Danny Cowley: Positive news to come for Portsmouth fans on Fratton futures of Academy seven

Although he insists the club are not yet ready to make an official announcement.

Last Wednesday, Pompey informed seven Academy second-year scholars whether they will be retained at Fratton Park beyond graduation.

As previously revealed by The News, striker Dan Gifford has subsequently been offered third-year scholarship terms after impressing during a Rocks loan spell.

The future of the remaining six youngsters has still to be made clear.

Regardless, following the April 2021 overhaul which saw all second and third-year scholars depart, Cowley believes there is cause for encouragement over the latest crop.

He told The News: ‘We have spoken to all of the second-year scholars and there’s some positive news which has come out of that.

‘As soon as we’re in a position to announce it, then we will.

‘Hopefully that will energise and enthuse the Academy staff, but also the young players will start to see there is a pathway here.

‘At the back end of last season it wasn’t me sitting on the fence or avoiding difficult decisions, I just didn’t want to make decisions about the future of young players when I didn’t have enough information.

‘I watched them play against Millwall, some trained with us, but it's incredibly difficult.

‘Whereas this time around I’ve probably watched them 15 times, we’ve had numerous meetings, we possess all the statistics for every game and it’s the same software we use for the first-team.

‘We have a natural comparison, we have all their clips, I have seen them live, while a number of older ones have trained with us regularly – so we’re in a good place to make intelligent decisions.

‘They are not always easy decisions, that's why you must try to make sure you get as much information as you can.

'The next challenge – and the biggest challenge – is not just offering third-year scholar and first-year pro deals, but getting them on the pitch regularly and playing consistently well for the first-team.

‘We are still some time away from that, but are working hard to try to achieve it.’

In addition to Gifford, other Pompey second-year scholars are David Setters, Harry Jewitt-White, Conor Manderson, Harvey Hughes, Alfie Bridgman and Izzy Kaba.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Toby Steward signed his first professional contract in February on his 17th birthday.

Cowley added: ‘If we want a successful football club, we have to create our own players, so the Academy is absolutely pivotal to that.

‘We have loads to do, Nicky (Cowley) is in the Academy three times a week, watching training, watching games, while Greg (Miller) and I work very, very closely together.

‘It’s moving forward, it’s improving, but it’s small steps.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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