back who had never even played a reserve game and had no technical stat above 8. Before every game I assured him that he was under no pressure and for half-time and full-time team talks I'd always lavish him with praise, even if he had an average game. He played the last 4 league games, got an average rating of about 7.2 and managed 2 assists with some beautiful passing from his own half. He kept his place in our successful play-off games and is first choice in Serie B despite barely looking like a reserve player.

So, my advice is if you have to play your youths DO NOT put any pressure on them and make sure they know you're pleased with them. I've not had the opportunity to work with any kids with much potential but I'm sure it's a similar case. I'd say keep your prospects with you until at least 19/20 to avoid AI managers destroying their morale, then if they are still progressing but not in your first team plans then send them out to a team who has a manager with good motivation, man management and youth attributes.