I dont know how many times over past seasons and this one, Ive seen the one for the future thing applied to new signings or proposed new signings. Is this a wise approach to adopt at all. After all, weve had the Aidy Whyte and Sackho types who "when they learn to develop a final ball, they will be class". They never did and only soaked up wages. Weve had countless others that spent a couple of years on the books and drifted away having contributed little or nothing to the first team except for fans constantly calling for their inclusion. We have a fair few again who may or may not make it. Is it not time, for a change to start spending cash on established Championship quality, I dont mean journeymen on their last legs either. A quality 5m centre half will still be worth that in two or three years time if he wants to move on. What do we gain from signing the likes of Klitch, Cibicki or whatever the correct spellings are,pay them a year or twos wages and get nothing in return. So can the description of one for the future be changed to " Currently not good enough but may or may not improve"
Great thread mate This season really brings this into the light. If the plan is to bring in a full squad then all the squad should be able to swap/play as we have 2 players for every position as well as some players who can play elsewhere. So if thats the plan then surely the squad needs rotating to keep everyone fighting for a place and match sharp. Or if you disagree and think the 11 who went out last time should start, then you are hoping someone off the bench can come in if needed through injury/suspension etc. Klich, Cibicki, Grot, Sacko are not in the managers plans so why bring them in. Yes Grot has been on the bench but when Tommy talks about a 17 year old from York starting against Barnsley you know Grot isnt cut out for here. Wwe brought in a load of 'ones for the future' but as yet they are not living up to expectations in the development squad, we also sent some on loan to sister clubs in Spain & M East, one of which has done a runner. Ones for the future should be own grown academy products in my view, and I see radz is starting down this road, but it will take 3 years to give us some exiting prospects. We have 2 kids out on loan this season who are winning MOM reviews every week. These 2 should be back in the summer and included in the first team squad. But we need to see more, we need our own Penningtons & CBJs, but need to stop buying players who cant make it here, or the manager doesnt like. Klich & Cibicki problem needs resolving, we need to know what happened and why. As there is no chance that these 2 play no part in the season and then come in at the end of the season to fill holes
If one is worth 5M great but if all 5 are failures, thats a waste of valuable resources Brendan. In my opinion, team needs strengthening but quality not quantity. By all means get in 16 or 17 year olds but we need established quality pros in next window and following ones. Even if we can only afford or find one or two, its still a far better approach than a slew of unknown 21 year olds that are really only a punt. And for the first time ever, we may have between and 28m to invest. Id rather see a handful of quality signings than a dozen hopefuls at this time
Looking at loan players from anywhere and what happened to them afterwards, classic case of Patick Bamford from Chelsea, who went to Derby, Middlesboro, Palace, Norwich & Burnley etc. He started off scoring for fun but only scored once last season even though he was at 3 clubs. Then Monk persisted and signed him to the club but not working is it. Townsend, Bannon, Livermore all came to us did fook all but went back to their clubs and got selected for England, so as Eire said we taught them how to fight so their clubs got the benefit not us. Loftus Cheek doing well but you are looking at kids from top clubs going into bottom prem clubs, whereas we are another level down. I wouldnt send any of my kids to Leeds unless they were guaranteed to be in the squad every week
There’s a lot of ‘football manager’ going on these days. Get them young and cheap, the few that make it cover the costs of those that don’t. It’s happening across Europe and it’s the orta plan. They felt the academy was so run down they needed an influx of foreigners that they can get to play ‘the first team way’ and then support it by gradually building up local scouting so that the talented local kids don’t end up at Man City. I don’t have a problem with the strategy as long as the foreigners allow enough space for the local kids. That’s at the u23 level. The issues is whenyou’re Spending significant money on the first team squadders who are meant to be at a level to challenge for starting positions and of an age where they should be... cibicki ekuban etc. Again you’re going to have hits and misses, every club does. Ultimately it’s down to the strength of the scouting team, but shopping abroad carries lower price tags with higher risk. A lot of teams pay big money for proven championship players who then do nothing, so it’s still a gamble. Plenty wanted Jonny howson back and most boro fans at the moment would be happy if that had happened. However, for us at this moment in time I do believe that that’s what we need... 4 signings that have already proven they can do their job successfully elsewhere... and ideally are of an age where their prime is still ahead of them. Easier said than done, but we allegedly have some cash.
We seem to be mixing up different issues in this thread I read it to be mainly about bringing in young players for the future. I think we should do that, but - they have to be high potential - we shouldn’t expect them to be the answer to anything first team related, in the short term - we should be hard about moving on those not making the grade Someone mentioned Andy White, ffs this was a classic example of weak management. It was obvious to even me for ages that all he was was a decent turn of speed, he had nothing else. But he kept getting chance after chance - I don’t blame the fans who were still saying he deserved a chance after years of this, but the club management were pathetic Not sure why Klich is mentioned in this context, he was surely brought in as an established player, just wasn’t seen to be good enough by TC, rightly or wrongly
It wouldn't be the same if Klitch wasn't mentioned at least 2-3 times a day by a few, it's getting like a stuck record
I know, I can't understand how some see him as the answer to all our midfield woes when they've never seen him play
I know a few of you keep an eye on the u23s or youths. What progress have the lads signed during the summer from Spain and elsewhere made. Are they playing, loaned out or what’s the story with them
They all look like one's for the future. on the plus side,Ekuban looks better than wood did at the same age.
