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With all the drama going on after yesterdays result and the wondering of more signings and goings to come, does anyone (Doug may well know a bit) think any of the youth may have it in them to push on to the bench and get some minutes. Especially up front where we are now a bit short with Santa getting injured again.


Robbie Mak? Alex Nimley? ready for a few minutes? On another note, who do we think will be moved on to pastures new from the youth team. I doubt we will see McGivern, Etuhu or Logan play for City again. But what are the thoughts on the youth who could make it? Ben Mee was raved about and has gone off the boil and Boyata has now surpassed him.


Thoughts? (Bit of a change from the whining of yesterdays result!)


Saw McGivern yesterday and I'm 100% positive he has no future with us. Got skinned and was at fault for the goal Leicester conceded, absolutely no pace whatsoever.

David Ball was near under Hughes wasn't he, even on the bench for the derby but then got a foot injury and now needs reserve games under his belt. Unfortunately the weather and usual xmas break in the reserve program hasn't helped one bit. Hope Nimely makes it, been impressed and frustrated by him in equal measure when I've watched him in the Academy

Been a long while since we've produced an out and out striker from within that's consistently played for the first team. Moulden is my first thought with Whitey being more a winger than out and out striker. Probably forgotten someone though!

Yeah i think we hoped that Sturridge would have been that guy, but it wasn't to be. Evans does not seem to be pulling up trees at the Blades. Mike Sheron did quite well for us in the early 90's. But yes you are right, we just don't seem to produce strikers.

I always had Mak and Nimley ahead of Ball talent wise, have you seen more in Ball's game than the former two?

I think David Ball has another injury but I do see him as a real goalscorer.Time will tell whether he has the strength and pace to do it at the top level. Alex Nimely isn't an out and out striker who likes to come off the front and create.He has a good touch and sees a pass but I don't think he would do well in the prem yet.Robbie Mak whenever I have seen him has impressed and often playing wide right but he has a real eye for goal and is quick.

Hinch's 5 Fingered Salute wrote:Yeah i think we hoped that Sturridge would have been that guy, but it wasn't to be. Evans does not seem to be pulling up trees at the Blades. Mike Sheron did quite well for us in the early 90's. But yes you are right, we just don't seem to produce strikers.

I always had Mak and Nimley ahead of Ball talent wise, have you seen more in Ball's game than the former two?

TBH I haven't no, but clearly Hughes did. DH has summed up the trio very nicely

Hinch's 5 Fingered Salute wrote:Yeah i think we hoped that Sturridge would have been that guy, but it wasn't to be. Evans does not seem to be pulling up trees at the Blades. Mike Sheron did quite well for us in the early 90's. But yes you are right, we just don't seem to produce strikers.

I always had Mak and Nimley ahead of Ball talent wise, have you seen more in Ball's game than the former two?

Not all that surprising given how they play hoof ball all the time.

bluej wrote:

Hinch's 5 Fingered Salute wrote:Yeah i think we hoped that Sturridge would have been that guy, but it wasn't to be. Evans does not seem to be pulling up trees at the Blades. Mike Sheron did quite well for us in the early 90's. But yes you are right, we just don't seem to produce strikers.

I always had Mak and Nimley ahead of Ball talent wise, have you seen more in Ball's game than the former two?

Not all that surprising given how they play hoof ball all the time.

I've not seen any blades games, I was just going off what i see on BBC and the fact that for £3m at that level you would expect his name to be on the score sheet a lot more.

Isn't Evans game about hold up play and heading though? Or was that we were meant to think?

Problem with Robbie Mak is that he looks great one minute and the next minute very raw.From watching him at under 18 level last year 7 or 8 times I would say he would have to be able to improve his finishing.His pace means that he is worth keeping.Alex Nimley probably needs a bit more strength.That said these were two of the lads who stood out in last years team.

Boyata looked ok last year but not as promising as the likes of Trippier and Tutte ;which goes to show that the prospects of the academy players can change in a very short space of time.

stockportblue wrote:Problem with Robbie Mak is that he looks great one minute and the next minute very raw.From watching him at under 18 level last year 7 or 8 times I would say he would have to be able to improve his finishing.His pace means that he is worth keeping.Alex Nimley probably needs a bit more strength.That said these were two of the lads who stood out in last years team.

Boyata looked ok last year but not as promising as the likes of Trippier and Tutte ;which goes to show that the prospects of the academy players can change in a very short space of time.

Trippier has lost some form of late but I do think he has the basics to make it. Tutte will be interesting as he has been training with the first team of late. He isn't one of those players that often stands out in a team but just gets on with it in the middle of the park.

Yes it is remarkable how quickly it changes, look at Paul Marshall who was an England Under 20 cap with the aforementioned and he was released on a free to Aberdeen. Curtis Obeng another England U-20 ended up non league at Wrexham last year. Goes to show that everything is academical at that level, if you don't step up to play with the big boys.

