Academy & U21s

[Upside Down]

43 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

I expected you to take a far more strident view re the pasty 😁😁

I fully agree re the teacakes.

The pies over here are made with the flaky pastry. It's just wrong. They're alright though.

At the end of the day you can't beat a Wigan kebab.

[wilsdenrover]

23 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

The pies over here are made with the flaky pastry. It's just wrong. They're alright though.

At the end of the day you can't beat a Wigan kebab.

Never heard of that but now I have I want one.

[simongarnerisgod]

3 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Never heard of that but now I have I want one.

lovely with some wigan caviar 

[DeeCee]

6 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

In the fear of starting a teacake style debate…

Isn’t a pasty just a type of pie?

Like to think I'm the resident pasty expert on here 🤦‍♂️ as I live in the land of the pasty (see my avatar).

It's a pastry wrapped item, but so is a beef Wellington. 🙄

It should never be referred to as a type of pie! 😂

[wilsdenrover]

1 hour ago, DeeCee said:

Like to think I'm the resident pasty expert on here 🤦‍♂️ as I live in the land of the pasty (see my avatar).

It's a pastry wrapped item, but so is a beef Wellington. 🙄

It should never be referred to as a type of pie! 😂

How dare you take my wife’s side on this 😁😁

[rigger]

A pasty is just a trial pie that went wrong.

[Upside Down]

21 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

lovely with some wigan caviar 

I've been away a long time, please explain.

[oneandycrawford]

22 hours ago, Upside Down said:

The pies over here are made with the flaky pastry. It's just wrong. They're alright though.

At the end of the day you can't beat a Wigan kebab.

Totally agree flaky pastry on a pie is just plain wrong.

Having lived in the midlands, south-west and Wales there is nowhere like the north for decent pies.

Whenever I see a pie on a menu my first question is always to ask what pastry it is made with. 

[Forever Blue]

 

[wilsdenrover]

12 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

 

One year seems a bit stingy. 

[KentExile]

1 hour ago, wilsdenrover said:

One year seems a bit stingy. 

Hardly featured last season, either on loan or for U18s/U21s.

I am assuming he was injured & the 1 year deal is his chance to see if he can push on to U21 level after a year out.  But just as easily it could be Rovers not wanting to commit on wages more than 12 months into the future

Edited July 2 by KentExile

[bluebruce]

4 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

One year seems a bit stingy. 

I feel like the word is pointless. 

[KentExile]

Gilsenan has moved to Grimsby (League 2) on a 2 year deal

https://gtfc.co.uk/zak-gilsenan-is-a-mariner/

Hope he does well and builds himself a career, he has had terrible luck with injuries

Edited July 2 by KentExile

[Rogerb]

1 hour ago, KentExile said:

Gilsenan has moved to Grimsby (League 2) on a 2 year deal

https://gtfc.co.uk/zak-gilsenan-is-a-mariner/

Hope he does well and builds himself a career, he has had terrible luck with injuries

Can he stay fit. At that level if he can with his eye for a goal Grimsby could see him contributing 15+ for the season

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 hours ago, KentExile said:

Gilsenan has moved to Grimsby (League 2) on a 2 year deal

https://gtfc.co.uk/zak-gilsenan-is-a-mariner/

Hope he does well and builds himself a career, he has had terrible luck with injuries

The little bits I’ve seen of him he looked to be a classy player. Let’s hope he can stay fit.

[riverholmes]

On 02/07/2025 at 12:58, KentExile said:

Hardly featured last season, either on loan or for U18s/U21s.

I am assuming he was injured & the 1 year deal is his chance to see if he can push on to U21 level after a year out.  But just as easily it could be Rovers not wanting to commit on wages more than 12 months into the future

Would be interested to know if there is any statistical correlation between young players going on short loans to non-league and getting injured. Hard to say without data (maybe even with), but I would imagine that a young player unaccustomed to the physicality of that level, who's dropped in suddenly, might well be more likely get injured. Throw in poorer pitches and training methods as well. 

