Have we got the best youngsters in the League?

[Matt Collins]

We've got a very strong batch. But I'm not sure any of them are going to be top, top players Richard. Hope I'm wrong.

[Bottom Right 89]

We've got a very strong batch. But I'm not sure any of them are going to be top, top players Richard. Hope I'm wrong.

We've had some false dawns with the Moore brothers etc but I think Gary Gardner is the real deal. Does Ciaran Clark still count as youth? he should be the next Captain.

[john e]

yes we have, and weve got loads of them

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Perhaps I'm expecting too much but I've been disappointed with Gardner. He was so dominant for the reserves and I expected him to slot in seamlessly and grow. He hasn't. I hope he makes it.
Carruthers looked the deal when he came on for 10 minutes but was poor for the reserves the week before!
Weimann has got something, Lichaj seems pretty sound and Baker will be good with experience.
Clarke would be in my team every time.
Bannan wouldn't!

[tomd2103]

I do think that people sometimes expect too much of the academy, that more are going to make the grade than actually will, but when you look at what is regarded as a success in youth development (ie producing one regular first teamer is a major success) ours is quite clearly one of the best.

I worry a little that they need to be handled correctly. i always remember when Ryan Giggs started coming through, Ferguson was super cautious about how he blooded him, and I reckon that's got something to do with him having played a million games in the top flight.

Of the current batch, the one I think possibly needs to move on and build his career elsewhere is Delfouneso, he's somewhat older than the rest and has never really impressed me.

It staggers me, though, to hear people writing off Gardner after a handful of appearances. Same with Bannan. They're kids, they need time.

How many of them are actually "kids" though?  Most of them are in their early 20's and if they were that good they would have been regulars before now.  To put it into perspective,  the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Michael Owen were top players in the Premiership in their teens and I don't think any of the lads we have are at that level.  I like the look of Clark at CB and Weimann looks like he has the ability and belief to play at that level.  I think the jury is still out on the rest of them though (Gardner is still very young) and it doesn't help that they are often played out of position and alongside other inexperienced players when they do play.

[wombat]

I can't say i'm bowled over by any of them, but I concede i've not been bowled over by anybody in the last couple of years. I don't think they have had an impact like say Lee Hendrie did when he broke through. It would be great if a couple of them became really good / great players but i'm not convinced they will.

More positively we do seem to bring a lot of youngsters through, so we presumably have a greater chance of reaping the benefits then a club that does not.

[N'Zimidy]

How many of them are actually "kids" though?  Most of them are in their early 20's and if they were that good they would have been regulars before now.  To put it into perspective,  the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Michael Owen were top players in the Premiership in their teens and I don't think any of the lads we have are at that level.  I like the look of Clark at CB and Weimann looks like he has the ability and belief to play at that level.  I think the jury is still out on the rest of them though (Gardner is still very young) and it doesn't help that they are often played out of position and alongside other inexperienced players when they do play.

We're not saying they're going to be the next Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard. They're a very good batch of players and they will become good Premiership players. Instead of buying players like Reo-Coker for £8m, we save that money on having a player like Chris Herd in the team. 

[paul_e]

We've got a very strong batch. But I'm not sure any of them are going to be top, top players Richard. Hope I'm wrong.

Gardner, Weimann, Clark and Carruthers all have the attributes to make it at the very top (based on flashes from their games so far) but will need careful coaching and management.  On top of those Herd, Delph, Albrighton, Baker, Lichaj and Bannan are all good enough to be long term squad filler.  With Siegrist and Stevens both highly rated we could actually form a good side out of that lot, and that's ignoring a lot of potential that we haven't seen yet (grealish, johnson, etc).

If a good manager were to come in we can save a fortune with this lot and concentrate funds on quality experienced players  to help us bring the kids through.

[OzVilla]

Some are good others over rated but thank God we have some talent because if we didn't Lord only knows what we'd do.  For all the cost cutting the Academy has saved Lerner an absolute fortune.

[supertom]

We've a good bunch but no one's thus far stood out as someone to set the league alight. In truth it's partly down to the manager, and also having to play too many at once. There's a great deal of pressure on them, and no decent experienced heads to drive the team forward. Lets face it, Collins, Hutton and Warnock are crap, Stan is sadly out, and Gabby is well off sorts but not really a leader at all. As for Emile, what the hell can he do to inspire or teach the youngsters?

The reason Utd have some decent youngster coming through is that Fergie knows when to bring them through and he's got class on the pitch and shed loads of experience from Giggs, Scholes, Ferdinand and even Roon who's been around for donkeys now. Granted they didn't get Jones or Smalling from the academy, but they've got promising players and the balance between the under 23's and the over 25's is very good.

Everton's youngsters are quite good. O Neill's had brought on a few at Sunderland. It's difficult to judge our standard of youngies against some clubs who don't bring their academy into the first time. The difference is, they have more expensively assembled senior teams, like at Chelski. Our lot are in the best 5 youth set ups I'd say. Our reserves success reflects that. We cannot compete in this league, with this manager, with kids alone though.

[itbrvilla]

Some are good others over rated but thank God we have some talent because if we didn't Lord only knows what we'd do.  For all the cost cutting the Academy has saved Lerner an absolute fortune.

Would do if we had the right manager.

[seanthevillan]

Can't believe anyone can criticise Gardner - he's had a handful of games, the step-up is massive and its probably most difficult in centre midfield (in terms of imposing yourself). I expect it to be 1/2 more seasons before we see him consistently impress for us, thats if he plays a lot.

[SoccerHQ]

Let's be wary here.

Last season Albrighton started like a train and was hugely contributing to us winning games.

Bannan and Clark were both looking good.

All have struggled for different reasons this season, the second season is always very difficult for young players. Carroll obviously and someone like Hernandez hasn't been much cop this season.

That said I like the look of Lichaj and while Weimann and Herd aren't technically gifted, both have a lot of desire to make it that has previously eluded someone like Luke Moore and more recently the Fonz.

[SoccerHQ]

We've got a very strong batch. But I'm not sure any of them are going to be top, top players Richard. Hope I'm wrong.

Clark will be without a doubt imo. I rate him higher than Cahill when he was here and I liked Cahill.

[Ian.]

To right off some of these kids at the moment is madness. If we were in good shape and playing with confidence these young kids would stand a much better chance of better performances too. They have a lot of weight on their shoulders and have been thrown into a relegation dog fight.