Has anyone seen much of John Guidetti? I'm not sure if I've seen him or not amongst the younger players but I've heard he's big quick skillful & scores goals although he seems to be off the radar when people talk about prospects. If he has those attributes I'd've thought he would be ideal for our bench now. Or are they hiding him so he doesn't do a Sturridge?

Ted Hughes wrote:Has anyone seen much of John Guidetti? I'm not sure if I've seen him or not amongst the younger players but I've heard he's big quick skillful & scores goals although he seems to be off the radar when people talk about prospects. If he has those attributes I'd've thought he would be ideal for our bench now. Or are they hiding him so he doesn't do a Sturridge?

I think he is in the group below the most that are mentioned, so is only 16/17 at the minute where as the others are now getting to the age of 19/20 so hasn't been mentioned. He is meant to be a good prospect but I think it may be a bit soon for him.

He is highly rated, don't think he's made it to the reserve side as of yet, so he needs to progress a little I would imagine.

Hinch's 5 Fingered Salute wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Has anyone seen much of John Guidetti? I'm not sure if I've seen him or not amongst the younger players but I've heard he's big quick skillful & scores goals although he seems to be off the radar when people talk about prospects. If he has those attributes I'd've thought he would be ideal for our bench now. Or are they hiding him so he doesn't do a Sturridge?

I think he is in the group below the most that are mentioned, so is only 16/17 at the minute where as the others are now getting to the age of 19/20 so hasn't been mentioned. He is meant to be a good prospect but I think it may be a bit soon for him.

He is highly rated, don't think he's made it to the reserve side as of yet, so he needs to progress a little I would imagine.

Ah right. Perhaps he'll start to make a name for himself over the next year then. Cheers.

Seen him a few times-Guidetti that is.Certainly not crap reminds me a little bit of Mark viduka-physically strong striker with a bit of skill.He is in his last year with the under 18 side.

Wouldnt say he stands out anywhere near as much as Mak and Nimley did at the same stage last year.

stockportblue wrote:Seen him a few times-Guidetti that is.Certainly not crap reminds me a little bit of Mark viduka-physically strong striker with a bit of skill.He is in his last year with the under 18 side.

Wouldnt say he stands out anywhere near as much as Mak and Nimley did at the same stage last year.

I agree with that assessment from the little I have seen. He is a powerful lad though so quite different to most others we have had coming through and I saw that in the resreve game where he came on as a sub and made an immediate impact. From what I hear he is a lad with an attitude too. Hopefully the right kind of confident attitude and not like Daniel.

Sweden have VERY many youngsters out in europe in different youth teams, and Guidetti is one of the most highly rated of them(also Mitrovic who plays for chelsea is very talented)

Mentaly Guidetti has all it takes to be a top player, he works very very hard in training and is very determined to be best. I'm not gonna be surprised if hes gonna make it big time!

He recently scored 4 goals in a match against Holland for Sweden u17 team. watch out for this lad fellows!

EDIT: He told a swedish journlist in december that he had scored 10 goals in 10 games so far for the academy team!

I't usually easier for the lads with phsique &/or pace to get into the Pl quicker than the smaller/slower lads, for obvious reasons, so perhaps we'll see Guidetti & Mak get a sniff before too long.

Personally I'd rather see either play on Sunday than Benjani as he has no future with us.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Guidetti on Sunday at least for a part of the game, if he's big he's the kind of striker we might need from our academy these days, with Benjani being poor, and Ade and RSC out. Strange that Mancini has involved a lot of youngsters so far at least on the bench, but still hasn't involved him (I think, at least).

CityFanFromRome wrote:Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Guidetti on Sunday at least for a part of the game, if he's big he's the kind of striker we might need from our academy these days, with Benjani being poor, and Ade and RSC out. Strange that Mancini has involved a lot of youngsters so far at least on the bench, but still hasn't involved him (I think, at least).

I think its because Guidetti is just 17 and plays for the academy team, Mancini is still new as manager and cant have seen to many matches with Guidetti. Weiss is born 89, Vidal 89 and Boyata 90. I think Guidetti is born 92(or 91) actually.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

stockportblue wrote:Seen him a few times-Guidetti that is.Certainly not crap reminds me a little bit of Mark viduka-physically strong striker with a bit of skill.He is in his last year with the under 18 side.

Wouldnt say he stands out anywhere near as much as Mak and Nimley did at the same stage last year.

I agree with that assessment from the little I have seen. He is a powerful lad though so quite different to most others we have had coming through and I saw that in the resreve game where he came on as a sub and made an immediate impact. From what I hear he is a lad with an attitude too. Hopefully the right kind of confident attitude and not like Daniel.

I know what you mean about his attitude; he certainly isnt as good as he thinks he is.Nowhere near the first team at this point.