LEICESTER TIGERS 2023/24 - Crocodile McKeller: Men at Work

[johnthegriff]

I doubt that Deano or for that matter MartinJohnson would have been happy about an organised parade shortly before a match when the team.are trying to focus on the job ahead.
There are people that get to the ground hours before kick off on the Crumbie side to secure their regular place on the terrace.

[Tigerbeat]

Who's ever there that early?!

You will be surprised….there are quite a few who are there 3 hours or more before kick off, waiting at the turnstiles or on the plaza area….lunching in The Brooklyn.
The players will have just had the pre-match brief and then into the ground.
In previous seasons they have had the team brief in one of the suites in the ground and then proceeded to the changing rooms. I would guess that they are trying to get the team and fans more engaged together

[TigerFeetSteve]

The problem with the "radio silence" approach is that in future people will produce a list of academy players promoted by teams & they will have no choice but to put us at Nil for this season, because we've announced nothing & added no players to the group publically.

Some won't care about that, but the people at other clubs who are looking to create narratives will use that against us.

Or have we announced nothing because we released every player? Should we as fans not be asking why no players from our U-18s who were third in the league have been kept on? That's the only thing we can see at the moment. Is that not repeating the mistakes of the past by not keeping that conveyor belt moving?

Agree 100% with all these points.

Think all of the following are at Tigers atm without having been announced

Archie Van De Flier
Charlie Myall
Jack Kinder
Richard Clift (some sort of share with Nottingham based on his Instagram)
Marcus Ramage
Elliot Gourlay

I've probably missed some that's off the top of my head...


Then we have the whole who has actually been released from last years senior academy.
So leavers list included Riley Williams, not Jed Walsh.
Yet the now twice (they have added some pics from the friendly this week now) updated squad list on the website has Riley Williams with us and Jed Walsh not.

There really is a big gap and I have list confidence it will be announced before competitive fixtures begin.

[TigerXV]

The problem with the "radio silence" approach is that in future people will produce a list of academy players promoted by teams & they will have no choice but to put us at Nil for this season, because we've announced nothing & added no players to the group publically.

Some won't care about that, but the people at other clubs who are looking to create narratives will use that against us.

Or have we announced nothing because we released every player? Should we as fans not be asking why no players from our U-18s who were third in the league have been kept on? That's the only thing we can see at the moment. Is that not repeating the mistakes of the past by not keeping that conveyor belt moving?

Agree 100% with all these points.

Think all of the following are at Tigers atm without having been announced

Archie Van De Flier
Charlie Myall
Jack Kinder
Richard Clift (some sort of share with Nottingham based on his Instagram)
Marcus Ramage
Elliot Gourlay

I've probably missed some that's off the top of my head...


Then we have the whole who has actually been released from last years senior academy.
So leavers list included Riley Williams, not Jed Walsh.
Yet the now twice (they have added some pics from the friendly this week now) updated squad list on the website has Riley Williams with us and Jed Walsh not.

There really is a big gap and I have list confidence it will be announced before competitive fixtures begin.

I would like to know what the squads are but it is not vital to me as a supporter. However much more worryingly I have spotted the result from the first U18 game of the proper season which is a horrific 75-5 loss to the old enemy Northampton. I can understand why the club haven't posted this but the score suggests our Academy system may have hit the buffers this season. Can anyone shed any light on this? lowlights available on YouTube SaintsTV

[johnthegriff]

I can't add light to the result but I can say that our Academy played well against Sale in the match preceding the pre season friendly against Nottingham. I suppose for the Saints game selection may have been influenced by players being away on holiday as it was just before the return to school, this of course would also affect Saints but I suppose it just depends on which players are unavailable and their importance to the team.

[TigerXV]

I can't add light to the result but I can say that our Academy played well against Sale in the match preceding the pre season friendly against Nottingham. I suppose for the Saints game selection may have been influenced by players being away on holiday as it was just before the return to school, this of course would also affect Saints but I suppose it just depends on which players are unavailable and their importance to the team.

