Ciaran Clark

[pablopicasso_10]

Well, you have Delfouneso of course who I am still certain will make the highest grade at some point.
So that's three I am sure of.

Behind them I am fairly sure Weimann, Gary Gardner, Eric Lichaj and Ben Siegrist have what it takes.
Gary Gardner is particularly impressive and I hope his injury has no lasting effect on him. Siegrist seems to be a top class, even world class keeper in the making but we'll see.
Barry Bannan I'm still unsure of. He is very talented and there's no problem ability wise but he could go either way.
Shane Lowry is a good solid player. Again, I'm split 50/50 on whether he'll make it at Villa but he's mentally and physically strong (typical Aussie) enough to cope. Another year of developing will make his potential clearer.
Nathan Baker, Jonathan Hogg, Chris Herd, Harry Forrester and the like I'm not convinced will make it here but they're decent young players who may suprise or will play at a decent level. There are others too.

The next crops down I have a bit less knowledge of but there are some bright prospects (Williams, Carruthers, Halfhuid, Berry etc..) and others I hear very good things about. These are basically schoolboys to 17/18 year olds though so it a bit early to judge properly.

The most encouraging thing I have heard recently is that we've let some players go that I thought were promising and why? Because more promising ones are coming up behind them raising the standard. Thats very encouraging.
Our youth set up uis really superb and getting better all the time because we've invested a lot of time and resources into it. It's probably our ace card and as I've said for a while now, the only feasible way we're going to get back onto the top table, where we belong.

i can only see gardner, if he comes back from his injury, and siegrist as the standout players below those mentioned...

not a fan of lichaj or lowry, solid players but nothing spectacular... weimann could go either way.. he has ability but i think he lacks the intelligence and finesse of delfouneso...

forrester has the ability, but lacks the desire to continue learning, and wee bannon has all the desire, but i feel his size will hamper him...

carruthers, simmonds, poyser, etc, are not looking that special to me.. decent enough, but nothing to really stand out like the few we have breaking into the first team at the moment...

halfuid looks decent, however, depends on whether he settles as a defender or a striker...

most disappointing for me, is nathan baker... he really has gone backwards... i rated him a better prospect than clark at one point, but he really hasnt pushed on like clark has...

cant say i know much about the ones below, and as i dont live in birmingham anymore, wont get to see many, if any youth and reserve games, so il keep an eye out for yours, and a few other trusted honest sources in the future...

[brian green]

I forget who we were playing the first home game Clark played in but others with better memories will tell me.   We had a corner to defend and Clark saw a threat and in an instant moved fifteen yards across the penalty box and headed the ball clear.   You get this sixth sense about players based on snapshots of their early games.   He is very cool and very competent.   Like Gareth Barry at the same age but somehow more one of us.

[OCD]

Fulham.

[mozza]

Ciaran seemed slightly overwhelmed by signing so many autographs after the WHU match-

I'm sure he will get used to it - has potential to go far and has already captained England u'19

Agree that Curtis Davies could/should be departing VP as we have sufficient quality and cover