Craig Liddle exclusively speaks about Boro's academy, Josh Coburn and bettering PL sides

The Middlesbrough academy factory line has been busy in recent decades and still continues to roll out some of the best talent in English football after years of illustrious success.

You only have to look as far as the likes of Stewart Downing who became a 35 capped England international playing at the very top of the game at World Cups and Championship Leagues. Andrew Taylor, David Wheater, Joe Bennett and Danny Graham are others who have all gone on to have outstanding careers in the game.

But there isn’t just something in the water on Teesside. It’s no coincidence the academy boasts the reputation it has. Craig Liddle, the club’s academy manager will testify to that in the strongest possible terms.

A former player with Middlesbrough and Darlington before a spell in caretaker charge in 2011, he was initially appointed back at Boro as Under-18’s coach before taking over the academy in 2017. Although he did have a brief spell in caretaker charge that same year. In true Sam Allardyce with England style, Liddle had the one game in the dugout leading Boro to a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers with Tony Pulis waiting in the wings. But that’s not his badge of honour.

It’s the joy of planting the seed and watching it grow into a professional footballer with the proper naturing and coaching along the way. In recent times, we’ve seen Josh Coburn go from unknown entity to flourishing first-team striker. More on him later. But it’s an eye of the needle process to pluck the ripest fruit in the North-East orchard first. The right players need to be scouted and recruited.

Liddle told the Northern Echo: “I think it’s just a case our main competitors are Sunderland and Newcastle and Leeds and I think in comparison to them clubs, they are huge clubs we are competing against.

“First and foremost, we’ve got to recruit the boys into the system so the eyes that we have out in and around the area on a weekend and in school games are part-time staff. They link in the three full-time staff that we have with Martin Carter overseeing the whole operation. A lot of credit goes to Martin and his eye for spotting talent.

“Without the initial recommendation, we don’t get the right types of player in so the recruitment department play as big a part as anybody in initially identifying the boys.”

Asked whether we can expect to see the next Downing anytime soon, Liddle replied: “I definitely think so. I think if you look at the last time these rankings were brought out, we were in a similar position. We obviously maintain what we have been doing throughout the years.

“There is a lot of credit that goes to Dave Parnaby and Ron Bone who set all this away. Our job is to continue and build on the fantastic work that they have put into the club.

“We are mirroring that and we have got some regulars in the first-team now with Marcus Tavernier, Dael Fry and Isaiah Jones. We have got people in and around it. We believe we have got some exciting talents all the way up through the age groups which is encouraging.”

Just a few of the names that Liddle mentioned there are players that often play all over the pitch. Apart from one position that’s missing. A striker.

A bug bare of Boro fans over the years is that the academy has failed to produce an out-and-out striker. One that can grab the torch from the Alen Boksics, Mark Vidukas and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbainks of Boro.

Step forward Josh Coburn. A young man who’s netted four times in 12 appearances for the first team since being thrust onto the big stage last season by Neil Warnock. His efforts have recently been rewarded with a fresh new contract until 2025.

Liddle added: “Josh is our newest graduate that has made it into the first-team and probably one that every supporter was hoping that we would produce a number nine. That’s one of the things that gets mentioned quite a bit. We’ve produced a lot of players but not an out-and-out centre forward.

“Josh going in there and scoring goals for the first team has given everyone a boost.

“He typifies what we look for in the academy, not only for a technically and tactically good player, but also a fantastic young man who leads by example.”

Recently, Boro’s academy has been ranked at ninth the Training Ground Guru’s latest Academy Productivity Ratings. Liddle explained: “Every year they produce productivity rankings which looks at the number of players that your club has got playing in the Premier League down to the National League that have come through your academy system.”

A fine achievement which highlights the excellence and reputation that the department of the club has earned over the years. Their work in the academy saw them finish above the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle United, Leeds United and Aston Villa.

It’s earned itself such a strong reputation that it becomes a pull for managers to come and take a job at the club because they know they’ll have some of the best youngsters in the country coming through to the first-team.

“To be up in the rankings where we are at nine out of 83 clubs that run academies, it just shows that how many players we’ve had through the system that actively play in the leagues across the country” added Liddle.

“If you look at the clubs above us, they are some huge teams. The likes of Man United, Chelsea, Tottenham, huge clubs with huge budgets who have got a vast amount of staff and the cost of running their academies, compared to ours, is huge so that does show how well we are doing.

“There are some teams below us that are huge clubs, again with huge investment, who we are competing with.

“It’s credit to anyone involved that we are performing at the level that we are.

“Some of the clubs above us and below us as well, a lot of their players that have gone on to play in the leagues, they’ve recruited from other academies so our boys are predominantly from the area.

“Propped up from players that have been released in the academies are players in the non league system. That’s a huge credit to our recruitment department both locally and nationally.

“We have various departments, recruiting, coaching, science and education and the operations of the academy are all run hand in hand and they all play a part in the development of the players that we produce.”