[Slick_Footwork]

I agree with you, Slick, that youngsters should not be selected if they are not ready. However, it was Pulis who singled out Sam Field for praise in his handful of appearances at end of this season, whilst Leko received plenty of plaudits for his performances at the end of last season, although he barely figured this season.

The impression that Pulis gives is one of extreme caution and conservatism when it comes to football (I've no idea what his politics are); the way he sets the team up, the style we play and, by and large, the players he recruits. The expectation he voices is one of "don't expect a lot from us, we don't have much in the way of resources". Unsurprisingly, therefore, he clearly doesn't like to take a punt on inexperienced players when he he has older players available. My problem with that is what you alluded to in your post, namely that, if these more experienced players are not performing - and they failed to spectacularly- then why not play the younger talent. Were they ready? Well, unless we play them, we'll never know. When Matty Phillips' injury ruled him out of the last few games of the season, it was crying out for Leko to play and provide some pace & width but, instead, we had a midfield that included Fletcher, Yacob and Livermore together with those ageing stalwarts Brunt and Morrison.

I don't know what his record was like in bringing young players through at Stoke but they never struck me as a team who encouraged this. Perhaps someone could enlighten us.

From a personal point of view, I was gutted not to see more of Leko because I agree he did look promising last season.

Although, this year we have far more strength in this positions with Chadli and Phillips, and McClean much improved. In addition, Alan Nyom coming in has meant that Brunt has rarely had to be used at left back. Collectively, this has lead to Leko not featuring much. As frustrating as that is, it's something that is understandable. Leko also cost us a goal against Palace in one of his last appearances, which I think set him back a little bit.

Of course, when Pulis picks one of the old heads and they play a shocker, you do think 'I wish he picked Leko'. But of course, Pulis hasn't got the luxury of knowing how well people will perform when he decides his best XI. Leko is also still very young having just turned 18 and Pulis probably wants to blood him slowly to keep his feet on the ground.

Pulis gave Field a chance in front of some of the older guys, including Fletcher and Mozza, but it didn't really work out. I think he did all he could under the circumstances and am surprised the fans are slagging him off for picking what is probably our best team most of the time.