Academy & U21s

[K-Hod]

Telegraph reckons Lenihan and O'Sullivan won't feature tonight because they are in the squad for tomorrow.

That's ridiculous. They won't play anyway on Tuesday so they're basically just making up the numbers.

[DE.]

Telegraph reckons Lenihan and O'Sullivan won't feature tonight because they are in the squad for tomorrow.

Heh. So much for Gaz saving them for the youth cup... what's the excuse now, then?

[ABBEY]

you are a kid in the academy - would you rather play in your cup final, or keep the bench warm for a league match that means nothing to either team? Personally I'd be playing my strongest team tonight...

Easy....BOTH.

If im a young lad I would and could be able to play in both. All summer to rest up .

[Tom]

The telegraph are taking what Bowyer said about them maybe featuring tomorrow and guessing though I would think.

[tomphil]

If they are just going to be on the bench tomorrow just making up squad numbers then surely they can play tonight ? Or is this just the mollycoddled world of modern footballers.

[chaddyrovers]

Rovers starting line up for this game is

Raya, Nyambe, Doyle, Thomson, Lavelle, Jones, Green, Bauress, Rittenberg, Carson ©, Mahoney.

Subs: Daly, Crump, Tanner, Mansell, Joel.

Southampton:-

Gazzaniga, Mugabi, Targett, Gape, McCarthy, Wood, Gallagher, Reed, Seager, Hesketh, McQueen.

Subs: Sims, Britt, Sinclair, Slattery, Debayo.

Looking to the game and watching it live at Ewood Park

Players I looking forward to watching are Mahoney, Green, Nyambe, Thomson and Rittenberg.

only 1 player I'm looking to watch for Southampton and that is Sam Gallagher. He is someone I mention about us signing him on loan next season

[bazza]

Just about to set off. Looking forward to this.

[Stuart]

Telegraph reckons Lenihan and O'Sullivan won't feature tonight because they are in the squad for tomorrow.

Incredible!

[Swanson]

Just about to set off. Looking forward to this.

Hope that some of you guys that are watching this live can give us some insight on how these players perform tonight. If any of these kids are worth keeping an eye of for the future.

[Tom]

So after the sensible approach from bowyer not playing them because of this game they aren't even in the squad

[ABBEY]

theres logic somewhere no doubt the happy bunch will inform us.

[chaddyrovers]

Nil nil at half time

[Tom]

you put a lot of faith in 2 young lads who have never played in the Championship getting us a win yesterday.

Did you read what Kinder said? He says the youth team doesn't take priority, it's up to Bowyer if he wants them. Bowyer says in the other article O'Sully will get a chance ;-

"So we are excited and looking forward to seeing how he does in the first team."

Not sure anything that's happened so far contradicts this. Anyway lets see who plays tomorrow and at Brum.

Now seems a bit odd

[A cup of beans]

Incredible!

Some will sheepishly back track.

Wonder how "the lads who have fought tooth and nail to get to the final" will feel?

BTW. I'd be there, but suffering with the flu.

Edited April 13, 2015 by A cup of beans

[Reedy You're A Star]

you put a lot of faith in 2 young lads who have never played in the Championship getting us a win yesterday.

Did you read what Kinder said? He says the youth team doesn't take priority, it's up to Bowyer if he wants them. Bowyer says in the other article O'Sully will get a chance ;-

"So we are excited and looking forward to seeing how he does in the first team."

Not sure anything that's happened so far contradicts this. Anyway lets see who plays tomorrow and at Brum.

Seems appropriate given tonight's TV events..

[chaddyrovers]

the game ended nil nil.

Raya was the busiest of the keeper with making 2 or 3 good saves in the second half.

Green played up front with Mahoney(wide left) and Rittenberg(wide right) in 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation.

Green went off after 35 minutes with a hamstring injury. and was replaced with Lee Mansell. Was very impressed with his ability to hold the ball and his strength plus his work rate.

Mahoney had 3 or 4 good runs at the Southampton's right back Mugabi. In my opinion, we didn't get the ball enough to him during the game. Mahoney has the ability but needs more influence on the game.

was also impressed with Thomson(centre midfield), Nyambe(right back) and Lavelle(centre back).

enjoyed the game and they was some Southampton fans who attended the game aswell

[arbitro]

the game ended nil nil.

