Will Slaven Bilic help solve the academy question at West Brom?
Albion’s academy has quite rightly been a source of pride over the past few years, but it has now reached a crossroads.
This summer, long-serving academy manager Mark Harrison is leaving after 13 years to join rivals Aston Villa.
That is a blow to the Baggies, whose academy has punched above its weight under Harrison, a man promoted to the role by former technical director Dan Ashworth.
It’s understandable Harrison would want to work at the highest level, but there’s no denying he will leave a big gap.
There are a couple of strong candidates to replace him from within the club.
Ryan Maye, who is head of academy coaching, is an experienced coach who has worked at the FA and Chelsea.
Steve Hopcroft, head of junior recruitment, is one of the academy’s many gems, and the man responsible for spotting talent at a young age in the local area.
However, technical director Luke Dowling has already made changes to Albion’s senior scouting team, and may want to bring in someone from outside.
Chris McGuane worked with him at both Watford and Nottingham Forest, where he is currently assistant academy manager.
Albion advertised the vacancy publicly yesterday and Dowling proved during the managerial search he’s not afraid to do his due diligence. No doubt speak to a number of candidates.
“Mark Harrison will need to be replaced,” he said. “That is something we will address.
"He’s with us until September working his three months’ notice so there’s no particular rush. Naturally we may want to do something quicker.”
However, there are wider issues at play than just replacing a successful academy manager.
Albion currently boast a Category One academy, which is the highest level available under the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).
But there is a possibility this summer that two of their brightest young talents could leave for peanuts.
Out-of-contract Rekeem Harper, 19, is being advised to move north of the border to Celtic, while England starlet Louie Barry, 16, has been offered a deal by Paris Saint-Germain.
In both situations, Albion would only receive Fifa’s flat-rate compensation fee of £235,000 from those clubs because they are not based in England.
“It can frustrate you, that’s for sure,” admitted Dowling. “Because of the rules that apply to these young boys that go across border, it can sometimes be driven for the wrong reasons in my opinion.”
There is still a possibility one or both of those players will stay and sign their contracts, and even if they don’t, the Baggies still have a number of talented youngsters coming through the system.
Sam Field, Kyle Edwards, Dara O’Shea, Jack Fitzwater, Jamie Soule, Morgan Rogers, Rayhaan Tulloch, Nathan Ferguson – the production line is in fine nick.
But each year parachute payments dwindle, money is getting tighter at The Hawthorns due to an absent owner who cannot invest his own funds due to Chinese spending restrictions – and has shown no inclination he wants to anyway.
“The academy subject is a really big thing,” said Dowling. “It benefits the top 10 clubs in the Premier League because they cherry pick the better ones for low compensation.
"Then Germany becomes the attractive place for players to go to because they’re willing to take a chance on the younger ones.
"[Borussia] Dortmund have hit the jackpot with Jadon Sancho, the others come into Britain and look into the talent.”
Albion think the rules should change, and give English clubs more protection against overseas clubs trying to poach young players.
Barry is an England under-16 international who has been offered a five-year deal at PSG on money difficult to turn down.
Even if Albion, who have offered him a three-year contract, may be better for his development, it’s an opportunity tough to pass up, especially now one of his mentors in Harrison has left.
What’s more, moving abroad is not the daunting prospect it once was.
“The world is a smaller place,” said chief executive Mark Jenkins. “Everyone’s got iPhones now. Ten years ago, going to Germany wouldn’t be done.
“Now it’s just getting on an EasyJet, the world is smaller but the rules haven’t changed. They can go for between 200,000 and 250,000 Euros.”
This is not a new dilemma within Albion walls. In 2013, Albion lost Izzy Brown to Chelsea, Yan Dhanda to Liverpool and Matt Smith to Manchester City.
At the time, owner Jeremy Peace questioned the financial sense in running an academy because they were initially given just £209,000 in compensation for each player – although the Baggies later received £1million for Brown through a tribunal.
In recent years, Brentford and Huddersfield Town have scrapped large parts of their academies, removing all age groups from the under-16 level.
Huddersfield downsized from a Category Two academy to a Category Four and Brentford binned theirs completely.
Instead, they run a B team and organise fixtures separately to the under-23 league.
Both clubs believe running a full-blown academy doesn’t make financial sense and in Brentford’s case particularly, it’s a move that seems to have benefited them.
There is no suggestion Albion are heading down that route and actually, the board want new boss Slaven Bilic to tap into the potential of the club's youngsters.
It’s one of the reasons the Croatian was appointed and points to a promising future for the academy.
“We want a certain style of football, organisation, and if we can blood one or two of the younger ones, we feel that would be progress,” said Dowling, when asked what Bilic’s tasks for the season were.
Albion’s technical director believes the new head coach could be the perfect man to bridge the gap between the academy stars and the first team, and he hopes it might even convince a few to stay.
Bilic sat down with Harper on his first day in the job to talk about his future.
“Hopefully that went well and he’s heard what he wanted to hear,” added Dowling.
“If I’m a young player now at West Brom, I’m looking at this guy who was the under-21 manager at Croatia, stepped up to the senior role and gave Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic their debuts.
“He went to West Ham and gave Declan Rice, Reece Oxford and Domingos Quina – who is now at Watford – their debuts.
"He will play young players. It’s something he has a passion for. They’ve got to be good enough, but age isn’t an issue for him.”
There is also an argument that Albion’s financial future means, if promotion isn’t achieved in the next two years, the Baggies will rely even more heavily on their academy.
They will need the Fields and Fitzwaters of this world to step up more and more.
It’s also worth remembering Albion received £12million for Saido Berahino and £1.2m in a sell-on fee for Kemar Roofe. The academy is capable of making money.
Harrison’s exit during a period of financial down-sizing has naturally led to questions over its future.
But it’s been punching above its weight thanks to the hard work from a number of people inside Albion HQ, the majority of which are still involved.
We are now starting to see the fruits of that labour tentatively break into the senior equation, and with Bilic at the helm, the Baggies could have a head coach who accelerates that process.
Considering Albion’s financial restrictions under a Chinese owner unable to invest, it makes sense to try and capitalise on their strengths. The academy is certainly one of those.
