Making sense of Beardsley’s new role

Peter Beardsley.

Peter Beardsley.
Will he look like this in five years?
As you may have been aware of, Peter Beardsley has been moved away from the day to day coaching of younger players and is now our Football Development Manager.

It’s a fancy title that will impress some, but it left me wondering just what the role was, and whether it not it made any sense to move a person with such technical prowess away from coaching the next generation of young stars.

Essentially Pedro’s new role is aimed at improving the recruitment of young, talented players which is fair enough, although I thought we were doing quite alright at that anyway. However something clicked with me late last night and I now realise just what Pedro will be doing.

Those of you who have had your finger on the football pulse may have heard about a new initiative called the Elite Player Performance Plan.

Essentially it’s a plan to get the best young home grown players into the best academies at an early age ensuring that they work with the best coaches available. Friends of NUFC Blog from a site called ‘It’s round and it’s white’ have a much better summary of the rules which you can read here. I suggest you have a look as it’s a cracking site.

Anyway, it struck me how these new rules seem to align with Pedro being out and about looking for top young talent at bargain prices. It’s fits Beardsley’s remit, and it also fits with Mike Ashley and his love of a bargain and incetivised deals. Now it makes a bit more sense, even if it perhaps wasn’t originally intended to be a part of Pedro’s work.

For cubs like ours, who are trying to get going on the development front, it’s a good move. It means that we can pick up the brightest talent for relatively little cash, and only pay more if they make it into the game and trigger certain clauses, like playing in the Premier League or playing for an international team and so on.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the timing of Perdo’s appointment, along with the remit stated by the club and himself, seem to suggest that his new role as Football Development Manager and the new initiative of the Elite Player Performance Plan go hand in hand.

The unfortunate thing is that it’s going to be a while before we see any benefit of it, but this is Newcastle and “long term” seem to be the buzz words at the moment. And with Pedro, Pardew and the rest of the coaching staff all tied to five year deals it would seem to suggest that the long term future is firmly in mind at the club.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

104 thoughts on “Making sense of Beardsley’s new role

  1. this young talent spotting will be great as fatty will be able to sell them on when they have spent some time gaining experience at a prem club and otherwise keeping them for the first team if they are the very very best 😉

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  2. Im so pleased PB is working at the club, whatever his role as in 40 odd years i have watched Newcastle, he is the player that made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when he was on the ball, pure genius, and if he can bring similar to the club i will be delighted.

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  3. 0-0 in Melbourne. 39000 crowd.

    So, two games down. Wolves and Swansea up next in the football marathon.

    I’d love to have a job where I had to watch out for young talent … and watching the football wouldn’t be too bad either.

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  4. I think this is a great move for the toon to get someone with such standing as Peter Beardsley at the healm of a toon recruiting campaign. Just hope he can recognise a 8 year old maestro when he sees one !

    So what if the player gets brought through and sold on, I see nothing wrong with that to be honest. It goes hand in hand with the development of the club imo.

    What do we have at the moment ? Due to their spending power, certain clubs buy up the best talent available to achieve world dominance in football. However, not every club is owned by a Shiek or a Russian gazillionaire (or a billionaire sports direct owner….doh), so consequently need to cut their cloth to suit.

    What is the upshot from our future vision ? Identify the best young players available and get them tied into the toon academy. To do that you need to have good peole who can identify this potential in kids as young as 8 – 10 years old ffs… a tricky task ! However, once signed for the toon they need to be developed to their full potential. Occassionally a cull of great players come along…think of the great Manure youth team which produced Giggs, ****, Beckham, the Neville brothers etc… We seem to have a good group of fledgling players knocking on the first team door at the moment…good for us, ideally 3 – 4 of these players will form the backbone of the toon first team for years to come. If they are good enough and can be sold to Chelsea for 30 million than so be it. On the other hand, if we can give the player a better perspective, i.e. Champs League football / europa league, then as long as they are getting the spondoolicks, and have a good footballing perspective then they’ll stay at the toon….

    There again maybe I’ve drunk too much coffee this morning… 🙄

    Don’t forget Messi and Fabregas came through the Barca youth academy. It does actually work.

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  5. From Wigan message board…

    ‘latics86’ wrote at 18:09 on 21 Oct:
    whos going Newcastle 2mora? lets hope the boys can do the business. MARTINEZ OUT!!!!

    “And what an atmosphere you’re going to create with that attitude.

    Do us a favour give the game a chance to settle before you start with all the negative ****.”

