Cameron Archer (on loan at Middlesbrough)

[Mister E]

...
This was always the risk of keeping him in the squad.  Gerrard should probably have used him more, but was under pressure from the first game.  I felt if we hadn't started so badly he would have been more inclined to give Cam minutes - it's easier when you're winning games and playing well than scrapping for your life.
In hindsight a loan would have been better, but I can see why both sides made the choice for him to stay.  As for him going on loan in Jan, I can't see it unless we bring another striker in.  Whether Cam likes it or not (or is getting gametime or not) we need the depth.

Gerrard missed a trick not starting him against Bolton - not a difficult decision, regardless of the league form.

[Dogtanian]

I think if he doesn't go out on loan he will get more time under Emery. Emery and his team will understand his strengths and weaknesses and when and how best to deploy them. So I expect (and hope!) that he will play a part.

[paul_e]

He should be getting some minutes in these friendlies and hopefully that will be his breakthrough.  You can understand Emery's reticence to start him from the off, he was probably keen to establish a strong basis with his senior pros.  Now is the time to experiment and assess the squad with a view to January and the end of the season.
 If he goes out on loan in the window it'll have been a wasted 3 months when he could have been getting regular game time at a good level elsewhere.

I'd rather Cam write off 3 months but go somewhere where he gets gametime than potentially write off a whole season.

This was always the risk of keeping him in the squad.  Gerrard should probably have used him more, but was under pressure from the first game.  I felt if we hadn't started so badly he would have been more inclined to give Cam minutes - it's easier when you're winning games and playing well than scapping for your life.

In hindsight a loan would have been better, but I can see why both sides made the choice for him to stay.  As for him going on loan in Jan, I can't see it unless we bring another striker in.  Whether Cam likes it or not (or is getrting gametime or not) we need the depth.

Yep, this is why I wanted him to go on loan in the summer, what's happened now is 4-5 months of his development has been wasted and we need to take some more time to get him fully fit and confident again when he could've gone out for half a season, banged another 10 or so and come back chopming at the bit for a run of games. Despite the calls for him to start games on here the reality was that he was always starting the season as 3rd choice and with a manager as reluctant to use subs as Gerrard was that was never going to translate to much gametime.

[Dante Lavelli]

A loan where he plays every week is the best for his career and therefore Aston Villa. Even if he ‘explodes’ on the scene he will never play enough minutes in the PL and right now his progression should be our priority.

[Brazilian Villain]

Happy 21st Birthday to Cam. Hopefully this is his breakthrough year.

[Legion]

Fingers crossed.

[eamonn]

Is he in Dubai?

[Legion]

Yes. Played the second half vs Brighton.

[Legion]

Needs to go out on loan in January. Sick to death of seeing him stagnate on the bench whilst Watkins regularly gets chosen to start.

[simon ward 50]

Needs to go out on loan in January. Sick to death of seeing him stagnate on the bench whilst Watkins regularly gets chosen to start.

Agreed

[Dave]

A loan seems sensible, but why wouldn't Watkins start?

Since Emery came in, he had one great game against Man Utd, one perfectly acceptable game against Man Utd (in which he scored) and was then ill and missed the win against Brighton (but the guy who played instead scored both goals).

[eamonn]

Legion is Cam's agent, he's always gonna champion the chap.

[dave shelley]

What I'm not able to understand is, neither Gerrard nor up to yet Emery have been prepared to give him hardly any game time, injury notwithstanding.  I'm willing to give Deano some slack as Archer was just a kid on the cusp so to speak.  What are they not seeing in him if anything?

[usav]

What I'm not able to understand is, neither Gerrard nor up to yet Emery have been prepared to give him hardly any game time, injury notwithstanding.  I'm willing to give Deano some slack as Archer was just a kid on the cusp so to speak.  What are they not seeing in him if anything?

Must come down to what they see (and we don't see) in training.

[chrisw1]

He was always likely to be third choice this season.  Most of us wanted him to stay as we needed the depth in the squad and we hoped he'd get a few more minutes.

I do feel for him and wish he'd been used a bit more, but Gerrard put himself under so much pressure with our poor early results it made it difficult to give gametime to the youth.  It's interesting Emery hasn't been convinced enough to give him a bit more time in the friendlies and cup though.

I feel for Cam, but it was always likely to be a mixed season if he stayed.  But ultimately he's paid pretty well to fulfill the role the club want and to date that has been back up.

I'd probably like to see him go on loan now too, but I can't see us leaving ourselves with just two strikers, so I guess unless we get someone in he'll have to stay around.