Interesting article on the BBC today about John Bostock.
Big shame it didn't work out for him at Spurs given that he was unbelievably talented as a young teenager. It wasn't a case of too much too young, drugs, alcohol or gambling problems. Just goes to show that natural talent and hard work aren't always enough to take a young player to the highest level
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54872856
John Bostock: From 'wonderkid' with a Barcelona contract offer to 13 clubs in 13 years
"When I was 14, Barcelona offered me a 10-year contract. Ronaldinho was my favourite player at the time so they sent me a signed poster from him. I've still got it at my house in London. It said: 'To John from Ronaldinho.'"
If you are familiar with the name John Bostock then you'll know he didn't sign that deal.
Instead, more than a decade later, his footballing journey has included 13 stops - Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Brentford, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Toronto FC, Royal Antwerp, OH Leuven, Lens, Bursaspor, Toulouse and Nottingham Forest.
The south London-born midfielder - now aged 28 - is in search of his 14th club, and tells BBC Sport about being dubbed the next big thing, handling rejection and why he almost quit the game.
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The rest of the article is in the link. Cheers.
John Bostock
posted on 11/11/20
Saw him play for Brentford on loan which must have been 10 years ago. He was very young but looked on a completely different level to every other player on the pitch. Now this was League 1 so arguably that should have been the case but if you'd have asked me at the time I'd have said both Bostock and Szczesny (also on loan) would definitely be top level footballers. Guess I would have been 50% right!
posted on 11/11/20
Aside from the extra special talents, recruiting kids under 16 and predicting them to be superstars is horsesheite, particularly in England.
They have so much development and growing still to come, so all that happens is their dreams are shattered.
Even worse now, with scouts going to see 7 year olds playing and clubs hoovering up kids and giving them false hope - meanwhile the parents lap up the opportunity to tell others that their little boy is destined for the big time.
What's the point in developing the coaching badge structure if you're going to take half the kids out there to pro clubs?
It's a facking joke.
posted on 11/11/20
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 46 minutes ago
Aside from the extra special talents, recruiting kids under 16 and predicting them to be superstars is horsesheite, particularly in England.
They have so much development and growing still to come, so all that happens is their dreams are shattered.
Even worse now, with scouts going to see 7 year olds playing and clubs hoovering up kids and giving them false hope - meanwhile the parents lap up the opportunity to tell others that their little boy is destined for the big time.
What's the point in developing the coaching badge structure if you're going to take half the kids out there to pro clubs?
It's a facking joke.
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Bostock was 16 when he signed for Spurs and had played a few games for the Palace first team.
But I take your point about recruiting countless children, all of whom must believe they can play in the Premier League but only a small fraction will ever make it.
posted on 11/11/20
He should've stayed at Palace a while longer.
Greedy parents (father?) rings a bell.
Such a waste.
posted on 11/11/20
comment by Brother (U20548)
posted 26 minutes ago
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 46 minutes ago
Aside from the extra special talents, recruiting kids under 16 and predicting them to be superstars is horsesheite, particularly in England.
They have so much development and growing still to come, so all that happens is their dreams are shattered.
Even worse now, with scouts going to see 7 year olds playing and clubs hoovering up kids and giving them false hope - meanwhile the parents lap up the opportunity to tell others that their little boy is destined for the big time.
What's the point in developing the coaching badge structure if you're going to take half the kids out there to pro clubs?
It's a facking joke.
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Bostock was 16 when he signed for Spurs and had played a few games for the Palace first team.
But I take your point about recruiting countless children, all of whom must believe they can play in the Premier League but only a small fraction will ever make it.
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Yeh sorry, wasn’t a dig at Spurs, more about the reference of how good he was at 14.
What a load of nonsense.
posted on 11/11/20
comment by ...TUX... (U22398)
posted 52 minutes ago
He should've stayed at Palace a while longer.
Greedy parents (father?) rings a bell.
Such a waste.
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We'll never know, but I think a sell and loan back deal would have made all the difference. He may even have made it at Spurs if he'd had a year playing in the Palace first team.
posted on 11/11/20
comment by Brother (U20548)
posted 58 seconds ago
comment by ...TUX... (U22398)
posted 52 minutes ago
He should've stayed at Palace a while longer.
Greedy parents (father?) rings a bell.
Such a waste.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We'll never know, but I think a sell and loan back deal would have made all the difference. He may even have made it at Spurs if he'd had a year playing in the Palace first team.
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Agreed.
posted on 11/11/20
The failure rate for players that are under 18 is staggering. I remember seeing a number saying only 1in a thousand players signed at all levels below 18 do not make the grade at the highest level.
I knew a lad in the RAF who was 21, he joined up when he was 20, before that time he had had extensive trials for 9 clubs but he didn’t have the best attitude and failed. He was a fantastic talent though, with a bit of determination and positive mental attitude he could been a First division player. This was back in 1971 when there wasn’t the money in the game, so the attraction was not great.
posted on 11/11/20
By the way, we both played together for the RAF team (drawn from all players in the service in U.K.) and he was watched by a number of clubs including Leicester, Everton and Villa. He was offered trials but declined saying he was much happier playing for fun.
Mind you, I did tell him it was really me they came to watch🙃😳
posted on 12/11/20
comment by GeniusGreaves (U1302)
posted 17 hours, 20 minutes ago
The failure rate for players that are under 18 is staggering. I remember seeing a number saying only 1in a thousand players signed at all levels below 18 do not make the grade at the highest level.
I knew a lad in the RAF who was 21, he joined up when he was 20, before that time he had had extensive trials for 9 clubs but he didn’t have the best attitude and failed. He was a fantastic talent though, with a bit of determination and positive mental attitude he could been a First division player. This was back in 1971 when there wasn’t the money in the game, so the attraction was not great.
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Wow 1 in 1,000! I would have guessed 1 in 100. I may have read the 1 in 100 figure somewhere but I think that was for academy players 15+ (Which is still depressingly low!)