Not Afraid To Play Their Young Players Either

Often quite regularly, and with good effect.

We seem terrified of playing ours and it never seems the right time to do so, theres always an excuse-can't if we're doing well as there will be pressure on them, can't if we're struggling as the fans will put pressure on them, can't at the start of the season, middle of the season, end of thes eason, indeed, according to PG, can't really in this league at all as its "too tough".

Countless other clubs have proved that if your young players are good enough, they more than merit a place in the team and can do well-look at Southampton with Walcott, Bale, and now a couple more; Derby with Huddlestone and Barnes...two examples, there are plenty more.

If ours are good enough, they should be playing or certainly very much in contention-Martin and Spillane being the best examples, Lewis, Cave-Brown and Smart not far behind within the next year-eighteen months. How confident does it make Lewis if we sign two keepers in the summer, and how must Spillane feel, he has never let anyone down when picked and is a natural centre back, getting great reviews at his international level and from top pros-yet he doesn't seem to have a chance-if thats because they aren't good enough, then why is that?

We could seriously learn a lot from Ipswich about that aspect of the game. True, they may have been forced to play a lot of the young players because of circumstances, but, if we don't create something now with the sort of money we seem to be spending on new players and contracts, then we don't want to end up in the sort of situation they were in and depending on our young players. This season has a sort of "up or bust" feel to it, and thats a tad worrying because we may not be ready yet, no matter who comes in or what is spent.

And good seasons for players like Marshall, semi and a few others will almost certainly see them go in the Summer and we'll end up having to start all over again.

Posted By: Martin Peters, Aug 26, 15:37:42