ARTICLE: Casper lands academy role

[ClaretTony]

Now confirmed - another CASPER at the Turf.

See link
https://www.uptheclarets.com/casper-lands-academy-role

[beddie]

Gosh, doesn’t he look like his father. Good luck Chris, it would be good to see some of these young lads make the first team,

[ClaretTony]

Gosh, doesn’t he look like his father. Good luck Chris, it would be good to see some of these young lads make the first team,

Looks very much like Frank. This could be a very good appointment.

[Silkyskills1]

Good luck to him. A family steeped in football.

[ClaretTony]

Good luck to him. A family steeped in football.

Frightening to think that his dad will be celebrating his 80th birthday in four weeks time.

[Anonymous Claret]

WhatsApp man
I wasn't laughing at the time though

[Row x]

Excellent credentials

[ecc]

His father is my favourite Claret of them all. We all have our own.

Chris needs to have the expertise to do the job; bearing the surname that he does is clearly not sufficient alone. But if I had to choose between two candidates with exactly the same CV then the decision wouldn't be difficult.

His dad will be delighted, of that I'm sure.

Good luck, Chris.

[CoolClaret]

Thrilled with this. Wish him (and us) nothing but success.

Great appointment.

[Row x]

His father is my favourite Claret of them all. We all have our own.

Chris needs to have the expertise to do the job; bearing the surname that he does is clearly not sufficient alone. But if I had to choose between two candidates with exactly the same CV then the decision wouldn't be difficult.

His dad will be delighted, of that I'm sure.

Good luck, Chris.

I'm not sure he could get better credentials for this job

[NewClaret]

This will prove to be a great appointment.

Interesting and pleasing to have it confirmed that we want to get back to category one status.

[Andreshotboots]

I was on a golf trip with Chris last year so got chatting about football..An incredibly knowledgeable lad who's been around some of the very best people in football.

He also has a very calm nature about him, but a hell of a. Sense of humour so I'd imagine he'd be very popular with the players too.

All the best to him..

[Vegas Claret]

interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGf6tjU9xLA

[durhamclaret]

I loved Frank Casper in his playing days but not so much the Casper out days as manager, however always had a soft spot, good luck in your new role Chris.

[randomclaret2]

interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGf6tjU9xLA

Sounds like they're aiming to regain Cat 1 status for next season.

[Vegas Claret]

Sounds like they're aiming to regain Cat 1 status for next season.

yep, sounds like it's the number one immediate goal. It was an interesting listen, wish him well.

[Wokingclaret]

Looks a good appointment, hopefully Chris can help to close the gap to the 1st team

[IanMcL]

Gosh, doesn’t he look like his father. Good luck Chris, it would be good to see some of these young lads make the first team,

A real likeness!

[NewClaret]

interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGf6tjU9xLA

Great interview, thanks for posting Vegas.

Really positive news that the club are hoping to get Cat 1 status back for next year!

The Academy performances and results have been one of the real positives of this season.

[NewClaret]

To add… Love how he talks about behaviours/standards/values being key, and praises Dyche and Kompany for embedding those. I always hope each manager brings something to the club and helps develop it and he seems to be suggesting that’s the case past and present, which is good to hear.

A lot of people say that Pace doesn’t get the club but I think this, Parker’s appointment, and some of the more recent community work that the players have done goes some way towards suggesting he does.

[Garnerssoap]

Met him and his dad in la manga in about 87. Nice lad and quite a hit with the ladies as I recall

[ClaretTony]

To add… Love how he talks about behaviours/standards/values being key, and praises Dyche and Kompany for embedding those. I always hope each manager brings something to the club and helps develop it and he seems to be suggesting that’s the case past and present, which is good to hear.

A lot of people say that Pace doesn’t get the club but I think this, Parker’s appointment, and some of the more recent community work that the players have done goes some way towards suggesting he does.

I’m not sure how any of this relates to Pace getting or not getting the club.

