Author: Staff Writer

The man who discovered the likes of Jack Wilshere, Sanchez Watt, Cedric Evina and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has quit Arsenal, Young Guns can exclusively reveal.

Sean O’Connor, Arsenal’s Head of Academy scouting has walked away from the club with ‘in house politics’ behind blamed for the decision. Sean has been with the Gunners for over 10 years, undertaking his role on a part-time basis until last term when he became full-time at Hale End.

The first group of players scouted and signed by Sean included Paul Rodgers and Rene Steer who have recently been released. The second wave is currently one of the most successful in recent history with the Under 18’s scooping the domestic ‘double’ last year. His vast range of contacts among outfits around the country and within school sides in North London is impeccable and there is no doubt Arsenal will struggle to replace such a man.

O’Connor is believed to be negotiating a release settlement due to the recent batch of Under 17’s signing scholarship terms. His reputation speaks for itself and Sean will surely be missed by all at Arsenal.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Håvard Nordtveit is currently taking the Bundesliga by storm with his latest loan club, Nürnberg, and his superb performances in Germany are not going unnoticed by manager Arsène Wenger.

The Frenchman is known to make regular checks on all his loan stars and Nordtveit is no exception. The centre back is currently training with Norway’s Under 21’s but in his last fixture – against Stuttgart – Wenger requested a DVD of the game to study the Norwegian. Håvard’s task to impress was made more difficult by the fact he was deployed in an unfamiliar defensive midfield position, operating in a 4-1-4-1-system. But clearly this challenge didn’t faze the youngster who received much praise from the German media.

“Arsenal want to put me under pressure to see what I can do. They are always searching for the highest level for me.”

“I played the whole game and got good praise from the critics, even though I had to run a great deal more than I am used to as a centre back. We did very well to gain a point.”

After watching the match, Wenger called the 19-year-old to offer his congratulations on the performance. Håvard was unwilling to reveal the details of the conversation but the delight that the Frenchman expressed to the defensive protégé was apparent.

“It was a very nice message to receive from Arsenal after the match against Stuttgart. It’s good to know that Arsène Wenger has seen the game on DVD. That’s not the worst message to get!”

Nordtveit will complete the remainder of the Bundesliga season with Nürnberg before returning to Arsenal in the summer.

Article By – J.Sanderson

In a week where the signing of young players has been in the spotlight, summer signing Jamie Edge is a prime example of how the signing of starlets under the age of 18 is a good thing.

The Gunners have shelled out around £100,000 up front for the 6 foot 1 inch powerhouse – who celebrated his 16th birthday yesterday. Under proposed new rules, UEFA President Michel Platini would like to ban such transfers from going through despite the benefits both Arsenal and his previous employers Cheltenham are enjoying.

Arsenal are happy because they have secured the services of one of the most promising midfielders in the country. Edge has been tipped for big things and has already turned in a handful of eye catching performances for Steve Bould’s all conquering Under 18 side.

Jamie is happy because he is developing in such a way that he would never have been able to at Cheltenham. He is in a more professional enviroment surrounded by players of equal ability where he can learn in the right enviroment and become a better player. He has also had the chance to meet his idol Steve Gerrard – as pictured above.

Most importantly and significantly, Cheltenham Town have benefited. Chairman Paul Baker, while disappointed he has lost an exciting and precocious talent, he describes the transfer as ‘excellent’. Arsenal conducted themselves in the correct way, treating this deal as any other instead of Chelsea’s attitude of believing that because a player is young they should cost nothing.

The money is extremely helpful for such a club. The Robins will now be able to plow some of the money into their Academy system and develop a whole new squad of players, while some will be used to fund first-team transfers and pay wages at a club which was days away from going into administration and were offered a £100,000 loan by the local Council.

If done in the correct way, Jamie Edge proves exactly why Under 18 transfers must continue.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Young Guns’ search for the next blogging sensation is over. A month long search saw a giant list of hopefuls trimmed down to seven Semi-Finalists, then three Finalists. Last month readers had the opportunity to sample a piece of work from each of the Finalists, and then vote for your winner. The results are in.

I’d firstly like to say a huge thank you for everybody who voted. There were exactly 300 votes, and the winner scooped 198 of them (66%). Second place drew 78 votes (26%) and third 24 (8%).

So what has the winner won? – A 10 article long contract – with the possibility of a full-time slot should they impress. They will also receive a share of money earned in adverts over the time they write for us. You will be able to see the first work from the winner within the next week. Click the link below to find out who won.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Arsenal are set to cancel their partnership with Spanish Segunda outfit UD Salamanca and explore alternative routes following the treatment of Brazillian wing-back Pedro Botelho last season.

The 19-year-old is currently spending the final year of his loan spell with former link side Celta Vigo, after several arguments erupted due to Botelho’s behavior. However, whilst the youngster has admitted he made mistakes, assistant manager Fran Albert has been accused of black mailing Pedro into handing over money after his partners car was broken into. Arsenal Official Richard Law was furious to learn of this, and immediately withdrew the player.

The Gunners have been considering their options over the summer and with no players being sent to the Union over the transfer window, the writing is on the wall. Indeed, Arsenal have previously shown their ruthless side with link clubs as Celta discovered over the Carlos Vela fiasco. After promising they would loan the Mexican, they signed too many non E.U players and were unable to add Vela to their ranks. Yet now Arsenal may rekindle that relationship which was initially setup by David Dein, as they now boast Salamanca’s Sporting Director Miguel Torrecilla – a man who is close to Arsène Wenger.

The coming weeks should see further talks and meetings between both parties, but it seems the treatment of both Håvard Nordtveit and the aforementioned Botelho will prompt Arsenal to call time on the arrangement.

