Academy & U21s

[KentExile]

11 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Two of those clash with first team matches. As well as tonight we play Sheffield United on October 21st.

 

2 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Was the same last season where a couple clashed with first team games iirc.

You would think a National League team would look at that and have the game on the Wednesday instead so they could pick up an extra few quid from away fans.

There are some National League Cup games tomorrow, so its obviously not out of the question

[arbitro]

Jack Vale, James Brown and Joe Nuttall amongst the players still looking for a club.

 

[bluebruce]

Former ingrate - sorry sorry, former Rovers youth product, Rory Finneran, explains why he buggered off without a care for the club that developed him:

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/ex-rovers-youngster-finneran-explains-095808095.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALoW4t9ACw8mY0MEny2-ha0MzMLmBrrvMshr5KhabcWUkaX3rLGdmkAQ0Je3MKhvltM02tpD6Ta3_9Bby-fPa80X2EE6dpOXzRbsZOQBy0mbnTbg7G3n37WJaQg81DyefYq-PF6B-KycQKH1wwBgD5RNM_OxBXvs2U0XsZSBPqEl

[bluebruce]

And I'm surprised I'm beating our eagle-eyed Exile to this one (although just had a look in the outgoing loans thread as I typed that and of course he's popped it there), but Charlie Olsson was sent out on loan yesterday to Oldham for the season. They play in League Two after promotion from the National League last season. So I'd say that's a good loan for him, though I imagine they're expected to struggle (drawn both games so far though), so there probably won't be much tolerance for a fairly inexperienced kid learning the ropes. He'll have to be on it from the off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cj6yypglzpzo

[KentExile]

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/august/12/nick-pens-new-rovers-deal-/

 

 

[MarkBRFC]

Here we go, young lads on the fringes signing new contracts.

What contract problem?

Montgomery will be next seeing as his deal runs out this summer. (think he might have an option though).

[KentExile]

7 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Here we go, young lads on the fringes signing new contracts.

What contract problem?

Montgomery will be next seeing as his deal runs out this summer. (think he might have an option though).

He does, although Michalski did have a contract to 2027 before that renewal

But yes, I expect we will see a few if the up & coming youngster signed up for as long as possible to show how our contract woes are behind us, at least until they are not 😉 

What are the chances of Tyjon, Dunn & Silver Eze also within the next month?

Edited Tuesday at 13:13 by KentExile

[MarkBRFC]

21 minutes ago, KentExile said:

He does, although Michalski did have a contract to 2027 before that renewal

But yes, I expect we will see a few if the up & coming youngster signed up for as long as possible to show how our contract woes are behind us, at least until they are not 😉 

What are the chances of Tyjon, Dunn & Silver Eze also within the next month?

Could definitely see Dunn and Eze if they are turning 17 soon.

Tyjon I still think that ship has sailed.

[KentExile]

12 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Could definitely see Dunn and Eze if they are turning 17 soon.

Tyjon I still think that ship has sailed.

Dunn tuns 17 before the end of August (if not already).  Eze turns 17 in early September

[KentExile]

U21s lost 2-0 to Brackley

A start for the (ESC forum discussion) legend that is Mafoumbi - he didn't score & was replaced by a left back (Pates) after an hour

 

Edited Tuesday at 20:42 by KentExile

[GHR]

I was scrolling through the BBC Football fixture pages this weekend and it was only then that I realised all our National League Cup games were confirmed, just that the Club hadn't bothered to tell us, and didn't until about 8 hours before the first one.

It's a shame as I probably would have made an effort to do Brackley had I had a bit more notice; it's unlikely we'll come across them again in a hurry (wait until we play them with the senior side in League 1 in October 2028...!).

Thankfully Moors and Tamworth are doable on the night for me and with a lot more notice.