Brilliant that he talks about standards and behaviour. That’s what Sean Dyche brought into the club but Vincent Kompany all but destroyed.

[randomclaret2]

Met him and his dad in la manga in about 87. Nice lad and quite a hit with the ladies as I recall

He was born in 1975

[NewClaret]

I’m not sure how any of this relates to Pace getting or not getting the club.

Brilliant that he talks about standards and behaviour. That’s what Sean Dyche brought into the club but Vincent Kompany all but destroyed.

Well, assuming he had some influence in the appointment, it’d suggest to me he understands that it will be a popular appointment with the fans to have a local man with deep family ties to the club. Ditto what appears to me to be increased efforts in community work recently.

He name checks Kompany twice as having an influence in raising/driving standards and I don’t understand why he would do that if he left no positive legacy. Nutritionally I understand there were big changes, same with some of the analysis and prep work. It’s those things I mean that will just nudge the club along with each manager and hopefully Parker will be the same.

I liked that the Legs Hearts Minds stayed but there were some new words adorning the training ground walls like “standards” and “consistency” last season, which are valid and I hope Parker also gets some sway on those cultural things in future by building on whats there rather than ripping them up and starting again.

[johnnyjones]

He was born in 1975

A 12 year old lad smashing his way through all the ladies in la manga is some going

[randomclaret2]

Paul Jenkins interview now on YouTube

[NewClaret]

Paul Jenkins interview now on YouTube

Thanks for alerting to this. Great interview again, really upbeat about our prospects for regaining cat 1 status, basically saying our view is we’re all but cat 1 in name, but need to be audited now.

Also interesting points about Chris Casper being ex-premier league, so has seen other clubs Academy setups independently and ‘knows what good looks like’ - really important we have someone who can compare us to the best - and that he has a parents perspective so has insight what we need to do to improve things for them.

All in all an excellent appointment and promising times for the Academy.

[dibraidio]

Have there been some big changes? It seems like we've recruited a few people recently like Jack Cork and Casper. Are these replacements or new staff?

If I've remembered it right we got provisional Category One status just before COVID but we failed the audit and lost it in 2022. Alan Pace said it was a priority to get it back but that's 3 seasons ago. Great news if we are getting towards a position to get Category One again.

[DCWat]

Great to hear that we are looking to get back the CAT 1 status. It’s been a long time since we lost that status, with very little said about it since then (that I’m aware of).

I don’t know the numbers, but I imagine that it only takes the odd player or two making it in to the first team, and becoming a regular, for it to cove the costs for a number of years.

That has to be the aim. Prospective recruits (and their parents) seeing an achievable pathway to the first team will make future recruitment easier.

We have a lot of competition in the North West and beyond, but we can still stand out as a really good option for parents / young players to consider, if we go about it in the right way.

[NewClaret]

Have there been some big changes? It seems like we've recruited a few people recently like Jack Cork and Casper. Are these replacements or new staff?

If I've remembered it right we got provisional Category One status just before COVID but we failed the audit and lost it in 2022. Alan Pace said it was a priority to get it back but that's 3 seasons ago. Great news if we are getting towards a position to get Category One again.

Think Jack is a new appointment and Chris is replacing ‘WhatsApp guy’ - still cannot believe that happened or understand what an assessment of first team players had to do with him, talk about poor recruitment.

Anyway, feels like the ship has been steadied now with Jack and Chris, two people who will know the club inside out and we will know have the right character to take us forward. I think having ex players like Jack involved is a massive coup. Must be great for the players to benefit from that experience working under a few different managers. Sure I read he was shouting out instructions at the end of a recent game, as an example.

You make a good point that we were never officially a Cat 1 club. My limited understanding is we were gifted status during Covid that when audited was found to have not met the standard. Probably easier to view it that we haven’t moved forward in 5 years, not moved backwards. Fortunately now seem to be heading in the right direction again. Let’s hope the time taken has been to make absolutely certain we’re ready for audit.

