A requirement according to most british coaches, but Brendan Rogers had good results with Swansea with Britton and Allen in midfield. We'll see, but I thought Dozell was excellent and I'm glad Downing had the courage to play him there.
Guardiola has said that referees in England allow much more physicality than on the continent and that's why teams opt to go as direct as they do and focus on speed, size and strength as much as they do. The FA control the referees do they not? Surely they could have a word.
It's a culture that is going to be very hard to change, if the referees start giving fouls for the slightest thing they'll just receive 1000x more abuse which is the last thing the FA need to be honest.
In case anyone missed it: 📄🖊️ | We are delighted to announce that Ike Ugbo has joined the Reds from @ChelseaFC! #COYR pic.twitter.com/rYLGXc6GpN— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) July 17, 2017
I think he'd do fine with one of the championship's more progressive managers like Stam at Reading but with Mccarthy I think he favours the more agricultural football style he used to play (maybe took the 'tractor boys' identity a little too literally!) Pity as Ipswich under Burley were such an attractive team to watch for the most part.
All they need to do is officiate the game the same way they do in the Champions League. The difference isn't that stark, but it all adds up.
And Mount confirming in an interview with thefa that he's looking to join vitesse. great news: “The next step for me is to play men’s football, go on loan [to Vitesse Arnhem] and improve at the next level.
Saw that, didn't know if it was the reporter or editor implying it as it's inserted in parentheses rather than as a direct quote. I mean it's happening anyway but it's a bit weird on the FA's part.
They'll have the chance to, Colkett's most effective as a deep orchestrator and Mount's better as a 10 behind the striker. Vitesse have used Colkett in that way in pre-season so far and Mount will challenge for a place in his proper position too.
Thanks. Still have high hopes for Colkett, hopefully this loan will be more successful than the one at Bristol Rovers.
Leicester have had a 1m bid rejected for George Hirst. Unbelievable that he isn't involved with SWFC first team in pre-season.
Yeah, it's an odd one. I'm not sure if he's been left out because he's likely to leave or just because we're overloaded with senior strikers - which we are - but either way it's disappointing. I like Carvalhal but if he isn't making sure that Hirst at least has the sense that he's progressing then I think he's being quite short-sighted. As it is, I couldn't really blame Hirst if he did decide to go.
Wednesday's record with young players last season was horrific, just 384 minutes of football for U22s. Hirst (13), Wildsmith (90) & Dawson (281). The worst in the Championship by some distance
Has been for a long time, but in fairness to our senior managers that's tended to be because the academy was failing to produce anyone who was even close to the required standard. Now that we are, two of them (Wildsmith and Dawson) play in the same position as arguably our best player, so it's really just Hirst who I think we're handling badly at the moment.
On the subject of Hirst, Carvalhal has confirmed that he left him at home because he has too many senior strikers. To which the obvious riposte is: don't sign seven ********ing senior strikers then. This is something that really aggravates me at other clubs so I can't excuse my own. If you have promising youngsters, it isn't enough just to say "oh we'll try to find chances for them" after padding your squad out to bursting point with two reserves in every position, each of whom has to be given a game whenever possible to keep him happy. You actually do have to leave yourself exposed to the possibility that you might need those youngsters. If we're playing this season with two up top as it appears, then fine - choose your three favourite senior strikers and make Hirst the fourth. Sell the rest. If we don't, then of course he's going to leave, because there's no reason for him to hang around in the reserves without any indication that he'll ever break out of them.
This was missed as it seems City have been trying to secure their 'more highly rated' talents in recent days ie Francis, Latibeaudiere, Smith, Richards etc with the 'big 3' Foden, Brahim, Sancho Very happy to sign my first professional contract at Manchester City! A great day for me and my family. The hard work starts now! 💙💙 #MCFC pic.twitter.com/dJuFGXjLWY— Edward Francis (@edwardfrancis38) July 16, 2017
Spot on mate. Just think he can contribute this season like Brereton and Ugbo can at Championship level. Even Niall Ennis if he gets back to his best but it seems Wolves just keep adding bodies from Europe to their squad. Got to wonder where it leaves Gibbs-White as well. All about letting him take in the experience of pre-season at least and you go from there. He should have looked to ditch Nuhiu and Hooper. Rhodes-Winnall-Fletcher-Hirst are awesome options in Championship.
I absolutely love everything I've seen of Hirst, I think he's potentially as good as any striking prospect in the country. Might be bold but he's legitimately got the lot.
I've long got the impression Sheffield Wednesday have the most unproductive academy in the country, especially considering they are not a small club (though Stoke's is pretty poor too). I remember at the start of the academy era they had plenty of talented youngsters like Nicholson, Haslam , Hamshaw and Morrison though they never fulfilled their potential. Last decade and a half though virtually nothing. Now they finally to have a star in the making coming through he's confronted by a massive wall of a first team squad stockpiling strikers they've bought in. Its not even a case of prioritising short term promotional priorities over long term development. Hirst has given every indication he is ready in the short term. He literally couldn't have performed any better at youth and under-23 level last season - the guy scored just about every time he played, at least once. He's also looked the business for England. Being confined to under-23 football when he ought to be in the senior squad is just going to stall his career and his development as a player. If Wednesday have no use for one of English football's brightest young talents then sell him to someone that does or at least set up a decent loan for him - they owe him that much.
A loan might be ok in theory, but I can't see us loaning him when he only has a year left on his contract, and I struggle to see him signing a longer contract when we aren't involving him. In any event, is a loan really good enough? If he was on the books of, say, Chelsea then they'd be looking to loan him to a decent Championship side with a reasonably sophisticated playing style and a good chance of having a successful season - in other words, someone like us. Who are we going to loan him to? We aren't Chelsea. We are his level.
Well ideally another smaller championship club - one that doesn't threaten to challenge for promotion. Hopefully Burton haven't been put off the loan market by the Woodrow stint! Otherwise SPL would be a good opportunity to raise his profile or even league 1 just to get some senior football under his belt. If he's not going to be staying at the Wednesday they've nothing to gain from keeping him on in the youth ranks. A move to a prem team and then loan back to the championship (to a squad not jampacked with senior strikers) would be ideal though. I remember his Dad being targeted by Man U at one point in time. Would have been interesting seeing him and Cantona lining up together, though might have done that during Eric trial period at Wednesday I guess!
I can understand with no window needing to ensure you've got sufficient senior options - but 4 senior strikers, especially when they are of the quality that Wednesday have is more than enough. At ITFC we have massively trimmed down the size of squad, think at the moment we are 10 senior players short from where we were at end of the season - we'll still add a couple more but think it is now a case of more quality rather than quantity and using the youngsters to fill any gaps that come up which is what most here would prefer rather than a bloated squads of not good enoughs which affects the quality of the first teamers by sucking money out of the budget