2024/25 pre-season thread

[StAndrew7]

2 hours ago, santheman said:

People forget he's a young guy living away from his family in a totally different environment from what he's used to and it will take time to adjust.

Was never going to be a nailed on starter from day one.

You can't show compassion here, this is a football forum. WE. DEMAND. PERFECTION.

[Ya Bezzer!]

On 7/31/2024 at 6:41 PM, steelboy said:

I don't agree.

In any sport the athletes are always better at 21 than 17. Keith Lasley was 21 years and 3 months old when he made his debut, we don't offer young players that opportunity to develop any more despite the the massive increase in athleticism in the league. Jack Vale was quite a limited player but was able to make a decent contribution for us because he had 6 years of professional training to develop him. We seem to be writing off promising boys after 2 or 3 years of training during which time we're sending them out to part time clubs.

I agree and I also think that players who are great at youth level don't always make it at first team level and players who didn't stand out at youth level can sometimes go on and have very good careers as pros.

The point is you have to give young players opportunities and stick by them.

Football fans are so impatient these days but I think players like McFadden and Turnbull have give fans false ideas about what youth players should be.

Those guys took to first team football straight away and left soon afterwards for big fees but that isn't exclusively what youth players should do.

Sometimes youth players can be Lasley/Hammell types.  Very good players that don't necessarily need to move on.  They can be a Paul Quinn type.  Some one that came in, made mistakes but with time became a decent player for us.  They can be David Clarkson types, came in did well, had a bad spell, then came back better than ever.  Or a Jamie Murphy, someone who struggled for a couple of seasons but eventually found his position and form.  Another good example is Lee McCulloch who barely scored a goal for about 3 seasons then became our top scorer.

Like I said, too many of us are looking for players who can come in and be sold immediately.  That certainly helps the coffers but it's not the only reason for having youth players.  

There are guys out there that need two or three seasons of football to reach potential.  We need to be patient, give opportunities and develop players who need development. 

[joewarkfanclub]

The ideal situation would be for a young player to come through, play 100 games for us and then be sold on for a decent fee, even if that is just the development fee.

That way we get the feelgood factor of seeing one of our own come through, get the benefit of having them in the team and the icing on the cake at the end.

Unfortunately modern football makes that much harder to achieve with the many variables that exist.

Im hopeful we will get close to that with Lennon Miller. But players like him are becoming the exception to the rule.

I do agree with Steelboy to an extent though, in that I dont view the risk on trying to develop a young player through the first team is necessarily that much greater than some of the lower league imports we have relied upon in recent years to fill our bench.

[Mad Dog]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:23 PM, dennyc said:

Like you, I cannot think of any youngster we have released (as opposed to having had poached) in recent times that has gone on to make a name for himself.

Possibly Nicky Cadden. After a slow start in the lower leagues he has been playing at a decent level in England for a number of years and has just moved to Hibs. Not saying he's made a name for himself but he has been playing in League One which is either a similar or a better level than the SPL depending on who you listen to.

[dennyc]

1 minute ago, Mad Dog said:

Possibly Nicky Cadden. After a slow start in the lower leagues he has been playing at a decent level in England for a number of years and has just moved to Hibs. Not saying he's made a name for himself but he has been playing in League One which is either a similar or a better level than the SPL depending on who you listen to.

Cadden is a decent shout regards someone who went on to earn a decent living in football. Was certainly well thought of wherever he played.  The fact we have to go back some ways to unearth a released youth player that went on to have a good full time career suggests that decisions made by our coaches in recent years were pretty spot on. Maybe unpopular with a few, but correct. 
Those players that have a greater chance of success will always attract  richer Clubs but there again there are very few that excel after choosing to leave our Academy. I still think Bailey Rice has a chance. Sam Campbell did have, but sadly a terrible injury took its toll. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

7 hours ago, Mad Dog said:

Possibly Nicky Cadden.

Nicky Devlin is at Aberdeen.

[dennyc]

1 hour ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Nicky Devlin is at Aberdeen.

Did he came through our youth ranks?  I thought he joined us from Dumbarton. Also, did he ever play a game for us having being sent out on loan within months of coming to Fir Park? Possibly under a cloud if rumours were true? 

He did rebuild his career at Livi right enough so fair play to him,  and at age 30 he is at a good level compared to others.

But I don't think he is a youth prospect that slipped through our net. 

[Mad Dog]

7 hours ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Nicky Devlin is at Aberdeen.

He's had a reasonable career but he didn't come through our academy.

Edit: sorry, didn't read Denny's post first.

[TheoBair14]

On 6/28/2024 at 7:54 PM, pretzel said:

2-2 FT.

Moses scored from around the half way line but sadly missed it as the stream went doon, sadly we conceded right after that. 

Man United just drew to the same FC Twente team tonight