I'd be surprised if they were on holiday - if I was in the club academy I'd bin the holiday with mum and dad to play against Saints! I do wonder whether we put some of our eligible U18s into the warm up game against Nottingham and maybe again against Caldy?

[sapajo]

Who's ever there that early?!

As the saying goes " time is money"

[johnthegriff]

Easy to say give up family holiday, anyone who has had an offspring involved in elite sport.knows howrah time and money the family give up, getting to training at least twice a week and to matches all over the country, difficult at the best of times.worse if you.haveore than one child involved in different sports. Leicester Academy training centres on Brooksby, was that even open during the.holidays? If the lads had stayed at home whilst.parents were away how would they have got to training etc without access.to a car.
I have no idea why they had such a bad result against Saints but I know I saw a decent young team against Sale and I am.not prepared to.write off.our Academy on one bad result.

[TigerFeetSteve]

Easy to say give up family holiday, anyone who has had an offspring involved in elite sport.knows howrah time and money the family give up, getting to training at least twice a week and to matches all over the country, difficult at the best of times.worse if you.haveore than one child involved in different sports. Leicester Academy training centres on Brooksby, was that even open during the.holidays? If the lads had stayed at home whilst.parents were away how would they have got to training etc without access.to a car.
I have no idea why they had such a bad result against Saints but I know I saw a decent young team against Sale and I am.not prepared to.write off.our Academy on one bad result.

They also lost narrowly to Leinster's academy just beforehand.

Younger players have peaks and troughs more and as not fully professional these are explained away easier.

Let's not forget that Saints Academy last year was one of only two Academy's to finish above us in the league (we finished 3rd). It is entirely possible that they have a bit of a golden generation.

What we have excelled at in the last few years is helping players make the transition from U18 success to senior squad success. Saints for example I don't think quite have that recent success rate that Tigers do

[sk 88]

The problem with the "radio silence" approach is that in future people will produce a list of academy players promoted by teams & they will have no choice but to put us at Nil for this season, because we've announced nothing & added no players to the group publically.

Some won't care about that, but the people at other clubs who are looking to create narratives will use that against us.

Or have we announced nothing because we released every player? Should we as fans not be asking why no players from our U-18s who were third in the league have been kept on? That's the only thing we can see at the moment. Is that not repeating the mistakes of the past by not keeping that conveyor belt moving?

Agree 100% with all these points.

Think all of the following are at Tigers atm without having been announced

Archie Van De Flier
Charlie Myall
Jack Kinder
Richard Clift (some sort of share with Nottingham based on his Instagram)
Marcus Ramage
Elliot Gourlay

I've probably missed some that's off the top of my head...


Then we have the whole who has actually been released from last years senior academy.
So leavers list included Riley Williams, not Jed Walsh.
Yet the now twice (they have added some pics from the friendly this week now) updated squad list on the website has Riley Williams with us and Jed Walsh not.

There really is a big gap and I have list confidence it will be announced before competitive fixtures begin.

I would like to know what the squads are but it is not vital to me as a supporter. However much more worryingly I have spotted the result from the first U18 game of the proper season which is a horrific 75-5 loss to the old enemy Northampton. I can understand why the club haven't posted this but the score suggests our Academy system may have hit the buffers this season. Can anyone shed any light on this? lowlights available on YouTube SaintsTV

Was very surprised by the result too, certainly suggests it's not a bumper crop. Some mitigation might be that it was the Saints U-18 coach of 10 years final two games, so I think he may well have been highly motivated to go out with a bang & his players would have been particularly motivated to win for him.

On a similar theme Tigers totally ignored the fixture never even releasing a team list, so it is tricky to look for availability or if we were deliberately picking young (which sometimes happens at this level).

A couple of years ago we put the full U-18s squad on the website with little bios and everything. Much more likely to make the players feel part of the club and on the pathway to professionalism.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The Crop of Tigers Mushrooms should be plentiful this year.

