Column: Gerrard and Carra dressing room

Over the past few weeks we've had plenty of work going on behind the scenes at the Academy. I had the dressing rooms refurbished - and each dressing room has the theme of a legend. We have the 'Gerrard' dressing room, as well as rooms dedicated to Jamie Carragher, Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Rob Jones. We also have a special themed dressing room named in memory of young Stephen Packer. Stephen was an U9 player who sadly passed away, but his memory lives on and we will never forget him here at the Academy. It was fantastic to see his family come in for the unveiling of it. It was fantastic to see them and for us to maintain that link with the family.

We have once again taken the opportunity to send some of our young players out on loan to gain some experience and it has been pleasing to see the progress of Joao Carlos Teixeira and Sheyi Ojo.

We've seen at first hand how much it has benefited Jordon Ibe, who has come straight back into the first team and done ever so well. Joao scored a couple of goals for Brighton last week and he is adding goals to his game. I spoke with the Brighton manager, Chris Hughton, after their game last week and he is really pleased with him. I've spoken regularly with Joao as well and he is really happy at Brighton. He is playing regularly and making a real impact and sees the benefits of him going there. He is gaining more experience and seeing what the real game looks like. Joao is playing under an outstanding manager with lots of experience and he is also a really good guy. He couldn't be in better hands.

We recently sent Sheyi out to Wigan Athletic and I don't think there are too many 17-year-olds playing regularly in the Championship. Sheyi is doing very well and we are delighted with him. He is trying hard to improve Wigan's fortunes at the minute and playing his part in helping them achieve safety. Wigan is a good club and it's local to where we are. We've been to see him and the Wigan staff have been very positive about his performances. I guess the thing for Sheyi now is to try to become as consistent as he possibly can. It's sometimes difficult to do that when you are as young as he is, but he's approaching every game in the right way and I have no doubt he will be successful.

While it was a frustrating night at the Ataturk Stadium on Thursday night, on behalf of the Academy, it was fantastic to see Jordan Williams and Cameron Brannagan being named on the first-team bench in Istanbul. Both players have done really well of late. Cameron played ever so well in Benfica for the U19s and he has been very consistent all season - as has Jordan. It was great for them to be a part of it, but they will both want to take it one step further if they can and contribute on the pitch at some point. It was a fantastic experience for them and the manager trusts them to be there. I'm sure their time will come. We also had goalkeeper Ryan Fulton, striker Jerome Sinclair and midfielder Jordan Lussey out with the squad and they were training with the first team, which was a great experience for them.

Our European adventure ended on Tuesday when we lost to Benfica in the last 16 of the UEFA Youth League. The lads were devastated to lose but I really did think we were terrific and I enjoyed our performance. We obviously didn't enjoy the result, but if you look at the bigger picture, I thought we gave everything on the day and the players couldn't have done any more. It's about fine margins in these knockout games and Benfica found a way past us to get the winner. We had some glorious chances that you would expect us to take normally, but considering we were without Ojo and the injured duo Jordan Rossiter and Ryan Kent, who have been key players for us in this tournament, it was a very good performance from the lads. We have thoroughly enjoyed playing in this competition and we have taken a huge amount from it in terms of the experience, different styles, different tactics and that dramatic last group game when we beat Basel by two clear goals to qualify.

We would love to play in the tournament again next year and we will be keeping our fingers crossed that the first team can finish in the top four, which enters us into the UEFA Youth League. We are very aware our entry depends on the first team, but it would be fantastic if we can do that. Whether that happens we can only wait and see. But, if not, we will be organising an international programme for the boys to compete in because I genuinely believe that's where a lot of their learning comes from.