Academy & U21s

[KentExile]

U21s lost 2-1 away to West Ham this evening. Boggan with our goal.  Kahn subbed off before half time, presumably with injury

Zak Gilsenan, Tom Bloxham, Igor Tyjon, Adam Caddick, Paul Murphy-Worrell and Isaac Whitehall are all injured

Edited February 14 by KentExile

[Penwortham Blue]

36 minutes ago, KentExile said:

U21s away to West Ham this evening

Zak Gilsenan, Tom Bloxham, Igor Tyjon, Adam Caddick, Paul Murphy-Worrell and Isaac Whitehall are all injured

I had high hopes for both Whitehall and Gilsenan but both appear to be permanently injured.

[riverholmes]

Harrison Wood and Alex Baker I suppose will be released this year and futures of Mafoumbi and Gilsenan doubtful, Rovers have to be looking to bring in a few forwards at U21s level.

I believe too much was asked of Tyjon too early in his physical development (though whether it is linked to his injuries is a medical matter) and the same will happen to Boggan, who may be the next ‘hope’, albeit he is older.

 

[KentExile]

U18s won 5-0 today vs Liverpool

Edited February 15 by KentExile

[Tugayisgod]

[unleaded]

5-0 could have easily been 10-0 .. wow what a player Jayden Sergeant is ….was best player on the pitch !! Joseph is a Pape Junior .. Harvey Higgins was unlucky not to get on the scoreboard…. Liverpool poor as well as the pitch ….  

[bluebruce]

Our u18s have done the double on Liverpool now, who are actually second-bottom in the 13 team league. We're 5th, with 1 or 2 games in hand of all the teams above us (although 6th have a game in hand over us).

[Tugayisgod]

19 hours ago, unleaded said:

5-0 could have easily been 10-0 .. wow what a player Jayden Sergeant is ….was best player on the pitch !! Joseph is a Pape Junior .. Harvey Higgins was unlucky not to get on the scoreboard…. Liverpool poor as well as the pitch ….  

Extended highlights of yesterday's game. Very impressive stuff from the youngsters and you're not wrong about Sergeant!

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

56 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Extended highlights of yesterday's game. Very impressive stuff from the youngsters and you're not wrong about Sergeant!

 

Good performance on a pretty poor pitch.

[Tom]

Nixon saying we will let Jackson Shorrocks leave in summer and he’s going to Huddersfield but I personally believe he’s going to Burnley 

[bluebruce]

16 hours ago, Tugayisgod said:

Extended highlights of yesterday's game. Very impressive stuff from the youngsters and you're not wrong about Sergeant!

 

His general play looks good, exciting looking player. He needs to work on his finishing though. Not the only one, Higgins could have had more there.

[KentExile]

5 hours ago, bluebruce said:

His general play looks good, exciting looking player. He needs to work on his finishing though. Not the only one, Higgins could have had more there.

In their defence, they both have time on their side.  Sergeant is either 16 or 17, and Higgins is 15 or 16

[bluebruce]

10 hours ago, KentExile said:

In their defence, they both have time on their side.  Sergeant is either 16 or 17, and Higgins is 15 or 16

I can't seem to find it now, but I found an article the other day about Sergeant signing a deal. I'm pretty sure it was from last May and described him as 17. So he's either nearly 18 or already 18, unless my memory is playing tricks and it said he was 16. Higgins I'm not sure. But yes they both do absolutely have time on their side, I was only observing what's there right now. It's a required growth area but they have time to grow.

Physically as well, which is a scary thought in Higgins' case, he's a unit already.

[KentExile]

52 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I can't seem to find it now, but I found an article the other day about Sergeant signing a deal. I'm pretty sure it was from last May and described him as 17. So he's either nearly 18 or already 18, unless my memory is playing tricks and it said he was 16. Higgins I'm not sure. But yes they both do absolutely have time on their side, I was only observing what's there right now. It's a required growth area but they have time to grow.

Physically as well, which is a scary thought in Higgins' case, he's a unit already.

