Spot on, Dwight Gayle is a must, or are we going to do what we always do, see which loans are available, see how they did in the championship last year, then ignore all the excellent ones a go for someone completely different, letting our promotion rivals snap em up i.e Gayle, Abrahams etc
A great summary of the players WJ but I just have a nagging doubt about how you can compare U23s football to the 1st team. It is almost non-contact fantasy football. It's why so many fail to progress as expected.
Have you watched it recently? It's pure Bielsaball. No, really! Ask yourself how many how many u23s sat on the 1st team bench this season. Ask yourself how many of the u23s actually played for the 1st team this season. Now ask yourself how many slotted in ripple-free, & how many failed. If you check this out, you will be stunned when you realise the numbers. We've never enjoyed anything like this, not even with O'Leary playing Wilco's kids. Now as for the 'non-contact fantasy football' comment, please think again. Referees are reluctant to use cards for u23 games. Believe me, they've been stretched to the limits to maintain this for our games. Our style of football invites wild tackles, fouls etc. And we seem to be quite happy to dish it out too. McCalmont, Gotts, & Shackers, for instance, could be the next Batty. Easily. But that only accounts for their robust defensive qualities, which thy're happy to rattle people with - but they actually offer so much more. It's possible that all 3 could turn out to be better and more complete than Cook, and it takes something for me to say that, as I've always been a Cook fan.
No criticism of your comments meant, just we've had a few 'premier league' U23s superstars come and fail. Yes some our youngsters have come in and some have performed well but we've only really used them when down to the bare bones through injury and Bielsa seemed to lose faith in them as the season progressed. I can't think of any that have displaced the normal first team players for any length of time when the first team player iregained fitness. Happy to stand corrected if my defunct old brain is slowing down on the front but O'Leary's boys came in and took over from the established team & that doesn't seemed to have happened on this occasion.
LOL. Happy to be criticised. Love talking about our club. It's only my opinion, and let's face it, some of them could be gone in the close season if our management team don't see it the way I do. Wouldn't be the first time - I used to love Stokes in the u23s, for instance, but he struggled with his opportunity & is now history. But that was the old way. Any u23 that plays now is schooled in Bielsaball & might have spent double figures on the bench before crossing over the line. Not one of them has been a scared rabbit in the headlights (so far), unlike loads who have gone before them (even ones that eventually made it). Personally, I think it's not only this preparation they get, but the fact that they have no option other than to be busy on the park with our style of play. Which means they don't have time to think about the overwhelming aspects of the occasion. You actually made me wonder if I've been a bit over-enthusiastic about them. I guess I am, and I know I already am with the 1st team too. I believe the term is 'happy clappy' on here, but I prefer the old school term of 'supporter' I looked at the stats & I have exaggerated unknowingly about appearances. Clarke's on 24, Shackers on 21, Halme & Davis on 4, & a few more on 1 or 2, so it's not the tsunami I imagined. However, despite getting the numbers wrong, I stand by the impact they have, compared to the old days. They are so much better prepared to play. I can't remember the precise stats on O'Leary's 'babbies', but we tend to think of them all appearing at the same time. They didn't. How many of them actually came through the academy & played in the first team in any one year? Not as many as our clouded memories would like us to think. They broke in over a few years, and as money was tight, it was more by necessity than anything else. The omplexion changed though when DoL got his hands on some cash. And the rest is history .... So this season is comparable to that, imo, and hopefully some more will break through next season.
You're absolutely right by clouded memory, I just seem to remember George Graham saying we had real quality coming through the academy in the next 18 months (and the said - I mean REAL quality). O'Leary had the nerve to blood them early. I think it's brilliant that you go and watch our U23s so never going to suggest I have any idea how good they are in comparison to you. My comments were based more on how competitive the U23 system these days in readying players for first team matches (it might well be but I'm wondering why some that shine don't end up being better in the men's game).
Interesting point. I wonder if under the old system, we had great players for the u23s who were getting used to the kudos & encouragement. You know the sort of thing - name in the papers as the great white hope etc., and then the breakthrough comes. One bad game & people are on your backs. To most young minds, that's a huge blow, and without the right guidance, anything can happen, especially shattered confidence. Think of the likes of Mowatt & Cook. Both were encouraged to think they were future stars. And they were (as long as they weren't asked to play a full 90 mins). Playing too many games took their toll on them. One bounced back (eventually), and the other is still on a downward spiral, as far as I know. So to get to the point that I should have got to at the beginning - I think it's a mental thing, and the lads now are not simply relying on Redders telling them they're brilliant - they're actually being really well looked after, and fully prepared for what's to come. All of them! Which is why we've had no u23 1st team failures this season.
