[Albion] Our youth players coming through (are we Ajax in disguise)

[GT49er]

Only if you were a bit daft. It’s been evident for at least the last year, if not longer, we were starting to see some good players come through.

Yeh? Lots of them on the bench, in the matchday squads were they? Getting minutes of game time? Showing signs of breaking through to the first team?

Good players, yes, they were - and many of us realised that - but it was still a black hole from which none emerged. Still, if you prefer hindsight.......................................

 

[GT49er]

An opportunity to punch Bono.

Probably much more world-wide publicity if he punched the pope...........................

 

[The Wizard]

No coincidence the youngsters have started thriving since Potter came in, amazing what a bit of faith and belief can do. Let’s not get carried away it’s still a work in progress but promising signs we have a manager who has this affect on young players, to go out and play with no fear. Potter

 

[Hugo Rune]

Surprised some don’t agree Connolly’s value is already in the £20 to £30 million range.

Agreed. Especially when you consider he is the current Premier League 2 player of the season and frankly, should not have been playing in that league as he found it stupendously easy and probably learnt very little.

Joe Linton (23) scored just 7 Bundesliga goals last season having not been particularly prolific the top flight Austrian League on loan. Yet £40m was spooged on him.

There will be a team such a Everton already getting the £30m bid ready for January. I suspect Tony will turn down anything less than a 9 digit fee for the time being. It would be good to have at least 3 or 4 seasons out of the young man.

 

[Stat Brother]

Yeh? Lots of them on the bench, in the matchday squads were they? Getting minutes of game time? Showing signs of breaking through to the first team?

Good players, yes, they were - and many of us realised that - but it was still a black hole from which none emerged. Still, if you prefer hindsight.......................................

Yes of course they were proving the time effort and most importantly money put into the academy was very much on the edge of harvest.

Now the fact that none of them were getting game time at the Albion, is a completely different issue and one which Mr Bloom resolved.

Connolly and Alzate haven't become good this season.
They are from an excellent academy which clearly isn't and has never been (in its current set up) a black hole.

 

[GloryDays]

Wow.

Shall we give the lad a handful more games?

£30m? I might have been laughing too hard to read properly but did someone write £50m?

 

[CheeseRolls]

There will be a lot of disappointed people the next time he has a game, like the pre-season friendly at Crawley, where he came away with nothing, other than a few new bumps and bruises. He has a huge amount of talent, but still has a lot to learn and needs to get stronger, fans need to keep a lid on the expectations.

 

[DJ NOBO]

Wow.

Shall we give the lad a handful more games?

£30m? I might have been laughing too hard to read properly but did someone write £50m?

Another bloody realist.

Set him straight, Stat Brother ;-)

 

[Perfidious Albion]

May I second the gist of this thread and salute our academy and the young starlets it has produced.
I also support the comment above about not getting carried away or demand too much. They are young, still learning and will be inconsistent.

Incidentally it is a good sign of the state of the game that so many top clubs have young players coming through. Chelsea, Man U, City, and yesterday Newcastle are evidence that the future looks good.

 

[Change at Barnham]

Wow.

Shall we give the lad a handful more games?

£30m? I might have been laughing too hard to read properly but did someone write £50m?

It's crazy, but in comparison Newcastle have put a £50m valuation on Sean Longstaff and he's only played 8 first team games. Plus he's had a knee and ankle injury and they reckon he's not as good as his brother Matt.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Yeh? Lots of them on the bench, in the matchday squads were they? Getting minutes of game time? Showing signs of breaking through to the first team?

Good players, yes, they were - and many of us realised that - but it was still a black hole from which none emerged. Still, if you prefer hindsight.......................................

I thought it was obvious we were signing loads of good 16, 17, 18 year olds, were investing hugely in their development and they would come through when ready

I'm almost certain we could find a post on here by someone blythly dismissing the signing of connolly as 'another one for the black hole of the u23s'. Probably by you

 

[The Birdman]

Watching his Spurs performance again and especially his sensational 2nd goal, makes me wonder — how much would we have paid for an Aaron Connolly now? £20 million? £30m?

Alzate likewise.

And then Ben White who is the talk of the Championship right now.

Our youth players coming through are going to save (and generate) a serious amount of money for the club.[


don't forget Percy played well against Real Madrid in the week.

 

[Stat Brother]

Another bloody realist.

Set him straight, Stat Brother ;-)

Don't get me wrong, you are correct but football isn't.

£1m £10m £20m £50m £100m it doesn't matter which unrealistic figure plucked from the ether, we use, we just can't apply 'normal' rational when discussing valuations on footballers.

So with that in mind, why would you sell an Albion starlet short just because it's his first moment in the spotlight.

 

[casbom]

Watching his Spurs performance again and especially his sensational 2nd goal, makes me wonder — how much would we have paid for an Aaron Connolly now? £20 million? £30m?

Alzate likewise.

And then Ben White who is the talk of the Championship right now.

Our youth players coming through are going to save (and generate) a serious amount of money for the club.[


don't forget Percy played well against Real Madrid in the week.

And apparently Molumby has been getting rave reviews at Millwall as well, I think he was MOM against Leeds at the weekend.

 

[Baldseagull]

There will be a lot of disappointed people the next time he has a game, like the pre-season friendly at Crawley, where he came away with nothing, other than a few new bumps and bruises. He has a huge amount of talent, but still has a lot to learn and needs to get stronger, fans need to keep a lid on the expectations.

Connolly's performances for the first team, prior to the Spurs game have all been good though. He scored in the League cup against Bristol Rovers, rattled the crossbar in the cup against Villa, was denied his first Premier League goal by an incredible goal line clearance at Newcastle, and has generally shown he is a credible option up front. There will of course be games where he gets little joy, Kane had little joy on Saturday, apart from a grope of Dunk. I think you would have to be a real pessimist to not have high expectations for Connolly right now.

 

[Two Professors]

Plenty more good youngsters knocking on the door,as well.Expecting to see Longman and Gwargis to get some senior team experience soon.Grandson looked up Aaron's value on tranfer market after the game on Saturday-£2.25 million!

 

[portslade seagull]

These players will be the lifeblood of the club. If big offers come in they will have to be assessed and if we lose one of them hopefully the production line now in place has a suitable replacement.

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

Jack Spong....remember the name...

Bound to get a slice of the action sooner or later....scored yesterday in another victorias win for the U18s


Coat called for........


TNBA

TTF

 

[casbom]

Jack Spong....remember the name...

Bound to get a slice of the action sooner or later....scored yesterday in another victorias win for the U18s


Coat called for........


TNBA

TTF

Also Tolaj(?) is it? Scoring for fun in the u18's

 

[el punal]

I will stick my cock on the block now and say he’s going to become a top player. I said it last season, he looks the real deal. [MENTION=33965]FatSuperman[/MENTION]

Your cock and then someone comes along with a big chopper in both hands. Ouch - no contest!