[bluebruce]

5 hours ago, KentExile said:

U21s lost 2-0 to Brackley

A start for the (ESC forum discussion) legend that is Mafoumbi - he didn't score & was replaced by a left back (Pates) after an hour

 

I literally don't even know who Brackley Town are, and I've heard of tons of non-league shite, so that's a bit embarrassing.

[arbitro]

10 hours ago, GHR said:

I was scrolling through the BBC Football fixture pages this weekend and it was only then that I realised all our National League Cup games were confirmed, just that the Club hadn't bothered to tell us, and didn't until about 8 hours before the first one.

It's a shame as I probably would have made an effort to do Brackley had I had a bit more notice; it's unlikely we'll come across them again in a hurry (wait until we play them with the senior side in League 1 in October 2028...!).

Thankfully Moors and Tamworth are doable on the night for me and with a lot more notice.

It's symptomatic of so many things that are wrong with Rovers. For the last few months it has almost been like an afterthought to announce information relating to both our under 21's and under 18's.

I don't know where the blame lies but it certainly is beginning to grate with supporters.

[GHR]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

It's symptomatic of so many things that are wrong with Rovers. For the last few months it has almost been like an afterthought to announce information relating to both our under 21's and under 18's.

I don't know where the blame lies but it certainly is beginning to grate with supporters.

Yeah, I just don't understand it. We'll have been sitting on that information for a few days at least, and only think to mention it at literally the eleventh hour. All it needs is five minutes to copy, paste, tart up and publish it as a News article online and a picture of it on socials. Literally every football club, from Champions League to Sunday League, can do that.

The first team playing last night won't have helped but I would love to know how many Rovers fans were at the u21 game last night...

[GHR]

On a similar note, it seems we still haven't updated the Women's fixtures on the website either, despite them being released four weeks ago.

[arbitro]

3 minutes ago, GHR said:

On a similar note, it seems we still haven't updated the Women's fixtures on the website either, despite them being released four weeks ago.

The last I heard was that the trial evenings they had recently for recruitment of new players were a disaster with very few potential players turning up.

The season kicks off for them this Sunday.

 

[riverholmes]

On 12/08/2025 at 18:59, KentExile said:

U21s lost 2-0 to Brackley

A start for the (ESC forum discussion) legend that is Mafoumbi - he didn't score & was replaced by a left back (Pates) after an hour

 

Worrying for Rovers future - if there wasn't enough to be concerned about. That's our strong line-up; wait 'til players head out on the injury/loan carousel. Is Valentin Jospeh still around - he might improve the forward line?

[philipl]

Finernan not even in the Newcastle under 21 squad

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Finernan not even in the Newcastle under 21 squad

Excellent

[simongarnerisgod]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Finernan not even in the Newcastle under 21 squad

i said when he left that he`d end up playing part time and be working in a meat packing warehouse,he deffo is`nt ever getting even a sniff of the newastle bench let alone the first team😁legend in his own mind that lad

[KentExile]

9 hours ago, riverholmes said:

Worrying for Rovers future - if there wasn't enough to be concerned about. That's our strong line-up; wait 'til players head out on the injury/loan carousel. Is Valentin Jospeh still around - he might improve the forward line?

Out strongest starting lineup for the U21s in my opinion would include Michalski, Tyjon, Montgomery, Batty, Duru, & Boggan (who are all still considered U21 players).  O'Grady-Macken, Goddard, Olson & Pratt would also come into the thinking of many. 

Obviously some of those mentioned above were with the first team (due to the first team being underfunded), but some of the more physically developed played ie Pratt may have been useful against a team of adults from the 5th tier.

Mafoumbi would be no where near our strongest 11, 

Joseph I am not sure but I think is injured, haven't seen that he has been involved for either U21s or U18s during pre season (although there has been limited reported of both teams), as far as I know the same also applies to Mansbridge, Leeming & Holt. 

Re Joseph, (1 sub appearance for the U21s aside), he has also not played above U18s level, so expecting him to have an impact against a National League team might be a leap too far 

Edited 1 hour ago by KentExile