Ose Aibangee hailed Brentford’s crop of Under-18s for their performances in the 2014/15 season and said they had exceeded his expectations.
The Bees had a fine season at Youth Team level last term, finishing second in the Under-18 Professional Development League Two South and then reaching the national final.
Ten of the group have now turned professional and most of them were regulars for the Development Squad at Under-21 level towards the end of the campaign.
The majority of the new professionals were in the Brentford squad that won the Junior competition at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland in 2012 and Ose said their consistency had been rewarded.
He said having a good group of players helped the best of them develop.
“We felt the Under-18s were doing well and deserved a chance to play in the Under-21s,” said Ose, during a wide-ranging interview with Bees Players.
“Results were similar, it showed they can step up.
“We have some really good players in the system.
“These players have exceeded our expectations.
“The Milk Cup win was great and they have been consistent – they beat AZ Alkmaar when Under-17s and have been consistent in the league now.
“You don’t often get that with young players.
“They deserve professional contracts.
“They have to make the next step, establishing themselves in the Under-21s and then pushing for the First Team.
“They have to make the leap individually but an individual develops with good players around him.
“It is nearly impossible for a player to develop by himself, he needs to be pushed in training and matches.
“A good group helps the best develop.”
Ose said staff in the Academy had tried to push the players on by exposing them to different situations.
They went to the Netherlands to play AZ Alkmaar in 2013 and have been in tournaments in Florida and Northern Ireland – the older section in the Milk Cup – in the last year.
They failed to get past the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup, losing to Hull City, but Ose said that was not a cause for concern.
He said the pressure that had been applied would help them and also help the staff bring on younger age groups.
“We wanted to give them different experiences,” said Ose.
“The league is a pressure but the tournaments are matches with consequences.
“We try to replicate the situation of the First Team.
“At Hull they had a bad ten minutes that cost them.
“Good teams lose matches and under pressure they have to play as they normally do.
“Generally speaking they do but we use tournaments to help them handle the pressure.
“Pressure is about the fear of failure.
“These tournaments give them that fear and sometimes they don’t perform at the right level.
“But generally speaking, they have been excellent.
“We are always looking to improve, I think we have done well with this group but I think we are doing better with the younger groups.
“We have tried to drip feed tournament and consequence football in to them earlier with matches like the one our Under-15s in Barcelona.
“We have learnt and there will always be areas to improve.”
Ose admitted not to win a trophy was a disappointment but the key thing was to get players in to the First Team.
“Trophies are great and it is good for the Academy,” he said.
“But getting players in the First Team is the main thing, no-one will remember in a year if we won the league.
“If there is a player in the First Team, that is remembered.V
“It would have been nice to win it and it is disappointing we didn’t but it is not the main thing.”
The full video interview can be seen on Bees PlayerHD and more from Ose Aibangee will be on www.brentfordfc.co.uk tomorrow.