Hup

Plays 4, 8 or 10 and isn’t 21 until the summer.

A fair number have already been told their futures lie elsewhere. Captaincy has been moved around since Backwell got injured against Sunderland who was named 21s skipper a couple of days before that game. McCrorie looked a little rusty (as you would expect) first 15/20 mins. After that very good. Strong, committed - really powerful going forward with very good delivery and shirks nothing. Good on the ball too (for a big lad!)! Put a real shift in. GT will have his work cut out once RM is fully match fit.

Pearson suspended (5 yellows). Araoye same injury as Backwell & OTC.

This is how young players get bullshit reputations. There is no ‘doghouse’ situation with Marlee or Omar (albeit he didn’t cover himself in glory preseason - and that was on pitch too). Form, or lack there of, that’s it. And OTC has been injured for a while on top of that. ‘Fans’ need to be more conscious of rumour mongering particularly with young players trying to forge a career. It’s ridiculous and not fair on the individuals concerned.

Firstly. It’s a job. Just so happens they kick a ball for a living. You never had a day when we weren’t quite on it? Or it didn’t go your way for whatever reason. Footballers are people. No more. No less. Everyone is built differently. It happens. Which leads me to my second point - you have clearly never kicked a ball at any sort of level to be coming out with backward shouts like comparing it to other jobs. But everyone is entitled to an opinion. To each their own

Absolutely. Like they say - Fail to prepare… And yes AFCB would have been a decent side. But City have a good crop too. As highlighted against Spurs. Games like these depend on how players are wired… if a few don’t fancy it always going to be an uphill battle - Which by the sounds of it is exactly what happened!!

One player actually did that for the Charlton game and had to train on his own at HPC instead!

This is what happens when they meet at HPC at 7am spend 3 hours on a coach and are expected to perform. Same away at Charlton. Absolutely ridiculous.

Great desire / tackle in midfield for the second one to start the move

Leeson a very outside chance. As an example - OTC not a cat in hells… (crying wolf on tour with injuries put pay to that) the ‘pathway’ door is very much closed with decent recruitment this summer and a clean bill of health amongst senior pros. ‘Chances’ were given at the back end of the season on the premise of a thread bare squad - nothing else. The only way that changes is if senior pros aren’t getting game time and want out or if injuries in volume rares it’s ugly head again.

Stop with all that common sense ? A loan or two to be announced in next 48hrs as well.

Owura started the second half - didn’t start the game. Yeboah did (came off after 55/60mins) and scored the first goal. Good finish.

We’ll you won’t see many better goalkeeping performances at any level than the Coventry lad today!! Kadji - more and more like Bakinson every time I see him. Can’t help but think he’s not a Pearson type player.

Just out of curiosity. If a player is deemed to be fit enough to play (because they don’t play if they are not - S&C won’t allow it) and play 90 minutes consistently for over six weeks (apart from his first game where minutes were managed) - how else do you judge a player? There’s a reason he’s nowhere near the first team. Performance levels and application. Nothing to do with fitness.

That was the plan - however they should have be subbed regardless. Woeful. Both offered absolutely nothing. Fear for Wilson’s future at the club tbh.

Both injured

Both players been out injured for 12/14 weeks. First starts in that period for both. Planned 45 and 60 mins respectively.

Strong display this afternoon. U21s doing what they do really well. Happy to play without the ball and hit on the counter. Really tight, solid shape not allowing an average Everton side to create and when they did, snuffed everything out. Back three were excellent. Especially Duncan & Jamie KL. Omar TC looking like first team exposure is aiding his development. Seb PH ran his socks off as usual with little to feed off. U21s are a tough nut to crack. Great result.

Agree with some of this. There has to be balance. Bottom line as a fan, all that matters is winning games. 3 points above all else. Any other positives on top of that are a bonus. Ie. Performance, playing style, quality of game etc. I do however disagree with ‘we pay our money so…’. As fans our ‘job’ is to support the team, no matter what. Not get a red mist after a few pints and lose the plot which as we all know Ashton Gate is very guilty of, either that or complete silence. Which is sometimes worse. The impact fans have on players young and older is massive. I know for a fact that until this recent run of form players, and I quote ‘hated playing at home’. Can’t wait for away games. The players talk and how the fans are at home is a massive issue for the squad. Hugely affects performance. Some people often either don’t understand that or care as long as they can have a rant. It’s a two way thing I know!

Tired and pressed the wrong button - no big deal! ?

When the club are clearly identifying using academy products as part of the strategy fans need to remember to be patient. Young kids take time to find their feet and that means patience from fans. So often are they either lauded too highly or castigated for one or two opportunities or small amounts of minutes on the pitch to aid their development which don’t go to plan. Sam Bell is the perfect example of that. Battered from all quarters because of his performances at wing back or coming on as sub for 5 minutes here and there. Gets his chance (in terms of decent game time) in his favoured position and he’s smashing it. Doing exactly what he does in the 21s. Then you have the likes Joe Low who has had to go out on loan because of the disgusting treatment he received. Fans need to be more aware of the impact they have on a young players confidence and their ability to try and step up.

Theres always an exception to the rule. Wells is a consummate professional - I think with him being at the other end of his career he also realises what he can offer the younger lads in terms of leading by example. I don’t think there’s any concern in terms of ‘infection’ - a massively driven bunch of very good players desperate to carve out a career. The good thing in todays game is that bad eggs rarely get very far and we prioritise good personality in equal measure to ability when it comes to offering academy and professional contracts.

This isn’t an issue prevalent only to this club. If you’ve played at a decent level you’ll know that when ‘first team’ players play for the reserves (in this case the 21s) it is very much about either a) getting out of the game what they need to on an individual basis or b) they’ve been told they have to play. This happens all over the country at any decent level. So the motivation to play in games like this the higher up you go diminishes. There’s an argument to suggest that most of these players would be better off training than chasing a load of kids around in a game they don’t want to particularly be involved in. It’s very easy to criticise players in this game when you don’t do it for a living day in day out and know how it works. For those who say they should give 110% in any game regardless of first team or 21s have clearly never played. Chill out. Having said that - getting beat is not a good look and the players will be made well aware of that and will either solidify or justify the gaffers next move with certain individuals.

Backwell is a midfielder (No8)