You’re simplifying what is a more nuanced situation.
Reading this latest post, I’m not really sure where to begin.
Disappointed in the season yet we’ve had a horrendous injury list and STILL came close to qualifying for the playoffs.
I think you have lost some perspective there.
Or
You’re done with Carrick’ and his project - which is fine, and we could all remind you of the terrible football under Warnock and the disastrous woodgate tenure which would’ve taken us towards oblivion in league one.
Young players need nurturing alongside seasoned pros.
No pathway for young players ?
Just plainly untrue.
Hackney has pushed through. Finch got minutes in the Swansea game.
You are exaggerating somewhat.
The game financially has changed in the last 5 years and with FFP and we have no parachute payments to rely on.
Throwing in too many (more than 2) young players in any one game is a risk I don’t want to see because seasoned pros against youngsters is a gift to the opposition and we gain nothing if we are tonked from fielding too many young players: their confidence is dented and the collective team’s confidence is also impacted negatively.
Hence this is a nuanced situation and very much not as simple as ‘just throw them in’
and they will survive.
Denting a young players belief at this stage can be devastating for them - plus, I trust Carricks judgement on who is good enough and who needs time.
It doesn’t sound like you do trust our Boro manager.
As with everything, there is context and nuance. Injuries haven’t helped us at all. But if you’re talking about injuries, you have to also talk about how on earth the club could go into January in need of strengthening and somehow come out of it weaker. There are several reasons why we are where we are.
I’m not done with Carrick at all. I really like him. But being a manager of Middlesbrough means, should mean, has always meant, you look to the youth teams. I was very optimistic Carrick was fully invested in it when he kept Hackney in the team - how could he have dropped him though, tbf - and gave Willis some time off the bench last winter. But since then, nobody has come through. The club has stockpiled senior players and clogged up the pathway.
This is just my opinion and I’ve posted on several times so it’s probably boring by now, but I believe that a category 1 academy should be producing players capable of stepping into the first-team of a squad that has been, let’s face it, way off the pace all season. If they’re not producing anyone capable of even coming off the bench for 10, 15, 20mins here and there during the worst injury crisis in living memory then what on earth is going on?
Personally I’m sick of watching well-paid players get chance after chance after chance. Our first-team squad is massive. Some of these players have been hanging around for ages as well. The best Boro managers take a keen interest in developing our own players. It should be a condition of taking and accepting the job.
Like when we see yet another defender hobbling off injured and he either has to change the entire shape of the team or ask Howson to play centre back again, you just think Christ have we really not developed even one lad who actually plays at centre half?
And I’m not saying we should start the next match with five teenage debutants. I’m saying there’s been a clutch of them sitting on the bench for a chunk of this year. Finch needs to play. McCabe needs to play. You have Woolston, Willis, Bridge, Nkrumah. Can these lads get a game, produce something that makes someone take notice and convince a manager of a third or fourth-tier club to think right, I want that lad in my team next season? That’s what happened with Coburn. He showed his promise, people were after him. Same with Hackney.
The crop from this season must be sent out loan this summer. What we don’t want, which we seem to see time and again with Boro, is lads coming through at 17, 18 and then still being here at 21, 22 having barely played any senior football. Players like Coulson, Walker, Robinson, Malley. They come through and their development seems to grind to a halt. I understand there can be a lot of factors as to why that’s happening but it feels like it happens a lot with Boro. To me there’s a disconnect, a gap, a line where their development just stops.
You also mentioned FFP and money. Another reason we should be developing our own players is to sell them on for good money which can then be reinvested. At the moment there is no conveyor belt. But I think that’s quite concerning considering the status and expense of our academy set up.
It’s only my opinion obvs, I don’t expect anyone to agree.
