Academy & U21s

[philipl]

That is an off the scale great result from the u-18s. City were P5 W5 going into that gamne.

Reading the City report, the win was clearly deserved by Rovers.

A number of posters on here have been indicating the u-18s are exceptional and that result vindicates their views.

Perhaps one or players are good enough to come straight through and challenge for first team places like Phil Foden has done at City?

Any thoughts?

[RoverCanada]

Seems we've had a very welcome revival in our youth pipeline.

It felt like we hardly had anyone pushing through the youth ranks during our first foray back in the Championship. The likes of Tanner, Daly, R. Hanley, Edwards, Morris, O'Sullivan, Rittenberg, Preston, Fernandez, etc. all failed to break through or had to find their feet at a lower level.

There are exceptions like Lenihan, Nyambe, and Henley (haha, I kid...), or cases like O'Connell who we prematurely jettisoned or Mahoney taking off, but in general it turned out to be a fairly poor youth crop, particularly for a Category 1 setup!

We've now seen Travis come through, and some apparently justified excitement surrounding the likes of Buckley, Rankin-Costello, and Butterworth, plus a few wildcards (let's see how Vale, Fisher, Grayson, Magloire, Wharton, etc. turn out...), and maybe another one will soon emerge from the u18s (I think Durrant has gotten some hype?). Also can't ignore Wright and Winterbottom being snatched by PL clubs, and while a debatable move, Raya was a great return on investment.

Perhaps I'm falling victim to overly optimistic projections of youth players, as we always do, but there does seem to be a lot more general optimism about our youth ranks the past couple years.

I recall Mowbray a while ago questioning whether the £2-3m spent on the academy every year could perhaps be better spent on the playing squad (bit of a complicated financial question though, as I think most academy expenditure is exempt from FFP, so Venky's closing down the academy would first and foremost be a question of their financial commitment rather than FFP concerns). I suspect recent developments have tamped down that talk.

[Madon]

Every time I look at the U18s scoreline it appears as though Chanka Zimba has scored. 

Does anyone know much about him? One to watch?

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

That is an off the scale great result from the u-18s. City were P5 W5 going into that gamne.

Reading the City report, the win was clearly deserved by Rovers.

A number of posters on here have been indicating the u-18s are exceptional and that result vindicates their views.

Perhaps one or players are good enough to come straight through and challenge for first team places like Phil Foden has done at City?

Any thoughts?

Thoughts - not a chance under Mowbray.

There is more chance of them being poached by PL sides than making it into our first team.

[1864roverite]

Not sure I agree with you Stuart. Buckley to date destroys that myth. he is allegedly being looked at by the big clubs, yet at 18 he is in our first team and doing well. There is NO evidence to support your theory that the current crop of u18 cannot or will be unable to make the break through to the first team squad. If they are good enough they will make it and will be supported to do so by TM and his backroom team.

[MarkBRFC]

Just now, 1864roverite said:

Not sure I agree with you Stuart. Buckley to date destroys that myth. he is allegedly being looked at by the big clubs, yet at 18 he is in our first team and doing well. There is NO evidence to support your theory that the current crop of u18 cannot or will be unable to make the break through to the first team squad. If they are good enough they will make it and will be supported to do so by TM and his backroom team.

Think Buckley is nearly 20 rather than being 18, but it's a fair comment that Mowbray has blooded him this season, he's done ok and shown a few flashes in his appearances up to now, but I still think a year playing every week in league one would have done him the world of good this season.

[Dreams of 1995]

12 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Not sure I agree with you Stuart. Buckley to date destroys that myth. he is allegedly being looked at by the big clubs, yet at 18 he is in our first team and doing well. There is NO evidence to support your theory that the current crop of u18 cannot or will be unable to make the break through to the first team squad. If they are good enough they will make it and will be supported to do so by TM and his backroom team.

Don't forget Travis.