    2 things.

    first, sounds like a lot of their fans are on the managers back from the outset reading the posts.
    second, as if they could ‘create an atmosphere’ at St James in the Gods 😆 They’ve obviously never been.

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  6. MM,

    Messi, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Busquests and probably others I forgot…were all at Barca before the age of 10 together.

    If you are wanting to follow a successsful model…look no further!

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  7. Moreno – I read that yesterday. There is another thread on there giving player by player comparisons of both teams and they concluded that about eight of our starting XI wouldn’t get in their team 😆

    I also believe Witters asked you a question on the last article 😉

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  8. I didn’t realise that if you signed up for one footy mad you are registered on them all and it was just like one big tree with many branches, pretty sweet for coaxing rival fans 😀

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  9. Hey guys, just sent you an article if you want to use it or not 🙂 may sound a bit like propaganda with the mood I was in though, especially if we lose today 😛

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  10. Think Beardsley is a great appointment for that role. A legend in these parts, appreciated around the country, loves the area and played recently enough that young players coming through should know him and take what he says to heart. Of everyone who’s at the club, he’s definitely the best man for the job

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  11. Wow Moreno…I hadn’t realised how many Barca players had came through their own youth system.

    Actually, we can all remember John Hall’s early vision, he wanted to base everything toon on the Barca model, from ice hockey, basket ball, academies, fan ownership etc etc. The momentum surrounding the club at that time was phenomenal, KK in charge, redeveloping the ground, Champs League etc etc… Then the momentum went a bit to ratshit, poor choice of managers, crazy investments in wrong players, dare I say unrest among the fans contributing to a bad state of affairs…culminating in relegation…

    Would love to see the momentum build again, cos when the toon get on the march again things are just brilliant… that’s why I’m personally basking in the top four position, however long it may last… 😀 😀

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  12. Barca’s system was initiated by Cruyff in 1988 – from what I read. He got all Barcelona teams from littleuns to the first team playing the same system so that every player at any level was infused with the same footballing philosophy.

    I wonder if the Newcastle hierarchy have had the same sort of long term planning. Do the under 16s, say, play the same way as the first team?

    Ange Postecoglou, the Brisbane Roar coach, has instigated that sort of philosophy at Brisbane. I’ve seen the youth team play and they push it around exactly the same way as the first team. It means that you can bring in players to fill roles easily without losing cohesion.

    The system is all important. It’s what makes stars of the players, rather than buying top players and finding a way of playing that works.

    It’s an interesting, holistic philosophy. And it obviously works.

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  13. MM,

    I was discussing with a friend of mine at work who is a Liverpool fan the question

    How long before we are allowed to start throwing our hat into the ring regarding Europe? At what stage of the season is that allowed?

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  14. One main difference between Barca & Arsenal is the age they bring the players in by. Barca under 10, Ars mid teens. Which is why the players have no loyalty to the ars

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  15. Toonpipes: WHAT? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING? I COULDN’T HEAR YOU. SOMEBODY WAS WHISPERING TOO LOUD.

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  16. Brisv – what I was saying was COOOOMMMMMMMME OOONNNN TOP 4 YYAAHHOOOOOOO WHAT A BELLTTAAAAA!!! Recks Santon will start put him in me fantasy league team yeeeah man good value at 4.3mill too

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  17. Speaking of types of play. I’ve just watched 2 A-league games and now I’m watching a Premier League game. The speed of the PL is ridiculous. I’m not sure if the skill level is that much higher, though. It’s all action, isn’t it. Not a lot of control, but that’s probably because they do everything at a hundred miles an hour.

    I guess it makes it exciting. And I suppose those that can control the ball at that pace are the top players.

    It’s no wonder foreigners find it difficult to adjust to it. I wonder, though, if some of these average PL players would make it in foreign leagues

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  18. Dave – Don’t **** with Moreno or he’ll get you next 😆

    Any early team news knocking about? I know real radio used to have it but now they’ve lost it I dunno if anyone else has picked it up.

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  19. Moreno@15….I’m sure that mindset exists already within the group to be honest. Could you imagine the winners we have in the team settling for mediocracy….Tiote, Collo, Cabaye, Ba, Saylor….everyone in fact….naah…

    Part of Pardew’s remit is to hold the ship steady and guide us through the storm…keeping heads clear and being level-headed, managing over-expectant fans, injuries, loss of form, players sold etc etc. He needs to keep playing the low profile card for as long as he can, but that obviously changes the longer we stay at the top of the league…

    I reckon we can have hopes of europe tbh, time will show how we manage the expectation.

