Are the kids alright?

[Bearded Shrimper]

I'm thinking specifically about the young players who played in League One. They are now at a conference club, are they good enough to play?

I think those players are Egbri, Rush, Kinali, Phillips, Gard, Mitchell-Nelson, Seadon.

Of those, it looks like Egbri will be a first team regular, though not a guaranteed starter. Seadon has played a lot in pre-season, though Brown doesn't seem to rate him that highly. MMN has had a few minutes, Gard has just come back, Philliips has disappeared despite looking really good to me. Brown seems to like Rush, but no one seems to like Kinali apart from the fans. To me Clifford is our best left back so I haven't counted him here.

What does everyone else think?
Have I missed anyone?

 

[OldBlueLady]

i thought Mitchell Nelson and O'shane Stewart looked ok today.

 

[Big Bad Barry Corr]

Particularly liked the look of O’Shane Stewart today.

 

[Strykr]

i thought Mitchell Nelson and O'shane Stewart looked ok today.

Ok doesnt really cut the mustard though does it...

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Particularly liked the look of O’Shane Stewart today.

From what I've seen of him in U23s he's got a really good touch & skilled on the ball but I would expect a player of his physical qualities to be putting himself about a bit more and getting into good receiving positions more often.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

I'd really hoped they would kick on and establish themselves as first team squad members, but other than Rush and Egbri I'm not sure they have. especially disappointing as so many of them looked so good two divisions above where we are stuck now.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

I'd really hoped they would kick on and establish themselves as first team squad members, but other than Rush and Egbri I'm not sure they have. especially disappointing as so many of them looked so good two divisions above where we are stuck now.

i wonder if the quality of the management has anything to do with this ...

 

[kentblues]

i wonder if the quality of the management has anything to do with this ...

They were largely all ignored last year and we know Ricky and CF were pushing for their involvement. Endlessly so with Rush, Even when we were goal shy they struggled to get a genuine goalscorer like Rush involved, so you can imagine how hard it was with the others given our bloated squad of average midfielders and wingers.

TBF at the back why would you change much.

Difficult to develop unless you have game time.

That said of the back 4 yesterday only Howard looked near. And he is a way off Demi.
MF Egbri and maybe Stewart (who had a number of pluses but positioning wise was a problem on occasion). Rush obviously. Walsh more off the bench I suspect but yes.

Kinali is coming back from injury but I think can force his way in.

In the end they have to grab their chance. Unfortunately ricky holmes looked more like the u23 in terms of enthusiasm yesterday than some of the u23s...

Gard obviously has been injured but he is definitely a good prospect to push on and feature (all be it not an u23 anymore). Phillips again has had injury problems hasn't he?

They are being given their chance to stick their hands up. And if the do we know from PB and Yearwood even if your are 17/18 if your are good enough he will give you a chance.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

i wonder if the quality of the management has anything to do with this ...

very good point, had some shockers since Powell left. Brown did alright with some kids before, though he let Pinnock go and he's had a good career since. Otherwise I think his judgement on kids has proved right

 

[jackj13]

Could be wrong but didn’t I read on hear Kinali was unregistered to allow space for others to come in? If that was the case then he wasn’t really given a chance.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Could be wrong but didn’t I read on hear Kinali was unregistered to allow space for others to come in? If that was the case then he wasn’t really given a chance.

i'm certain that's true

 

[jimmy55]

i'm certain that's true

That's true for Kinali but not Rush.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

I love it when players do come through from the youth set-up but it is (rightfully) difficult for any younger player to get themselves established in the first XI unless they are very talented ............. and even then they need (I think) established & experienced professionals alongside them to guide them.

I remember seeing (& hearing) Yearwood getting "ear bashings" from Timlin when they played together - nothing wrong in that as it gave Yearwood the opportunity to learn & develop next to a seasoned player.

Too many times recently we have had too many younger players in the team and, for me, there hasn't been that balance between experience & younger talent.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

the interesting thing for me is how many of them looked comfortable in the third tier, so you'd think they'd be nailed on to be playing in the fifth tier. coz we were **** in the third tier, so not like they were looking good in a good team.

 

[Bromley Blue]

the interesting thing for me is how many of them looked comfortable in the third tier, so you'd think they'd be nailed on to be playing in the fifth tier. coz we were **** in the third tier, so not like they were looking good in a good team.

Mate it might just be a case that the absolute jokes of senior players we had playing around them at the time made them look good. I, for one, know that that season (and the one after it tbf) have beggared belief with how low personal and team performance levels can drop when a club is in serious turmoil.

Those young players being given a chance under Sol were like a breath of fresh air at the time. I think we’re all unanimous with thinking that. But why? Because they showed some effort? Because they looked like they hadn’t just met in the car park beforehand? Because they showed some professional footballing ability? All of those are true but they should be the baseline we should expect from our team.

It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re League One quality players because they strung a couple of results together when a few sides thought all they had to do to win was turn up. You can’t blame those sides either - we were utter dogshite.

I’m also a firm believer that there’s not a great deal between the lower half of League One and the National League. The strikers get a bit more deadly as you go up through the levels but on their day a confident Conference side can turn over League One opposition. It happened to us against Dover.

With all this said, I do agree with the overall theme of this thread because I was expecting those players to kick on myself. Maybe it’s a mixture of management not wanting to take a chance on youth when we’re in really dire straits, the players not developing as much as we’d hoped or maybe it’s just been bad management up until now. We’ve had plenty of other examples of that over the past few years so totally possible!

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

it weren't so much that we won a couple, as the players themselves looked alright. MMN was a bit shaky at the back, but don't completely blame him. he was being asked to play it around like Barcelona. I guess after Kevin Bond anyone would look good, but I really hope there's something to work with in these kids

 

[kentblues]

I think the most important thing is that they see and believe they can get into the first team based on merit. That's the biggest motivation. i think PB has shown he will play the youngsters if they impress. I think they are also far more integrated into the first team training set up. Again that helps hugely with their confidence and the coaching teams confidence they can slot in if called upon.

 

[LBBlue]

I think the kids are the ones that really suffered from the impact of COVID and the lower leagues being suspended. Many have missed out on loans to lower league clubs where they would have got experience of playing competitive football with men.

 

[Jai]

They were brought in well ahead of their time and many of them were not ready. Many of them still aren't, and never will be unfortunately. Things may have been different if they were allowed to develop at their own pace, rather than having to prop up a horrendous team in an atmosphere of total turmoil. Some will have used that experience to improve, others will have been irreparably damaged by it.

There's two or maybe three in that group who will go on to have good careers. In fairness, that is not a bad ratio.

 

[kentblues]

They were brought in well ahead of their time and many of them were not ready. Many of them still aren't, and never will be unfortunately. Things may have been different if they were allowed to develop at their own pace, rather than having to prop up a horrendous team in an atmosphere of total turmoil. Some will have used that experience to improve, others will have been irreparably damaged by it.

There's two or maybe three in that group who will go on to have good careers. In fairness, that is not a bad ratio.

Agree. But that is always the case. You can even look at Prem u23 level and be surprised how many dont make at senior level let alone at ours...we have brought through successfully I would say in the recent past Elvis, Clifford, Egbri, Gard (injury not talent preventing but will play this year I am sure), Bishop, Kinali (i include because despite last years mess and injury this I think he will play), Seadon, Rush, Kelman. I will have missed someone. But the point is our record of successfully bringing players through compares veery favourably even if last year was pretty much wasted.