'It's you against you' - Waterworth outlines Northern Ireland youngsters' academy pathway

Manchester United's Ethan Galbraith has enjoyed an impressive loan spell at Doncaster Rovers this season

Who's the chief cook? Who does the ironing? Who can look after the group?

These are questions that Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough was asking some of the young footballers currently enrolled in the Irish FA's JD Academy when he met with them in Belfast on Thursday.

It was apt that the international boss was getting the opportunity to chat with the teenagers, having just announced a senior squad that included one of the Uefa-endorsed youth academy's most recent graduates.

Nottingham Forest striker Dale Taylor, who at 17 is just a year or two older than the youngsters in attendance, got his first international call-up for the World Cup double-header against Lithuania and Italy. Manchester United's Ethan Galbraith, who came through the Club NI system - the forerunner to the academy - joins him on his return to the squad.

Run by the IFA in conjunction with Ulster University, it is Northern Ireland's first full-time residential academy for young footballers - at Under 15 and Under 16 - with the overall aim being to prepare them for life as a professional, both on and off the pitch, through sporting, school and life skills education.

A new strand has just been introduced to the youth development structure, with three national centres - in Belfast, Coleraine and Annagh - now in place to help identify and monitor the best talent aged 14 and 15 that might merit one of the 36 places currently available on the academy.

Excitement has been quietly mounting in Northern Ireland for some time about the potential of a crop of 17 and 18-year-olds who, led by Liverpool's Conor Bradley, are starting to earn senior international recognition.

It made for an ideal platform for former Linfield striker Andy Waterworth, recently appointed as head of the IFA's youth academy, to provide some insight into the development strategy.

"This is not us trying to reinvent the wheel by any means, nor are we saying that it is some kind of all-encompassing magic wand," explained Waterworth, who has spoken in the past about how struggling to deal with life away from home prevented him from making a success of a move to Hamilton Academical as a youngster .

"We have tried to look at our success stories, the likes of Dale Taylor and Conor Bradley or more senior players such as Jonny Evans, Steven Davis and Aaron Hughes, find out what their journey looked like, use it as a reference point and build back from that.

"The detail is really important to us. That's why we need this framework, so that we can have something in place to monitor ourselves and evaluate if it is working. There is no point in just having something ad-hoc."

'Are you doing the right things when people aren't looking?'

Waterworth has been one of the best strikers in the Irish League over the last 15 years

With full-time options for academy players at Irish League clubs limited, Waterworth believes the programme he heads up provides a vital role in bridging the gap and preparing young footballers for life as a full-time footballer.

He places a strong emphasis on what the students learn away from the pitch - including domestic skills such as cooking, washing and ironing - as well as the work that goes into improving their attitude and mental fortitude.

"We are always telling the boys that it is 'you against you'. That means things like making sure themselves that they get up out of bed and are fully prepared for training," he explained.

"It is very easy to lie on in bed, miss the school bus and not do well in their subjects just because they are on a football academy. It's also easy to go back to your room after training and have something to eat. The phrase we always use is 'are you doing the right thing when people aren't looking?'.

"For me it is as much about what the players do off pitch as it is on it. For us to make informed decisions on players we have to see them every day, see what they are like away from training and what they are like away from home, and the academy allows us to do that."

'We want to develop players technically'

Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough has spoken of the importance of young talent coming into his senior international squad

On the pitch, Waterworth said the level of technical detail being delivered to the players is tailored to the positions they play, while also teaching them how to play in a number of different formations.

"In our Under 17 camp last week, the boys played three different systems - a high press in a 4-3-3 against Scotland, a 3-5-2 against Italy with a deeper block before going to a 3-box-3 against Albania. The learning and the technical understanding they are getting is really good.

"It is certainly our aim to develop players more technically with more pitch time and more contact time in possession of the ball, but we still need to celebrate the DNA of a Northern Ireland player.

"If we profile a player like Steven Davis or Ethan Galbraith who will be playing centre midfield then they have to be technically good otherwise you can't connect the play. If we profile a full-back such as Conor Bradley then he has to be athletic, aggressive, quick and fit.

"That is what we are trying to do, look at our talent early when it comes into the system, then polish what they are and make them aware. The devil's in the detail."