Experienced players in league one, overrated?

Just a little debate as years ago we would always sign the younger player and we were a club that would give players the opportunity to develop. It was met by plenty of people on here and other platforms who always would want to bring in "older heads" or "experience" etc even though we did well at scouting anddeveloping players.

Now the scouting seems to have changed and we have gone for the older more experienced player which people wanted us to years back. The likes of Cosgrove who has 1 goal in over 900 minutes this season. Humphrys 4 goals in 30 odd games. Roberts has done well but if we could swap him for the Roberts of 2016 with pace to burn I'm sure we would. Conor who at early 30s decided he had enough and called it a day. Then there's the other teams the Bristol rovers and Rotherhams packed full of the "older heads" "experienced players" hardly served them well has it.

 

Too much experience in League One suggests a ceiling to talent and inability to progress higher.

 

Balance.

 

You're making stuff up.

As the poster above states,, balance is key. Nobody writes off transfers from a few levels below us who have potential. People write off transfers from wherever we signed Mike Phenix from.

 

The Phenix transfer went up in flames.

 

Experience should not be mixed up with ability....

Just because someone has amassed 700 games for example may cover experience. But it's not good to us if those 700 games were all Sunday league pub games.

The issues we have are compounded by a scatter gun approach thinking everyone younger could be sold at profit. And recently we have brought in older heads. Presumably to help the younger ones.

But, the most important part is, we are not buying to suit the need of the club.

Example, we have all voiced opinions about a striker. We had for a long time needed someone at left/wing back (and someone with a left foot) but we then stocked up on right sided players...

We just don't seem to have a collective plan to recruit to what is needed

 

Case in point is Mansfield Town. Their squad is struggling full of older players past their best who don't have the stamina to see out a full season.

 

always best to have a mix of everything -
some youth around for unpredictability / pace / enthusiasm
prime age - mid twenties should be key players in team in or approaching best years
veterans - experience tell others when to make a foul when not to organise set plays organise others out of possesion - help manager in dressing room etc
also useful to have a few guys who have been at the club a long time but not too many

all said and done a good player is a good player age doesn't mean that much - you can have 17 year olds who are ice cold mentality (Nwaneri at arsenal) and you can have 35 year olds who behave like children - you can also have 33 year olds in better shape than someone who's 25

 

Which part is made up?

And Mike phenix made 0 starts for barnsley. But we've signed plenty of experience our self over the years who have been ***** and got some here now.

 

Mansfield another great example.
Bristol rovers have jack hunt, sawyers a ex Premier league and champions league player in scott sinclar. These older players who have been there and done it aren't the answer the majority of the time. Under stendel our best player that season was his 1st full season in the football league.

 

The sweet spot for us is signing 22-25 year olds with over 100 apps in the leagues below so someone like Winnall or Conor or Pinnock and then giving them time to bed in supported by a sprinkling of experience and youth from the academy. The spreadsheet appproch we abandoned basically

 

My opinion on our optimal transfer strategy is thus:
1) Increase expectations on the academy systems to provide the team with viable players
2) Give more of our promising youth game time to see if they can hack it/improve
3) When buying in players, look to those who have excelled in our league or the league below - the model that found us Hourihane, Scowen, Yiadom, Pinnock etc
4) Sell these players on the opportunity to progress, a competitive initial contract, and performance based incentives that would reflect their progression as players with higher pay
5) Ensure whatever players are brought in we have club options to extend their contracts if successful
6) Supplement our own player assets with experienced loan players from higher level, these acting as inspiration and mentors to those we are developing, and also a warning about the potential to fall back down the leagues if you misstep
7) Only take promising Premier League youth loans where they're a clear step up in capability, address an apparent gap in our player competence, and don't block one of our own prospects from getting game time

 

Someone like O Keefe, maybe?

 

He does have the most assists in the squad he probably would in the league if our strikers could finish

 

I th

I think the issue is a lot of these players command quite high transfer fees in this day and age. Football is night and day difference between now and ten years ago.

 

Sadly, I very much echo those sentiments. Recruiting off the radar talent has gotten much more difficult in the last decade or so.

Everyone has access to data so our initial competitive advantage has gone. Many clubs spend way more than we do. Brexit has made recruiting from the continent far more difficult down the pyramid and Premier League clubs can hoover up young players into their academies.

It's difficult to see what new avenues could find untapped gems. Instead, we just have to be much better at what we do and utilise the budget we do have much more effectively.

 

Yes great example. We have identified the best wing back in the league on the offensive side of the game and need to coach him on the defensive side. Just like Conor and Pinnock. Both not finished and needed work.

 

At this level 'young / up and coming' means they're quick but a bit sh*t.

Experienced means 'slow and a bit ****'.

The key thing is the players are a bit sh*t, not their age.

If we want to play a high press, high energy style then the younger player is the line we want to go down. If we want to have a bit more control and nous then the older heads work. In reality, the key is a bit of both.

The problem we have this season is not the age profile but the quality we have. I'd rather we focus on bringing in a smaller number of high quality players rather than the high quantity of average players which we seem to have.

 

I agree they do and everyone goes to the lower leagues but it must be cheaper than signing the experienced players we have.

 

If I read you right I agree with you. Surely the purpose of good recruitment is to make the team stronger for the next year or two regardless of outgoings. Its incremental for clubs like ours which can't spend 20 mill on a player but its potentially doable if there's joined up thinking. There is, at the moment, no joined up thinking. The summer window will be really interesting and informative.