When you have 22 scholars all fighting to showcase their talent and secure a professional contract, it can be tough at the best of the times for coaches.
In their hands are these players’ futures but ultimately, disappointment in football can not be avoided.
Rory Delap knows this better than anyone after he progressed through the youth system at Carlisle United.
Delap was one of the few youth players that went onto have a very successful in the game and he knows exactly what it takes to get to that professional level.
Having a mentor and coach with such experience can be the difference for young aspiring footballers, however, as Delap believes, the key to success is maintaining an honest relationship, particularly during the inevitable tough times.
As was the case during the halfway point of Derby County’s Under-18 2016/17 campaign.
The side had just lost 2-0 to Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Youth Cup following a run of inconsistent results.
It is hard when you lose on any occasion but to do so in the prestigious competition in the last game before the two-week Christmas break was great test of character and Delap believes that his players reacted in exactly the right way.
In the final part of this two-part season review, RamsTV sat down with Delap to discuss his two years with the Under-18 squad and to reflect on the season from his perspective.
Selection Headaches...
“Selection has probably been the biggest challenge this year because we’ve had 22 scholars for the majority of the season.
“As a whole, compared to last season, where we had only one or two on the bench to choose from, this year it has been the exact opposite.
“Everyone always says it’s easy to keep the starting XI happy, but it’s more difficult to sort the eleven that don’t play and whether you’re a kid or an adult, if you don’t play then it’s going to upset you.
“It has been interesting to see the reaction that some of them have had to the disappointment of not playing.
“One or two probably need to have a look at that and ensure that it improves next year, whereas, we’ve seen others at the start of the season who aren’t in the team get into the team, progress and really have a successful year.”
Learning From Defeat...
“When you are beating Manchester United 4-0, anyone can go out and enjoy it with no pressure, but when you are on the other end of that, you can see the character of someone who is desperately hurt.
“We’ve always said to the players that we don’t mind you having a bad game on the ball because we all have those days, but we tell them that you can still affect the opposition and even from that Everton game in a 6-1 beating, there were positives to take out from that.
“We have seen this season that the players who have dug in during the tough games have gone on to progress with the Under 23s and earn their first professional contracts.”
A Season Defining Moment...
“The Youth Cup game against Brighton really hurt us all.
“It was a disappointing performance and a very disappointing result but you have to look at long-term and how they reacted to that.
“It was difficult not to have a game until after the Christmas break and that was playing on our minds just as much as it was the players.
“To be fair to all of the players, after the defeat they stood up to the challenge and from the disappointment of the Youth Cup, they went on to put in a consistent run of results right up until the end of the season.
“A period of settling in always tend to happen when you have such a big group of first years. They are coming into full-time football for the first time and so come Christmas time, they really are ready for a break.”
