Just a general post about our current crop of youngsters... I think most people judge them with a different yard stick to the one used to judge the "experienced pros" as people understand they are going to make mistakes and have bad games. I do however think people are too quick to judge the young players in comparison to the other young players we have seen. IMO this is counter productive. Holgate for example has a great temperament, which allows him to come into the team and instantly show off what he is capable of. I fully believe this lad could play for Barcelona and it wouldn't faze him. (I'm not saying he is good enough for Barcelona, just that he could handle it mentally). This was a trait that Stones had too. Somebody like Cowgill may not naturally posses this mental strength at such a young age, which makes it much harder for him to show us all on a match day what he is actually capable of. This doesn't mean Holgate is destined for the top and Cowgill for League 2, it just means that right now Holgate is more mentally mature to be a first team regular. The different levels of development of young players makes it almost impossible to predict how good they will actually be. Maybe we are seeing Holgate at near his full potential and only the tip of the iceberg with Cowgill? This argument can stretch to Smith, Digby, Abbott and Waring. The only way to develop a players mental strength is to throw them in the deep end and see accept they will make mistakes. Very rarely does a player at such a young age have the mental strength to seamlessly make the step up into the first team. The experience gained this season will make them all better players.
Brilliant post. This is why I often say players should get a run of games before been judged as not all are like Stones & Holgate & they'll need the games to gain confidence & get used to playing in the first team. This is why I always find it harsh when Digby or before him RNL would make their first appearance for 2 months & get slated when it's likely to be down to been rusty than a lack of ability
