I'm interested in the development squad actually developing someone who is ready for the first team. Players such as Williams and Brown have come in and done well. However, there are other players had rave reviews like Berkovitz that haven't got close to the first team. Then there's Adeboyejo that has come into the first team and been forgotten about. Then there's Bird, Mottley Henry and a few others that seem to be lost in translation. They don't play enough meaningful football. Making that jump into first team reckoning can almost go against them as if they are involved in the match day squad they don't play in the under 23's and if they don't come off the bench on a saturday they don't kick a ball in anger. The only other option is go out on loan. This only gets you experience because you're out of sight out of mind.
You are correct there’s a no mans land that’s hard to jump, we’ve had to play Brown and Williams at times this season, in years gone by we might have got a loan in. It sounds daft but It’s a big gamble for a manager to develop someone into a first team player by actually playing him, they often like the ready made article
You do realise we have a team and different departments at Oakwell? In a previous life these kind of players would have been in and out all the time with us having little awareness. It's just a case of us getting more info from the club as this media age demands. Of all the things to try and turn in to a negative, signing some Maltese kid to kick a ball around with our U23's in the hope he might turn out to be a decent player should be right at the bottom of the list. The general mood on here vs. where we are as a club is bizarre.
They've clearly avoided announcing this on deadline day to stop people moaning, only for people to still moan anyway. Whilst there's plenty to criticise this aint really one of them.
I don't want to sound patronising but i think the club as a whole have the ability to focus on a number of aspects of the club and its squads at all levels and all at the same time. I dont think we have to do only one or the other.