LBBlue
Manager⭐
All played for England U21 in the 4-0 win in Denmark tonight.
Cauley Woodrow and Sam McQueen were trashed, particularly Cauley Woodrow, by some of the 'experts' on this forum and/or misused or under-used by the manager when they were at Southend on loan. Okay, recent trainees like Coulthurst, Loza, Cassidy and (despite his Wembley goal) Pigott never really looked the part and have since ended up in the lower reaches of the football pyramid, but Woodrow and McQueen looked to me to have a lot more potential. Time will tell if I am right or wrong in the longer term.
It's a bit of catch 22 situation .............. bring in a young loan player with potential and they aren't great because it takes time on the pitch to develop that talent (often against highly experienced professionals who know a thing about stopping their opponent from playing) ............ and during that time on the pitch we (Southend) are developing a player that another club will benefit from in the longer term.
2 other players to mention - Assombalonga who fits the profile above - got better and better with experience. And Hendrie - looked good from the start.
I really think the changes to the loan system this year has made many clubs and managers have to think very hard about who they have in their squad and how to have depth and experience.
I can't disagree with much in your comment. I just wish that these young, inexperienced and talented loanees were cut a bit more slack if they don't make an instant impact in the way that Assombalonga and Hendrie did. I thought McQueen deserved more time on the pitch than he was given - he was, to my mind, not any worse than some of our own players who were selected ahead of him. Although every point is precious to us at the moment, it will be sad if young Amos is not given at least a 10-minute run-out as a substitute in games where a fresh pair of legs would help us over the line to a positive result that's already pretty much in the bag.
Innis being a good example. He was on the victim of a ridiculous red card but many fans have somehow blamed him. He ticks a lot of good boxes for me but right now I know not many will agree.
Innis being a good example. He was on the victim of a ridiculous red card but many fans have somehow blamed him. He ticks a lot of good boxes for me but right now I know not many will agree.