Sanchez debut vs ex Cardiff Premier League player tonight

[Loramski]

My sources (who are usually completely wrong in these matters) tell me Rabbi Matondo will be leading the Man City attack this afternoon. Aaron Wildig has been playing league football all through this decade (albeit for lowly League Two sides much of the time) and with a full international cap, captaining Bristol Rovers and playing 200 times for them at the age of twenty three, Tom Lockyer is putting together a CV which will have him featuring on the radar of Championship clubs.

It's too easy and a bit simplistic to put the lack of youngsters breaking into our first team squad down solely to the fact they aren't good enough. In my opinion, it's far, far harder for a teenager to break into their club's first team at this level these days, because the default action of managers when they are on the lookout to plug a hole in their first team squad is to spend money, often millions of pounds, on a ready made replacement rather than look at what they have already got.

For example, our manager seems to be interested in bringing in a striker who according to reports I've read, will cost us £4 million - this is despite accusations I've seen about him in the past accusing him of having a dodgy attitude and a questionable work rate. Meanwhile, there is a player already at Cardiff who is on course to score twenty times plus this season - Sion Spence must have scored fifteen times now for our Academy team this season and I maintain that at various times during my time supporting the club when we have been in the second tier that would have earned him a first team chance.

Spence scored again yesterday as the Under 18s won 2-1 at Bristol City (Connor Davies got the other one) to record their fourth consecutive victory since they started playing again following the Christmas break and a couple of goals by Knott helped the Under 16s to a win over the same opposition by the same score after they had trailed at half time.


Finally, good to see Ashley Baker being involved with the first team at Sheffield Wednesday - I was surprised when we let him go.

I agree with the sentiment entirely but the point I was making (I think) was that none of the players we've released recently are playing at a higher level than we're at now and until that happens we can hardly criticise the club for not playing them here and then releasing them. I didn't want to go back as far as Lockyer, Wildig, Wes Burns etc but they back up my argument, for now at least. We released Lockyer seven years ago and he's still a League One player, so is Oshilaja and so is Ajayi. All might make it but how long do we hold on to these type of players in case they make it in the Championship eventually? Do we keep giving them new contracts and hope someone takes them on loan till they're 25 or older?

You can say that if we play them then that will help them become better players but we played Nugent, Wildig and Declan John and it still didn't work out for them here. Sending them out on loan helped Healey, Ralls and Harris but not O'Sullivan, Tutonda and Barnum-Bobb. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to bring all youngsters on, each individual is different. Until an Oshilaja or a Lockyer start playing at a higher level than us then it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the problem is more down to a lack of talent being recruited rather than what we're doing with them while they're here, although I'm certainly not pretending we've been blameless when it comes to that.

Good to see Ashley Baker doing well, I agree.

You need new sources, by the way.

[the other bob wilson]

I agree with the sentiment entirely but the point I was making (I think) was that none of the players we've released recently are playing at a higher level than we're at now and until that happens we can hardly criticise the club for not playing them here and then releasing them. I didn't want to go back as far as Lockyer, Wildig, Wes Burns etc but they back up my argument, for now at least. We released Lockyer seven years ago and he's still a League One player, so is Oshilaja and so is Ajayi. All might make it but how long do we hold on to these type of players in case they make it in the Championship eventually? Do we keep giving them new contracts and hope someone takes them on loan till they're 25 or older?

You can say that if we play them then that will help them become better players but we played Nugent, Wildig and Declan John and it still didn't work out for them here. Sending them out on loan helped Healey, Ralls and Harris but not O'Sullivan, Tutonda and Barnum-Bobb. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to bring all youngsters on, each individual is different. Until an Oshilaja or a Lockyer start playing at a higher level than us then it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the problem is more down to a lack of talent being recruited rather than what we're doing with them while they're here, although I'm certainly not pretending we've been blameless when it comes to that.

Good to see Ashley Baker doing well, I agree.

You need new sources, by the way.

So are you saying that I'm wrong when I say that managers go out and spend fortunes on average players these days, rather than look to promote from within at far less expense to their clubs?

[Loramski]

So are you saying that I'm wrong when I say that managers go out and spend fortunes on average players these days, rather than look to promote from within at far less expense to their clubs?

Not sure to be honest. I assume (maybe lazily) that there are more overseas players in the Championship now and that makes it harder for youngsters to break through but what percentage of these players are being brought in for large fees or on free transfers I don't know. No idea how average most of these players are and how good the youngsters they're blocking from first team action are either so I can't really comment.

City haven't relied too heavily on the cheque book since 2014 (in comparison to the two years before that at least). I'm sure Warnock, and the club, would have liked to bring some youngsters into the first team, especially in the second half of last season when we had some 'free' games. He obviously felt they weren't good enough and still thinks that now. It's not just expensive signings that have cost youngsters here; Tutonda and John couldn't get past Bennett, Kennedy and Bird couldn't get past Hoilett, Ajayi and Oshilaja weren't going to dislodge Bamba. Waite and Veale can't get past Damour either.

You said earlier that it's too easy and simplistic to say youngsters aren't getting into the first team solely because they're not good enough but surely that's the bottom line, always has been and always will be. Slade is an idiot and Warnock's brand of football is no encouragement to the youngsters we're producing but I'm not aware of a big queue forming for the lads they haven't played. Hopefully we can sort out loan deals for some of them in the next couple of days and they can kick-start their senior careers.

[dembethewarrior]

The other week, the Mrs was listening to Owen Money (I know), and he was talking to someone on the phone and she was telling him she was listening to him on her new ALEXIS gadget.
He proceeded to say he'd not heard of it and then said "SO IF I SAY ALEXIS, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN" ???

Everyone listening on ALEXIS had their radio cut off

It only listens if you call it alexa...

Cool story though.