Has another batch of young talent fallen by the wayside ???

Or should that be.........has the previous seasons failings caused - another batch of young talent to fall by the wayside ???

I'm talking about players such as Digby, Rose and Lasarus here.

Rose off to Bury.
Digby when he arrived on the scene was the best young player I had seen at the WELL since David Hirst - now younger players are playing in the first team before him.
Lasarus is the youngest player to play for Barnsley. As a 14 to 15 year old the coaches at the club were saying that he is the best young talent to come through Barnsley for decades and senior players are unable to get the ball off him - now he is nowhere to be seen.

Has the struggle for survival in the Championship over this last 8 years held back or even killed the chances of these players becoming regulars in the Barnsley first team and from there going on to play for bigger clubs ???

Is Jon Stones, who is an obvious huge talent, the only young player that has been able to survive the turmoil at Barnsley over the last 8 seasons ???

Now that the club is in League 1 and there is now breathing space to try young players - are these young players an indication of what might have been if Barnsley had not been fighting relegation for the last 8 seasons ???

 

Stones is the best young talent to come up through the ranks since Hirst. I think Digby has a lot of potential but that's all it is, there is no way that he can be rated as highly as some are rating him based on the number of games he has played.

 

Stones will be better than Hirst, he signed for a much better side for starters and should go on and achieve more. Hirst has 3 England caps and a League Cup medal, he should have signed for Man U.

 

Digby cant play more than 12 seconds without getting injured.
Rose didnt fail. He was sold for good money.
RNL was given all preseason by wilson and didnt put in an ounce of effort. He is the only one holding himself back

 

Stones gone on to play for England and regular place in Everton Premier league squad. Rose now playing regular first team football, made a personal choice to move. Club received a fee for both. I wouldn't call that Wayside.

More young uns have started games than I have seen for a long long time this year. I have been vocal in saying some May not be ready yet, not meaning we let em go but meaning the timing and integration to the first team needs careful management. So far Rose, Nana, Bree, RNL, Abbott, McHale have all had some involvement on the field. These are mainly home grown, but don't forget given the average 21ish age of the team, the majority are all young uns.

 

I'm led to believe that the coaching staff at the academy think a certain James Bree is better than john Stones!!

A think the style of football we play will allow the young lads to shine through this season

 

I also learnt yesterday that DW released Abbot in the summer only to re-sign due to his work rate during pre-season

 

Earned it then. I doubted his readiness at Halifax. Looked ok but nothing great in other games. Yesterday he did the "Bailey" role to perfection. Definitely a performance to be proud of and helps him push the competition for a start.

 

Think that is the case for most of em. They all have the talent but not the application

 

Not sure that Rose who has more career goals than starts and will get 20+ for Bury and who we sold for a profit can be seen as a failure.

Digby will get his chances as the season progresses.

I fear for RNL. We are strong in his preferred positions so not sure how many chances will come his way.

 

Conversely you could look at the other youngsters who seem to be forcing themselves into the 1st team picture. Nana, Abbott, Bree, Smith, Mchale, all look like they are a proper part of the squad this season. Some won't make it but I think we have a batch who are doing the opposite of falling by the wayside.

 

At least we have a sell on clause with Rose

 

Said same about Bree yesterday, need to get him on a good contract so we don't get shafted when the big boys come knocking

 

Really it's just the football wheel of life, Some-most young players don't make at there first club They have to move on maybe 2 or 3 times to find there "home". It's how we have got 95% of our players in the last 40 years..

 

There's a few good young players down there and with us not having the biggest squad they will get a chance. Unfortunately Digby just can't stay fit and that for me is a huge worry! He was only on the pitch 5 minutes at Coventry and ended up getting another injury.

 

It depends what your definition of falling by the wayside is?

Players coming through our academy to be first team regulars? Yes I suppose you're correct. Rose, Digby and Reuben have all failed thus far to do this.

On the other hand, we've brought Rose, Stones and Butterfield through our academy and they've gone onto other football league teams, 2 of them to teams in higher divisions than ourself. If you add to that the likes of Nicky Wroe, Dale Tonge, Neil Austin and Antony Kay, all home grown talents who have gone onto become first team regulars at football league clubs, then no I believe our academy is ticking over nicely. I believe we received a fee for quite a few of these players too.

 

I think the academy has been doing rather well over the last couple of years.

In any year group at any club you are lucky if one player manages to get a regular 1st team place.

 

The thing is..........would we have seen these players if they had come of age in the last 8 years when Barnsley was struggling against relegation?

Which manager in the last 8 years would have run the risk of throwing youngsters into a dog fight.........I suspect none. That's unless of course the player at 18 years old was already Premiership standard i.e. Stones.

And this is the point..........in my opinion players such as Digby, Rose and Lasurus and others have had their careers wrecked or slowed down because of the struggles at Barnsley while they have been in the Championship this time around.

 

If they are good enough they are old enough just think they haven't been good enough.