Ted Hughes wrote:Imo, the EDS should be full of our best young players all playing together, so that, obviously, they learn to play together & the accent should be on playing pass & move football. If that means a lad of 16 playing amongst 20 year olds & keeping a lot of older lads out of the team, then so be it. If it means most of the team are 16 years old & the older ones not good enough then so be it. If a 16 year old is better than the rest, he may be ready for the 1st team squad. If we were Barca, Lionel Messi would have had to wait his turn because Lee Croft was playing. Tbf, Lee Croft himself was ruined by not being fast tracked imo & lost his focus because of it.
If players start to regularly drop below that standard, or are late developers, then they should go back to their original level & strive to get back in.
It should be an honour for which all the young players strive & a direct line to the 1st team squad.
If we want a shop window for duffers, then we should start off a 2nd reserve team v the lower league sides, like we did a few years ago.
We are not a community programme or charity for finding employment for kids, we are a football club, trying to join the elite.
I agree with everything you said there EXCEPT the Lee Croft thing. He was overhyped and we were desperate for a star. Time to admit it. I saw him couple of times for the youth team over the years and even back then he seemed to lack sharpness and fitness. I think he was THE unfittest youth footballer I ever saw and I'm not exaggarating. He had fine shot and could cross with best of them even in his youth but he was never going to last 90 minutes of senior football. Sad really.
