Local talent is the target for new boss Phillips

9:30am Tuesday 1st July 2008

GORDON Sharrock talks to Jimmy Phillips, who as new manager of Bolton Wanderers Academy, has the task of finding stars of the future

NO one could have been happier than Jimmy Phillips when Wanderers survived a traumatic year to book themselves an eighth successive season of Premiership football.

Bolton born and bred and a lifelong Wanderers fan, he lived the dream when he made more than 300 appearances in two spells with his hometown club, many of which were at the highest level. And, going on to become a valued member of the first team coaching staff, he had the added satisfaction of having a hands-on role in the team's battle to beat the drop.

But not only that. By the time the relegation cloud was finally lifted at Chelsea on the last day of the season, Phillips had been confirmed as the club's new academy manager, charged with producing the stars of future Bolton teams.

And having the Premiership flag flying at the Reebok was certainly going to help him in his recruitment drive.

"It makes a huge difference," he said. "The majority of schoolboys want to be associated with a Premiership club, so staying up should have a positive, knock-on effect on the recruitment side of the academy, very important.

"We are competing with six other Premiership clubs in the North-west, so it's bound to help if we can offer young players an opportunity to one day play in the Premier League."

Grooming players for first team football of course, is the academy's remit, but signing up the best young talent available is a crucial first step - and, not surprisingly, considering his own background, Phillips is looking for a strong local flavour Wanderers have cast their net far and wide in the past with academy recruits drawn from as far afield as Australia and the United States, but the accent in the future should have much more of a regional tone.

"There has been a certain emphasis in the past on foreign recruitment," Phillips explained, acknowledging how the academy had expanded on a global scale since it was set up in the mid-nineties.

"We've searched far afield and had players from Australia, Poland, Scandinavia and France, and we have improved the standards of the players who come to us. But the fact is that we have only produced three players - Kevin Nolan, Nicky Hunt and Joey O'Brien - who have become regulars in the Premiership. Ricardo Vaz Te has also come through but he has still not become a regular.

"Now the chairman and the board are looking for us, first and foremost, to recruit from the immediate area, from Bolton to begin with, then the North-west before going national, and only looking at the rest of the world if we have to.

"We have contacts all over the world, but we feel we need to concentrate more on our own doorstep, albeit in a very competitive area."

Manchester United, City, Liverpool, Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Wigan are all vying for the same players but Wanderers believe they stole a march on their rivals seven years ago when two of their full-time academy staff, Peter Almond and Tom Critchley, were assigned to make a concerted effort to sign up the most promising youngsters.

"They took a radius of 20 to 25 miles from the Reebok and scoured the area for the best under sevens and under eights," Phillips said.

"They did such a good job that, consequently, all the teams those boys have been involved in have become very competitive against all the other academies, which has been a great plus for us and should stand us in good stead."

With the new £3million academy training centre at Lostock expected to be up and running in late July, Wanderers will finally have a dedicated facility that should also help with the recruitment drive and pay dividends in the years to come.

First up, Phillips must steer Wanderers through a period of transition on the staffing front with a number of familiar figures - notably former academy manager Chris Sulley - having moved on in recent months. But the former full-back is excited to be taking on a new challenge.

"I'm not one for setting targets because some seasons you could have one, two or three players coming through and the next could be a barren year," he said. "In the past, we have produced players who have gone on to have careers with lower league clubs, which is all well and good, but, as far as I am concerned, if the academy is to be successful, we have to produce players who will play for us in the Premiership."