We sent Luca Tomas (9 goals in 7 appearances for the youth) on loan to York City this week. He came off the bench after 74 minutes and has notched already.
Have to admit, that the Rothwell signing for a loan, was a decent option off the bench but the last 2 performances, he's looking like a starter, like the way he drives forward with the ball. Think Farke may have got lucky with the 2 injuries, Rothwell and AO look a better midfield combo.
Ampadu is still our best player imo. Rothwell was very very good last night. If he maintains that type of form then he won't be shifted. I'm shocked at how good Tanaka is. I thought he might struggle with the pace of the Championship but he's taken to it like a duck to water.
It's a great problem to have and I fully agree with Rothwell taking the ball and driving at the opposition defence. It makes things happen. The Kamara sale for profit now looks a great piece of business.
I know quite a few on here don’t like talkSPORT but Aaron Lennon was on this week, he’s just started coaching at academy level and basically said any young player that might have a chance at playing professionally should ask to go out on loan as soon as possible. Said U23s cannot prepare you properly against playing in a first team, being put under pressure from your manager if you’re not playing well, having an away crowd (or home fans for that matter) at you in the heat of a match where three points are vital for whatever reason. It’s something we haven’t done well with for years.
Aaron Lennon also said that Harry Gray is the best youngster he has seen at that age. He needs to shut his mouth. He's not employed by Leeds this season (he was last year) but it's unprofessional to start talking about individual youth players he was looking after. He's pretty much pimping Harry Gray out to the likes of Man City by saying stuff like that in the media. The ****.
That’s hardly the best kept secret but I take your point, he’ll be playing against other academy teams so they’ll all know about him.
They are aware that he's a talent but for someone who was employed by the club who saw him every day in training and got to know the lads personality and drive to go to the press and start saying things like that is not really on. Hopefully other clubs have noted that he can't be trusted and he goes without coaching work for a while. The little rat.
You better tell that to his agent (own family) who will have a video showcasing his skills to anybody interested.
That's the agents job. The coaching staff employed by Leeds shouldn't be talking publicly about 14/15 year old players they have coached. It's disrespectful to the club at best.
See my other answer to Wakey. I'm not over sensitive about it. I just don't think it's correct that Leeds gave Lennon the opportunity of coaching the youngsters only for him to give information about those lads to the press. It serves no purpose to the club who paid him but it could certainly harm them. Call me old fashioned but I'd prefer Harry Gray to stay with the club that invested in his youth at least until he signs a contract. He could easily go to Man City for next to nothing over the next year or so.
That could happen whether he gets talked about or not. I’ve forgotten the name of the young lad (generational talent) that Man City poached from our academy last season or the one before and I don’t remember anyone talking about him. Bit naive to think no one can see how good players are when youth teams play each other.
Well Gray wouldn’t get in ahead of Tanaka or Rothwell. And when they’re back fit again he wouldn’t start ahead of Ampadu or Gruev. So all in all not a bad bit of business selling our fifth-choice midfielder to Spurs for a healthy profit. He’ll probably turn out to be absolute quality but he’s not what we need right now.
