****ing hell I'd forgotten about him. That might just be our worst transfer window under SR and there's some big competition there.
As suspected at the time, the NJ / SR era cost us one of our best youngsters (For reference this guy is the dad of one of JJMs teammates here)
The reality is we likely have to treat any talented youngster we have exceptionally well to keep them if a Chelsea or whatever comes along. If his main reason for leaving was he was told he would be in a first team squad and then was left out then that seems pretty pathetic, but I can sort of understand. The only reason to stay at Saints if someone like Chelsea is interested is you have more chance of getting first team football here. Everything else is in Chelsea’s favour. How old was he when he moved? 16? Kicking off about not being in the first team at that age sounds more like an excuse as to why he moved rather than just saying I went for the money/more prestigious club (which are legitimate reasons as well to go) And if it wasn’t an excuse and he was really thinking he should’ve been involved at that age with what was then a PL team he is either exceptionally good (doesn’t look like it) or badly advised/big headed about his ability
There has also been (it feels like to me anyway) a lot more teenagers playing in the PL in recent years and being a success. So maybe younger players are less patient than they were say a decade ago
I'd imagine it was a bit of both to be honest, with both sides shouldering some blame. He turned Chelsea down in the summer of 2022 to sign a scholarship with us (and an agreed pro deal once he turned 17), and I can only imagine he was given promises /assurances of chances here that season, which failed to materialise. This was probably due to the change of manager and the relegation fight. With how bad we were, he probably thought he could do a better job than what we had, and wanted out when the club failed to live up to the promises made, so he threw his toys out the pram and left. I honestly think he'd be in a Dibling situation by now if he'd stayed.
Yeah I’m sure both sides have some blame, but your last sentence does show he was pretty short sighted. If he was going to be another Dibling then he would be looking at a £50m+ move to be a first team player at a big club rather than a loan move to Gillingham. Anyway we will never know the full story but I think if any club has an “if you’re good enough you’re old enough” attitude it’s Saints. So in these scenarios I tend to think that it’s more the player being impatient if it’s genuinely about playing more. If it’s a case of “I’d rather be an u18/u21 player at Chelsea than Saints” then fair enough (with the money and the prestige that comes with that as well) but don’t then be surprised if you don’t break into the first team at 20/21 at that club (not saying Morgan is saying that as it appears to be a Saints fan saying this loan move is why he should’ve stayed)
That's some pretty wild speculation that. How many times have you watched him play? If he was at Dibling's level, he wouldn't be going on loan to a League Two team. He'd be going to the Championship. More likely Morgan is around about Dom Ballard's level.
I've seen him play enough to form that opinion on him; him and Dibling were always the stand outs, always head shoulders above those older than them, and always played at a similar level enough to convince me that they'd be going to the top. I don't know what's gone on with him at Chelsea, nor how his development has gone or how he's been playing, but I do think he'd have got a better move than Gillingham had he followed what Dibling has done. If Dibling had stayed at Chelsea, perhaps he'd have probably ended up at a L2 club on loan. Players blend into the background more at bigger clubs, and don't necessarily reach the potential they had. It's all a bit sliding doors, really. Either way, it's a huge shame we lost a top talent (recurring theme that under SR), and we got lucky that Dibling wanted to come back
You seem to follow youth football far more than I do, but is it just us losing 16 year olds to the top teams? Seems to me like since they relaxed the rules about where academy players can play the top teams hoover them all up which you could argue either way about whether that is detrimental or beneficial to their development
Yeah, I don't think it's just us sadly. Big clubs are more aggressive with youth recruitment, even more so since the rules relaxation and brexit. (Although resetting and slashing the youth wage budget, and losing players that way, is certainly on SRs door and blame)
Not really relevant to the overall discussions going on here but I'm fairly sure Jimmy Jay Morgan suffered a big injury not long after moving to Chelsea, had surgery and everything, no idea how long that kept him out for anything like that. But that will have slowed his progress and may be the reason he's only just now going out on loan, and to a lower league team.
I can’t listen live but would be good if someone could phone in and ask is there or is there not a break clause in Jurić’s contract?
I don’t see why the club would make it public either way? He’s signed an 18 month deal is all we need to know really. If there is a break clause and they choose to exercise it they can just announce that when he leaves at the end of the season or just say he was sacked if there isn’t a break clause (or there was and they just don’t want to say it publicly). If they decide to keep him on then they don’t say anything obviously. I don’t really see it being a big deal if there is a break or not tbh.
You’re right and I agree, I guess it would’ve been nice to know so we could second guess or speculate on the the club’s intentions.
