Youth - When are we going to use them?

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Ralphie Boy

Player Valuation: £8m
So Brands has already stated that we will probably not be buying a top striker but will be concentrating on introducing youth, but with the demise of this season do you think now is the time to start blooding them?

Riding high in U23 and singing the teams praise means nothing if they are not given a chance, stating that they are not good enough doesn’t really cut it as most teams in the premiership seem to be blooding the odd youngster.

Just putting one on the bench would maybe give us some hope that they be making it, they have got to be of a standard to be topping the U23s.

So if we are all about youth when are we going to see it, and I don’t mean DCL as I personally believe he has had his chance and not really taken it, or Lookman as he was a relatively expensive and not homegrown talent.

If our youth is so good and first eleven are so bad then surely as we have ballsed this season up this is a good opportunity to let the youth have a go, you never know, someone may shine!!!!!
 
I would like to see more of them get a chance as well

But to be honest, I've got to the point now where I get genuinely worried when a young lad gets a chance, because he'll always be held to ludicrous standards and will be quickly deemed as "not good enough" after a couple of kicks of the ball from the usual gallery of geniuses in the worst element of our support

We're the worst supporters in the League when it comes to young players. We don't back them and don't support them when they need it most

Just look at the threads for all the young lads who get chances in the first team

Page after page after page after pager after PAGE of people knocking them. How is anyone supposed to succeed in that sort of environment?

At the end of the day, we get the club we deserve
 
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So Brands has already stated that we will probably not be buying a top striker but will be concentrating on introducing youth, but with the demise of this season do you think now is the time to start blooding them?

Riding high in U23 and singing the teams praise means nothing if they are not given a chance, stating that they are not good enough doesn’t really cut it as most teams in the premiership seem to be blooding the odd youngster.

Just putting one on the bench would maybe give us some hope that they be making it, they have got to be of a standard to be topping the U23s.

So if we are all about youth when are we going to see it, and I don’t mean DCL as I personally believe he has had his chance and not really taken it, or Lookman as he was a relatively expensive and not homegrown talent.

If our youth is so good and first eleven are so bad then surely as we have ballsed this season up this is a good opportunity to let the youth have a go, you never know, someone may shine!!!!!

Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin
Lookman
Onyekuru

Are all around 21 years old so theoretically should all keep improving with game time and familiarity with one another.

However we certainly do need another centre forward and I think we will go for another and aim for 433 next season. The player type is hard to judge as it surely must be either a giant who can hold the ball up or someone pretty fast who can finish.

In addition to those 4 we also have;

Davies
Dowell
Holgate
Kenny

I also think we will be adding one or 2 players for midfield and defence all around 21 and continue to build that group of players out...

For homegrown from our youth system, I think from posters in the youth teams threads were still a season away from that at least -- so its going to mean signing players.
 
kenny, holgate, davies, richarlison, lookman and Calvert-Lewin have all been given quite a lot of game time, so i don't think this is really a problem for us. When we shift off a lot of deadwood on massive wages, some more could be pushed up from the youths. We're definitely blooding more youngsters than other teams and we'll be buying more and more who will be given ample opportunities. Just need to trim our squad even more first.
 
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Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin
Lookman
Onyekuru

Are all around 21 years old so theoretically should all keep improving with game time and familiarity with one another.

However we certainly do need another centre forward and I think we will go for another and aim for 433 next season. The player type is hard to judge as it surely must be either a giant who can hold the ball up or someone pretty fast who can finish.

In addition to those 4 we also have;

Davies
Dowell
Holgate
Kenny

I also think we will be adding one or 2 players for midfield and defence all around 21 and continue to build that group of players out...

For homegrown from our youth system, I think from posters in the youth teams threads were still a season away from that at least -- so its going to mean signing players.
and all proving how out of their depth they are... we will finish around 14-16th in the league...

its ok saying use the youth, but they have to be of the right quality. 15th position in the league points to them just not being good enough
 
Being top of the pl2 is not much of an indication to how they’ll do at actual football sadly.

