A great interview from Luke Hyam on TWTD. This kid is a future Town legend in the making and to think that Jewell was ready to show him the door at the start of this season! He says that it is a dream to be walking onto the pitch at Portman Road and to play for the team that he idolised as a boy. Great stuff Luke and you will be a shining example to the Marriotts, Octobers and Winters who are looking to achieve the same thing at Ipswich. http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/22924/hyam-bosses-believe-in-me Real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff
Was going to post the exact same thing JWM, This should be an example to all managers, give the kids a go and they might surprise you. How good does it feel to have to guys in your squad (Loachy and Hyam) that are proper blues and would move heaven and earth for us. ITFC - The rebirth!
I'm glad the comparison was there with Holland, really think he could play a similar role for the club. Could do with a playmaker next to him now though!! I think it was referring to Jewell releasing him last season before he then got back into the team and offered him a 2 year deal. But up until the last couple of months I don't think any of our last 3 managers have had alot of faith in him, even Mick didn't at the start.
Do people think that maybe we are a little bit blinded by the fact that both Loachy and Hyam are Ipswich born n bred? Yes, admittedly they are good players, but are we over-hyping them, purely because they are local lads? Don't get me wrong, i'm all for playing a team full of "our own", but would people prefer "better" players, even if they are either foreign or non-local?
I am happy to be a bit blinkered on this one, having local talent, players that love the club and want to play for the team they support can only be good thing.
I think he's definitely a good player but you wouldn't watch him and think wow what a player we've got on our hands here but he seems to have a decent all round game and has good energy levels, as I've said alot of times before he reminds me a bit of Holland who just kept things ticking over in the midfield without being too flashy, you didn't really overly notice him in a game but if he didn't play you realised how much we missed him. I think it would've been interesting to see how a Hyam, Garvan partnership would've done as I think he needs a player like that next to him, could've been the new Holland, Magilton!!
Agree with ptc. Some players don't stand out on the pitch but are missed when not on it. I get the feeling that Luke will add more to his game after having the shackles given him by PJ taken off.
I'm sure Sir Bobby thought the same when he brought through the unknown Brian Talbot and Roger Osborne into the first team!
I think players that live and breathe the club are underestimated, we saw from the PJ team how easily players who don't care for the club lose motivation when things get tough. I also heard that the club are aiming to have 50% of the team coming through the academy after the next few years, something else to be positive about!
Stretchy, its a good point and one that football has been facing for years now. I would hate to have us play a team of 11 foreigners but I dare say we would all accept it if we were competing at the top of the premier league. Its been the case since bosman was introduced that instead of spending a lot of money on youth development a large percentage of teams would prefere to pay the wages of a proven foreigner. This season I have struggled to accept Town due to the short term nature of playing with so many loanees but some of them have undoubtedly saved our season. The SPL introduced a rule about 5 years back that meant you had to have 3 homegrown players under the age of 20 in your match day squad but it purely meant that in the majority of cases these kids would sit on the bench for 90 minutes and miss out on playing for the youth team. Its really down to the manager to assemble a club with the right balance of age competitiveness, flair and qaulity. If he has that blend then you cant really argue that a kid from the local area hasnt made it. They could all be terrible and not worthy of a squad place, they may have been sold to ensure the club says in business. Its nice when it happens but we are also very lenient on them. A poor Hyam display would never see fans shouting that he should given a free transfer like what happened to the equally young Tommy Smith earlier this season.
Now i was a bit young back in the 70's, but, other than the goal, i wouldn't put Osborne anywhere near the top 50 Town players of all time.
Roger Osborne was the lynchpin of the great Ipswich Town teams of the mid 70s. I remember a game in 1973 when we played Barcelona and Roger had Cruyff in his pocket all night! A great athlete and a ferocious tackler who had the ability to also play a bit as well. He used to win countless tackles in Midfield and then give it simple to the likes of Colin Viljoen who in my opinion was the most technically gifted player ever to wear the Ipswich shirt! Every team needs a Roger Osborne type player and he cost us absolutely nothing. A very humble man who to this day plays down his contribution in the glory years under Sir Bobby. Roger Osborne would probably get in my all time first 11 let alone top 50!
