Callum O'Hare and Mitch Clark

[Mister E]

He's 22, still nowhere near the first team and turning down new deals. If he goes it's hardly our fault.

Given that O'Hare is 24, perhaps the club  is looking at Ramsey x 2, Barry, Brunt, Vassilev, Chukwuemeka and Archer and saying: we can't keep everyone here and this younger cohort is the one to invest in.

Wow, Callum aged quickly!

Whoops; sorry guys - a bit of a brain-fart on my part.

[dcdavecollett]

Bruce's lingering influence strikes again. He should have given CO'H more chances in 17/18. At least we would have known then if he was a player for us.

[eamonn]

Cal is a title winner now.

[cdward]

After him dancing around in his Cov City shirt tweet, and him turning down the offer of a new contract with us, i don't think COH will be a Villa player much longer.
Good luck to him, it's a short enough career, and he is getting first team football.

[chrisw1]

Absolutely, good luck to him.  I have a feeling if we go down we'll regret not keeping him though.

[paul_e]

Bruce's lingering influence strikes again. He should have given CO'H more chances in 17/18. At least we would have known then if he was a player for us.

I think the first 2 season in the championship were a huge missed opportunity to bring through our younger players instead focusing on older players and loans which meant we were looking at another rebuild the next summer. RDM in particular pissed me off with it buying McCormack when we had Ayew and Grealish who could both play in that role and COH and RHM both in reserve and wanting to get some gametime, instead we went and spent the same again on Hogan. Does anyone think COH and RHM would've been any worse for us than that pair of useless fucks over the next 2 1/2 years, and we'd be £30m+ better off as well.

[Clampy]

Bruce's lingering influence strikes again. He should have given CO'H more chances in 17/18. At least we would have known then if he was a player for us.

Maybe, but we did have Grealish breaking through at the time and they are similar players. Besides, most players go out on loan at that age.

[Mister E]

Bruce's lingering influence strikes again. He should have given CO'H more chances in 17/18. At least we would have known then if he was a player for us.

Maybe, but we did have Grealish breaking through at the time and they are similar players. Besides, most players go out on loan at that age.

Well, he went out on loan to Carlisle in Jan 2019, so maybe he should have gone out earlier. Even a loan period 12 months' earlier might have benefitted his strength and match fitness in a way that being in the Villa U23's didn't. This, in turn, would have enabled the club to assess his longer term potnetial more quickly ....
.... anyway, hindsight is a wondersful thing. All I recall at the time is the existence of several laudatory reports of his skill and potential; all of which was either inaccurate or now wasted for us.

[john2710]

If we go down, he'll sign a new contract with us.
If not, he'll sign fo some Championship team.
I hope I never see him in a Villa shirt again!

He's a talent but in my opinion too lightweight for the top level.

[kippaxvilla2]

I am prepared to lay odds that he will play at no higher level than the Championship.  Why didn't he start all of Cov's games last season for example?  i think he is a good player, but if he was good enough - and not forgetting three manager's have now seen him first hand, he would be playing for us.  Harsh to judge him on one game but I thought he was really as you say lightweight in the Swansea cup game last year.  Having said all of that, you just know he will score against us if we are relegated.

[chrisw1]

Yes he was dreadful against Swansea.

With that said the Cov fans love him and want him to sign up.  I think he could be very good in the Championship next year but agree he may not make PL level.  If we go down I'd like him as an optin though. 

[Ad@m]

He's 22 and playing for Cov. It's nice to bring through our own but nothing about his career to date suggests he's good enough for us. Move on with our blessings.

Signing players and sticking with players who looked good in the division below was how we got relegated in the first place.

[cdbearsfan]

It's possible to not be sure that a player will be Premier League standard but, at the same time, not want players with a sell on value to walk away for nothing.

[john e]

Someone said earlier in the thread that they were a sucker for the more technically gifted player
I'm also in that camp for good or bad

that's why from the little I've seen I've always liked Callum

what young players need most is a manager that believes in them
when you listen to the ones that have made it they always talk of a manager or coaching staff that have stuck by them and basically said your young you will make mistakes but we believe in your ability

Callum has never had that
of his previous mangers they were all deemed not good enough so maybe their discernment of him wasn't good enough either
I guarantee the people saying he's lightweight are the same ones 2/3 years ago saying Grealish was a lightweight one trick show pony
he's now the best player we've had at Villa for years

somebody (Sherwood) believed in him built the side around him and a couple of others,
 told him he was the king of the world and look where we are

is he good enough is the key question is

I don't know but i do think he should have been used in the first team a whole lot more and we would be in a better position to judge
So now it's guesswork and what your hunch is

my hunch is he's good enough to develop into a tidy premiership player whether that be for us or someone else
only time will tell

[paul_e]

Someone said earlier in the thread that they were a sucker for the more technically gifted player
I'm also in that camp for good or bad

that's why from the little I've seen I've always liked Callum

what young players need most is a manager that believes in them
when you listen to the ones that have made it they always talk of a manager or coaching staff that have stuck by them and basically said your young you will make mistakes but we believe in your ability

Callum has never had that
of his previous mangers they were all deemed not good enough so maybe their discernment of him wasn't good enough either
I guarantee the people saying he's lightweight are the same ones 2/3 years ago saying Grealish was a lightweight one trick show pony
he's now the best player we've had at Villa for years

somebody (Sherwood) believed in him built the side around him and a couple of others,
 told him he was the king of the world and look where we are

is he good enough is the key question is

I don't know but i do think he should have been used in the first team a whole lot more and we would be in a better position to judge
So now it's guesswork and what your hunch is

my hunch is he's good enough to develop into a tidy premiership player whether that be for us or someone else
only time will tell

I don't know if he will but I think he could, it's all about taking a chance on someone. I think one of the problems with bringing young players through in the last 10-12 years is that there's been no trust in them, they'll get a few minutes here and there or a cup game against a lower league side and it's never enough to be sure either way so they're held back from loans in case we need them but not played because we don't know if they're ready.