AFTER Jordan Henderson committed his long-term future to Sunderland this week, we asked The Legends to outline what they think of the Academy systems in place at Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United.

MICKY HORSWILL

THIS is the best period the Sunderland Academy has had. Jordan Henderson has obviously enjoyed a promising start to life in the professional game and he has quite rightly been rewarded with a new contract.

Jordan has the potential to be something special but what Sunderland have to make sure is that he is not the last one who makes the step up to the Premier League. You do have to be careful. If you look at Middlesbrough, they have had one of the best Academy set-ups in the country for a number of years now and where did that get them? In the Championship.

Just because you are decent at Academy level does not make you a definite success in the Premier League. That was shown to be the case at Boro and it will prove to be the case at many other clubs.

At Sunderland, there have been plenty of noises made in the last couple of seasons about their Academy teams and they have enjoyed a degree of success.

But the balance has to be right. As well as looking to bring through the likes of Jordan, there has to be investment into the squad from outside and that is exactly what is happening at the moment. Let’s hope it continues.

Is Sunderland’s Academy system working? Yes.

BERNIE SLAVEN

THERE’S no doubting that at Middlesbrough we have a great crop of youngsters.

We have churned out the talented youngsters year after year and from what I’m told by people at the club that is going to continue. That’s a great sign.

Through Dave Parnaby and his team we have had one of the best in the country. We could even be regarded as having the No 1 around.

There’s no other team in the North-East that can say that it has developed a player worthy of selling for £12m, like we did with Stewart Downing in the summer. Even Sunderland have just paid £6m for another of the Boro graduates, Lee Cattermole.

Those are just two of the talents to have come off the production line and I can only see it continuing.

The Academy has proven a worthwhile moneyspinner for the club and if there is one negative thing I can say about it, it is that it has not produced a goalpoacher – a typical centreforward.

In previous decades there has been the likes of Brian Clough, George Camsell, there has been loads. But the modern way has failed to unearth that little potent forward capable of scoring goals for fun. Maybe there’s one around the corner, we’ll see.

Is Middlesbrough’s Academy system working?

Yes.

MALCOLM MACDONALD

I WILL get straight to the point, I don’t like the Academy system. Full stop.

It’s not just Newcastle’s, it’s the whole programme. It stereotypes youngsters into playing football a certain way and I don’t see the benefit of that at all.

I was talking to a young Academy prospect the other day and he related everything he was learning about football to his computer game on his Playstation3. Where’s the sense in that? I have no confidence in the Academy set up at all.

I used to go out for a walk and see kids playing football all of the time. It must be around two decades since I last saw kids playing football in the park.

That’s what’s wrong with the Academies, they prevent kids from playing with their friends.

I am not saying get rid of them. I’m just saying they should be tinkered with.

You go along to watch these children now playing in the academies and everything is done for them. They don’t have to lift a finger.

Teenagers need to learn how to do things for themselves. It makes them hungrier. There have been players to come through at Newcastle and there will be more, but I would just like to see them given some freedom to play in their own time and look after themselves a bit.

Is Newcastle’s Academy system working? No.