Sergeant signed as a first year scholar last summer if that's what you are thinking of?  Those groups are based on school years so he is definitely 16 or 17 now

Higgins is the year below, so should hopefully follow suit this summer

Edited Monday at 18:27 by KentExile

[arbitro]

2 hours ago, KentExile said:

Sergeant signed as a first year scholar last summer if that's what you are thinking of?  Those groups are based on school years so he is definitely 16 or 17 now

Higgins is the year below, so should hopefully follow suit this summer

Harvey Higgins is in year 11 at a local school.

[KentExile]

25 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Harvey Higgins is in year 11 at a local school.

yes, which makes him either 15 or 16 years old, and hopefully signing a first year scholarship at Rovers in the summer

Edited Monday at 21:24 by KentExile

[had.e.nuff]

On 11/02/2025 at 20:12, bluebruce said:

I've given up on Gilsenan ever making it into our first team squad, as in establishing himself properly. Nearly every youth player with this level of injury trouble by his age has never made it and been released. The only exception is JRC, who tbf I'd written off too. But even he is constantly getting more knocks and almost never fully fit, that one patch aside where he was excellent. I think Gilsenan's best case scenario is being a JRC (who may have been released if he wasn't capable of playing several positions). But more likely he's a Butterworth or Whitehall I think. The next year will decide his fate.

i see there is an interview with Zak on facebook regarding his injury why the club dont do more of keeping fans updated i dont know it seems to be getting a little better recently i am wondering if the have got someone new in running the digital media side of things.

[KentExile]

Carter playing for the U21s this afternoon v Bolton in the Lancashire seniors Cup

https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayFixture.html?id=27478288

Spoiler - they lost 2-1

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/february/18/report--bolton-wanderers-b-2-1-rovers-under-21s/

Edited Tuesday at 20:08 by KentExile

[KentExile]

1 hour ago, had.e.nuff said:

i see there is an interview with Zak on facebook regarding his injury why the club dont do more of keeping fans updated i dont know it seems to be getting a little better recently i am wondering if the have got someone new in running the digital media side of things.

Presume the Facebook story is the same as the one they posted on their own site

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/february/18/gilsenan--my-toughest-challenge-yet/

Edited Tuesday at 12:14 by KentExile

[philipl]

Are the Doherty's related?

[KentExile]

4 minutes ago, philipl said:

Are the Doherty's related?

Nope

We do have a pair of Edmondson's that are brothers though

Edited Tuesday at 12:47 by KentExile

[Exiled_Rover]

No Dennis?

He's sat on the bench the last two games after getting 60 minute against Wolves.

We desperately need to get him up to speed. 

[Tugayisgod]

[arbitro]

Rovers youngsters lost 2-1 today with the winning goal coming late on. We didn't play particularly well but probably did enough to send the game into a penalty shoot out. The pitch didn't help either team. It was like concrete and with a strong wind it made it really difficult putting the right weight on passes and reading the flight of the ball.

After going behind to a sloppy goal we got back into the match through a good Hayden Carter header from a corner, probably the only decent set piece we played all afternoon. The winner from Bolton came about as Pratt switched off and thought the ball was going out of play but credit to the Bolton player who didn't give up on it and created the winner.

Overall it was a disappointing display with too many players not getting anywhere near their full capabilities.

[bluebruce]

Our U21s shouldn't really be losing to Bolton, especially at home. I see they're not a U21 team from Bolton, but a B team. As far as I can see there was only one proper senior team player there, same as us. But I don't know how many of their other players may have some degree of first team experience. Anybody know?

Good to see Carter getting minutes in his legs again, and scoring too. I echo Exiled, it's odd for Dennis, who needs game time, to not get any here when he hasn't come off the bench in the last two games. He won't get fit not playing. It makes me wonder if he's said he's not willing to play any more U21 games. We are allegedly paying 20k per week for him, we need to get him fit or else he's just replacing Siggy in the 'biggest wages at the club but not playing' category. In fact it's 2k per week more than Siggy and we will have had to pay off the bulk of Siggy's contract too. If we don't get him fit and playing we might as well have not bothered and kept Siggy around and saved some money.