Newcastle United latest news: The Magpies have confirmed the appointment of a new Under-21’s lead coach.
Newcastle United have confirmed the appointment of Robbie Stockdale as the club’s permanent Under-21 lead coach.
Stockdale had taken interim charge of the Under-21’s following Adam Lawrence’s departure from the club earlier this year. Lawrence was only appointed to the role in summer, but left the club just months after before rejoining Manchester United as part of a backroom and academy reshuffle under Michael Carrick.
Stockdale, who previously worked at Sunderland as a coach, will now take permanent charge of the Under-21’s with his first task as the group’s new permanent lead coach to oversee a Premier League 2 match against Blackburn Rovers tonight. On being named Newcastle United Under-21’s lead coach, Stockdale said: “It’s a real privilege to take on this role on a permanent basis.
“I’ve loved working with the players and staff over the last year and I’m proud of the progress the group has made. It’s a fantastic environment to be part of and I’m looking forward to continuing the work we’ve started and helping our young players take the next steps on their journey towards first-team football.”
Academy director Steve Harper added: “Robbie has been an excellent addition to the Academy since joining and we’re looking forward to supporting him as he continues to develop in this role.
“He has amassed a wealth of playing and coaching experience that he passes on to our young players every day, and he has built an outstanding relationship with the group. They respond to him, trust him and understand the standards he sets.
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“He has a clear understanding of what the pathway needs to look like for our players to progress into a first-team environment, and he works extremely well with staff across the football club to support that journey.”
Eddie Howe makes academy demand
Newcastle United’s youth ranks have produced a couple of very talented young players in recent times, with Lewis Miley and Elliot Anderson the shining lights of their production line. More recently, Sean Neave and Leo Shahar have been handed Champions League debuts by Eddie Howe who called on the academy players to ensure they do not ‘waste a day’ of their development.
“Well, they've got a long journey ahead of them,” Howe told the Gazette. “I think I've said many times in this seat, the hardest transition is to go from academy player into the first team. It's such a difficult jump and such a big jump for all of the young lads to take.
“They have to work at their games. They have to improve in every moment. They can't waste a day.
“Sometimes that's difficult to do because there'll be very small groups training, as there has been this season. There haven't been 20 players training regularly for them to probably fully immerse themselves into that world of development through their training. It's been more individual-based in smaller groups, and that places even more emphasis on their learning coming from themselves, with our support. So they've got a big journey ahead of them.
“I think what we've tried to do is help them play as many games as they can, so when we have been able to release them to play 23s games, even at the cost of being on our bench, we think that's been really important because they need to play.
“If they don't play, they won't get better. We've tried to facilitate that so they're still getting the game time that they need.”
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