If theyre good enough they’d be picked now. Look at that Sambou lad. Always seems to be slotting at that level, but when he was available for a loan in January nobody at any level was interested.

The sad fact is that less than 10% of players at that level will ever make it as a Premier League footballer.
 
Being top of the pl2 is not much of an indication to how they’ll do at actual football sadly.

If theyre good enough they’d be picked now. Look at that Sambou lad. Always seems to be slotting at that level, but when he was available for a loan in January nobody at any level was interested.

The sad fact is that less than 10% of players at that level will ever make it as a Premier League footballer.

Partly true mate, but he isn't regularly scoring at that level.
 
Partly true mate, but he isn't regularly scoring at that level.

I’m not massively close to the reserves...or u23s or whatever they’re called these days. You’d know better than me probably. Few times I’ve watched them he’s slotted. But it does confirm that they’re probably nowhere near good enough for the first team.
 

I’m not massively close to the reserves...or u23s or whatever they’re called these days. You’d know better than me probably. Few times I’ve watched them he’s slotted. But it does confirm that they’re probably nowhere near good enough for the first team.

Yes definitely mate. It's an enormous jump. I'd like to see more lads given the chance but I don't think any of the under 23's are banging the door down. It's been a fantastic team effort to win the league, which is a great fillip for Unsworth, but what you really want is the team to be carried by 1 or 2 players who you can identify as potential first team stars.

I actually think our under 18's-16's have better potential players. I like Kyle John, Anthony Gordon, Bobby Carroll and the lad Hunt a lot (though he's not as highly thought of). It will be interesting to see how Simms does when he steps up.

Ultimately most of the young lads will have an opportunity next pre-season. If they look strong they will get a chance in and around the first team set up to train and it's up to them to take it.
 
Part of the problem with our “Youth” is people’s perception and the need for instant answers. There are probably 20 + knowledgeable posters contributing to the “Youth” thread . Other people see we are top of the League , pop in for the first time and ask “ Have we got the next Rooney/ Barkley yet?” . The answer is “ No , but if you read the last 10 pages you’ll get a good understanding of our youngsters”. Few people are interested enough to do that. While there are differing views on individuals, the consensus is that none are currently capable of forcing their way into the 1st team squad on merit.

Our success at U23s is very much based on Unsworth having created a decent defence with good players who are protected by hard working midfielders. We have the best U23s defensive record in the league by some distance, but don’t score enough goals. The u18s by contrast have a highly creative midfield and two or three prolific goalscorers but of course play at a level where inconsistency is the norm. Ellis Simms hits the headlines for his number of goals and people think he’s going to make the 1st team , whereas in reality he’s struggling to get ahead of Hornby/ Sambou in the U23s who are not consistent enough to challenge DCL for a first team spot.

For me the most likely players to be involved this season are young defenders , particularly if there are injuries that promote them into the squad. Morgan Feeney and Joao Virginia seem to train regularly with the 1st team so must be in for consideration, but I’m not sure if we would thrust inexperienced youngsters into such demanding positions as Centre Back and GK if the team is playing poorly. Our two youngest defenders 18 year old Lewis Gibson and 17 year old Ryan Astley possibly have the best chance this season, Gibson as a left back and Astley as a right back . Both are really CBs but have the physicality to cope as full backs if we have injuries. Astley’s going to play for the first team , it’s just a question of when and not rushing his development.
 
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I would like to see more of them get a chance as well

But to be honest, I've got to the point now where I get genuinely worried when a young lad gets a chance, because he'll always be held to ludicrous standards and will be quickly deemed as "not good enough" after a couple of kicks of the ball from the usual gallery of geniuses in the worst element of our support

We're the worst supporters in the League when it comes to young players. We don't back them and don't support them when they need it most
all proving how out of their depth they are.
Just look at the threads for all the young lads who get chances in the first team

Page after page after page after pager after PAGE of people knocking them. How is anyone supposed to succeed in that sort of environment?

At the end of the day, we get the club we deserve

Bang on cue. :coffee:

and .. we will finish around 14-16th in the league...

its ok saying use the youth, but they have to be of the right quality. 15th position in the league points to them just not being good enough
 

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