Give the youngsters a chance?

[AustrianAndyGull]

With all the rumour of the transfer window and worries that some players may leave, Bodin may not return and we may not get anyone in. Has Martin considered bringing any of the youngsters in like Spear, Palmer, Yeoman, Halpin et al? I think i've brought this up before when we were going through a bad patch and got the arse on with Lingy and in desperation for an upturn in fortunes i recommended he should bring in some of the youth players. With hindsight I was badly wrong and Martin was right ( damn you Martin! ); however, i think Martin should be including some of these players in the squads on matchdays and trying to get them bedded in. Some of them aren't teenagers any more and are big lads. I feel they are being denied opportunities to grab their chance and are being farmed out on loan to non-league where it can be unforgiving. I read an article about Palmer playing centre mid for Truro as they had injuries and were struggling and the manager was critical of him for often being out of position and giving the ball away. He's a centre half isn't he? His confidence must be shot. I believe Truro were hammered today. It is a balancing act for Martin and he is obviously favouring experience over potential and playing it safe ( and may be a sensible decision in the long run ) but i reckon he should really start blooding the young ones. Don't know what you guys think out there. If one of the young lads comes in and does well then they can only get better which is good for him and the team. If they come in and have to be dropped because they cannot step up and aren't ready then farm them out on loan again. It won't do much for their confidence i know but at least they have been given an opportunity. Many young players learn the hard way that they aren't good enough to make the grade at pro level ( i found this out too ) it's just the way it is.

[Dave]

You often hear pundit's saying thing's like " if he is good enoungh, he is old enough" And this is were i think our club has a problem, the players you list in the o/p in my opinion for what it is worth, none of them are even close to being good enough, not for league 2 full stop, certainly not at the level of football our team is performing at.

The one player from that list who must be really dissapointing many is Saul Halpin, i think it was widely thought and many of fan's agreed , that Saul was the golden nugget, he should have broken into the first team by now, something is a miss there.

Maybe i am speaking out of turn here, however i think it might be down to the lack of player budget that club are still working on these player's development, when in my view the club should be letting them go, and looking elsewhere.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Fair points Forever. I've never seen any of our youngsters play so i can't comment on their ability, it just seems sad that teams like Crewe can unearth talent in the local area, and have the bravery to play them and let them develop and find their feet in league football. Many move on to somewhere better - so what? If they're any good they will. If it's a case of finance then there is little point of us having a youth team. Can someone tell me the last 'nugget' we had come up through the ranks?

[Dave]

Fair points Forever. I've never seen any of our youngsters play so i can't comment on their ability, it just seems sad that teams like Crewe can unearth talent in the local area, and have the bravery to play them and let them develop and find their feet in league football. Many move on to somewhere better - so what? If they're any good they will. If it's a case of finance then there is little point of us having a youth team. Can someone tell me the last 'nugget' we had come up through the ranks?

The last real home grown nugget was Gary Monk, a Torquay lad came through our old C/O/E now playing in the premier league with Swansea.

Glad you brought up Crewe , there are many differences, they have been investing in youth development for years , where as our club dropped it's youth system, only to re-start it in 2007, also clubs have to abide by F.A rules, one of these state that a young player (u16) must live with in 1hr 30 mins of the clubs training base, for us it means having the pick of young players fromTruro up to Taunton and across into North devon, not quite the same catchment area and renound hotbed of football that Crewe is handly placed in.

To put it politly there are more boys up around Crewe area, and and the quailty is better.

[Colorado Gull]

In my opinion I think the only player that could do any good in the first team would be Spear. In the PSF's he showed a touch of class, he's got pace and skill on and off the ball. What I have seen of Palmer, Halpin, Yeoman is that I don't think any of them could get in the first. I have to admit I haven't been to any reserve games this year so I'm just basing my opinion on the PSF'S, but what I've seen in pre season is that Spear is the only youngster that would be any good.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Thanks forever but if a boy has to live within 1 and a half hour of Crewe then surely that boy would have a glut of clubs to choose from as Crewe is not as geographically isolated as Torquay. This surely makes it HARDER for Crewe as they are having to compete with other clubs such as Stoke, Vale, Shrewsbury, Macclesfield, Wrexhm, Wolves etc?

[brucie]

Plain fact is none of these players are good enough. Palmer is playing for Truro. Spear was on loan to Bideford. Macklin is at Salisbury. Ok Macklin scored today but he came off the bench ie he couldn't even get in their first eleven.
Unfortunately these players are not going to make the grade.

