youth directors bring almost no value to team.  The extra game played effect does not advance a players total SL that you can achieve.  Agree or disagree.

Just a heads up for the managers that do not know John very well.  If you take the bait and answer his question you'll feel like the panelists on this skit from SNL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOLF_D7JVZM

No matter your answer, and even if you are only half way through providing your answer...John will simply yell...WRONG!!

It doesn't advance the final total, but it gives leeway for injuries along the way. Also, playing the youth player is a drag on your team. Getting four of them levelled up a session earlier starts to make a difference, especially for YC games.

In season one they level up 3 times, then if you've played them fully they'll start at APP/5 QNL 2 the following year. Again that extra point makes a difference, as they start session 2 at APP/6 as opposed to APP/5 QNL 3. So that's 5 more times in season 2 where they'll level up a session earlier.

Better to have one than not to ...... I think!

Getting that extra game played is huge to me... but one you don't really see bear fruit until the APP season. You get that buffer for injury / suspension, sure, but if you don't end up getting hurt / suspended, then the added benefit is that you can spread out a couple games during the APP season and have more flexibility to maybe sit an APP in an important game, where if you didn't have that buffer, you might be forced to play the player in a crucial match over someone 3-5SL points higher. 

injuries is a really good point.  al has tweaked the code to injure my players at a higher rate.

I agree that it's a minimal benefit, but it's still worthwhile.