[NewClaret]

Great to hear that we are looking to get back the CAT 1 status. It’s been a long time since we lost that status, with very little said about it since then (that I’m aware of).

I don’t know the numbers, but I imagine that it only takes the odd player or two making it in to the first team, and becoming a regular, for it to cove the costs for a number of years.

That has to be the aim. Prospective recruits (and their parents) seeing an achievable pathway to the first team will make future recruitment easier.

We have a lot of competition in the North West and beyond, but we can still stand out as a really good option for parents / young players to consider, if we go about it in the right way.

Imagine £20m for Dwight justifies investment for a while! But as CT has said recently, there’s been other sales recently that must at least contribute to it already washing its face to a certain extent.

Re: your pathway to the first team point, it’s interesting that both interviews mention this and the need for an ROI. Sounds to me like Pace is willing to invest but needs it to have a commercial viability as well, which is understandable.

Perhaps claret tinted specs but I think we should be uniquely placed in the North West from an Academy perspective, especially if we can get back in the premier league. Getting in to the first team from City, United, Liverpool or Everton to a lesser extent, should be incredibly difficult, although there are recent good examples of each. Getting our first team should at least in theory be easier.

Something I really like about Parker - he’s handed out a couple of debuts and has also brought young lads in the Matchday squad, if not directly from the Academy.

[ClaretTony]

Have there been some big changes? It seems like we've recruited a few people recently like Jack Cork and Casper. Are these replacements or new staff?

If I've remembered it right we got provisional Category One status just before COVID but we failed the audit and lost it in 2022. Alan Pace said it was a priority to get it back but that's 3 seasons ago. Great news if we are getting towards a position to get Category One again.

Cork has replaced Charlie Adam and Casper has replaced WhatsApp man David Longwell. It was under Jenkins’ watch that we lost Cat 1.

But Casper has highlighted the need to get back up there both in terms of the recruitment and the games programme. We lost Cat 1 screaming and shouting in 2022 but didn’t even try to get it back in either of the next two years.

[NewClaret]

Cork has replaced Charlie Adam and Casper has replaced WhatsApp man David Longwell. It was under Jenkins’ watch that we lost Cat 1.

But Casper has highlighted the need to get back up there both in terms of the recruitment and the games programme. We lost Cat 1 screaming and shouting in 2022 but didn’t even try to get it back in either of the next two years.

Only two reasons I can imagine we don’t bother is a) cost, or b) after kicking and screaming, we came to terms with the audit results, accepted them and decided we needed some time to put things right.

I read somewhere the annual cost was £4-5m but given some of the clubs that have it, I can’t imagine that is true, do you happen to know Tony?

[ClaretTony]

Only two reasons I can imagine we don’t bother is a) cost, or b) after kicking and screaming, we came to terms with the audit results, accepted them and decided we needed some time to put things right.

I read somewhere the annual cost was £4-5m but given some of the clubs that have it, I can’t imagine that is true, do you happen to know Tony?

I do know we threatened legal action and told the world we would be doing our utmost to get back a year later. We made no effort. Don’t be fooled at what came out though, we genuinely failed the audit and that was down to Jenkins.

[NewClaret]

I do know we threatened legal action and told the world we would be doing our utmost to get back a year later. We made no effort. Don’t be fooled at what came out though, we genuinely failed the audit and that was down to Jenkins.

Very odd. Maybe we felt our kicking off had burned bridges and we needed to rebuild!

Did we ever pass one initially to get status though?

I understood it was a bit like ofstead reports during Covid where we sort of got a free pass but when inspections started again we failed.

[Vegas Claret]

Paul Jenkins On Casper Appointment & Academy Aims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkxhbBeBs_M

[dibraidio]

I do know we threatened legal action and told the world we would be doing our utmost to get back a year later. We made no effort. Don’t be fooled at what came out though, we genuinely failed the audit and that was down to Jenkins.

Jon Pepper was surely a big part of the reason we got Category One, as an ex-auditor he knew exactly what was needed to pass.
He left in June 2021. Jenkins name was mentioned in the press articles announcing Pepper's departure but he didn't officially join until September 2021.
We lost Category One status after the end of the 2021/22 season.