Article By – J.Sanderson

After the reserves trouncing of the Blues on Tuesday night the U18s were under a little pressure to produce another reassuring display from the Arsenal and they didn’t disappoint as Steve Boulds team grabbed a well earned victory.

Steve Bould was without the Dutch international Oguzhan Ozyakup, so Conor Henderson despite picking up an injury in the previous game against Leeds dropped back in to a holding role. With Sead Hajrovic also away with the Swiss team, Bould named a young bench, and handed a first call-up to young hopeful Reice Charles-Cook.

Chuks Aneke and Benik Afobe both slotted back in to the team after their international trip, whilst Ignasi Miquel made his first appearance of the season for the u18s.

Shea
Byles – Boateng – Miquel – Evina (c)
Aneke – Yennaris – Henderson
Deacon – Afobe – Freeman

Arsenal took a little while to get going and it wasn’t until the 45 minute they found the back of the net. Afobe opened his account for the season with a fine finish and placed Arsenal in the driving seat.

Arsenals second came from the man of the moment Roarie Deacon on the hour mark. If some people thought Jermaine Defoe was on fire then Deacon has spontaneously combusted scoring five goals in five appearances.

Twelve minutes later Arsenal made sure of the result as Freeman who was playing in a wide left position to compensate the return of Afobe was able to take advantage of his new position and give Arsenal a deserved 3-0 lead. The nippy forward has certainly started the season in scintillating form.

Jakub Hronec pulled a goal back for Birmingham late on and although it meant Arsenal are still yet to keep a clean sheet it was too little too late for the Blues.

Arsenal’s next game is away to Leicester who are also undefeated this season, beating Sunderland, destroying Norwich and outplaying Liverpool on their own turf with a comprehensive 3-0 victory. It should be a good test for Steve Bould’s men.

Article By – Nick Love

He’s regarded as one of the most exciting players in the Arsenal Academy, and Chukwuemeka Aneke showed exactly why with a superb winner for England’s Under 17’s against Portugal in the week.

The leggy London-born midfielder has been struggling with an illness throughout the Football Assosiation’s annual Under 17 International Tournament, but came on in the 56th minute for Saido Berahino in the competitions final game. A superb curling finish into the bottom corner proved to be decisive from Chuks after fellow Gunners Benik Afobe and Josh Rees had chances to break the deadlock. England failed to win the trophy but coach John Peacock seemed happy with his charges.

You can watch full highlights including the goal and an interview with Chuks by clicking the link below.

Click Here To Watch The Goal

Article By – J.Sanderson

England Manager Fabio Capello has spoken of his delight at the current state English Academies, before proclaiming that Arsenal have set the bench mark for the rest of the Premier League to follow.

Speaking to FIFA.com, Capello was quizzed about the wrath of talent currently at Under 21 level and below. Arsenal are noted for having a plethora of players in all of the England youth sides and the Italian-born coach believes playing for your country at an early age is important.

“When you play at any level in England, you play against good teams, but not the same level as you would do in international games against international teams. You also start to understand what it means to wear the England shirt – and that’s really important.”

The 63-year-old then went on to discuss the current state of youth development in the country, where Arsenal’s model was mentioned. Due to the fact that England’s training base is the Gunners’ London Colney centre, Fabio gets to cast an eye over the Under 18 squad who train on adjacent pitches.

“I’m very lucky, because I’ve had the opportunity to look at Arsenal’s academy where the England team train and their work is incredibly good. It’s a very important example for the other English academies. I’m very interested in the academies of the clubs in England, but they all seem to be working very well.”

“I’m very, very happy about the future of England and I think it will be better.”

Capello is believed to be weighing up the idea of taking 17-year-old Jack Wilshere to this summers World Cup.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Last week Chelsea’s Chief Executive Peter Kenyon spoke of his frustration that the Chelsea Academy have failed to produce any players who were ready to make the step up into the first team. Kenyon revealed the club have pumped plenty of money into the system in a bid to follow Roman Abramovich’s order of producing home grown talent to supplement the big money signings.

You can read exactly what he said here.

Expensive foreign youngsters plus the addition of Frank Arnesen to watch over their development was seen as a huge step forward in achieving the aforementioned goal. Yet four years into Arnesen’s role, only defender Michael Mancienne has come close to breaking through, and he was already in the system before the former PSV mans arrival.

Kenyon’s comments are typical of Chelsea’s attitude. They believe that simply throwing mountains of their ample cash supply at the problem will solve it. What they should be doing, is looking to North London, and the example set by Arsène Wenger.

Only now are Arsenal starting to reap the rewards of their Academy, 10 years after Wenger first began to concentrate on the youth system. In 1999 Jack Wilshere, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Henri Lansbury were all on the verge of joining the Academy, becoming the first few to benefit from Wenger’s vision for youth development. Liam Brady, a man who knows all about the tradition and the expectations of Arsenal was brought in to oversee them. Now, 10 frustrating years later, the Gunners are finally seeing the reward for their hard work.

Everybody knows that it takes at least 10 years before you start to see benefits from a heavy investment in an Academy. Not Chelsea however, who seem to subscribe to the modern way that if something isn’t doing it’s job straight away, it’s a waste of money. And even when they do find those gems, such as Frank Nouble or Mancienne, instead of blooding them in the Carling Cup, they are either forced to play Reserve football, or are sent on pointless loan spells. England Under 21 International Jack Cork has been on loan 6 times and on each return, he is forced to play for the Reserves.

I’m all for Chelsea’s Academy, but they must learn that money can not always buy you success.

Article By – J.Sanderson