Pen pics of Liverpool's backroom staff.

WHEN discussing bio-banding, it can be difficult to separate the myths from the reality. Dr Sean Cumming, a senior lecturer at The University of Bath, answered some of the most commonly-asked questions for us.

EVERTON will spend 80% more on running their Academy this season than they did three years ago, according to CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale.

EVERTON Head of Academy Recruitment Martin Waldron, who was suspended pending an investigation into tapping up, has left the club to become a football agent.

RICKY MARTIN, the former Norwich City Technical Director, has been appointed as West Ham’s Academy Operations and Player Development Manager.

FORMER Manchester City Head of Education Pete Lowe says he's shocked by the bullying cases he's encountered since setting up welfare organisation PlayersNet. We explore what needs to be done.

FULHAM are looking for a Head of Academy Coaching after Steve Wigley was switched to a new role.

TRANMERE ROVERS, who scrapped their youth teams below Under-16 level in the summer, had a more productive Academy than three Premier League teams in our 2017/18 rankings.

LEICESTER CITY have appointed Guy Branston as loans manager with specific responsibility for the Professional Development Phase group.

WOLVES Academy manager Gareth Prosser is leaving the club after a decade to lead the new body that will be auditing clubs.

FORMER Luton and Norwich Academy Manager Gregg Broughton explains how we should judge the relative merits of Academies.

FORMER Blackburn and Newcastle winger Scott Sellars tells TGG about his work at Wolves' renowned Academy.

MK DONS Head of Coaching Steve Brown, one of the original auditors under the EPPP system, has questioned why Academy performance data is not put in the public domain by the Premier League and EFL.

HERE is the second edition of our annual Academy Productivity Rankings - the only such publicly-available resource in the country.

GARETH SOUTHGATE has said “we can’t allow the trend to continue” after the number of England-qualified players starting in the Premier League hit an all-time low last weekend.

FORMER MK Dons manager Dan Micciche has been appointed as the Under-15 boss at Arsenal.

AZ ALKMAAR have installed a foot squash court and teqball tables at their Academy and are getting youngsters to organise ‘deliberate play’ tournaments every month.

FORMER England international Steve Stone has been appointed as Burnley Under-23 boss.

THE future of Everton’s Academy Head of Recruitment Martin Waldron - father of Academy Director Joel - hangs in the balance after the club was found guilty of tapping up a former Cardiff City schoolboy in 2016.

KEN GILLARD has been put in temporary charge of Arsenal Under-18s following the departure of Kwame Ampadu to Monaco.

CREWE say the suspension of Foundation Phase coach Carl Everall is “totally unconnected” to his role at the club.

WEST HAM have suspended Under-18 coach Mark Phillips after he tweeted about attending a march organised by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance.

WEST BROM contributed more players to the England youth teams than both Manchester United and Liverpool during the October international break.

FORMER Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn has been drafted in to help Ben Dawson with Newcastle United Under-23s.

FIFA stakeholders have backed ‘groundbreaking’ transfer reforms that include a limit on the number of loans teams can make.

ROTHERHAM UNITED Development Coach Matt Hamshaw believes the club’s Academy is in the best shape it has ever been.

A Fifa task force has proposed that clubs be limited to loaning six to eight players because the current system can result in “stockpiling” and “sometimes prevents young players from fully developing their talent”.

IPSWICH TOWN owner Marcus Evans says the whole Academy system is nearing a “dangerous tipping point” because clubs are losing players for fees that “bear no relation” to their actual value.

SUNDERLAND find themselves playing in the third tier of English football for the first time in 30 years, but this can actually be turned into a strength according to their new Academy Manager.

NEW Academy Manager Paul Reid has promoted a number of his coaching staff at Category One Sunderland.

BRISTOL CITY have had to pay Liverpool a hefty penalty fee following the half-season loan of Ryan Kent in 2017/18.

