THERE were no caps and gowns during Carl Fletcher’s graduation, more like hand-me-downs.

The youth department Fletcher left in 1998 was unrecognisable from the one he returned to in January.

More than most, Cherries’ 2003 Division Three play-off winning captain needs no reminders of how times have changed at Dean Court.

“Like chalk and cheese!” came the reply after Fletcher had been asked to compare. “When I was in the youth team, we had Sean O’Driscoll and that was that. We had to make do with whatever we could get. We had nothing and anything we got was a bonus.”

Fletcher, who made his Cherries debut while still a trainee, was appointed youth team manager and accompanied by Joe Roach during a reshuffle of Eddie Howe’s backroom staff 10 months ago.

“We have a physio, a sports scientist and there is an analyst we can use,” said Fletcher, who has piloted Cherries to the top of the Youth Alliance this season.

“There are lots of people who can help the lads with anything they need and every area is covered. We can give them the best opportunity to try to get through and the rest is up to them.

“There are a lot more health and safety issues and political correctness around youth departments these days. Back in the day, if you did something wrong or got in the way of a first teamer, they would deal with you in their own special way. I don’t think that would happen too much these days!

“If you stayed in line, worked hard and didn’t upset anyone, you had half a chance. But you had to learn very quickly because the gap between the first team and the youth team was massive.

“On one hand, it was easier in those days and, on the other, it was more difficult. We have the under-21s so, potentially, players can have three more years with Purchy (Stephen Purches) before stepping into the first team.

“But it is much harder to make the grade because of the level of football. As a Championship club, we can attract good players and buy them so our youth players need to be exceptional to break through.

“When I was coming through, the club wasn’t in a great position financially. We couldn’t buy players and had to pick the youth. A lot of us played and it was a great experience.

“It was fantastic and it benefited us in the long run.

“These days, it is going to be a lot tougher for players to come through. I have spoken to my lads about it and it is important they learn about football and life. I would like to think we would get a few pushing towards the first team in years to come.”

Fletcher, supporters’ player of the year during the 2002-03 promotion campaign, joined West Ham for £250,000 in August 2004 before moving to Crystal Palace and then Plymouth in May 2009.

Elevated to player-manager at Home Park in November 2011, he helped the Pilgrims preserve their Football League status in his first season before parting company with the club on New Year’s Day 2013.

“I have probably learned more from being youth team manager than I did when I was a first-team manager,” said Fletcher, who won 36 caps for Wales.

“It wasn’t so much a shock but just realising what the job entailed. Some of the paperwork is good but 80 per cent of it is probably just people ticking boxes and justifying jobs elsewhere. For me, a lot of it is time wasting, which is a shame.

“A lot of other youth team managers say the same and we seem to spend more time in the office filling out paperwork than we do on the training pitch with the lads. I know these things were brought in to help so just have to get my head round it. It has been a big learning curve for me.”