Joe Maloney believes that the Youth Team have what it takes to be crowned Under-18 Professional Development League Two champions as they prepare for tonight’s final.
The Bees face Charlton Athletic at Griffin Park, free admission, kick-off 7pm, with the winner being crowned National Champions.
Brentford led the league for much of the season but were pipped to the Southern league title by The Addicks on the final day of the season.
A 2-1 win over Northern league winners Huddersfield Town saw Brentford qualify for the final while Charlton qualified after a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Speaking to Bees Player ahead of the match, Youth Team coach Joe Maloney said there was an air of confidence around the Youth Team ahead of the final.
“The mood in the Youth Team is very good,” said Joe.
“They were very bright in training and it was an intense session.
“They are relaxed and that is the only way that they can be.
“They have to trust in their own ability.
“All the boys in the group know that there are very good boys in the dressing room.
“If they go out and play the natural game they have played all season I am sure that they are going to come out with the win.
“They want to put on a show for the fans that will come down because they have played some great football this season.
“They are very eager to please friends, family and fans at the stadium.”
Whilst the Youth team have been preparing for their final the first-team have also been gearing up for a Play-Off campaign.
Joe feels it has been a great learning environment for the younger players to be around the first-team gearing up for their Play-Off Semi-Final with Middlesbrough.
The 21-year-old coach thinks it is especially helpful for the Youth Team that is such a young first-team at Griffin Park as it gives them real hope that they can be in a similar situation sooner rather than later.
“You can’t see it that your summer holiday has been shortened you just have to see if that your season has got more exciting,” said Joe.
“The first-team are in a great position and they just need to go to Middlesbrough and play how they did in the last game.
“The Youth Team are in a final so the mood around the training ground is really good.
“The club is in a great position from Academy to first-team.
“When the first-team boys were training yesterday all the Youth Team boys were sitting outside the pavilion watching them train.
“They can take massive inspiration from what the first-team have done this season and the fact that there are a lot of young players in the first-team this season means they can relate to them more.
“They can see that in two years’ time they could be where Moses Odubajo or Alex Pritchard is.
“I know it is different for the first-team that they are geared up to win every game regardless of what happens.
“Although they have a philosophy and they try and play a certain way, the end goal for the first-team is that they have to get three points.
“With the Youth Team it is about development so it comes sometimes that you have to win three points to develop.”
Joe started working within the Academy at Griffin Park last season, combining his time with being part of The Bees’ Development Squad.
This season his playing time has taken more of a backwards step as he has become more involved in the coaching side of the game.
The midfielder said that while it would be great for The Bees to win tonight and for some of the training ground work to pay off in the final nobody can forget the long-term aim which is to get boys playing in Brentford’s first-team.
“It is always nice to see stuff that you have worked on during the week come off in the game because then you know you are doing your job,” said Joe.
“The ultimate aim for everyone at this club is that we want to see a player from this Youth Team pull on a shirt at Griffin Park in the first-team.
“The only way we can judge our success is how many players we produce for the first-team.
“Although it is satisfying to see something that you have worked on come-off or to see one of your players improving you can’t see that as an achievement.
“You have to judge yourself and the Academy on whether we are getting players nearer to the first-team.”
Joe was part of a Development Squad group that included Josh Clarke, Charlie Adams and Alfie Mawson, all of whom have since gone on to play in the Football League.
Ealing-boy Joe thinks that seeing how players like Alfie and Charlie trained day in and day out has given him a good understanding of what it takes to become a professional and that is something he is happy to pass on to the current Youth Team crop.
“I spoke to Chris Mepham this week about Alfie Mawson,” said Joe.
“I was giving him advice on how Alfie used to train and what he used to do after training.
“It is good for me to see close friends of mine like Alfie and Charlie Adams, make that step up into first team football, because I can pass on to the younger guys what things it was they used to do.”