DURING a decade of turmoil, Coventry's Academy has remained a beacon of quality at a beleaguered club.

MIDFIELDER Josh McEachran has revealed what life is like in the Chelsea loan group, with players training separately from the first team as they await their fate.

JONATHAN PANZO says he chose to join Monaco because they offer more opportunities than the “back and forth” of Chelsea’s loan system.

STEVENAGE manager Dino Maamria says top Academies are a “fake environment” and that he usually prefers to sign players from non-league.

THREE of the England Under-16 team that beat Croatia last weekend - managing to do what their senior counterparts couldn’t at the World Cup a couple of weeks earlier - were products of Brentford's Academy.

HUDDERSFIELD are about to embark on a new and controversial era for their Academy. TGG went to speak to Academy manager Leigh Bromby and lead physical performance coach Paul Bower to find out exactly what's happening.

NEIL RYAN, the son of former Manchester United player and coach Jim Ryan, has been promoted to become the club's Under-18 coach.

ENGLAND players no longer make their breakthroughs in the Premier League, having to instead prove themselves in less glamorous surroundings.

FORMER Wolves player and coach Rob Edwards has rejoined the club as Under-23s boss.

FORMER Stevenage manager Darren Sarll has been appointed Head of Academy by Watford following the resignation of Chris McGuane last month.

MANCHESTER CITY have appointed Barnsley’s Paul Harsley as their new Under-23 manager.

FORMER Arsenal Invincible Freddie Ljungberg is returning to the club in July to take charge of the Under-23 side.

SCOTT SELLARS has been promoted to Head of Academy Player Development at Wolves following an internal restructure of coaching at the club.

INCOMING Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands says he is looking for a ‘modern coach’ who will give the club’s Academy players a chance.

INCOMING Arsenal Academy boss Per Mertesacker says changing players’ mindsets will be a key objective for him in his new job.

CLUBS spend millions doing due diligence on potential signings, but have never been able to analyse personality - until now.

ARSENAL have suspended Under-23 coach Steve Gatting and his assistant Carl Laraman following accusations of bullying made against them.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY manager Jos Luhukay says he will continue to build his team around young players next season.

FULHAM Academy Director Huw Jennings says England’s young players are technically better than ever and have left Germany trailing.

NORWICH CITY majority shareholder Delia Smith says she wants her club to be built in the image of Guy Roux’s Auxerre.

NORWICH CITY have smashed the £3.5 million target for their Canaries Bond - a day before it was even due to go on public sale.

THE Court of Appeal has found in favour of Ealing Council’s decision to grant planning permission to the club for the redevelopment of more than 60 acres of land at Warren Farm in Hanwell.

LIVERPOOL loan manager Julian Ward reveals how the club chooses where to send players and why it's so important for their development.

TRANMERE futsal manager Damon Shaw has vowed to work for free until the end of the season despite being made redundant in a round of cuts.

TRANMERE ROVERS have scrapped all teams and coaching for players under the age of 16 because they have found it “impossible” to operate outside of the EPPP system.

TRANMERE ROVERS are closing their fabled Academy and all but one of their futsal teams.

NORWICH CITY have launched a £3.5m bond through a platform run by Gianluca Vialli in order to “build a state-of-the-art Academy”.

MANCHESTER CITY are looking for a new Under-23 coach as they revamp roles in their Academy.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN have launched the new programme for their Academy following the controversial decision to scrap all younger age groups.

WE’RE excited to announce the first TGG Live, led by the highly-respected former England rugby head coach Brian Ashton.

EVERTON Under-18s coach Paul Tait says the club's Academy is at the forefront of a move away from 'sanitised' football towards a more direct style of play.

READING have been thrown out of the FA Youth Cup for fielding an under-aged player.

CHARLTON Academy manager Steve Avory explains how the club manages to produce so many top players, from Jonjo Shelvey to Joe Gomez.

CHARLTON Academy manager Steve Avory says agents are routinely flouting FA rules by approaching players under the age of 16.

