Quote Originally Posted by Enoch Mort View Post
I noticed the other day that Sion Spence had gone to Barry on loan. I thought that he was one of great hopes for the future. Am i correct in thinking this and is the move to Barry a good one for him and us ? Perhaps those regulars at Academy and DVP games ( TOBW, Loramski etc.) might have a view ?
Time will tell on this one. I'm no expert on Spence, he certainly was being seen as a future star not long ago but I think injury problems have stalled his progress as much as the internal politics here. I saw him playing for the DVP side in January 2017, just turned 16. He came on at the start of the second half that game and we scored the 40 pass goal from the kick off. Him and James Waite ran central midfield by themselves, it was all possession based stuff back then, they made it look easy.

Spence moved forward in the following season and scored a lot of goals for the Academy. I know TOBW was very frustrated that he wasn't playing DVP stuff any more, this seemed to be down to a Bellamy led policy of keeping the Academy together although there was a poster on here who was suggesting that Spence had an injury problem that was holding him back.

An injury on international duty early last season led to a disrupted season for him, mainly at Academy level again. He scored some good goals but never really imposed himself. Even the games where he managed to get ninety minutes in he seemed to be cramping up by the end.

Personally, I'm happy to see any of our youngsters going out on loan rather than waste a season in the seemingly rudderless under-23 set up. Spence is still only 18, a run of first team games should be good experience for him and, if he can stay injury free, I'd like to think he'll be challenging for a first team squad place here next season. Unless Warnock stays on, of course.