    All of this positive stuff, combined with the disaster zone down at the Stadium of Plight. Thank you god… 😆 😆 😆 😆

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  20. Le Tiss has changed his tune a bit. Think McInally is one of the better ones, relatively balanced opinions and isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong

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  21. Toonsy….excellent reflective write up mate, great stuff as usual…

    All your own thoughts too mate….I mean anyone can cut and paste quotes and tie them together with a few choice comments….even me…. 😆 😆

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  22. Dave,
    He said it was his last post about 3 days ago, I was just making sure he stayed true to his word 😉

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  23. Toonsy he will need a big sledge hammer and he will need to make sure he gets me 1st time 😉 .
    As for team news haven’t seen owt, but I hope Santon gets a start

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  24. Le Tiss is a grade one numpty of the highest order. Canny player like, but as an “expert commentator” a joke. He’s probably only on there cos he costs nowt…… 👿 👿

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  25. Moreno @ 33 it was funny how he tried to start on Batts but because he couldn’t get at him he then turns on everyone and anyone.
    But its not his fault he is only a kid with no real life experience 😆

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  26. Moreno….have you banned Troy Bobby Shinton Stavers ?….cos we used to sing in the old days “it’s all gone quiet over there”….. 😆 😆 has he been spotted near Fenwick’s ? 😆 😆 😆

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  27. Dave,

    Don’t wanna go on about it too much as it’s a closed chapter but…

    reading over the fence (had a bit over there last night as a certain other party started bringing up the past 🙄 ) he actually is a grown man and has a child himself! I can’t believe it! He must be lying 😯 He’s such a bairn!

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  28. Toonpipes…I’m trying my best to be pessimistic, but I just keep coming out in a glow and singing “toon toon black and white army” as I walk through the apartment. It’s getting on wor lasses nerves a bit though… 😆 😆

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  29. Spence – Seriously? Or are you taking the ****? If so I’ll rip that tiny head little heed of yours off and dump down your neck 🙂

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  30. MM,

    I haven’t no, and wouldn’t. Miss his craic to be fair, only downside of everything being rosy at the toon, we ain’t getting Stavers winding people up!

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  31. Beardsley’s role at the club should be ‘Professor of shoulder-dropping, snake-hipped dribbling awesomeness’

    What a player

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  32. His foot is already past BAs ankle, no sign of a grimace and no awkward movement in BAs leg/foot….

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  33. Moreno…GS isn’t a bairn, he’s middle aged I reckon. I tried to talk some sense into him cos he cottoned onto the wrong jist of things, and took sides without knowing owt…….Gan canny with him if poss…though I reckon things have gone too far….way too far…

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  34. Look at the pic mate, its there to see, look at the pain on his face, nasty challenge, and know place for it on the training ground.

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  35. MM – Funny thing is I don’t have a problem with GS, even after I was called allsorts without retaliating 🙂

    Anyway, end of. Footy coming up 🙂

    Spence – That image, as Dub said, actually proves nowt you big drama queen 😉

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  36. 😆 There’s no pain on his face, he’s looking at the ball. You could be right but if there was an incident that ain’t a pic of it. Was it you scaring people the other week about injuries before the wolves game i think it was?

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  37. Toonsy, “Run” isnt even in his vocabulary, good job he’s got all this money so he can get people to do all this stuff for him.

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  38. MM,

    Last thing on it as Toonsy is right, it’s about the footy and match day.

    Point is, when someone is coming on to intentionally create a disturbance and personally attack people there is no place for them on the ‘blog.

    I know that a lot of us don’t mind a verbal sparring and will give as good back as we get, but people don’t visit the blog to read about that sort of thing so it needs eliminated in my opinion.

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  39. Bris@62…. 😆 😆 😆 😆

    How’s Melbourne bud…sun shining ? I was down that way a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, great city, nice beaches, great people… I’m hoping to get down there maybe in 18 months cos we may have a project down that way…

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  40. Johno .. i think AP wants to take the points and will do utmost to make sure so only see Santon coming in .. funnily enough sort of feel like more likely to start HBA against one of the Manc teams where less to lose ..

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  41. Toonpipes. keep him away from that **** de jong, I bet he would do it again the dirty ^$&%

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  42. Moreno…you’re dead right mate. Don’t know what kicked it all off but it was all way out of order..

    Spencer…Smith is a really important man to have in the dressing room you know….ffs…

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