By Jack Hatton
Everton Under 18s manager Paul Tait has hailed the new appointment of first-team manager Frank Lampard.
The former Chelsea legend turned manager got off to winning ways on Saturday after a comprehensive 4-1 victory against Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round tie in front of the Blues faithful at Goodison Park.
But the defeat away at Newcastle on Tuesday shows there is a lot of work ahead of Lampard as fans will be hoping the dismal league campaign will improve.
Though in the infancy of his managerial career, Lampard has already been credited with not shying away from giving the youth players a chance.
He’s brought on the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham and helped their careers sky rocket with the 43-year-old at the helm.
As expected, this has given the whole club a new lease of life, as Tait knows first-hand.
Tait told Merseysportlive: “That’s given the first team a lift and I’m sure that will filter down to the youth level.
“Being around the under 18s and 23s, its definitely given them a lift as well.
“You obviously know about Frank and know the way they play, how they’ve used young players at Derby, how they’ve used young players at Chelsea.
“So these young players, they’re smart. They’ll be looking at that and thinking maybe there’s a chance for us.
“We want the young players to have that hope and see that pathway into the first team.”
📈 | “Every day now is about working on the mentality, the behaviours and the values of the players. That’s the hard work, dedication and the application we’re looking for."
Paul Tait on the summer process for #EFCU18 and new scholars. 🔵
— Everton Academy (@EvertonAcademy) July 18, 2021
And having that pathway for young players is one of the other big talking points in the news recently.
Crystal Palace announced they were the first club to offer an extensive aftercare program for released youth players.
It’s been met with praise from all corners of the community.
But the Toffees Under 18s coach, who’s been in the youth set up for a decade, believes though a great idea, these types of schemes are already in place.
“It’s got a lot pf publicity. I think if you went round most other clubs, they’d have something like that in place.
“The aftercare that the [Everton] academy have is unbelievable.
“We’ve got a structure in place, tremendous support for the players We’ve actually got a player care team.
“So when a player leaves the building, when he goes onto a different club or he comes out the game and into education, he isn’t just cut off from Everton.”
(Featured image copyright of Merseysportlive)
