V9 ACADEMY ON TRIAL

Remember Jamie Vardy? Well he respects the route that his career took through non-league football and has invested £100,000 of his own money to establish the V9 Academy where 42 handpicked recruits from the Non-League are put under the footballing microscope. Meeting at the Manchester City training complex recently, the candidates were given a "pep" talk by Jamie himself who mapped out his life so far and then handed over the hopeful trialists to coaches, nutritionists and sports' scientists.

Then there were five days for the lades under scrutiny at Sports' City. Three squads were selected and the first games were manic-each player trying "too hard" to impress. Those assessing these players included Chris Ramsey (ex QPR), Alan Stubbs (ex Celtic) and Robbie Stockdale (ex Sunderland).

Teams were rotated, there were training sessions, gym workouts, jacuzzis, game analysis and presentations on fatigue and recovery. Ex-Huddersfield Town sporting director, Stuart Webber, now at Norwich City spoke about the detail clubs go into when trying to recruit a new player. Family, past history, social media posts are studied. there is no stone unturned.

Meulensteen, the Dutchman once on Alex Furgeson's right hand, explained how he made Ronaldo convert from a "sulky diletante" into a universal superstar. He got players to break their "game" into FOUR CORNERS-tactical, physical, personality and tactical and then write under each their strengths. Meulensteen then coached a session on changing the pace of a game and the rhythm of play.

Scouts and representatives from almost a 100 clubs, mainly in England but also Spain and the USA, were on site, watching every move and no doubt learning a bit too. Opposition squads from the PFA, Welsh Champions TNS and Bangor city were also wheeled out as opposition. The scouts made notes and reported back to V9.

And now , it is a wait by the phone!
http://www.v9academy.co.uk/team/