Character, managing talent and tough conversations: The man in charge of Sheffield Wednesday’s future

Haslam is quick to point out that it’s far from a one man show when it comes to youth development at Middlewood Road… He may be the Academy Manager, but around him the former Owls player has a hard-working and devoted group who are striving to help nurture the stars of tomorrow at S6.

With years spent in League One and big money transfers seemingly a thing of the past at Hillsborough there is greater onus on promoting from within, and with talented striker, Bailey Cadamarteri, leading the charge there appears to be an exciting chapter beginning during Danny Röhl’s tenure.

The German has only been at Hillsborough a few months, but has already elevated Cadamarteri to full first team status, while others such as Pierce Charles, Gui Siqueira, Sam Reed and more have all stepped out onto the field at senior level. For Haslam it goes some way to validating the work being done in the academy structures, but it also shows a pathway for those still working their way through.

“We’ve got to be open-minded to recruit from wherever,” Haslam told The Star in an Owls’ meeting room at their training ground in S6. “Whether that’s a local boy who joins at a young age and comes right through the system like we’ve seen with quite a few, or ones who come into our programme quite late like Pierce, Gui and Sam for example. It’s about what we perceive to be the best talent, and that can be unpredictable and very fluid. But it’s nice to see us having success stories with boys on different journeys…

“I met Danny on day one of his appointment and he was really engaging and wants to invest his time in the academy, and I think it’s not just that he says he’s invested - he actually puts players in and gives them opportunities. And that’s a great incentive for our young players, when you see the likes of Bailey and Pierce break out from the U21s - even though it is a big leap - they show that it’s achievable…

“We have technical board meetings regularly between first team and academy staff, we’re in daily contact, and we’re looking to manage each player - whether it’s top-up game time with the U21s or a week for the first team for our young lads - it’s constant interaction, and trying to manage everyone’s programme. Sometimes we get a bit stretched when it comes to loans out, players with the first team or - unfortunately - injured, but we’d rather have a lean group that allows them to push on.”

Both the U21s and U18s are pushing for top two finishes in their respective Professional Development League tables as we head into the business end of the campaign, but below them is another generation that has already got big teams sniffing around them. Young Owls are representing their countries at youth level, and the U15s recently topped a group that included Liverpool and Everton – it’s a tough age to navigate, but Haslam says that they work hard to get things right.

“The U15s have taken part in the Premier League’s Floodlit Cup this year,” he said. “And they topped their group among some pretty quality opposition - so it’ll be really interesting to see how far that group progress in the coming years…

“It’s a really difficult stage in some respects because there’s a lot happening in that person’s life - they’ve got schooling which is massively important, they’re growing and developing physically, they’re growing psychologically too, and obviously they all happen at different rates. Thankfully we’ve got experienced staff, and we formulate plans based on what we see and what we think is right.”

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But what do they look for when they’re searching for Wednesday’s stars of the future? What are the attributes they seek? Apart from being good at football of course.

Haslam explained, "Aside from the obvious technical attributes associated with any position there’s a whole range of stuff that you’re looking at… You look how they can cope with difficult situations, how they react to adversity, how they react with teammates and things like that - there are a lots of character traits you look for.

“The biggest one, I think, though, is a desire to continually strive for excellence. To not settle and always try to be better, and being honest in their reflections on themselves. We want a growth mindset and perseverance.”

But not all of them can make it. In fact, most of them never will… A tweet from Paul Dalglish last year flagged up a pretty staggering stat: 97% of former Category One academy players who were now aged between 21 to 26 never made an Premier League appearance - 70% weren't handed a professional contract in either the PL or the English Football League, and only one in 10 went on to make more than 20 league appearances in the top four tiers of English football. The group that progress to professional level is frankly minute.

For the Owls academy chief he believes that making those decisions is as hard as it gets for him – they do, however, look to make sure that those who don’t make it get the right help when shifting back out into what some would call ‘the real world’.

“You have to be empathetic to the boys and their parents,” he said. “For the sacrifice that they’ve put into the journey. But it’s by far the most difficult part of my job. As a group of staff we care about the lads and we want each and every one to succeed - but difficult decisions have to be made, and we have to do that with a professional outlook.

“Quite a common pathway now, for the U18s, is that the boys get full funded scholarships in America where they go and do a degree for three to four years that allows them to play as well… The feedback we get from the boys who do that is amazing, but we try to put an aftercare package in for players of all ages when they’re transitioning back into grassroots football if that’s what they want to do, or helping them get trials at other clubs. I think with the game in general there is now thought and resources put into really making sure that it’s not just the entry bit that you look at, it’s the time that they leave you as well. You have to support them on their journey.”

A Wednesdayite, a man who’s given years of his life to the cause at Hillsborough, Haslam considers his work in the academy structures of his boyhood club to be a privilege – and with Röhl looking to put together a finishing school or sorts, there’s a growing feeling that it’s not just those who are inside the machine at S6 that can be energised about the future.