I have seen him twice and looks fairly ordinary. It seems to me that some of the players brought in to the U21s are to boost up the numbers, they never make it with us. Cumberbatch, Munns, Daniel, Browne are a case in point.
You wrote that before, and it may well be true. But, if so, I think it is a bad policy. Teams are allowed three over-age players plus an over-age goalkeeper. Kent Senior Cup players can be any age. Instead of paying wages to those with slim hopes, why not give the likes of Church, Lepoint, Bikey and Harriott, or whoever is currently out of the reckoning, more games there, together with u18s who are not getting a regular game? That would keep the average age under 21 and be within the rules. Looking at the OS, it appears that Munns is considered part of the senior squad, the other three not.
That makes sense if we're fast tracking players to the first team - within reason. Not an expert on the developmental team, but for years we were slow to loan out to league teams - which we seem to have rectified. I'd rather our youngsters playing league two for long periods than playing in developmental.
Depends how good the respective coaches are. The downside of playing "real" matches is that teams will be fighting for points and may (rightly) demand percentage football rather than allow youngsters to try things and make mistakes. I would rather they were being coached by Nathan Jones than some nobody in League Two. Euell I am not so sure about. I suppose they need spells of both types of football.
It's a percentage thing I think. If you buy enough sow's ears, there's more chance you'll have a silk purse or two a couple of years down the line.
That is how huge clubs like Man Utd and Real Madrid operate, but it is very expensive. Would not be cost effective for us. This conversation is wandering a bit. Dick suggested that we were perhaps signing players with little chance of making the grade just to field a complete u21 side. I was suggesting that, if true, that was not an efficient strategy.
The problem is that our senior scouting network is pants! We do have some good youth scouts at the club but they are not listened to and players are signed on a haphazard and sometimes confusing way. With the release of 90% of the U16's this season I am expecting the U18's to sign a number of foreign youngsters this summer.
That seems exceptionally high.I haven't seen much of the kids this season, but the production line seems to be stalling somewhat. Maybe Paul Hart wasn't all that he was cracked up to be? I don't know, but it's his legacy.
Someone just did research on Premier clubs (only). During the last ten years, on average, one player from their academies becomes a first-team regular every third year. I don't know if this includes players who go on to become regulars at other Premiership clubs but I should think that rarely happens. And no doubt many become regulars for Football League clubs. We are doing a lot better than that. Obviously our players have to attain a much lower standard, but then our academy costs a lot less than those of most Premiership clubs. Can anyone point to the source article? I would like to look at it in more detail.
It finished yesterday Coventry U21s 2 Charlton 2. Goals from Ahearne- Grant and Kennedy. Charles- Cook was sent off early for stopping a goal scoring opportunity. Team. Charlton Athletic: Phillips (GK), Pyke, Edwards, Charles-Cook, Monlouis, Thomas, Munns, Smith, Ahearne-Grant, Browne, Kennedy. Subs: Mitov (GK), Pessima, Cumberbatch, Leon, Sho-Silva Munns injured himself warming up and Cumberbatch took his place. It is good to have Sho- Silva back after a long time out injured. Pessima is a trialist from Sierra Leone.
Thanks for your reports, Dick. No use relying on the OS. That is getting quite fashionable lately. It used to be a rare event, although didn't someone once do it before a Wembley final? I am pessimastic about his chances. And who is "Smith"? I used to play for a factory team which regularly fielded various Smiths, all ringers registered with other clubs.
The OS continues to be a pile of steaming horse-dung. How much would it cost to have an informative and well-organised club web-site? A small fraction of Oneywu's wages. Article headline: Watch Charlton's development squad at The Valley on Monday First line of following text: Charlton's U21 side are back in action at The Valley on Tuesday (2pm) when they take on Brentford.
It finished Charlton 1 Brentford 1 at a warm and sunny Valley. The pitch was like a bowling green and the players made the most of it in an entertaining game. Charlton started well and Ahearne- Grant had an early chance but instead of taking a shot himself he decided to square it and the chance was gone. Brentford had much the better of the First Half and took the lead when Trialist Josh Staunton passed inside to Terrell Thomas who lost the ball and the Brentford player tucked into the right of Dillon Phillips. Brentford were on top for the rest of the half and Phillips made three good saves to keep us in the game. In the second half we were much better with Ahearne- Grant and Charles- Cook prominent. We got a deserved equaliser when Archie Edwards galloped down the left to cross for Kennedy to finish at the far post. We had another couple of chances for sub Browne and Ahearne- Grant but a draw was a fair result. Teams Phillips Pyke, Josh Staunton, Thomas, Edwards Charles- Cook, Monlouis, Munns Austin Lipman, Kennedy, Ahearne- Grant Subs Mitov, Cumberbatch, Browne for Lipman, Anfernee Dijksteel for Munns, JP Rylah. Staunton is from Gillingham Academy, Lipman from Arsenal Academy and England U17, JP Rylah is from Millwall Academy. Dijksteel Is from the Nike Academy. I was impressed with him, he sat in front of the back four and broke up play. Staunton was also decent a ball playing centre half who read the game well.
Thanks for the report, Dick. I don't care if he is crap. With a name like Anfernee Dijksteel we have to sign him. I hate to admit it, but it looks like the odious Belgian did something right.
As I haven't been down to the Valley for a while I was shocked at how good the pitch is. It looked like the kind of surface that you start the season with. There were some great names on show in the Brentford team. Tyrell Miller - Rodney, Zain West- Brooke, Kyjoin Marsh- Brown, Jeremiah Kiamanzi. But my favourite by a long way was Ian Carlo- Povedaocayoo. I remember the days when footballers had names like Smith, Jones, Lee etc.
