By god I'm blue
Banned at own request
If you had to nail it down to 1 player to break into the first team from the u21's, not including Galloway or browning who have already been involved, who would it be?
If you had to nail it down to 1 player to break into the first team from the u21's, not including Galloway or browning who have already been involved, who would it be?
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
I could give you the usual disclaimer of it being difficult to say. However I would take the easy option and go for Ledson! He is more advanced physically than the others and is training with the first team squad currently. He will get game time this season.
I think there was some discussion once about letting PL reserve teams into the Conference with the possibility of them progressing up through the leagues.it came to nought and at the time I was thinking it was a good idea. Now the cynical side of me thinks it would just end with up the likes of City buying up more youngsters to play in it. Something is needed though, for while two preseason wins over Wrexham and Southport is not conclusive evidence it does suggest our u21s could more than hold their own in the Conference.
mightymoyes
Player Valuation: £70m
he might get a run out tonight in the dundee game
joey_macmo
Player Valuation: £35m
Long is off to Burnley according to the echo
Verbal Kint
Player Valuation: £35m
Harry Charsley was always a name that popped up during games last year, has he a chance of making the first team?
Anybody
Anybody
HibbertsLeftFoot
Player Valuation: £1.5m
Long's signed for Burnley. Disappointing..
http://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/news/article/clarets-capture-chris-long-2575077.aspx?
http://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/news/article/clarets-capture-chris-long-2575077.aspx?
Klinker
Player Valuation: £950k
I would definitely appreciate the DM, but I am sure that there are plenty of people on this thread who would value your opinion. The top 10 list, is just the typical list and I understand the actual rate of players that goes from the academy to the first team is pretty low, especially the higher the standard of the senior squad. But a lot of the players who get mentioned or seem to be doing well I don't know too much about their style or what their best attributes are.
ruletero.toffee
Player Valuation: £150k
I think our current crop of youngsters could be the best we have had since the squad of the 98 Fa your cup. I'm pretty impressed with Ledson,Kenny,Dowell,Davies,Walsh and Evans.
You'd have to imagine that two of them will make the first team squad, which on top of Barkley and possibly Browning could be 4 in the squad at once which is pretty great going. Then there's the in-betweens of youth team players getting promoted who weren't academy products - Galloway, Garbutt, Henen. And there's McAleny too. There's a lot of youth who could make an impact over the next few years.
You can never tell how these things will turn out but that's a lot of players who will be gunning for first team spots, there must be some successes in there.
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
Yes this is without doubt the strongest set we've had since 98. That side gave us 6 regular starters out of it (Ball, Dunne, Jeffers, Cadamateri, Osman, Hibbert). It also had peripheral players such as Jevons, Milligan, Eaton making appearances but never holding down a regular spot. Also the captain O'Brien got a bad injury which prevented him being given an opportunity in the first team, and he was regarded as one of the best players.
I always wonder what Kendall may have done with all of that talent had he been given support. He had built the 85 team on young players and developing them, and alongside Oster we had a very strong basis. The same for Royle really. We really squandered a big opportunity there.
As you can see from the above though, we developed 6 regular starters from our youth team in 98 with another 4-5 who played some games and made careers as pro's elsewhere. A very good return particularly with the turmoil at the club at the time.
This set is as good as that set in my view. In 98 we won the youth cup and got to the semi finals the next year (narrowly losing to eventual winners West Ham, who had a certain Joe Cole playing for them). We won the league in 2014 and finished 2nd in 2015 being only a game off winning it (with fatigue certainly playing a part).
There are some differences between the teams. In 98 Ball and Cadamateri were first team regulars, while Dunne played quite frequently. In 2015 none of our players are first team regulars. However in 98 All of the above returned to play in the youth cup final, whereas in 2014-5 players like Ledson, Kenny and Dowell missed youth team games.
The obvious difference now is, that the standard of the first team squad is much higher than in 98. For periods under Kendal before we bought Madar Fergusan was our only recognised striker. When he was injured it was up to Cadamteri, Oster and Jeffers to fill in alongside Barmby. There is far more cover now than there was in 98/99.In many ways the stability may be an impediment to the lads coming through.
Strangely the 98-99 youth teams were a bit of a blip. We got to the final in 2002 thanks largely to Rooney, but other than that we had slim pickings (relative to that side). Given the ability of Evans from the year group below it does look as if we have a greater stability to remain one of the top youth teams year in year out.
In a round about way I am saying, I hope to say 5-6 of our young players into the first team. It is always interesting to do comparisons though.
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
At the moment he is a bit of a way off. He hasn't kicked on that much over the last couple of years. He is only 18 though, so lets see how he continues to develop!
Coffee and TV
Player Valuation: £25m
I really like Joe Williams. I think it was after he won that academy award and did an interview saying what a big Everton fan he is and how he won't give up until he's in the first team, made me really want him to succeed. Our academy is stacked with quality midfielders though, which makes it a bit more difficult for him.
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