Reserves

City reserves
Ive been following city reserves for a couple of seasons now and it seems to me that we dont actually have an actual reserve squad - it consists of mostly cast-offs from the first team and young lads that have come up from the youth team, or otherwise lads who havent yet been put out on loan.

The main point im trying to highlight here is how are the young players in the reserves going to develop, when they lack consistency?

we need to give our young reserves more focus. they not ony need more competitive games, but also an actual team - which provides with a bit more group cohesion - only then will our young stars develop - perhaps then we can use them in our first squad - instead of man u cast-offs (however i would like to add some of the man u bunch are just what we need). I just think some of our local lads need to be given much more attention and perhaps a chance to make the first team - before we bring in other young players from other clubs.

As i said ive been watching the reserves for a few seasons now, and if memory serves me correctly we have 3 second year pros in the reserves- sonny bradley, danny emerton and gavan holohan. I personaly believe these players have progressed nicely. Sonny is a strong confident CD and he will serve us well sometime in the future. Danny emerton seems a great prospect in MF and as a S - this season i have seen massive improvement and his goals in the last 2 games have been terrific- something which we are missing in first team performances. gavan holohan is also developing well as a CM, although i would say he needs the most guidance out of the 3, as i dont think he is quite ready for any senior football But time will tell

Just wondered what other city fans think to my post - there needs to be so much more going in to our reserve squad - more competive games - more quality young players - and more recognition for the up and coming stars - but most importantly more local support for a young players - there home fixtures are played at the ferriby ground and more people should come along and support them!!

 

I know this is a bad comparison but I do exactly the same on football manager...

Having the reserve team there means you can give youth players the chance to play with players from the first team and at a higher standard, and you can also give the players who aren't in the first team squad match time for fitness etc.

 

It pisses me off that we're so unwilling to give young players like Holohan or Emerton a chance in the first-team. The latter was on the bench against Macclesfield in the Cup, but what's the point in not even giving him 10 minutes at the end when we're two down? Our promising youngsters will probably end up stagnating in the reserves for the next year or two. It's one of the things that most irks me about our club.

 

Play the youngsters? You mean like Dudgeon, Brady, Cairney, Chester, Hobbs, Waghorn, Stewart etc etc?

Maybe the likes of Holohan and Emerton aren't ready for the step up. Hull City's accademy (if there is one) isn't that good. otherwise they wouldn't be sent off to Bradford and the like.

 

There is no real need for a dedicated reserve team. For a start think of cost, the reserves would need to be of a decent standard if they are to be used to "develop" young players, that means a wage of around £1000 pw per player, if we say a starting XI with rest made up from youth team and first teamers you are looking at £11k PW plus a manager, plus additional coaches, plus other support staff, plus insurance ect ect, soon adds up to a hefty price.
We have the ability with the current set up the means to use non first XI players and youth to get experience, aswell as players needing match fitness

 

UTT2011 an interesting post and it is good to read about some of our young players. We do not have a good record in developing young players too many get professional contracts and then disappear. Many of them when released struggle to get into Ferriby´s side, so where they good enough in the first place? I am not sure what the answer is we took on a development coach at one point but I am not sure what happened to him. In addition to the players you mention we have Cooper, Cullen and Devitt out on loan and it maybe time for Holohan and Emerton to join them. We need Bradley and East as backup currently but that may change. I agree that they need more competitive games but not sure about a team or how that would work when players go out on loan.There is a problem with the reserve league in that they are not tested sufficiently. To beat Scunthorpe 8-0 is not a real test and they play so few matches. In our Premiership days we played against Premiership Reserve teams who were a lot stronger and gave the youngsters a real game. Perhaps we could arrange a few friendlies against Premiership Reserves and non league teams those matches would at least be competitive.

 

Clearly not what I meant. How many of those came through our academy? One, and he's a good player but not brilliant.

That may be the case, but if they're good enough for the bench, they're good enough to play. I understand youngsters take a lot from being part of a matchday experience regardless of whether they are involved at any stage, but I see no issue in at least giving them a 5-10 minute run out at some point. Time and again we see a supposedly promising youngster break into the squad, but they aren't given time on the pitch, and if they make a mistake they are instantly singled out as a poor player instead of being given a chance to rectify it. They then rot for a few years in the reserve team and then, because they've been left at such a poor level for so long and their potential has diminished, end up at Bradford or warming the bench at Hereford.

