Hi guys, how you doing? Is Craig Vi here for another episode of Youth Watch. And it's the first one of the new season, let's say. The preseason has started. It's begun in earnest. And I know a lot of you have been asking, what's going on with the Academy? What's going on with the Youth Player? So here I am. I'm back. I'm here to give you an update. So very, very quickly, I'm going to talk you through what we're going to be talking about today. The first thing I'm going to talk about, the head, at the top of the show, is Marcus Edwards, the jewel in the crown of the Academy, more on that in a second. I also want to talk about Nia Kirby. Ooh, a little bit of bad news coming there. Then I'm going to talk a little bit about players that have been released and renewed. I'm going to talk to you about all of the players in the under 21s and the 18s, who we would either let go, or we've renewed their contracts. I'll touch a little bit on the euros under 19s for England. And then I want to talk a little bit about the seasons predictions for the under 21s and under 18s. So here we go with no further ado. Let's kick off with the story about Marcus Edwards. You will all be really pleased to hear, I'm sure. And some of you probably know already, which is a good thing, so I know you keep track on these things. Marcus Edwards has finally signed a contract. Yes, get in there. The jewel in the crown of the Academy has finally signed a two-year pro contract. He is bringing it, man. This is the time that we've all been waiting for. This is the Marcus Edwards time. Everyone has been sniffing around this kid. I've talked to you about it before. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City, jog on. All of these teams, they've been after him, by and unique. They've all been keeping tabs on this kid. And for a while, we were getting worried that he wasn't going to sign. He was looking like he was going to maybe jump ship and move to one of these other clubs. And if you went to a bar, so could you blame him? We have got an amazing academy here, but he wanted the promise of first team football, at least to be in and around the first team. And apparently that's what we're giving it. So it's a two-year pro contract with a verbal agreement that he will get game time and a squad number. I have that on very good authority. You won't see it on the club website. You won't hear a press release coming out from the club. But apparently they want to keep it on the wraps. Their policy anyway is not to really talk about the young players for obvious reasons. They don't want to hype. Hipe them up or put pressure on them. But with Marcus Edwards in particular, there is a real effort being made by the club to really keep a lid on things. They want to make sure and keep it low key. And that's what they're doing. So you will start to see Marcus Edwards he played against UV in our first preseason match. And you will start to see him playing some cup games being in and around the first team. This is really, really good news. And we're finally going to see whether he can cut it at the top level. He's only 18, but he's amazing. Okay, so that's Marcus Edwards. Moving on to more sad news, Naya Kirby. Some of you will remember, he was photographed training with the first team last season. A lot of people were like, who is this kid? I've never heard of him, Naya Kirby. And basically he was a very talented central midfield player. He came up from the under 15, started showing some real promise and to incentivize him and to reward him for his good performances and the technique that he was showing his good attitude. They allowed him to train with the first team. Brilliant, you're thinking. This kid is going to get some more chances at under 21 level. He was playing really nicely alongside Marcus Edwards. You were thinking that these are the future. Unfortunately not. He refused to sign a scholarship contract that we offer them and he's gone to Chelsea. I mean, Chelsea, come on. What are you doing, Naya Kirby? I just don't understand it. If you're a young player, surely you're at the best place you could be. A club where you're going to get opportunities to break into the first team. It's happening. You're seeing it happen in front of your eyes. Why haven't you chosen progression? If you haven't chosen progression, what have you chosen? That's my question to you. My worry is, money was involved. There, I've said it. I'm putting it out there. I don't really want to be saying it about a player like you, but you've got to ask the question, have you moved for money? Are you going to get into it in and around the Chelsea first team any time soon? I don't think so. Good luck to you, as all I can say. Moving on, then, let's talk a little bit about the Euros in England at under 19 levels. So we had Josh Anoma and Kyle Walker Peters both traveling. To be fair, they both played the majority of the game time during all of the matches. England did quite well. We got through to the semi-finals, where we lost against Italy. It was one of those performances in the end, really, where we should have done better, but we didn't. And from my perspective, and I know, and by as Josh Anoma was the best performer throughout the most consistent performer throughout for England, Kyle Walker Peters, Solid As Ever, both of these players are going to be in and around the first team again this season. I think Kyle Walker Peters will probably get a lone move somewhere. Josh Anoma, I think you'll see him play more and more getting more game time, certainly with all the games that we've got coming up this season. You already saw him in the Europa League last season against Borussia Dortmund. He is definitely, definitely going to be one that we're going to keep progressing through the first team ranks. And they both perform really, really well. Let's move on now to release and renew. So very quickly, I'll give you a rundown. Emmanuel Sennoupé for the under 21's has been released. Bit of a shame. Technically gifted player played on the wing, played on the right wing, ahead of Kyle Walker Peters. They had quite a good rapport going, if you ask me. Played a lot