Quote Originally Posted by the other bob wilson View Post
It does rather beg the question what can someone like Ashford do if he's deemed to be part of the first team squad so can’t be loaned out and he’s never going to be used when named as a sub? He could score some fine goals for the under 21s I suppose, but then it may well be that Bulut thinks like you do and the goals are devalued because the defending was not Championship level? Ashford missed a chance I expected to score at Sheffield Wednesday so that may be being held against him, but he must have been the eighth Cirty player to miss a chance that night and I’d rather think of the good things in those goals against Swansea and Bristol City under 21s and in particular the one he got for Wales under 21s against the Czech Republic in added time to get a draw - the whole game was riding on that difficult finish and the fact that Ashford, first,went for the volley and then delivered it perfectly says a lot I think.

Agree about Colwill’s goal - now that was a goal that would never be scored in the Championship!
I picked up on Ashford and Joel Colwill not going on loan, against Bulut's apparent wishes, at the time but I haven't heard any more about that. It looks like the scenario you suggest, I agree, but at the same time I've no idea what (if any) loan offers were made and who turned them down. The club, Bulut, the players themselves? It does seem odd but I wouldn't like to draw a conclusion without more info.

I made a point about training in my post but you've still reduced it all down to goals scored again. I'm not saying it's irrelevant but just that it's a smaller part of the overall picture than I used to think. If Ashford is struggling to impress against the senior players in training, or struggling to take ideas in, or struggling with strength and fitness etc then that has to be taken into account along with the fact that he ran 60 yards to score in an under-21 game.

Players like Velikonja, Healey and even Danny Johnson scored for fun at that level, it didn't mean the red carpet was laid out for them at first team level. Sawyers also scored for the u-21s recently, that didn't mean Bulut started him next game either. I'd love to see Ashford and Colwill get some game time but, with Bulut's contract up in a month or so, I can understand why the long term future isn't as much of a concern for him as it is for us.