Newcastle United accept they must improve their academy.
Newcastle visit Southampton on Saturday, and as a former manager of the south coast club, Alan Pardew knows how many top players, such as Adam Lallana, have graduated from the Saints academy.
"What you really need is an exceptional player to come through and that's what Southampton have had," he said. "They've had Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, and it makes a huge difference. We will get players through here, but will we get an exceptional player? That's the art of the academy.
"We haven't ticked those boxes since I've been here but I do feel we are doing a lot better. We've signed five or six from the youth team who did well in the FA Youth Cup; two players could be exceptional depending on their development and that is good news.
"We have to put more intelligence into our players. That's another side of the academy. It's very important not just to look after the football side, but also bring the right personalities through. We want them to be level-headed. Look at Bale, Walcott, Lallana, Shaw, they're all comfortable with the media. That's down to education."
