Friday 11 October 2013 11:53, UK
Kevin Davies has backed Jack Wilshere over the recent England eligibility debate and says the new FA commission must focus on grassroots football.
Davies has his own ideas on the changes that need to be made to help solve the problem of English players not reaching the top level of the game. He said: "I've written a document that I'll be putting out soon on what I felt when I was growing up to where it is now, what's changed. "The academies are taking on players too young, I think they need to be enjoying their football more. "There's too much pressure on them from a young age. They're flipping from club to club at seven, eight, nine, and getting rejected - that's wrong for a start. "My son's in an academy. I moved him from a local team because he wasn't getting a good standard of coaching. It was a typical dad wanting to run a team on a Sunday morning - a lot of dads do that at that level - these guys need to be educated as well. Give people all the chances to coach better and better themselves. "Coaching is expensive; a lot of the coaches at the Academy at Bolton can't go to the next level because it's too expensive. It's £5,500 to get up to UEFA A standard; it's too expensive, so make that more affordable as well. "We've only got 1100 UEFA A coaches. Spain have got 12,000; Germany have got 5-6,000 so let's get that right as well." Davies, who said he will be happy to give his thoughts to the commission if asked, also believes the extra money in football nowadays has led to a change in the attitude of young players. "I think the academy kids now get it a little too easy," he said. "We were YTSs; we were cleaning the toilets until 5pm, cleaning the stands out, doing all the dirty jobs, and it wasn't done in spite, it was done to discipline you and keep you grounded. "They get too much to soon now and football becomes a means to an end for them. It's not about playing football, it's about how much money they can earn and what lifestyle they can live whereas when we were growing up it was all about playing football." To hear more from Davies, download the latest Football League Hour or listen to it via Soundcloud below.