14-10-2017, 12:09
It isn't only a matter of the ability of the young player, it is also a matter of the inability and even disinterest of the player/s placed ahead of them.
For the first time in my lifetime we have several young players whose ability and performance at lower levels suggests they are at least pushing for first team recognition. At the same time we have our most unsuccessful team ever, from which NONE of our players could complain about being dropped. Can anyone seriously tell me that Jak McCourt is way, or even slightly ahead, of either Connor Dimaio or Charlie Wakefield in ability, that Chirs O'Grady, who last week contributed just one shot off target and conceded four free kicks, is a way ahead of Ricky German or Delial Brewster or Gozie Ugwu?
I'd be very wary of sticking Dylan Hand in the first team now on grounds of his physique alone. He could get knocked around and knocked off his game. He's 17. But I saw Rio Ferdinand play at Chesterfield for Bournemouth at 17 and told my disbelieving mates that we'd seen an England captain. I'd seen something they hadn't, which didn't always, or even often, happen - I'm not that good! With a centre back you've got to be careful when you introduce him if you can, but you also have to remember Mascherano plays there at 5'8" and what's he weigh what, 10 or 11 stone?
I just think our recent failure is actually an opportunity we've almost totally wasted so far, except perhaps with what we have done with Joe Rowley ....... I really do think that if you loan players in you do it for one purpose, to improve your team and WIN games. We've loaned in players to be the worst team in the country. That's daft. Ditch them. Even if you remain the worst team in the country it has to be better to be developing your own players rather than someone else's. I'd like our young players to be coming through on merit to play alongside mature players who were keen, interested and who sometimes won. But I'm convinced you only get better by playing and if the first team is full of crap, find out which youngsters can make that leap and which don't. There'll be players who aren't good enough, Jake Beesley and Dieservwue are both on the bench in the National League now ...... but what if we'd had the new Jamie Vardy and the only game we ever gave him we'd got Chris Morgan to tell him to run about and kick everything that moves .........?
We can give young players a chance. And we could win doing it. But we have to be clever, set our stall out to do it, and not judge the young players only on their first attempt to make the transition. And we have to give them a worthwhile destination to make that transition TO. If we let ourselves become an East Stirling then the seventeen year old breaking through won't be achieving much and will know it.
For the first time in my lifetime we have several young players whose ability and performance at lower levels suggests they are at least pushing for first team recognition. At the same time we have our most unsuccessful team ever, from which NONE of our players could complain about being dropped. Can anyone seriously tell me that Jak McCourt is way, or even slightly ahead, of either Connor Dimaio or Charlie Wakefield in ability, that Chirs O'Grady, who last week contributed just one shot off target and conceded four free kicks, is a way ahead of Ricky German or Delial Brewster or Gozie Ugwu?
I'd be very wary of sticking Dylan Hand in the first team now on grounds of his physique alone. He could get knocked around and knocked off his game. He's 17. But I saw Rio Ferdinand play at Chesterfield for Bournemouth at 17 and told my disbelieving mates that we'd seen an England captain. I'd seen something they hadn't, which didn't always, or even often, happen - I'm not that good! With a centre back you've got to be careful when you introduce him if you can, but you also have to remember Mascherano plays there at 5'8" and what's he weigh what, 10 or 11 stone?
I just think our recent failure is actually an opportunity we've almost totally wasted so far, except perhaps with what we have done with Joe Rowley ....... I really do think that if you loan players in you do it for one purpose, to improve your team and WIN games. We've loaned in players to be the worst team in the country. That's daft. Ditch them. Even if you remain the worst team in the country it has to be better to be developing your own players rather than someone else's. I'd like our young players to be coming through on merit to play alongside mature players who were keen, interested and who sometimes won. But I'm convinced you only get better by playing and if the first team is full of crap, find out which youngsters can make that leap and which don't. There'll be players who aren't good enough, Jake Beesley and Dieservwue are both on the bench in the National League now ...... but what if we'd had the new Jamie Vardy and the only game we ever gave him we'd got Chris Morgan to tell him to run about and kick everything that moves .........?
We can give young players a chance. And we could win doing it. But we have to be clever, set our stall out to do it, and not judge the young players only on their first attempt to make the transition. And we have to give them a worthwhile destination to make that transition TO. If we let ourselves become an East Stirling then the seventeen year old breaking through won't be achieving much and will know it.