Presumably the buildings etc are still up to Category One level. Was it the staffing side that was the problem or something else?

[ClaretTony]

Very odd. Maybe we felt our kicking off had burned bridges and we needed to rebuild!

Did we ever pass one initially to get status though?

I understood it was a bit like ofstead reports during Covid where we sort of got a free pass but when inspections started again we failed.

You can understand what you want. We passed all audits with Pepper and screwed it all up with Jenkins.

[Andingle]

Jon Pepper was surely a big part of the reason we got Category One, as an ex-auditor he knew exactly what was needed to pass.
He left in June 2021. Jenkins name was mentioned in the press articles announcing Pepper's departure but he didn't officially join until September 2021.
We lost Category One status after the end of the 2021/22 season.

Presumably the buildings etc are still up to Category One level. Was it the staffing side that was the problem or something else?

Yes predominantly the staffing side.

[ClaretTony]

Yes predominantly the staffing side.

They got rid of staff and then tried to hide it from the auditors apparently, got found out and lost Cat 1.

[NewClaret]

You can understand what you want. We passed all audits with Pepper and screwed it all up with Jenkins.

Not sure that was necessary, Tony. I was asking you a question and explaining my understanding of the situation for context.

Did we actually pass an inspection for Cat 1 status under Pepper?

From the Burnley Express: “Burnley were granted their Category One licence on a provisional two-year basis in July 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic meant full on-site audits were not possible that year.”

That would suggest to me that we might never have actually passed a Cat 1 audit, technically, and this would be our first time… if we are actually ready now.

[ClaretTony]

Not sure that was necessary, Tony. I was asking you a question and explaining my understanding of the situation for context.

Did we actually pass an inspection for Cat 1 status under Pepper?

From the Burnley Express: “Burnley were granted their Category One licence on a provisional two-year basis in July 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic meant full on-site audits were not possible that year.”

That would suggest to me that we might never have actually passed a Cat 1 audit, technically, and this would be our first time… if we are actually ready now.

Not answering any more questions I’ve outlined what happened and we passed Cat 1.

[NewClaret]

Not answering any more questions I’ve outlined what happened and we passed Cat 1.

Okay.

Hopefully we’re ready whenever the new audit happens, anyway, and we get a full licence which I think is 3 years so we can forward plan.

Just been reading about this FC Seoul chap. Interesting timing for Jenkins to stress that we’ll be looking internationally. With Adewumi, Vetro and Mendes also hired recently, it feels like we’re spreading our Academy recruitment a bit wider.

[dibraidio]

In May 2022 The Athletic ran an article saying that the standards expected had been raised and that Burnley and Birmingham City had failed to meet the standard in the yearly audit which looks into areas such as training ground facilities, staffing levels, the quality of coaching, education, and welfare provisions.

Birmingham City have stated their ambition to get their Category One status back but that hasn't happened yet. Apparently clubs can apply for category one status at any time.

I wouldn't expect us to need to do anything on facilities and I wouldn't expect to hear anything about the education or welfare provisions. I presume that Chris Casper will very quickly be able to see if we have adequate staffing levels and that the quality of the coaches ticks the boxes. If the club are serious about it then you'd assume that it's going to be an achievable goal.

I hadn't realised that the format for Premier League Two had changed to a single division. Fantastic for the young players to get to play against the several of the top teams in the country. I'm sure that would be a recruitment boost and give the players some great experience.
https://www.premierleague.com/premier-l ... -explained

[ClaretTony]

I hadn't realised that the format for Premier League Two had changed to a single division. Fantastic for the young players to get to play against the several of the top teams in the country. I'm sure that would be a recruitment boost and give the players some great experience.

Changed ahead of last season from two divisions to one. When were there for two years, we were in Division 2 so didn’t play against the big clubs.

The U18 league was different in that it was north and south so we did play the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool at that level.