 

I think you have to put things in perspective with youth players. Hundreds of kids are in youth teams throughout the country, most clubs have at least 20 young lads training in academy set ups (take the top 3 divisions and that gives you 1280 kids), most of these will not make it. Take Liverpool, only Spearing, Flannaghan, Robinson and Kelly have come through there academy from starting there in the past 3-5 yrs (and that was last season), United are the same, when did a Manc lad come through there academy in the last few years to pllay regularly for the first team?
The truth is thousands of lads want to be pro footballers and clubs have to find the best, develop them, and with a bit of luck in pyshical development turn them into pros.
Top clubs can afford top trainers, facilities and the best scouts, yet even those dont always produce many ture stars.

 

I appreciate the comments everyone had made on here so thanks for that.

To those writing about the youth team - the thread was based on the reserve players - whilst realising some of the youth team are present in reserve fixtures - they still have a long way to develop.

i advise anyone interested in the performance of our current reserve squad to make wednesdays fixture against hartlepool (quite a distance from hull i know) -lhopefully the likes of adebola and harper will play - instead of the youth

Viking Eric - i think your abolutely right - i think Emerton and Bradley and possibly East are fantastic players - and will come very good with the right payers around them. After watching the s****horpe match the other week it is evident that Emerton really excels with the likes of adebola playing - although it will will never happen, they are a great partnership - Mcaffrey also did well under his guidance. Realistically i dont think the young pros will have much of a shot in the first team this season as its still developing - however i dont think they are not been played due to lack of quality (because some of them have been very impressive in the past games - but because Pearson is trying to form a brand new club that he can call his own - there is no problem at all with this method - however it means some of our young talents are been forgotten about in reserves - so perhaps they should be put on loan - but to somewhere decent, which will really give the players the development they need and the much needed experience.

those of you who dont see any problem with the reserve league - i would have to say i disagree - some weeks the reserve team consists of mainly youthful players - and to be honest the standard is pretty poor - and this is what i mean by consistency - we need a strong team out so players can read each other - only then will they start to develop into quality players. On the otherhand some weeks the team consists of young pros and some senior players (s****horpe and middlesborough) - and this is when the young pros really shine - take for instance my example of adebola and emerton. Last week adebola layed of to emerton- who then had the confidence to strike from outside the box into the top right corner - it was massively impressive and the crowd went wild - things like this give players massive confidence not only in themselves but in players around them - and this has got to develops and shapes a player

 

for me, the jury is now out on East and Holohan (who to be honest was once one of the brightest prospects at the club for me) but both McCaffery and Barlow look very good.

 

Forgive my ignorance but I am not familiar with Barlow what can you tell me about him?

 

as a regular reserve team 'addict' i agree with all you say in this thread. Gone are the days when half the first team would be in the crowd to watch the youngsters trying to make the grade. ***an was always very supportive in this respect. Without doubt, and for all kinds of reasons, the likes of Adebola, Harper and even dare I say, Barmby (although as Manager/Coach, has been notable by his absence at the last two home games) to name but 3, are currently reserve team players and can help some of our 'kids' and beyond-the-fringe-players to progress. It was interesting that in spite of Adebola's influence on the field last week agen scunny, he could nt wait dissappear when he was subbed well before the end of the game. The club needs to have a complete new attitude to its reserve team squad, and a more competitive league would be a huge step forward, together with a more Professional commitment from the out-of-favour seasoned pros..

 

Must have been a real disappointment for the lad when one minute he was having trials at Man Utd and Man City, the next signing for Grimsby.

 

Thanks I like to follow the progress of the young players trying to make their way into our first team i will keep an eye out for him.

 

And then when he's told "a club have come in for you" and he finds out it's us.

 

mussiesredhat - your absolutely right about the lack of senior players in the crowd at reserve games - its funny how the youth/reserve have to watch the 1st team play - yet not vice versa. Adebola had a huge impact the other night at scunny game and he played a huge part in the goals scored - its just a shame his attitude after the match proved he didnt want to be there - inequality in the squad i think so. What do u think to our current lads in the reserve squad - i.e. Bradley, Emerton, Holohan, East, Townsend? - do u think any should be put out on loan this season?

 

I know I do. Send them to League One or Two for a couple of months, and if they impress, try and get them to a better side for a while.

Certainly don't leave them there for 12 months of they prove their quality, and certainly don't just leave them out of the squad and make them play in a poor-quality reserve league.

 

I ask one question. What the hell is the purpose of having a youth team and spending money on an acadamy if the players are not being given a chance to elevate to the first team. When we had a reserve team in a proper league, going back a few years now, we used to develope players from the youth team into the reserves and then into the first team. If you really are serious about developing players that is the way forward. We havnt hardly developed any players who have got into the first team and stayed there for years. The way it is you may as well get rid of the youth and acadamy set up and revert to just a first team squad because most of the youngsters never get a sniff at the first team and those that do generally have failed. Look how many are out on loan. You could argue about Cairney but he was brought up at another club before he came here.