by stmichael » Mon Aug 09, 2004 2:31 pm
The disappointing thing is the youngsters haven't been really been given a look in. Neither are most of them farmed out for loan. Players like Mellor, Semi didn't benefit from their loan stints while the likes of John Welsh and Whitbread haven't played regular football in lower flights. I'm not saying going on loan to Championship clubs is definitely better but it is somewhat different from reserve team football. Besides, there's at least 46 league games, whereas the reserve league has less than 30 games. Moreover, the football played is competitive and the calibre of some lower division players are good too. I don't think our academy kids are poorer than the likes of Arsenal's or Man Ure's. They just have more playing opportunties (at club/on loan), esp. since they have feeder clubs.
Hopefully, that will change under Benitez. As I've mentioned before, Warnock is on top of my list of youngsters breaking into the 1st team. Welsh is still 2nd on my list despite not impressing in friendlies and not making the tour squad. Semi is 3rd (cos' we've got quite a couple of right backs at the moment) while Whitbread is 4th. Potter and Foy are, IMO, dark horses for the breakthrough.
Last edited by
stmichael on Mon Aug 09, 2004 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.