by Hoop Blah »
17 Mar 2016 09:58
SCIAG Maguire Don't understand this obsession with "playing the kids". I think it's only fans who want this kind of thing.
The idea that the club don't know how good the youth players are until they've seen them get outplayed by seasoned pros is ridiculous - if any of them are good enough to get in the starting XI then they'd be in the matchday squad already.
Personally I have no interest in paying my money to watch half an academy team get beat 3-0.
Play your best team, pick up some momentum, go into next season with a winning mentality not a losing one.
Agree about playing a strong side and finishing the season on a high.
There are a few recent examples of the club taking too long to play a youngster. Gylfi didn't suddenly become the best player at the club in the middle of October, he should probably have been playing long before then. We spent years waiting for Hope Akpan to do something good, but now the consensus seems to be that Aaron Tshibola is better than Karacan or Williams, who were both better than Akpan. He should have been playing ahead of Akpan two years ago.
I don't think anyone's calling for players like Noor Husin or Sam Smith to come from nowhere to start every week, they just want players who have been on the fringes for a while - two years, in some cases - to get some extra minutes. Personally I'd like Fosu and Stacey to start coming on for the last 15-30 minutes to inject some extra energy.
Firstly, I think having players who've come through the academy and, ideally, are local lads adds a lot of soul and
identity to the club. In this day and age of money ruling the game more than ever you'd hope that those players who'd grown up at the club have a bit more interest in seeing it succeed and giving that little bit extra to make it happen.
I'm not naive enough to think they wouldn't leave for more money like every other pro, but having local lads in the side makes it, for me, a team I can be more emotionally engaged with. Especially if I've seen them come through the ranks, make their debuts and develop in a Reading shirt.
When we have a load of mercenaries and loanees under performing in the first team I think it's quite natural to want to see some of our own local lads given a chance. They can't do much worse.
As for putting the kids in, of course the club don't really know how well a player is going to cope with playing first team football for us until it happens. It's an unknown how well a player will play in front of the crowd and how well they'll play alongside certain players and until they get thrown in it's a gamble, like it is with any signing.
It's also about timing and what the manager wants to do. For example, if Gunter is fit and available every week then Keown isn't likely to get a chance unless McDermott or Clarke wanted to experiment, or rest his first choice or switch things around. He may be held back because the right winger isn't playing well or for loads of other reasons, it doesn't mean Keown isn't very close to being ready or good enough.
As for Tshibola. I don't agree that he should've been playing a couple of years ago ahead of Akpan just because he's looked so good this season. It does seem that the loan move last year was the making of him and so it's a good example of when timing and opportunity plays a big part in giving the youngsters a chance.
