We must all start to hope again. Problems all behind us. A win tonight and a few other results in our favour - Bingo.

One for Vidal if he's around. How is Max Lowe doing at. Shrewsbury? Could he be our left back for next season?

Hmmm, no response from Vidal. He must be out knifing people.

Anyroad, where's nobby-no-h. He's usually all over this.

Here I am. I have only seen Lowe once for Shrewsbury but my spies say that he has been OK but not better than that. On his debut I thought we had a real find. If we are looking for a high-quality left back for next season you would have to say it would be asking a lot for Lowe to step up immediately. Personally I would make a new left-back a priority in the summer and have Lowe as back-up.

There is an element of - it could be good to give him the chance to step up, being just the stimulus needed? I think we should look to some our youngsters to move on up.

Our under 23 team is out there competing and beating the best. We should try to blood a few of them before the end of the season.

I agree we badly need a brilliant left back.

We had one.

Gareth Roberts, sure he could still do a job.

comment by thriceramdini12 (U21438)
posted 55 minutes ago
Our under 23 team is out there competing and beating the best. We should try to blood a few of them before the end of the season.

I agree we badly need a brilliant left back.
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Is the result of an U23 game important?

If we had 11 brilliant players we would beat Man City and Barcelona.

So far our academy has produced two players of quality, hardly a production line. I often wonder about the benefit of an academy. I have seen so many promising young players disappear without trace.

comment by ViewFrom (U1581)
posted about an hour ago
We had one.

Gareth Roberts, sure he could still do a job.
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Yes he was an unsung hero though as I remember it.

comment by I'm not Spartacus, resilience and character (U4603)
posted 31 minutes ago
If we had 11 brilliant players we would beat Man City and Barcelona.

So far our academy has produced two players of quality, hardly a production line. I often wonder about the benefit of an academy. I have seen so many promising young players disappear without trace.

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Have you got a basement?

comment by I'm not Spartacus, resilience and charact... (U4603)
posted about an hour ago
If we had 11 brilliant players we would beat Man City and Barcelona.

So far our academy has produced two players of quality, hardly a production line. I often wonder about the benefit of an academy. I have seen so many promising young players disappear without trace.

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Will Hughes = 1

Who's the other?

Poss Hendrik

Neither

Spart means Miles Addison and Giles Barnes

They would definitely be in the disappear without trace folder Rameses. It's a pretty big folder.

I thought the two successes were so obvious there was no point in naming them.

Didn't we all have great hopes for Addison and Barnes?

The nature of it is that only a small minority will make it to the top. The fact that we have high hopes for players who disappear shows how useless we are at assessing the potential of young players, myself included. Also players may have the ability required but fall by the wayside for other non-footballing reasons. It doesn't mean it is wrong to have an Academy. All great players were young kids once after all and there are examples of clubs who have made their Academies very successful. Probably luck has a lot to do with it. It would be interesting to know exactly what an Academy costs in wages of all concerned and what the return is financially over a 5 or 10-year period. All you need is one wonderkid to pay for the whole shebang.

I think we mishandled the sale of Will Hughes. Don't know if it was MM or GR who under-rated him. GR certainly dropped him from the team. I thought at the time to prove we could manage without him. Didn't think it meant we would give him away.

The fact remains, we have pretty decent U23 side and we probably should draw on it for some freshness.

Will Hughes was crap. We didn't get promoted with him, and he's had more assists in 12 minutes for Watford than he managed in 17 years at DCFC. Forget Will Hughes.

We need our Bryson back is what we need. Without having to cover for that albino lad now, I think he's the final piece of the GR jigsaw.

Some clubs have made the decision about academies and don't see them as value for money. I suspect with the money from Hendrick and Hughes we are breaking even over the last five years.

Forest seem to have done much better with less investment, one of the benefits of having a poor first team squad is that it gives young players more opportunity.

Southampton always seem to get real money for their youngsters. The reality for everyone else nowadays is that their promising youngsters will soon enough be bought for a couple of million and thrown into the puppy farms that are the top PL sides' academies and paid small fortunes.

comment by 666 ⚽️ #team666 (U11795)
posted about an hour ago

We need our Bryson back is what we need. Without having to cover for that albino lad now, I think he's the final piece of the GR jigsaw.

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What so he can sit on the physio's bench in Derby instead of the one in Cardiff?

Certainly need to win - a draw is no good to us at all, seen far too many draws this season already. Difficult to be confident.

What a difference 6 weeks makes.

Just waiting for the train to London

COYRs