That said, the likes of Gilsenan, Alex Baker, midfielder whose name evades me who was out for 2 years et al, were getting seriously injured regularly without going away on loan. It seems, from an outside perspective, like a problem for the U21s.

Edited July 5 by riverholmes

[KentExile]

3 hours ago, riverholmes said:

Would be interested to know if there is any statistical correlation between young players going on short loans to non-league and getting injured. Hard to say without data (maybe even with), but I would imagine that a young player unaccustomed to the physicality of that level, who's dropped in suddenly, might well be more likely get injured. Throw in poorer pitches and training methods as well. 

That said, the likes of Gilsenan, Alex Baker, midfielder whose name evades me who was out for 2 years et al, were getting seriously injured regularly without going away on loan. It seems, from an outside perspective, like a problem for the U21s.

He did fine on loan at the same club in the same division the season before, and last seasons loan was a half season loan, based off the strength of that.  He featured in 4 games in under a month, scoring in his final appearance, before injury cut short his loan, and he only played twice for our U18s after that

The previous season (aged 17) he was a regular for the U18s, and played a few minutes for the U21s too, before his loan at the end of that season.  Hopefully that season is more indicative of his ability & durability than last season

The midfielder you can't remember is Isaac Whitehall

Edited July 5 by KentExile

[Forever Blue]

46 minutes ago, KentExile said:

He did fine on loan at the same club in the same division the season before, and last seasons loan was a half season loan, based off the strength of that.  He featured in 4 games in under a month, scoring in his final appearance, before injury cut short his loan, and I he only played once or twice for our U18s after that

The previous season (aged 17) he was a regular for the U18s, and played a few minutes for the U21s too, before his loan at the end of that season.  Hopefully that season is more indicative of his ability & durability than last season

The midfielder you can't remember is Isaac Whitehall

Whitehall’s contract was up this summer but he had an extra year option. Did we trigger it do you know?

[MarkBRFC]

28 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Whitehall’s contract was up this summer but he had an extra year option. Did we trigger it do you know?

We didn't trigger it, he has been released.

[KentExile]

31 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Whitehall’s contract was up this summer but he had an extra year option. Did we trigger it do you know?

 

2 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

We didn't trigger it, he has been released.

As Mark said, he was released

[RoversClitheroe]

22 hours ago, KentExile said:

 

As Mark said, he was released

Whitehall has so so much promise, massive shame for the lad.

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Whitehall has so so much promise, massive shame for the lad.

We've had a bit of a rough time with promising youngsters being ruined by injuries. Whitehall, Gilsenan, I'd say JRC despite him being in the first team squad (had bad injuries at youth level and senior level, I think we've never seen the player he would have been without them), Butterworth had some bad ones whilst developing I recall.

Can anyone think of any more?

[KentExile]

17 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

We've had a bit of a rough time with promising youngsters being ruined by injuries. Whitehall, Gilsenan, I'd say JRC despite him being in the first team squad (had bad injuries at youth level and senior level, I think we've never seen the player he would have been without them), Butterworth had some bad ones whilst developing I recall.

Can anyone think of any more?

Sam Barnes

 

[Exiled_Rover]

On 02/07/2025 at 19:19, Rogerb said:

Can he stay fit. At that level if he can with his eye for a goal Grimsby could see him contributing 15+ for the season

Staying fit is his problem, sadly. 

We've seen in the League Cup games that he's a decent player and should be very effective at that level. 

He's a #10 though, he doesn't have the pace to play out wide. 

[arbitro]

14 hours ago, bluebruce said:

We've had a bit of a rough time with promising youngsters being ruined by injuries. Whitehall, Gilsenan, I'd say JRC despite him being in the first team squad (had bad injuries at youth level and senior level, I think we've never seen the player he would have been without them), Butterworth had some bad ones whilst developing I recall.

Can anyone think of any more?

Alex Baker had awful luck. After coming back from a cruciate injury sustained in a bad challenge he damaged a hamstring and sadly wasn't offered a new deal. He looked promising whenever I saw him play but unfortunately his injuries did for him.