Raya was the busiest of the keeper with making 2 or 3 good saves in the second half.

Green played up front with Mahoney(wide left) and Rittenberg(wide right) in 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation.

Green went off after 35 minutes with a hamstring injury. and was replaced with Lee Mansell. Was very impressed with his ability to hold the ball and his strength plus his work rate.

Mahoney had 3 or 4 good runs at the Southampton's right back Mugabi. In my opinion, we didn't get the ball enough to him during the game. Mahoney has the ability but needs more influence on the game.

was also impressed with Thomson(centre midfield), Nyambe(right back) and Lavelle(centre back).

enjoyed the game and they was some Southampton fans who attended the game aswell

Any good enough for the first team in your opinion Chaddy?

[bazza]

We enjoyed the game. It was good to see these players in the flesh for once instead of only hearing their names.

I thought overall that Southampton were the better team. They made our keeper work harder than we did theirs. They were cool and calm on the ball when playing it out of defence and were faster on the counter attack.

Having said that, we held them to a draw. We stopped them scoring but, really, we never looked like scoring whereas they looked very dangerous.

1 David Raya is very impressive; confident and competent. He will surely make a good first team keeper. (8)

2 Ryan Nyambe, the right back, also shows ability, Strong and fairly fast. (8)

3 Jack Doyle, left back. He was so-so, just about adequate. He didn't strike me as anyone special. (6)

4 Connor Thomson, centre midfield, sometimes lost the ball and looked a bit out of his depth yet showed brief flashes of ability as the game went on. (6)

5 Sam Lavelle and 6 Sam Jones were the two centre backs and both had a good game. Lavelle (8) Jones (7)

7 Devarn Green played up front as a lone striker and, like Rhodes, seemed abandoned; never received the support from his midfielders. Went off injured just before half time. (5)

8 Bradley Bauress, a busy midfielder always trying to create and supply the front men. (7)

9 Dean Rittenberg played out on the right wing. Had a reasonable game. He was brought off in added time. Was that for MOM applause? Not my MOM. (7)

10 David Carson, captain, a busy midfielder who got through a lot of work. He started like he was going to run the game for Rovers but faded slightly as the game wore on. (7)

11 Connor Mahoney played on the left wing. He had a great second half. He seems to be a two footed player, his left being the natural but in the first half he came across and down the right touchline and put over a superb cross with his right foot.

Good player. (8)

15 Lewis Mansell came on for the injured Green and added a bit of beef up front. He got better as the game progressed and was better than Green had been. (7)

Difficult to pick a MOM. In my opinion Mahoney, Lavelle, Nyambe and Raya were our best players. I'd like to see these four tried in the first team.

[tomphil]

Matched them for guile and effort and by and large completely stopped them from playing their football. Decent effort considering they are a league above and top that league i think. A bit bigger, stronger and quicker with the ball but no surprise there given the rep of the Saints academy. Apart from Raya though i don't think there is anyone on there anywhere close to challenging for a place in the first team squad. Young team though, our right back Nyambe could be one for the future.

[roverzee]

The second leg is at 7pm next Monday and is live on Sky Sports 1.

[chaddyrovers]

Any good enough for the first team in your opinion Chaddy?

Raya, Nyambe and Mahoney. Plus I think I think Mansell could aswell if he develop over the next 12 months. Possibly Lavelle

[ABBEY]

And all this and you still watched the test ?

[Tom]

The second leg is at 7pm next Monday and is live on Sky Sports 1.

Thanks for that will be good to see

Thomson is one of the lads with the first team squad recently after being released by Carlisle earlier in the season - did he look up to it?

[West Yorks Rover]

Saints U21's manager Martin Hunter said - " they(Blackburn) were direct to say the least and very aggressive."

Att. 995. Saints have so far, sold over 2,000 tickets for the 2nd leg.

Could Eric Kinder be the new Big Sam ?

To be fair to the young lads, Saints team included a few with first team experience.

Edited April 13, 2015 by West Yorks Rover

[Proudtobeblue&white]

Saints U21's manager Martin Hunter said - " they(Blackburn) were direct to say the least and very aggressive."

Att. 995. Saints have so far sold over 2,000 tickets for the 2nd leg.

Eric Kinder could be the new Big Sam.

Had it been the other way round we'd have sold 28,000!