[AustrianAndyGull]

So get rid of the reserves then? Makes sense to me, if like forever says we hardly ever pick up any decent youngsters then whats the point in having youth teams and wasting everyones time?

[Dave]

Thanks forever but if a boy has to live within 1 and a half hour of Crewe then surely that boy would have a glut of clubs to choose from as Crewe is not as geographically isolated as Torquay. This surely makes it HARDER for Crewe as they are having to compete with other clubs such as Stoke, Vale, Shrewsbury, Macclesfield, Wrexhm, Wolves etc?

Not really, clubs tend to have maximum numbers at each age group 11 a side i think it is around 22 players per squad and around 14 per mini soccer age group, and young footballers wont just jump for the biggest club, families will tend to look at reputation , good coaching organisation etc , and what acadmey gives the child the best chance of progressing, and Crewe are widely regarded as one of the best acadmey clubs outside the top flight.

To be fair to our club, we only re-started our youth system i think 4 years ago, our club are a long way behind, however they are working hard improving every year, not so long ago our C/O/E were using goals held together with string and losing to Swansea/Bournemouth by over 10 goals at most age groups, they now have brand new goals, and are winning games against against those teams at some groups, not all however.

They have a long way to go, one of the reasons why i support eppp, it is going to force clubs like our to improve, and hopefully we are not to long away from producing young players capable of stepping up , like those who are at Crewe, it is vital long term for our club.

[slay1373]

I personally think the last nugget we had was Mike Williamson. Now back in the solid defence that so outplayed Man Ure the other night they subbed both Rooney and Berbatov.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Cheers forever, good info and an interesting read.

[tufcbrett]

Building youth sides take a long time. When i started at Cardiff i was working with the youth sides there. Some of them kids are unreal. Luckily for them the hour and half rule came in as the big clubs would have taken there younger players else.

Cardiff last season released 1/2 of there under 18s as they were only able to take 9 of them into the first team. 1 kid who got released signed for chelsea the week later.

Im pretty sure if the kids were good enough, they would be playing more. Managers are not stupid, you play your best players what ever there age. Maybe there not ready, or simpily not good enough. Im sure we will find out soon enough.

[ferrarilover]

Plain fact is none of these players are good enough. Palmer is playing for Truro. Spear was on loan to Bideford. Macklin is at Salisbury. Ok Macklin scored today but he came off the bench ie he couldn't even get in their first eleven.
Unfortunately these players are not going to make the grade.

David Beckham was once on loan at Port Vale... Palmer is PLAYING for Truro, he is PLAYING for Truro because that is where we sent him. We're not exactly going to send him to Barcelona, are we? Macklin was brilliant against Exeter, looked a class apart and scored against Cheltenham in the paint pot trophy and scored again today. We're told by those who have seen him that he has played well at Salisbury. Since you've been to one game this year and he wasn't involved in that, I fail to see how you can adjudicate upon his ability.

I, as most here, am disappointed at the lack of progression being made by our juniors. This really isn't meant as a dig at McPhee, but surely Halpin couldn't do any worse? Sadly, with football, if you haven't made it by the time you're 19 or 20, chances are, you're not going to make it at all, especially as a youngster. Obviously, there are exceptions from the non-league we could all name (Ross Hannah, Smalling at Man Utd, Ian Wright etc), but these guys who have lived and breathed little other than football since they were small are going to need to do it now, or find a new career.

The one I am keen to see progress is Aaron Kudi. He always looks good when I see him for the kids or the reserves and I think he could add to our team in a similar way to my other favourite fringe player, LRT.

Matt.

[usagullmichigan]

David Beckham was once on loan at Port Vale

Beckham was PNE not Port Vale Matt. :~D

All these youngsters need to be moved if we don't think they are going to make very good players. We can't keep carrying them on the hope that they will come good. Lower league clubs have a youth setup to make profit, the profit is made in selling that player. Youth players need to be breaking into the first team by 18, 19 latest. There is alot of talent in Devon and Cornwall it just has to be found. I played for the TUFC youth teams (under 11's and up) and when we played teams from Devon there was loads of kids who were really good. At these games there was scouts and on time in particular one of our players was picked up by Port Vale. I played against Seth Johnson at when he played for Dawlish Generals, he was the show yet none of the TUFC guys at that game ever spoke to him and he ended up at Crewe.

[ferrarilover]

Thanks, it was, as you can see, very late when I posted that and, truth be told, I knew PV was wrong but couldn't be arsed to google the right answer. My point holds firm though.

Matt.