Academy & U21s

[bluebruce]

8 minutes ago, KentExile said:

He needs to play regularly,  Little over 500 minutes in total across first team and U21s this season as a result of him sitting on the bench (and being "21st man") in the League and Rovers exiting the League Cup early which would have been a good potential source of first team games for him.

Seeing as the current plan seems to be get them playing (and learning from their mistakes) out on loan rather than for Rovers, it seems inevitable that Duru will spend the second half of the season elsewhere.

Edit - those stats don't show his games for USA U20s, so his actual minutes will be a little higher than stated, but he does still need some more first team exposure, here or on loan, and my money would be on loan

He does, but would he get regular minutes? I thought for sure Garrett would, and I expected O'Riordan to get more than he has. Those deals have given me cold feet about loaning fringe players we might need, especially with an outside chance of a playoff run.

Markanday has done well enough, but it's only League Two and he's a lot further in his development than Duru, with far more Championship games under his belt.

With Brittain and JRC's injury proneness, there's a solid chance Duru gets opportunities and that if he does well enough or they're out long enough he can get an extended run here at a far more testing level. Maybe even establish himself as first choice given enough time and good enough performances. Alternatively some League One or Two side could have him sat on their bench every week and barely give him a sniff.

[arbitro]

It was a good game to watch today and the 2-2 draw was probably fair. Rovers started really quickly and got an early goal and could quite easily have had another. West Brom played their way back into the game but were assisted by some poor defending notably from the usually reliable Davies. The two goals they got were really weak from our point of view. We started the second half in a similar manner to the first but West Brom still posed a threat with their strikers pace and power. We got the equaliser and the game was set for a really good finish but the Doherty was sent off. Rovers weren't happy about the red card but from my position it looked like Doherty had caught the West Brom player. Ironically a yard further forward and he wouldn't have been sent off but we would have conceded a penalty. Isaac Dunn was our stand out player for me and reminded me of a young Adam Wharton in certain aspects of his play. His head swivels before he has got the ball played to him which gives him a good idea what is on around him and therefore doesn't give the ball away too often.

[islander200]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

He does, but would he get regular minutes? I thought for sure Garrett would, and I expected O'Riordan to get more than he has. Those deals have given me cold feet about loaning fringe players we might need, especially with an outside chance of a playoff run.

Markanday has done well enough, but it's only League Two and he's a lot further in his development than Duru, with far more Championship games under his belt.

With Brittain and JRC's injury proneness, there's a solid chance Duru gets opportunities and that if he does well enough or they're out long enough he can get an extended run here at a far more testing level. Maybe even establish himself as first choice given enough time and good enough performances. Alternatively some League One or Two side could have him sat on their bench every week and barely give him a sniff.

Even when Brittain was out he played Carter at Rb who will be back in January 

Duru won't get minutes here this season 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, islander200 said:

Even when Brittain was out he played Carter at Rb who will be back in January 

Duru won't get minutes here this season 

I don’t think Duru is ready for holding down a place in the first team. A loan would do him good.

[KentExile]

U18s v Sunderland in the Premier League Cup this afternoon - won 3-2 Boggan (2) & Joseph

Edited Saturday at 15:37 by KentExile

[KentExile]

Score update in case Rovers twitter account does not follow the game

 

Edited Monday at 18:59 by KentExile

[rigger]

I'd have played Gueye to give him match time, and Baker to see if he could be the one to replace Travis.

[KentExile]

 

[bluebruce]

36 minutes ago, rigger said:

I'd have played Gueye to give him match time, and Baker to see if he could be the one to replace Travis.

Bit of a mystery to not play Gueye especially. Needs game time, needs a goal to restore confidence. Will surely only come off the bench again this weekend, if that.

Baker I guess hasn't played much and is a touch old, so maybe suddenly giving him 90 and then starting him again at the weekend wouldn't be ideal, but surely a 60 minute run out would have put a bit more in his legs for the weekend. Perhaps starting him isn't the plan. Not sure what the plan is...Cantwell further back maybe? JRC, who has been shit?

[KentExile]

 

[KentExile]

Shame about conceding the late equaliser, but given that Preston had 4 or 5 from the first team squad in that side, and Rovers brought two from our U16s (Higgins & Eze) off the bench, that's not a terrible result.  Higgins with a goal on his debut, Stritch with 2 and O'Grady-Macken with the other

 

 

Edited yesterday at 08:11 by KentExile

[arbitro]

An enjoyable match to watch and, as reflected in the scoreline defences most certainly weren't on top. Considering how young our team was they did really well. I reckon at the end we had three first year scholars and Harvey Higgins who is still at school on the pitch. Scoring in the first minute gave us real hope but Preston played their way back into the game to take a 2-1 half time lead. We started the second half brightly and went 3-2 up before they equalised. Again we took the lead but couldn't hold on and even then both teams had chances to win. Given the age of our team it was a pleasing performance but I have to mention our keeper Barrett. He is capable of brilliance and basic error making in the same game as demonstrated in this game.

[KentExile]

54 minutes ago, arbitro said:

An enjoyable match to watch and, as reflected in the scoreline defences most certainly weren't on top. Considering how young our team was they did really well. I reckon at the end we had three first year scholars and Harvey Higgins who is still at school on the pitch. Scoring in the first minute gave us real hope but Preston played their way back into the game to take a 2-1 half time lead. We started the second half brightly and went 3-2 up before they equalised. Again we took the lead but couldn't hold on and even then both teams had chances to win. Given the age of our team it was a pleasing performance but I have to mention our keeper Barrett. He is capable of brilliance and basic error making in the same game as demonstrated in this game.

Thanks for the match review 🙂 Always appreciated

2 first year scholars (Mansbridge & Sergeant), & 2 who will hopefully be 1st year scholars next season (Higgins & Eze)

Eze only turned 16 in September so would have just missed the cut off to be allowed to sign as a 1st year as the cut offs are based on school years

Edited yesterday at 08:23 by KentExile

[Forever Blue]

 

45 minutes ago, arbitro said:

An enjoyable match to watch and, as reflected in the scoreline defences most certainly weren't on top. Considering how young our team was they did really well. I reckon at the end we had three first year scholars and Harvey Higgins who is still at school on the pitch. Scoring in the first minute gave us real hope but Preston played their way back into the game to take a 2-1 half time lead. We started the second half brightly and went 3-2 up before they equalised. Again we took the lead but couldn't hold on and even then both teams had chances to win. Given the age of our team it was a pleasing performance but I have to mention our keeper Barrett. He is capable of brilliance and basic error making in the same game as demonstrated in this game.

Is Stritch any good? Does Higgins look a special talent?

[arbitro]

1 minute ago, Forever Blue said:

 

Is Stritch any good? Does Higgins look a special talent?

Strich had his best game for a while in the games I have seen. The powers that be seen to rate him. I'm unconvinced but, as with any young player he can improve considerably over a short period of time. Higgins took his goal well and should have scored with a header. He is athletic, well built and showed a decent turn of pace. My granddaughter goes to the same school and tells me he can play in a number of positions too. Next season will be a big one for him when I expect he will feature for the under 21's a lot more. The likes of Higgins, Tyjon and Dunn are reasons for me to be excited for the future.