Leeds United Under-23s boss Jason Blunt admits that the academy coaches feel proud about the youngsters who sign professional contracts with the club, but has conceded that they still need to put in a lot of hard yards to make it as a professional footballer.
The Whites have been making sure that some of their more talented academy hopefuls are tied down to professional contract, with 17-year-old Clarke Odour becoming the latest to sign on the dotted line with Leeds.
Blunt admits that all the academy coaches feel a sense of pride when the youngsters manage to nab a professional contract with Leeds as it is a collective effort to make sure that the academy continue to produce players for the first team.
However, he insisted that the professional contract is not the be all and end all for the youngsters as they still have to work a lot harder from to make it at Elland Road and become a professional footballer.
The Leeds Under-23s boss explained to LUTV: “Yes, it’s a [feeling of] pride for all the academy coaches.
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“Everybody has played their part at some point; we keep saying that it’s not about certain individuals, it starts from the scouts who bring them in.
“We continue to say that the academy is what it is and we will continue to produce players and yes we are delighted for them, but things could quickly change if they don’t knuckle down and work extremely hard.
“You can judge them on being a professional footballer maybe when they have played 100 games, so the hard work is still to be done for them.”
