Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Ageed again Usual!
If they're good enough they're old enough. Everton and Arsenal seem to give their good kids a bit of a run for very different reasons. Fabregas (i know he was bought in) and Wilshere are the same sort of age as some of our really talented kids (Gardner, Weimann, Carruthers) but by giving them planned game time they're not way out of place and become established. Some of our kids are no longer kids (20+) and we should be reaping the benefit of having such a good academy/youth set up. Delph WAS a promising youngster from Leeds but we hardly played him even when he was fit. He NEEDS experience to become a more polished Prem player. I think it's pretty obvious AM is gonna use him a lot this year.

[UsualSuspect]

Ageed again Usual!
If they're good enough they're old enough. Everton and Arsenal seem to give their good kids a bit of a run for very different reasons. Fabregas (i know he was bought in) and Wilshere are the same sort of age as some of our really talented kids (Gardner, Weimann, Carruthers) but by giving them planned game time they're not way out of place and become established. Some of our kids are no longer kids (20+) and we should be reaping the benefit of having such a good academy/youth set up. Delph WAS a promising youngster from Leeds but we hardly played him even when he was fit. He NEEDS experience to become a more polished Prem player. I think it's pretty obvious AM is gonna use him a lot this year.

We learnt nothing whatsover by sending bannan & Fonz on loan last season apart from the fact they could play in the championship.

Instead of playing heskey and to an extent petrov get the youngsters in

On the subject of that twat barton, he thinks all of a sudden he's Lord Byron

[TimTheVillain]

The youngsters are overrated.

Fonz is at best a Championship player and Barry is never going to be a top Prem player, MON was right there.

Deluded we are about our youth - did anyone watch Chelsea thrash the pants off our last season ?

[Ads]

 did anyone watch Chelsea thrash the pants off our last season ?

No.

I saw some of our wee ones give the Chelsea first XI a scare at the Bridge and show enough bottle to pull it back at the death though.

[Chris Smith]

The youngsters are overrated.

Fonz is at best a Championship player and Barry is never going to be a top Prem player, MON was right there.

Deluded we are about our youth - did anyone watch Chelsea thrash the pants off our last season ?

You might have had your pants thrashed in Chelsea last season, we certainly didn't.

Bannan has the potential to be a very good player, you show your lack of understanding by dismissing him so readily.

[Merv]

I thought we drew 0-0 and 3-3 with Chelsea last season.

But I agree with the overall point: there's maybe three or four young players I'm confident in, enough to start with. Not totally convinced about many of the others, and with the squad set up the way it is, they'll be playing big roles in the season ahead. If we're forced to field 5-6 in the same team, it's going to be a very steep learning curve for them.

[citizenDJ]

I'd say Bannan and Albrighton are ready to be a regular feature of the matchday squad, and possibly Lichaj as a back up to Young, too. I'm not really sure on the others but, as someone said above, if we're going to invest in youth, see who can cut the mustard and so on, then assuming we all brace ourselves for the ups and downs that will inevitably bring, it could be an exciting season. Give 'em a season, see what's what, lose Beye, Heskey off the wage bill and build up from there.

In fact, I've talked myself into that. I'm now firmly looking forward to the season.

[Merv]

I'd certainly be pushing for AM to use Lichaj ahead of Beye and Delfouneso ahead of Heskey this season. And I really do think that Bannan will give Ireland a run for his money in the attacking midfield role.

I'd be happy to see Clark, Albrighton, Delph and Bannan in our starting X1. They're referred to as kids or youth but all four are in their 20s now. With the senior players around them, I think they'd flourish. Concern is if we're then needing to call on two or three others to come in as well, at the same time. If we get the balance right, they'll be okay.

[Dante Lavelli]

Wasn't it versus Chelsea where Albrigton crossed to Clark for him to head in an injury time equalizer?

[garyshawsknee]

We'll only know how good the yoofs are until we give them a run of ten games or so. And as they're young the consistancy won't be there,they'll have good games,and others were they're quiet.

But in a year or so,it'll be worth it,especially if two or three of them are first team regulars.

[john e]

The youngsters are overrated.

Fonz is at best a Championship player and Barry is never going to be a top Prem player, MON was right there.

Deluded we are about our youth - did anyone watch Chelsea thrash the pants off our last season ?

You might have had your pants thrashed in Chelsea last season, we certainly didn't.

Bannan has the potential to be a very good player, you show your lack of understanding by dismissing him so readily.

for me Bannan is already good enough for the prem,
 and will only get better, i'd rather be watching him improving evry month, than some overated overpayed mercenary lump of shit that we all think will be great only to realise he wont.
i think he could be a key member of the team this season, just hope that Mcliesh has enough faith to give him and other young players a run in the team

[eastie]

I'm not sure but I think maybe Tim is referring to the youth cup at Chelsea the season before?

Overrated is a bit harsh but this is a huge season for some of the younger lads who need to fulfill their potential- now is the time this year to show if they are up to it or not.

[TheSandman]

I don't think we are expecting too much from some of our younger players or deluded about them. I expect we will see at least two or three being at least steady premiership players and I don't think too many people on here are expecting much beyond that.

Nobody we are really talking about seriously was in that youth team two seasons ago aside from Gardner who only came back from injury for that game. I noticed a few of them were released in the last two seasons. The lads we are speaking about were in the reserve teams by then such as Bannan, Albrighton, Lichaj and Clark.

[oldtimernow]

The young ones will never get any better without experience.Championship loans won't do it , they need to be making mistakes learning from them and progressing.

We need to be playing our part and supporting them and who knows how good that can be but it must be better than spending days on the thread saying why hasn't suchabody signed.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I'd say Bannan and Albrighton are ready to be a regular feature of the matchday squad, and possibly Lichaj as a back up to Young, too. I'm not really sure on the others but, as someone said above, if we're going to invest in youth, see who can cut the mustard and so on, then assuming we all brace ourselves for the ups and downs that will inevitably bring, it could be an exciting season. Give 'em a season, see what's what, lose Beye, Heskey off the wage bill and build up from there.

In fact, I've talked myself into that. I'm now firmly looking forward to the season.

Hear Hear!