I still maintain there must be a reason beyond “Jones is a prick lol”. We obviously prioritise youth players as a general rule at the club. We signed a couple from Spurs in the summer who are in the u18s so we obviously look further down then just the first team when signing players. Maybe the club have come to the opinion that none of the current B team players are ready for first team football yet. Maybe they have decided that a relegation battle isn’t the time to be giving young players their debuts. Yes Ballard etc are doing very well in the B team but aren’t we in the 2nd division now at that level? I thought we got relegated last year but may have been thinking of something else.
Middlesborogh U21 V Southampton U21.Friday 27th January 2023' Team: L G Wright (GK). L Payne. O Lancashire. L Pambou. J Meghoma. S Amo-Ameyaw, J H Turner. C Bragg. K Doyle. L Pearce. D Ballard. Subs: T Dibling. M Hall. J Andrews. W Armitage. Latest 1 - 2 Ballard both 3 min and 18 min. 1 - 2 HT. 2 - 2 59 minute. 2 - 2 FT https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/...outhampton-premier-league-2-27th-january-2023
Having seen out under 20s (including Payne and Ballard) play against Newport and get bullied off the ball with ease at almost every opportunity, I have no issues with them not getting a start…physically, they are far from ready (or at least they were a few months ago) as it was very clearly men playing against boys. Whilst I want the talent conveyor belt to churn out more and more first teamers, being prolific against youngsters is very different from coping against a team of men.
Although that was a team of kids against men. I'm sure one or two (say Payne and Ballard) with a couple more on the bench if we're comfortable and they'd look far more competitive
You have a better idea as you watched the match, but I believe Payne got an assist in that match and Ballard scored, so for the difficulties they faced, they still managed to get some end product. I don’t mind us having to potentially carry a player slightly if it means that it helps them develop faster
If I recall correctly, the goal was a bit of a bobble that even Schlong could have put away. Payne was a very lucky boy to stay on the pitch after an early horror challenge, but he showed composure as he had the fans on his back for a good hour after it. Again, he was very small, but as SF4L said, if he is one small player in a full team, we probably could carry him to give him some experience
U18PL Southampton U18 V West Ham U18 Saturday 28th January 2023 12:00 ko Team: Mohamed Adli. A Prescott . T Dobson-Ventura . W Armitage . J Lett. A Stepien-Iwumene . J Squires. J Andrews. T Dibling. W Merry . N Oyekunkle Subs: J Jeffries, T Edmondson, R Evans, E Hartness, J Robinson. 1 - 0 23 Minutes W Merry 1 - 0 Half Time 1 - 0 70 mins (TBC later I am off to SM) 1 - 1 74 minutes 2 - 1 79 minutes Dibling (P) 2 - 1 FT https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/...t-ham-united-under-18s-premier-league-2022-23
It comes to something with the Under 21's when they don't have enough players to field 5 subs, with several players from the Under 18's Squad, who played in Middles borough on Friday and one played this morning (Dibling) and another was on the bench this afternoon (Ballard).
