If it was a gimmick, don't you think they'd have bigger names than Jay Spearing and Tom Huddlestone?
It made a huge difference to me, in both football and rugby. It's the odd word of encouragement and praise, uncritical advice on positioning, when to stay back or go forward, that really helps the inexperienced youngster. I much preferred it to being yelled at by a 'manager'.
No. They are coaches. I don't know what level of coaching pedigree they have but I assume it is appropriate for their level. They would either be coaching from the sidelines or on the pitch. You aren't going to attract world class players to play U21 football. Maybe gimmick was the wrong word. Really I meant that it probably won't increase players development and it will be abandoned as an idea before too long. Coaches are already doing this during training when they are walking around the pitch during games giving instructions. How can a coach concentrate on watching a full game from all angles and giving appropriate advice to all players if they have to spend the majority of the match focusing on what they are doing? All they can really coach is what players should be doing from their perspective.
There is a difference though between coaching an individual match that you want to win and coaching players so that they develop (which is the primary purpose of the academy/youth teams). Also a huge difference between a professional coach in a development squad and a low level manager that just cares about winning.
Playing with better players or more knowledgeable players can make both a team work better as well as individuals improve. Someone coaching and playing with the overall club strategy/ playing style in mind could really help mould and guide players in real time rather than post match analysis. You can see when something isn't working or someone isn't working.
