It’s very simple Peel put your brain in gear.
An academy structure is in place to scout children from an early ages and develop them through the age groups and into the first team.
Rico had already been scouted by the Blues and been in their academy before joining us. Of course we did some form of development, but let’s not pretend we scouted him from an early age which we didn’t.
Just looked at Wiki and I swear he was at the Blues?
We developed him from the very young age of 11. You stated we didn’t develop him, so put your brain in gear. You really think he was the finished article at 11
He made his debut with us when he was 16.I don’t think you are correct in concluding we didn’t develop him as a player. Wiki. is not always right, of course, but I think he was certainly here as an early teenager.
My point was our academy didn’t scout him first which seems to be a common theme, I also said of course we did a level of development.
One player in a decade money well spent , great set up.
After a spell with Cadbury Athletic and failing a trial with Aston Villa,[5][6] Henry joined Walsall at age 11
If I am wrong I’ll put my hands up, but I swear I’ve seen the Blues linked post on here many times.
To be fair, it would be very stingy to restrict our youth team products only to players that have never trained or trialled elsewhere. If you pick up a player at school boy age and develop him into a football league player, you youth system deserves credit regardless.
Rico Henry not only did that, he’s probably responsible for our biggest income this season 5 years after he left.
Yep can’t argue with that.
My overall point mind is that we’re not picking up quality players on a regular basis. I am not sure why or maybe it’s just bad luck.
I can’t believe we haven’t picked up youngsters worth honing in the last 5 years or so. People will say “well Mitch Candelin never pulled up trees” or insert whatever name, but a lot of people don’t understand how delicate players progressions at that young age are. What standard of coaching were they given? Did we make the right loan moves? Did we give them chances, not just chucking them on for a game, but in a system that suits them and plays to their strengths?
Some players will be so good they will flourish whatever happens. I believe that is what you see at Walsall. Occasionally a Scott Dann, Matt Fryatt, Troy Deeney, Rico Henry will push through our system regardless of how we treat them or what they incur, but they are premier league quality players. We’re not asking for that, all we want is good league 2/solid League 1 professional footballers. Are we doing everything we can to produce those players? Outside of Liam Kinsella and Liam Roberts I’m struggling for examples to be honest. Serious questions need to be asked.
They do and I hope the DoF is asking the right ones. The top players you mention will come through occasionally and I would suggest Walsall is no worse in that as many other clubs. However you are right that what we haven’t had for a year or two are players who can make it at our level. I was told 2 years ago that this would be the case as the quality was simply not there. In view of the fact that most of our current youngsters are 1st years in may be sometime before we see anyone coming through. Hopefully we can cover the gap by picking up youngsters from elsewhere as we did with Willock in the summer.
I have never looked into this bubble concept before. Have you any idea when we started “bubbling” and has that been a constant thing from then until now?
I’m pretty sure that the club were bubbling when last season started behind closed doors, and for much if not all of last season. The club explained it at the time.
I don’t know when they stopped or when they re-started, but my guess would be that they re-started in November, when omicron started spreading, perhaps earlier.
On the one hand the policy has been successful in that, unlike many clubs, we haven’t had to call off any games (it’s always been the other team). On the other hand, opportunities for fringe players have been severely limited. The club obviously think the precaution is worth doing.
Thanks for that.
I knew that it was implemented quite some time ago, but didn’t know if it has been continuous. Your suggestion that it possibly wasn’t and was re-started in November makes sense in that Tommy Jackson crossed the divide in October.
Should Rushworth be called up again soon, then perhaps we won’t have an available back-up unless we made an exception to the system.
Only when it suits them.
One of the Preston reserves was in the year below my lad at school. Knows him quite well.
My lad is 17 so any inference that it was literally rather just metaphorically “men against boys” might be trying to do our lads a bit of a favour.
Someone who went conceded Preston fielded an under 23 team whilst ours was overwhelmingly first year player. Earlier in the season the sides drew 1-1 but I seem to recall that was one game when we had a few fringe first team players in the squad.
Reserves lost 3-0 at home to Rotherham this afternoon.
As mentioned elsewhere, Perry, Bates, Willock, Maher and Willis started so at least a bit more like a reserves side than the mainly first year academy kids we have put out as ‘reserves’ recently.
Match report from Rotherham’s site as nothing up on our site yet.
No better without Llera then - useless still! I think these lads have first team potential after all 