Academy & U21s

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

31 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Jack o Connell.

Alan Judge was released early in his career. He was destined for greater things until a badly broken leg put a stop to it.

[bluebruce]

47 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Jack o Connell.

We sold him. I think they meant actually released. So from memory I can only think of Anthony Pilkington. Even there isn't he the one that was only released because he was caught stealing from his teammates?

[islander200]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

We sold him. I think they meant actually released. So from memory I can only think of Anthony Pilkington. Even there isn't he the one that was only released because he was caught stealing from his teammates?

No that was Walters who reportedly stole from teammates 

[riverholmes]

3 hours ago, bluebruce said:

We sold him. I think they meant actually released. So from memory I can only think of Anthony Pilkington. Even there isn't he the one that was only released because he was caught stealing from his teammates?

Matty Pearson has climbed back up the league since leaving Rovers. Also Andy Fisher (Swansea GK) and Flavien Boyomo of Real Valladolid, though, I read that Rovers earned a sell-on fee for Fisher and, I think, Boyomo might've rejected Rovers offers to go to Albacete.

A concern for me would be that Rovers reserve goalkeepers Eastham and Hilton can't seem to get league club loan moves with games. A higher standard is probably needed for them to progress. We definitely need them to progress to provide more competition for the senior goalkeepers.

 

Edited May 20 by riverholmes

[RoverCanada]

Hmm, just doing a quick look back at youngsters outright released in the past 10 years:

- Jamie Maclaren's certainly had an interesting career since leaving. Now the A-League's leading career goalscorer at over 150 goals (!!), plus a mixed spell at Hibs, and failing to crack 2.Bundesliga.

- As just posted above, Matty Pearson now a steady Championship CB (if just relegated), but took a while for that to happen

- Ryan Edwards managed multiple seasons in L1/L2 + Scottish Prem. Now plying his trade in India...

- Osawe managed some decent years in 3. Liga + a couple 2.Bundesliga seasons

- Fabio Nunes probably the only one of that bizarre Portuguese contingent with any real talent... managed some years in Portugal's Primeira Liga, still plying away in Poland's top league

- Josh Morris had a few years scoring like mad at Scunthorpe in L1 (forgot he actually had a decent number of appearances with us (22) before being let go)

- Sam Lavelle now a steady L1/L2 CB; Matt Platt a L2 CB; Sam Hart in L2; James Connolly a L1/L2 CB; Tom White a L2 MF; Butterworth with a mixed season at L1 (now L2) Carlisle; James Brown and Brad Lyons regulars in the Scottish Prem at Ross County and Kilmarnock, respectively.

- I remember Ben Williams randomly popping up against us as Barnsley's LB a few years ago while they were in the Championship. Now in L1 at Cheltenhem

- As mentioned, Boyomo's now a regular in the 2nd division in Spain.

- Ha, as I was scouring, noticed Nuttall just had a half-year loan at Cheltenham in L1. Bizarrely getting a L1 loan whilst under contract at Oldham in the NL?? Think we sold him for a few hundred k to Blackpool?

Generally not seeing much to lose sleep over! But good for those who have managed ok football careers.

Edited May 20 by RoverCanada

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, riverholmes said:

Matty Pearson has climbed back up the league since leaving Rovers. Also Andy Fisher (Swansea GK) and Flavien Boyomo of Real Valladolid, though, I read that Rovers earned a sell-on fee for Fisher and, I think, Boyomo might've rejected Rovers offers to go to Albacete.

A concern for me would be that Rovers reserve goalkeepers Eastham and Hilton can't seem to get league club loan moves with games. A higher standard is probably needed for them to progress. We definitely need them to progress to provide more competition for the senior goalkeepers.

 

It took Matty Pearson a solid 5 years after release to become a Championship player, when he was in and out of a Barnsley side that got relegated, and then they sold him to League One Luton. It was 7 years after his release that he became a Championship regular. He's never played in the Prem and has mostly finished below us in the league when up here (in 4 out of 6 seasons, including two relegations but also had one play off finish). I don't think we can consider that release a bad decision as such, but fair play for him for building himself up.

Fisher was sold not released. I do think it was a bit of a mistake, 100k and he was sold for about 4 times that a year later, though we'd have got a bit from the sell-on you mentioned. I was a bit annoyed at that one at the time, as MK Dons had loaned him from us the season before, but didn't play him for even a single minute, which obviously drove his value down, and once they bought him on the cheap they immediately made him their first-choice keeper. Since he didn't play a single minute for Swansea this season either, I'm not too sad he doesn't still play for us, although it's possible he's better than our two flappers. A very low bar though.

Yeh I'm pretty sure Boyomo rejected us for a Spanish third tier side because he wanted regular football. He's still never played above the Spanish second tier, which I think most would consider weaker than the Championship. So again, not too much to regret there anyway.

[riverholmes]

Interesting article about recruitment staff at Rovers from two years ago which gives a run down of the various individuals responsible and their career history. I have no idea how such departments work, though, I understand, increasingly, there is emphasis on data for recruitment and as one of the staff are quoted to say in the article: “I basically use data to try and identify players that we haven’t been able to look at due to resources.."