last season. Would he cut it really at the top level? I'm not sure. That's probably why we've moved him on. It was just sometimes these players get to this level. And then when you need him to kick on, they just don't. And I think that was the biggest thing for him. Sorry to see him go, but I hope you get to contract somewhere else. For under 18 level, we've let Charlie Hafer go. I think he's signed for QPR, or maybe it's Chris Paul. I'll have to check that one out for you and put it in the comments section. But Chris Paul and Charlie Hafer have opened release and both signed pro contracts elsewhere. And also, our Marnie Daily has been released as well. Renewed though. Let's bring it back to Renewed. These players have been given a scholarship contract of renewal, moving into their third years. Charlie Owens, Tom McDermott, the keeper, Ryan Loft, the striker, Joe Muscat, a left back, Zennan Stillion Eidis, all moved into their third year scholarship contracts. I think with these players, they're showing promise. They're definitely not the finished articles, none of them are in the academies. But they all need to be showing a little bit more. But there's obviously something there for the club in all of them that they can see potential. For some of them, I'm going to say, I think it's last chance to loom. I think they really need to step up this year. There's been quite a lot of players that are moving on. The likes of Kyle Walker Peters will probably go on loan, Connor Oglevie, Harry Winx is crying out for a loan move. Look, if you're not going to give him first team game time, it needs to be playing men's football. That's it. Most of these players, Dominic Ball, again, you saw him at Rangers last season. Look really composed. He needs a loan move. Camera Carter Vickers. I don't think we're going to loan him out. I think he's going to be cover for the centre backs. I think you will see him get some game time. But all of these players who've been solid for the under 21s for quite a few seasons now are going to be either moved on to loan moves, or they're just stepped up in their background youth football. So all of those players that I've mentioned have been renewed into their third year scholarships. It's time to step up, boys. It's time to make those positions your own. Make your case. This is it. This is your last chance. Philip Lesney at Coup played any under 21s central midfield in the last season. He has moved out. He's got a loan, a six month loan until January. He's moved to the Czech side Slovan Liberec, or Slovan Liberec. I don't know. I'm sure someone will correct me out there. So let's move on to the predictions for this season then. For the under 21s and the under 18s, I'm not going to talk about the under 16s. To be honest with you, I haven't seen enough of them to be able to tell you where they are. We've got some very promising young players in that group, but I haven't seen enough to give a prediction. The under 21s, I'm slightly concerned this season. I think it's going to be mixed. Like I mentioned to you before, a lot of the senior players have moved either into the development squad on the fringes of the first team. Or they're going to go out on loan. So we are talking about players like Christian Magoma, who is going to step up into the central defensive position left by Cameron Carter-Vickers, Anton Wawkes, who's out with the first team at the moment, with the senior squad out in Australia. You will see Anton Wawkes, I think, playing a centre back quite a bit more. He is, I've known him as a central midfield for most of his time during the academy. He will be playing, I think, alongside Magoma as a centre back. Tom Glover will probably start in goal. He had a shaky first season. We're looking for more from him apparently. Apparently, the world on the street is pot-racing very, very highly as one of the best prospects at the club. I don't know. He's a good keeper, whether he's a great keeper, time will tell. But I'm a bit worried. I think there are lots of players that are going to need to step up to the plate this season for the under 21s. And I'm not sure whether we're going to have enough to push on like we have been doing and really sort of challenge you be up there as one of the top teams this season. Moving on to the under 18s, though, this year, it's going to be strong, even without Nia Kirby, even without Mark Zedwoods, who will probably get a game or two for the under 18s. But he will most likely be in the under 21s team and in the scene, in and around the fringes of the development squad. But even to get all of that, we've still got players like Keenan Bennett's, Jaden Brown, Jaffit Tenganga, who will probably play for the under 21s quite a bit. Rio Griffiths from the under 15s will be coming up. Shiloh Tracy, Alfie Whiteman. I mean, Alfie Whiteman is a very, very good young prospect in goal, already very highly regarded by the England setup. Sam Shashoa, Kaziah Sterling, it's a very strong group of players this year. So I'm looking for big things from the under 18s and I'm really hoping that they sort of consolidate that team that they've got. They're all ballers, they're all going to step up to the plate and they're going to bring it this season. Let them be the future, then the under 21s can be mixed in with them and the under 16s can come through. So it's going to be mixed for the under 21s, it's going to be good for the under 18s. That's my predictions for the season. This has been Youth Watch. I'll bring more next time. Leave your comments in the sections below. Tell me what you think. Is there any young players you think I should be keeping an eye on? Is there any young players that you know about that have stepped up into the academy? Who do you think we should be looking to base ourselves on? Should we go for the high press game like the first thing that the senior team should all of our teams play in the same style? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. I'm Craig Vi and this is Youth Watch. It's the match review and we've lost unfortunately to you, Venus 21. We played them in Melbourne part of this. What is the name of the cup?