Zak Johnson and Bellingham

Called up for England U18s.



The futures bright.

 

Hopefully these lads will spread the word about what a good club they're at ...

... I used to dread the 'grass is greener' effect when our young lads went to national teams.

 

As long as they don't come back with injuries!

 

Really hoping we give Johnson a go next season. I think the lad has a great chance of becoming a very good player.

 

I think a loan move might do him good next season, he has big upside imo

 

Yeh a League Two loan for Johnson, big burly forwards and at a level he should play, makes a lot of sense to me at least.

 

My concern about a loan is a year away from our coaching and squad. We are light years away from League 2 now. He will be 19 at the start of the season. Top end of League 1 may be beneficial, club like Derby or Peterborough maybe.

 

Depends if they think he's up to it.

I'd rather he played 46 games in League 2 than 32 sub appearances in League 1. Just because we have grown doesn't suddenly make our youth players top of league one standard. That's where we were 13 months ago.

 

With all loans its all about going to the right club. Ideally he goes to a club that play out from the back but he needs to play senior football sooner rather than later

 

It is and I would hope the club are looking quite seriously about how they loan young players for optimum development. The clubs who do it best have positions like loan managers whose job it is to place and monitor. As we are pushing our cat 1 status this position would make sense to me.

Of course not all players will need loan. Some will benefit more from being around the first team training. Personality plays a part I suspect. Foden is an example of a player not given a loan because it wouldnt benefit his development. Dan Neil forced his way in based on talent. I hope Johnson gets a crack pre season, along with Anderson and this other young lad we are supposed to be signing. The most able I would think stays to be part of the squad.

 

Agreed

Im always less worried about cbs going out on loan than say an AM like caden kelly. Kelly really needs to go to a team that will play through the lines n into him rather than a route 1 type team. Technical players like him need the right style of play to get the best out of them n help them develop.

Cbs im not too concerned if they go to a route 1 type of team as i just want them to get experience of dealing with physical CFs - this helps them learn how to use their body better n position themselves in the best way

We havent been great at loaning our players out over the years to help their development so be great to see what this new team does

Great shout about not having a loan manager ' might be a position theyll look to fill in the next yr or 2

 

I'm not a fan of the loan system,but I'd be interested to know your opinion. At the risk of being boring,I've banged on about this on here from time to time.
Imo,what we need is a good,properly competitive reserve league. A young lad like Zak would stay with us,our culture,our personalities,our environment,our playing style and learn his craft by playing against opponent first team squad players needing match fitness,first team players returning from injury or suspension needing games and younger players looking to break into a first team level......in other words,everything playing regularly in a lower league would provide. Also,it would allow the opportunity for our management to take a good look at him,try him in a different role perhaps,not necessarily available if he's playing for someone else. He would seem to gain all the benefits a loan elsewhere would provide,whilst retaining the settled surroundings of the club he's signed to.
I understand a loan may be necessary for a club who,let's say,loses its' goalies to injury,but clubs like Chelsea have killed what a loan system was primarily designed for.

 

I still think the loan system is vital, they need to be playing regularly against senior players in games that matter. Unfortunately they dont get that at u21 level, results really dont matter at that age group so hard to replicate the pressure of senior football at u21 level.

I agree about teams like chelsea ruining the loan system, i think there should be a limit on how many players a club can loan out. This would stop clubs sending 20+ players out on loan.

Not all players benefit from loan moves, dan neil for example has progressed into a massive player for us but i think the right loan move can really help a player kick on.

Hendo went to coventry on loan and then was massive for us. Patto going to notts county helped him progress so much, then returned to be our no1. Pickford had a few great loan moves when he was with us.

If a player stays too long at u21 they wont kick on, or at least unlikely to make it at the top end of the game.

Johnson has huge potential and im a big fan but he is a big lad so he is physically stronger than most his opponents at u21 level - he has to play competitive games against senior players to truly learn how to use his body more effectively

Loaning players is always a risk as a bad loan can have a big impact on a player but the positives outweigh the negatives for me

 

Interesting mate. I wasn't thinking of only U21 though...a proper reserve league would include players of any age.

 

The only way this would work, is by setting up a B team structure.

 

B team...Reserve team...the same thing. It used to exist.....I used to go down to Roker to watch our reserves play in competitive matches.

 

I was meaning the B team would take part within the league pyramid.

 

Aah....ok...misunderstood. I wasn't thinking of it anything other than a stand alone competition without any reward for winning other than prestige.
Perhaps that's the flaw in my argument.

 

Birmingham were on about scrapping their u21s and going to a B team weren't they? No idea what level they would enter the pyramid at though.
The striker we are linked with from Benfica has played for their B team in their equivalent of the Championship which will have other 'A' teams in it so he should have a bit of experience of men's footy.

 

There was talk of the PL teams entering B teams in the lower leagues. Can't see it happening in the english leagues though.