Harry Darling

[Itchysphincter]

I would have half considered asking for Laird back for a season but after the way United tucked us up last season I would stay away from any of their players.

I can understand that, but hopefully seeing how that decision backfired on them massively (21 games for Laird here, 6 at Bournemouth) will make us more appealing to them as a destination for their young players. Given the talent they likely have in their youth teams, I'm happy to give them another chance, although a discount on loan fees/wages would be nice.

Why can’t we just play our youngsters instead of some of the Premier League stinkers we’ve had. It’s being going on since the days of Josh McEachran when loads of our fans were creaming their pants over the dud.

 

[JackSomething]

I can understand that, but hopefully seeing how that decision backfired on them massively (21 games for Laird here, 6 at Bournemouth) will make us more appealing to them as a destination for their young players. Given the talent they likely have in their youth teams, I'm happy to give them another chance, although a discount on loan fees/wages would be nice.

Why can’t we just play our youngsters instead of some of the Premier League stinkers we’ve had. It’s being going on since the days of Josh McEachran when loads of our fans were creaming their pants over the dud.

Yes, McEachran was shit. But Guehi, Brewster, Gallagher, Laird, Woodman, Gibbs-White and many more I'm forgetting were pretty good.

If we have youngsters here who the management team think have the potential, then clearly I'd prefer we promote our own. But if there isn't anyone pushing for a place in the first team, PL academies are full of players who could improve the team. It would be strange to ignore this way of getting better, especially when money is tight.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Why can’t we just play our youngsters instead of some of the Premier League stinkers we’ve had. It’s being going on since the days of Josh McEachran when loads of our fans were creaming their pants over the dud.

Yes, McEachran was s**t. But Guehi, Brewster, Gallagher, Laird, Woodman, Gibbs-White and many more I'm forgetting were pretty good.

If we have youngsters here who the management team think have the potential, then clearly I'd prefer we promote our own. But if there isn't anyone pushing for a place in the first team, PL academies are full of players who could improve the team. It would be strange to ignore this way of getting better, especially when money is tight.

For every good one you could name there’s a handful of clinckers, for every Mark Gooey there is a Rhys Williams, plus Laird was overrated shite and Guehi took half a season to get going before turning in to the player he is now, Gallagher wasn’t popular with everyone and Gibbs White hardly played for us. Not arguing for the sake of it but let’s not pretend we saw the best of even the best loan players we had.

 

[Risc]

Why can’t we just play our youngsters instead of some of the Premier League stinkers we’ve had. It’s being going on since the days of Josh McEachran when loads of our fans were creaming their pants over the dud.

Yes, McEachran was s**t. But Guehi, Brewster, Gallagher, Laird, Woodman, Gibbs-White and many more I'm forgetting were pretty good.

If we have youngsters here who the management team think have the potential, then clearly I'd prefer we promote our own. But if there isn't anyone pushing for a place in the first team, PL academies are full of players who could improve the team. It would be strange to ignore this way of getting better, especially when money is tight.

They never report what we paid for these loans like Guehi, Gallagher, Gibbs-White though. I'm certain we would have been paying a premium.

It's a stark contrast to the loans we were bringing in the year after parachute payments ended, Finley Burns etc.

 

[old cob]

The one thing we are lacking is pace, and have done for a number of seasons. It's one of the things that baffled me most about Cooper's dismissal of Peterson.

We have to move the ball faster, and need players capable of keeping up with us doing that.

In my mind, the most important thing we lack is someone in the team with the ability to strike a dead ball. The number of free kicks we get in scorable positions with no one to put them away.

 

[JackSomething]

Yes, McEachran was s**t. But Guehi, Brewster, Gallagher, Laird, Woodman, Gibbs-White and many more I'm forgetting were pretty good.

If we have youngsters here who the management team think have the potential, then clearly I'd prefer we promote our own. But if there isn't anyone pushing for a place in the first team, PL academies are full of players who could improve the team. It would be strange to ignore this way of getting better, especially when money is tight.

They never report what we paid for these loans like Guehi, Gallagher, Gibbs-White though. I'm certain we would have been paying a premium.

It's a stark contrast to the loans we were bringing in the year after parachute payments ended, Finley Burns etc.

Fair points from you and Itchy. I'm not arguing for mass loan deals like we had under Cooper, but 1 or 2 PL youngsters to add potential quality and some depth in positions where we're lacking (pace at fullback/wing for example) would be fine with me.

We do seem to have moved away from this under Martin, who clearly didn't rate Burns or Williams last season. Maybe this is to do with money as Risc says, or maybe Martin agrees with Itchy and would rather go with players the club owns.

 

[mootswan]

Keep Grimes away from set pieces. Immediate improvement.