NORWICH CITY will retain Category 1 Academy status and become “leaders in youth development” for the entire country, says Sporting Director Stuart Webber.

WATFORD are introducing a B team next season in an attempt to bridge the gap between their Academy and first team.

FIVE graduates told me what made Exeter City's Academy such a good place to learn their trade.

HOW are League Two Exeter City managing to produce so many good young players, including Chelsea starlet Ethan Ampadu? Dan Kelly, their Head of Academy Recruitment explains all.

SECRETARY OF STATE Sajid Javid chooses not to call in plans for a new £10m training complex at the former Canford Magna Golf Club.

NEW Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis promotes Jonathan Woodgate from U18 to first-team coach to help him fast-track homegrown players at the club.

DAN HARRIS has been appointed Academy Manager at Oxford United following three years as assistant boss of Seoul E-Land in South Korea’s K-League.

LEE HERRON is leaving Reading after 17 years to become Football Operations Manager at Arsenal’s Academy.

BURTON ALBION’S determination to build a team with a homegrown core has been boosted by the use of St George’s Park this season, according to club captain Shaun Barker.

THE former Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United player replaces Steve Weaver, who left the club in August and later joined Norwich.

LIVERPOOL Development Coach Pepijn Lijnders - described as ‘unbelievably important’ by manager Jurgen Klopp - is leaving immediately to become head coach of NEC Nijmegen in Holland.

INCREASING opportunities for homegrown players will be English football’s biggest challenge in 2018, says FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth.

OUR top 10 best-read stories of 2017, ranging from Redfearn to Ranieri.

ENGLAND UNDER-16 boss Dan Micciche has reached settlement with the Football Association after being on gardening leave since the start of September.

NICK LEVETT has been appointed Head of Talent and Performance by UK Coaching after being made redundant by the Football Association.

PAUL CLEMENT inevitably got the chop after Swansea's awful start to the season, but the spotlight also needs to fall on those responsible for recruitment, including Dan Altman.

PETE STURGESS, the Football Association's lead for the foundation phase, tells us about the work that led to England's summer of success and how it is now being built on.

BRISTOL CITY have submitted formal planning permission for new training facilities to “enhance the pathway from Academy to first team".

EVERTON legend Joe Royle leaves his role as Professional Development Co-ordinator at the club, while new boss Sam Allardyce is looking to bring in a psychologist.

FIFTY-TWO of Huddersfield’s Academy players have now been signed by other clubs following the Terriers’ decision to close all teams below the Under-18s in September.

TRIBUTES have been paid to Dermot Drummy, the highly-successful former youth coach of Arsenal and Chelsea, who has died at the age of 56.

MANCHESTER CITY Academy manager Jason Wilcox admits something ‘unbelievable’ has to happen in order for teenagers to make it into the first team at the club.

JACK CORK has given a fascinating insight into Swansea’s recruitment process, suggesting it was NOT manager Paul Clement’s decision to sell him to Burnley this summer.

SVEN MISLINTAT, Borussia Dortmund’s Head of Professional Football and the man nicknamed “Diamond Eye”, has joined Arsenal as Head of Recruitment.

MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho says he aims to give a debut to at least one Academy player every season.

DEAN WRIGHT was previously Football Foundation Phase Coach at Huddersfield Town before his post closed when the Terriers decided to stop running any teams below Under-18 level.

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN has highlighted the role Dennis Bergkamp played in his development when he was at Ajax.

SOON clubs will be able to start signing pre-contract agreements with players who are available on Bosman free transfers - and Scout7 provides priceless information about who is available.

BRUCE SURACI has been promoted to Academy Head of Coaching and Development by Bournemouth.

FITNESS COACH Matt Green has left West Brom after 10 years to become Elite Performance Manager at the Premier League.

SUNDERLAND'S Dr James McCarron has been appointed to the new role of Elite Performance Manager by the Premier League.