What surprises me a bit is that our then Head of European Scouting came to the club via a relatively short spell at Hibernian, as well as Cheltenham and AFC Fylde. I suppose that must emphasise how much these roles are data based (and, perhaps, outsourced to scouting agencies) because clearly he must lack experience and contacts, however talented he is in the role.

Article: https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2022/december/19/the-team-behind-the-team-/

Edit: Also surprised to read the comment from the Head of UK Scouting, Tom Sutton, at the time that at a point in summer 2022, the Rovers UK scouting team consisted of him and Gregg Broughton, until they recruited scouts and others.

Edited May 20 by riverholmes

[Oldgregg86]

Some fixtures for the u21,s. I’m away for The Hyde game and working for the Nantwich one but I could make Macclesfield, new ground to tick off and all that

[bluebruce]

20 hours ago, riverholmes said:

 

Edit: Also surprised to read the comment from the Head of UK Scouting, Tom Sutton, at the time that at a point in summer 2022, the Rovers UK scouting team consisted of him and Gregg Broughton, until they recruited scouts and others.

That's more than surprising, it's ridiculous...we'd just spent 2 years hearing about how we were expanding our scouting operation, and it sounds like we were actually gouging it! At least domestically (the expansion talk was mostly about Europe).

[Exiled_Rover]

https://x.com/_ElliottJackson/status/1793633374126612496

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, Exiled_Rover said:

https://x.com/_ElliottJackson/status/1793633374126612496

Oh FFS 🤬

[CheshireRover]

The past 12 months has surely showed every youth player the best way to the top is to play for us for a bit longer? Wharton is in the England (provisional) squad for the Euros & was one of the best players in the country for the past 2-3 months whereas Ash Phillips is being linked with more Championship loans!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

6 minutes ago, CheshireRover said:

The past 12 months has surely showed every youth player the best way to the top is to play for us for a bit longer? Wharton is in the England (provisional) squad for the Euros & was one of the best players in the country for the past 2-3 months whereas Ash Phillips is being linked with more Championship loans!

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving when he did

[joey_big_nose]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving when he did

Yeah.... to step up from a prem academy is very tough. There are a few clubs good at it (Liverpool being one) but generally to break through as a youth player is incredibly hard even in the bottom half. Experience is king.

Phillips should have stayed for at least another year and establish himself. No way Wharton would be in that England squad if he had gone into a prem academy before playing regular first team for Rovers.

[Exiled_Rover]

15 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving when he did

He's undoubtedly significantly richer, but yeah he's started his loan farm journey - he'll float from club to club for years. 

[rigger]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving when he did

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving to where he did.

[Moptop1]

23 minutes ago, rigger said:

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving to where he did.

As expected. Spuds were not the club to go to.

Should have stayed with us for a couple of years.

At the end of day, it’s up to him what happens in his career. Just seems it may have been the wrong choice.

Time will tell…

[roversfan99]

He was well down the pecking order here and probably played more in half a season at Plymouth than he would all season here, after half a season training with Tottenham. And on much more money.

[FourFourTwo]

17 hours ago, rigger said:

I think Phillips dropped a bollock leaving to where he did.

From a playing perspective perhaps but from a financial stand point the lad has received a life changing amount of money, if his career was to end tomorrow he'd probably be sorted for the rest of his life. I'm not sure you can begrudge a young lad that kind of move. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

54 minutes ago, FourFourTwo said:

From a playing perspective perhaps but from a financial stand point the lad has received a life changing amount of money, if his career was to end tomorrow he'd probably be sorted for the rest of his life. I'm not sure you can begrudge a young lad that kind of move. 

The number of modern day footballers who should be “ sorted for the rest of his life “ but end up in the bankruptcy courts would surprise you.

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, FourFourTwo said:

From a playing perspective perhaps but from a financial stand point the lad has received a life changing amount of money, if his career was to end tomorrow he'd probably be sorted for the rest of his life. I'm not sure you can begrudge a young lad that kind of move. 

Conversely, he may also have done himself out of many, many millions more, and far greater professional satisfaction, by having the career he appeared destined for. Could have sorted his whole family for generations. Instead he went to the player graveyard of Spurs and what's happens now is anyone's guess.

[Exiled_Rover]

3 hours ago, FourFourTwo said:

From a playing perspective perhaps but from a financial stand point the lad has received a life changing amount of money, if his career was to end tomorrow he'd probably be sorted for the rest of his life. I'm not sure you can begrudge a young lad that kind of move. 

I can and will.

Players like A. Wharton, Jude Bellingham etc did it correctly.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

Just curious and wondering if the young man city player Matthew Warhurst that's scored a hatrick against our under 18s is any relation to the brilliant former rover Paul Warhurst? 

Can't see any mention that he is related online, although i did spot that Paul Warhurst also started his career as a youth at man city also

Edited May 24 by Armchair supporter supremo

[hollowsr]

He's not, think the Rovers match report confirmed it 

[RoversClitheroe]

Any update on the scholars? Is Finneran there?