[SkipDonoghue]

2 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

Not sure I agree with you Stuart. Buckley to date destroys that myth. he is allegedly being looked at by the big clubs, yet at 18 he is in our first team and doing well. There is NO evidence to support your theory that the current crop of u18 cannot or will be unable to make the break through to the first team squad. If they are good enough they will make it and will be supported to do so by TM and his backroom team.

Rankin Costello made his u21s debut (as it was then) at 16, by the time he was 17 he was established in the u21s and playing in the big games (fa youth Cup etc reaching semi finals) for the 18s also

Butterworth made his debut for the U23s (as it is now) at 17 and then became a main stay (also playing for the 18s in big games making it to quarters of youth Cup) 

Buckley made his way into the 23s more naturally wasn't pushed up early just developed along the way 

I can't see anyone in the current 18s team doing what Rankin Costello did with u23s at the minute, now I'm not taking anything away from the 18s players, far from it, but what it does say is the 23s is in a far better shape than it has been for a long time very rarely do you see overage players with the 23s now (only allowing game time after injury or to give game time to keep them ticking over) that wasn't always the case (Simon Eastwood, Anton Forrester and Dean Rittenberg) spring to mind who were all regulars at that level, with no chance of making the 1st team

So with that in mind it's harder than it's been for a while for a young player to make big leaps now, that tells me something is being done right behind the scenes with the academy and it started with Eric Kinder who had a big impact on the academy when he took over from Phil Cannon and that has been carried on by Stuart Jones and his staff

Edited September 23, 2019 by SkipDonoghue
Change

[Stuart]

Miserable weather this evening.
Let’s hope the football will warm us up!

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, Stuart said:

Miserable weather this evening.
Let’s hope the football will warm us up!

Is the Number 15 for Spurs for real ?

[Stuart]

Just now, Mashed Potatoes said:

Is the Number 15 for Spurs for real ?

https://talksport.com/football/573683/maurizio-pochettino-mauricio-tottenham/

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, Stuart said:

https://talksport.com/football/573683/maurizio-pochettino-mauricio-tottenham/

Thanks, I didn't know that - not always the easiest situation to be in for any walk of life and there is the risk that he is an easy target.

[Tom]

No Chapman so JoeHarvey will be delighted!

Injured or on his way to the first team squad?

[chaddyrovers]

Just now, Tom said:

No Chapman so JoeHarvey will be delighted!

Injured or on his way to the first team squad?

Where did he fit in? 

Or has he been drop from the reserves game? 

[Stuart]

1-0 Rovers. Samuel - I think.

[Stuart]

2-0 Dom Sam again.

[AdamRochina]

really liking the look of samuel this season tbh, looks stronger and hungry for football, he did work really hard over the last pre season and has had some bad luck with injury but i dont think we are done seeing him in the first team tbh i think he might still make a decent striker here

[Stuart]

3-0 Stefan!

[rigger]

How is Davenport doing?

[Stuart]

Just now, rigger said:

How is Davenport doing?

Can’t say he’s caught my eye. Maybe Parson or someone will have a better view.

Good team performance to be fair. Spurs came here to play football and it has definitely suited us.

[Stuart]

Emphatic strike for Dom’s hat trick. Keeper could only only palm it into the corner of the net.

4-0.

[1864roverite]

Stuart how would you describe the Rovers performance v the artistic spuds?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Stuart said:

Emphatic strike for Dom’s hat trick. Keeper could only only palm it into the corner of the net.

4-0.

Mm, could he be on the bench on Saturday ?

[BlackburnEnd75]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Mm, could he be on the bench on Saturday ?

Would rather see chapman. We’ve got a ton of strikers and I’ve seen enough of Samuel to believe he won’t make an impact at championship level.

[Stuart]

7 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Stuart how would you describe the Rovers performance v the artistic spuds?

In a word: dominant. Both teams started well but Rovers just took control as the game wore on. Both teams wanted to pass the ball around but we were better at it. Solid at the back, turned the ball over well and quick in the counter attack. Spurs chances were at a premium while our were many. An excellent overall performance in dreadful conditions - Davenport took a bad tackle - studs up - late on that nearly soured things but apart from that the perfect night. That Billy bloke may yet win me over.