DEVELOPMENT COACH Pepijn Lijnders says the quality of Liverpool’s Academy players - and the club’s willingness to use them - will give a critical advantage over Premier League rivals.

MANCHESTER CITY chief executive Ferran Soriano admits there is “much more to do” to bridge the gap between the club’s Academy and first team.

MIGUEL RIOS, Fulham's former senior scout, has been appointed European scout by high-flying Wolves.

NORWICH CITY have landed Head of Academy Recruitment Steve McGavin from arch rivals Ipswich Town.

How effective is your team's Academy? A new study has ranked the 86 Category 1-3 clubs in terms of productivity for England-qualified players.

HEAD of Talent ID Richard Allen is leaving the Football Association to become Loughborough University’s first Director of Football.

LINCOLN CITY manager Danny Cowley says his club’s Academy has to teach youngsters about winning - because it's not something they learn in school.

DAVID MOSS has left his role as Head of Football Operations at Huddersfield after little more than four months in the job.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON explains why he made youth the foundation of his success at Man Utd - even when it led to complaints in the House of Commons.

MANCHESTER UNITED Academy boss Nicky Butt has derided Chelsea’s youth system, saying they produce outstanding players but fail to get them into the first team.

RECRUITMENT tech firm Scout7, founded by Lee Jamison in 2001, has been bought by Perform Group.

BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH Sporting Director Max Eberl says English clubs are producing the best young players in the world - but failing to give them a chance.

MANCHESTER UNITED are closing down seven of their Development Centres and changing the focus of the remaining 17.

NORWICH CITY have completed their review of the club's Academy set-up, resulting in a total of five staff losing their jobs.

NEW Manchester City Academy boss Jason Wilcox says challenging players will be more important than winning on his watch.

NORWICH CITY legend Darren Huckerby has been sacked as the club’s Under-23 assistant following a review of staffing and practices in the Academy.

BURNLEY have been awarded Category 2 Academy status, opened a £10.6m training centre and bolstered their scouting network as they try to cement their position as a Premier League outfit.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON says his experience with Paul Scholes proved to him that developing talent was more important than size.

AZ ALKMAAR have built a ‘Performance Playground’ to evoke the spirit of street football at their Academy.

NO-ONE was banging the drum for Harry Kane before he made his Spurs debut in 2014, which tells us there are very few 'dead certs' until young players are given a chance.

MANCHESTER UNITED have signed five Huddersfield youngsters - including the highly-rated Sam Murray.

MICHAEL MANCIENNE thinks Germany are much more successful than England on the international stage because their clubs “would rather push through a youngster with potential than make a signing”.

GED RODDY is leaving the Premier League after eight years following a mutual decision that his role of Director of Football Development “will no longer be required in the medium to long term”.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN chairman Dean Hoyle provides a vigorous defence of his decision to downgrade the club's Academy.

MICHAEL BEALE has returned to Liverpool as head of coaching for the foundation phase at the Kirkby Academy.

EVERTON named an Academy graduate in their matchday squad for the 1,000th consecutive game on Sunday when Wayne Rooney and Tom Davies were included against Manchester United.

NORWICH announce the news we told you on Friday - that Steve Weaver has been appointed as their new Academy manager.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN are downgrading their Academy from Category Two to Category Four status, meaning they will only now run Under-18 and Under-23 squads.

STEVE WEAVER has been appointed as the new Head of Academy at Norwich - but his arrival has not been officially announced because of the terms of Stuart Webber’s departure from Huddersfield.

FULHAM have retained the Category One Academy? status they have held since 2012.

MANCHESTER UNITED have appointed Lech Poznan’s Piotr Sadowski as their new Central European scout as they continue the massive overhaul of their recruitment department.

JORDI CRUYFF insists Pep Guardiola is still continuing his father’s legacy despite his record with homegrown players at Manchester City.

