Originally Posted by
Tuerto
If, as you say the u23s and youth teams are playing a more possession based game and learning to be comfortable on the ball then isn't that an admission by the club that the Warnock style of play is not long term. On the subject of the u23s; if a player isn't sniffing about the first team by the time they're 20 then they need to go. I'm not sure of the average age of the u23's but if i was 19 years of age and had a professional contract then i'd want to be around the first team, as i'm sure most of these lads are.
The old system was pretty basic but more effective at producing players in my opinion. I do have some experience of it, albeit 20 years ago (a lifetime in football terms) and at a time when the club was pretty shit. I will add that you have more knowledge than me on the development of these players so i may be off with my observations, but here goes. When i watch these young players i see a sanitised style of play, a robotic style that lacks freedom. The first thing i look for in a young player is their natural attributes, the things that they could do better than anyone else when they were 10 years old. I'm not bothered about a wayward pass or poor positioning, that can be ironed out, it's the natural ability that is the foundation for everything else, second to that is character, The rest will come with experience. I don't see a whole lot of character or natural ability, i see a group of young players who overwhelmingly do the 'right thing' it's like the natural side to their game has been coached out of them.
When i played in the City's youth team all those years ago it was the transitional team between the age group below and the reserves. If you were a schoolboy who was performing then you would be promoted to the youth team, 14-15 year olds playing against full time apprentices. If you were 16 or 17 and you were doing well in the youth team then you would get promoted to the reserves, 16 or 17 playing against seasoned professionals. I played a few reserve games at 16 and it was very tough going. I remember in one game i had to mark junior Bent and i quickly learnt that i couldn't allow him space to turn as he absolutely skinned me in the first minute, same with simon Davey while he was at Swansea, and i wasn't given any special treatment either.
I don't think that these young lads are getting the right experience by playing against other lads who are at the same developmental stage as them, it sort of nullifies things. The club need to concentrate on the two or three who have a chance of making it. If there is doubt with young players at 17 or 18 then they need to go, they may develop later on but the club can't wait for them, although even if we did have young players who could get into the first team squad then i very much doubt that Mr Warnock would want them, afterall, they don't play the game right!