[Scott1]

The Crop of Tigers Mushrooms should be plentiful this year.

[TigerXV]

Agree 100% with all these points.

Think all of the following are at Tigers atm without having been announced

Archie Van De Flier
Charlie Myall
Jack Kinder
Richard Clift (some sort of share with Nottingham based on his Instagram)
Marcus Ramage
Elliot Gourlay

I've probably missed some that's off the top of my head...


Then we have the whole who has actually been released from last years senior academy.
So leavers list included Riley Williams, not Jed Walsh.
Yet the now twice (they have added some pics from the friendly this week now) updated squad list on the website has Riley Williams with us and Jed Walsh not.

There really is a big gap and I have list confidence it will be announced before competitive fixtures begin.

I would like to know what the squads are but it is not vital to me as a supporter. However much more worryingly I have spotted the result from the first U18 game of the proper season which is a horrific 75-5 loss to the old enemy Northampton. I can understand why the club haven't posted this but the score suggests our Academy system may have hit the buffers this season. Can anyone shed any light on this? lowlights available on YouTube SaintsTV

Was very surprised by the result too, certainly suggests it's not a bumper crop. Some mitigation might be that it was the Saints U-18 coach of 10 years final two games, so I think he may well have been highly motivated to go out with a bang & his players would have been particularly motivated to win for him.

On a similar theme Tigers totally ignored the fixture never even releasing a team list, so it is tricky to look for availability or if we were deliberately picking young (which sometimes happens at this level).

A couple of years ago we put the full U-18s squad on the website with little bios and everything. Much more likely to make the players feel part of the club and on the pathway to professionalism.

All the comments about availability, Saints coaching and which end of the U18 age range were played are valid points. I guess we also appear (and I can only say appear) to have a fairly full senior academy which is the way when a talented bunch come through so perhaps the need to push through more is limited for the next season or so. That said I still think the score line warranted raised eyebrows but lets see how the next few games go before getting seriously worried - I probably went off the deep end with my original comment as it was Saints!

Its a pity the junior academy players have dropped off the web site but it could equally be argued that the carrot should be dangled at that age and that they should be told no one gets up on the site until you've earned your stripes and got into the senior academy. I hope they at least tell us when the games are as if I can I like to go along to watch - having watched the last 4/5 years crop come through its nice to know you've spotted them from the touchlines as real prospects. However I know Premiership football clubs generally keep all under 18 players very much under the radar as far as websites and PR are concerned (unless they are outstanding and they have no option) - you have to be seriously interested in your Football to find out anything about young players even at school boy international level.

[wormus]

I agree, we should by now have been given full details of our men's and Senior Academy squads, it was intimated that we would have this information when training recommenced but here we are two days prior to the first serious match of the season and we have not been told. Of course if you want details of the Women's team just look at the news pages on the website, where is Gary Sherrard when you need him? Why on earth did we part company with someone so good at his job?

I agree totally with Johnthegriff and RunTigerrun as the total lack of team squad and club information since we lost the excellent services of Gary Sherrard is like having an orchestra without a conductor. So many times the news items are either very late, wrong or meaningless. This is a First class club with no one on the baton!

[sapajo]

I agree, we should by now have been given full details of our men's and Senior Academy squads, it was intimated that we would have this information when training recommenced but here we are two days prior to the first serious match of the season and we have not been told. Of course if you want details of the Women's team just look at the news pages on the website, where is Gary Sherrard when you need him? Why on earth did we part company with someone so good at his job?

I agree totally with Johnthegriff and RunTigerrun as the total lack of team squad and club information since we lost the excellent services of Gary Sherrard is like having an orchestra without a conductor. So many times the news items are either very late, wrong or meaningless. This is a First class club with no one on the baton!

The idea that Tigers sacking Gary Sherrard is like having an orchestra without a conductor is a fallacy. Fact is the club is the sole conductor of its business, always has been and always shall be. Fact is Tigers decided to cease his employment , these things happen change is permanent and the club moves on.