THE exit of Manchester City's brightest prospect seriously undermines their claims that youth would be given a platform this season.

RENE MEULENSTEEN worked with Manchester United's Academy for six years, helping develop talents including Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingaard. He told us about his methods and philosophy.

RANGERS' Academy boss explains why they chose to exit the domestic league and take on Europe's best.

SOUTHAMPTON have announced the death of their chief scout, Bill Green, at the age of 66.

FULHAM have appointed Daniel Talbot - son of Brian, the assistant director of football operations - as their senior/ European scout.

STEVE WEAVER is set to take over as Head of Norwich’s Academy at the end of September, when his gardening leave with Huddersfield Town has ended.

WEST BROM boss Tony Pulis says he wants half his team to be homegrown within the next two years - even though they have been hampered by playing Academy football “far, far too long”.

NORWICH CITY academy manager Richard Money has left the club by mutual consent as the complete overhaul of the football side of the business continues apace under Sporting Director Stuart Webber.

BLACKBURN ROVERS have appointed former player Tony Carss as their new Head of Academy Coaching.

DONALD PARK is to combine his current role as Head of Coaching at the Scottish Football Association with that of national Under-19 coach.

SEAN DYCHE explains how Burnley are expanding their scouting horizons as they seek to make the next step as a club.

ARSENE WENGER says the manager of the future will not even need a football background, because his or her decisions will be based on science and technology.

SEAN LUNDON has been promoted to Head of Academy Coaching at Everton.

NEW Manchester United Under-23 boss Ricky Sbragia says one of his key objectives in the role will be to make sure his players enjoy themselves.

ACADEMY MANAGER Steve Weaver has left Huddersfield Town shortly before their first season in the Premier League.

FULHAM manager Slavisa Jokanovic has hit out at the club's transfer strategy this summer and suggested there were plans to sell striker Sone Aluko?.

CHELSEA have sent their players on loan to 87 clubs in the last five seasons, with Vitesse Arnhem the leading destination.

CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte has defended his record with young homegrown players, saying they are often too impatient and that he is always under pressure to win.

BLACKPOOL chairman Karl Oyston has taken to LinkedIn to appeal for a new Head, Head of Coaching, Physio and Administrator for the club’s Category 3 Academy.

BLACKBURN ROVERS have confirmed they will maintain the funding and facilities necessary to remain a Category 1 Academy - despite having been relegated to League One.

This summer more than 1,100 players found themselves out of contract in the Premier League and Football League. The PFA and Scout7 try to put them back in the shop window.

BLACKBURN ROVERS' Head of Academy Eric Kinder has left the club.

GERMAN defender Per Mertesacker is to retire as a player at the end of next season and take over as Arsenal’s Academy Manager.

BOURNEMOUTH announce that long-serving Academy boss Joe Roach is staying on at the club - two months after saying he was leaving.

BLACKBURN ROVERS are confident of retaining their status as a Category One Academy, despite being relegated to League One.

The Premier League has created a new position of Elite Performance Manager to ‘support their mission of developing more and better homegrown players’.

MANCHESTER UNITED have landed a star signing for their formidable recruitment department - Juventus chief scout Javier Ribalta.

LEE DARNBROUGH has been appointed to the newly-created role of Head of Recruitment by Hull City.

ARSENAL have hired Hussein Fahmy from Team Sky to deal with their player contracts.

LEEDS UNITED have appointed Gaby Ruiz to the newly-created role of Head of European Recruitment.

A MANCHESTER start-up has launched the world’s first virtual reality talent ID and rehab system.

UKRAINIAN side Oleksandriya have been looking to sign a fast attacking player under the age of 21 - who has to be black.

MANCHESTER UNITED Under-18 coach Kieran McKenna says Academies are producing outstanding players - but admits their pathway to the first team is a big problem.

DAVID MOSS, Celtic’s former head of recruitment, is named as Huddersfield’s Head of Football Operations.

LEEDS UNITED have announced Spaniard Victor Orta as their new Director of Football.

VICTOR ORTA is set to join Leeds United as their new technical director as Middlesbrough continue a complete clear-out of their backroom staff.

DEFENDER Declan Rice became the first teenager to feature for West Ham this season on the final day of their campaign - just 24 hours after co-owner David Gold had declared it would be “extremely unlikely” that a teenager would be able to break into the side.

PSG are on the verge of signing Atletico Madrid Sporting Director Andrea Berta, according to reports in France.

STEVE McCLAREN has ruled himself out of contention for the vacant Sporting Director role at Huddersfield Town.

SUNDERLAND have brought in Rob Mackenzie on a three-month contract as a ‘recruitment operations consultant’.

PEP GUARDIOLA has warned he is again unlikely to introduce many academy players to the Manchester City first team next season, blaming the competitiveness of the youth league they play in.

GLASGOW RANGERS have withdrawn from next season’s SPFL Development League in order to play youth games against Europe’s top clubs.

JEFF VETERE has become the new Director of Football at Birmingham City - where he will team up with Harry Redknapp, one of the most outspoken critics of the role.

ARSENE WENGER has completely dismissed the possibility of working with a Director of Football as long as he is at Arsenal.

MANCHESTER CITY have been banned from signing Academy players for two years after being found guilty of tapping-up two schoolboys.

After months of speculation, Monchi has finally been unveiled as Roma's new Sporting Director. The Spaniard has become an almost mystical figure after transforming Sevilla from Segunda División side to perennial European contenders.

SPORTING DIRECTOR Stuart Webber has continued his whirlwind start to life at Norwich City by releasing seven players and holding informal talks with Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill.

NORWICH’S new sporting director, Stuart Webber, has appointed heads of UK and European scouting as part of his revamp of the club’s recruitment.

DAVE PARNABY, who is retiring at the end of the season after 20 years as Middlesbrough’s academy director, says youth football has become too ‘formalised’ and lost the art of play.

On the face of it, New Zealand Technical Director is a thankless job: the country is rugby obsessed, its top players play thousands of miles away, and only half a World Cup place is available every four years. Andreas Heraf describes it as a “great gift” though.

SPORTING DIRECTOR Stuart Webber has immediately made his presence felt at Norwich City by sacking technical director Ricky Martin and recruitment chiefs Lee Darnbrough and Tony Spearing.

HUDDERSFIELD will not consider former England boss Steve McClaren for their vacant Head of Football Operations role, TGG understands.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE teams will be required to name at least one 'club developed' in their matchday squads next season.

STUART WEBBER has been confirmed as the new Sporting Director of Norwich City.

LIVERPOOL have been banned from signing academy players from other clubs for at least a year after being found to have tapped up a 12-year-old Stoke City player and offered both him and his family inducements.

STUART WEBBER is expected to be officially named as Norwich’s new sporting director following tonight’s game at Huddersfield.

WE’VE long known about the star player. Then there was the star manager. Now we have a new phenomenon - the star sporting director - and none comes bigger than Sevilla’s Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo - or Monchi. Now the 48-year-old says he has offers to come to the Premier League this summer.

What exactly does a Sporting Director do? And why does the role arouse suspicion and even hostility in this country?

MANCHESTER UNITED have signed up to make their debut at the Youdan Trophy – the youth tournament set up by former ref Keith Hackett, who promises it will become “the most prestigious of its kind in Europe”.

EVERTON director of football Steve Walsh has given an insight into the scouting overhaul he believes will deliver a top-four place for the Toffees.

THE way top clubs scout players has been revolutionised thanks to companies like Scout7. We took a look at how the online system works.

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are talent trawling for children as young as four in a ‘race to the bottom’, according to the talent identification manager at the Football Association.

MANCHESTER UNITED’S global network of scouts have been summoned to Carrington for their first meeting following a massive overhaul.