Home Grown Talent...

[Pederho ll]

So, the pain is slowly but surely subsiding, and thinking about the forth coming season isn't quite so bad afterall.

The team that GJ has assembled has a believe and a will to win over and above any BCFC team I have watched over the last 10 years or so I would never knock the commitment and endevour that is characterised by this group of players.

However, would the team/squad produce an even greater passion for victory if it contained some home grown players?

I do not have an in-depth knowledge of the players on the fringe of the main squad, but surely be reason that they have contracts and are connected with the football club, must mean that they have a decent amount of ability. Surely these sort of players would give us an extra 10%, being born and bred BCFC fans?! I would love to see a couple of Bristol lads being given the opportunity of forging a run in the first team squad. Afterall, what's the point of spending great time and expense if there not going to get the opporunity of proving their worth. I hear Plummer/Artus are great prospects, but why not make them players of today, rather than prospects of tomorrow.

Just thought, and would love to hear what other think?

This is not a Stewart or Doherty thread so let's not send it in that direction please!

[Roger Red Hat]

So, the pain is slowly but surely subsiding, and thinking about the forth coming season isn't quite so bad afterall.

The team that GJ has assembled has a believe and a will to win over and above any BCFC team I have watched over the last 10 years or so I would never knock the commitment and endevour that is characterised by this group of players.

However, would the team/squad produce an even greater passion for victory if it contained some home grown players?

I do not have an in-depth knowledge of the players on the fringe of the main squad, but surely be reason that they have contracts and are connected with the football club, must mean that they have a decent amount of ability. Surely these sort of players would give us an extra 10%, being born and bred BCFC fans?! I would love to see a couple of Bristol lads being given the opportunity of forging a run in the first team squad. Afterall, what's the point of spending great time and expense if there not going to get the opporunity of proving their worth. I hear Plummer/Artus are great prospects, but why not make them players of today, rather than prospects of tomorrow.

Just thought, and would love to hear what other think?

This is not a Stewart or Doherty thread so let's not send it in that direction please!

In Plummer's case I would imagine that his physique is the problem as he undoubtedly has tremendous ability. Hopefully he will develop over the coming season.

Artus has always looked good when i've seen him but at Champ level? Who knows.

[Nibor]

I'd like to see more players coming through but it's understandable given that we've been in promotion battles the last two seasons that it's hard to find a good opportunity to blood them in a low pressure match.

However it's down to the players themselves to use the summer and the pre-season to force their way into the starting XI. If they come back in top condition and shine in the friendlies the manager can't and I'm sure won't ignore them.

[wackojacko14]

I agree. Some of the best players we have had for recent years came up through the academy e.g. Carey, Hill, Coles, Doherty etc... And We do have good prospects in the youth set-up as well like Kington, Jackson, Stearn, Stambolziev, and the rest, so the future does look bright. As in for the ones on the brink of the first team, I would deffo give Plummer a pop in pre-season, he a very good player and might be the flair and pace we need up top, and lets face it, Maradona wasn't the tallest or strongest was he. As for Artus, again, very good player, but we have other good centre midfielders at the club that i can't see him really getting past, Carle, Elliott, Johnson, Skuse, Orr can play there, Wilson can play there as well, but I'll have no problem playing him in pre-season to see if he fits in. Ribeiro, not homegrown but has come through the ranks, looks very promising, and won't be too surprised to see him introduced into first team plans soon.

[sunningdalered]

Apologies for this post - which is a bit of an exercise in stating the ******* obvious...but.....unless the point of the academy is limited to only providing city with players when we are in div 1 and lower - which would seem a little lacking in ambition - then, Yes, it must make sense for us to be trying to bring a couple of lads through into the first team, rather than reaching for the cheque-book so quickly all the time.

So, why isn't this happening at the moment? - maybe there are just not any prospects good enough to be thrown into the first team, and the reserve team set-up and loan deals designed to get players playing, is failing to enable what youngsters we do have to develop sufficiently for first team football. I hear the same names being mentioned as possible breakthroughs all the time - but its not happening is it. Do we really not have a late-stage academy player capable of challenging Jamie McA or Wilson for a starting place?

Are we now maintaining an academy purely on the off-chance that one day a gem will be unearthed - which will then justify the existence of the academy for a few more years? Or is the academy just a community project to engender future support?

Others have pointed out on OTIB many times before that if we had won on Sat you would probably have heard the groans from Failand in Wembley Park, as 100 youngsters saw their prospects of first team football disappear even further into the future.

Still hurting..........

[Bristolian76]

Really think the likes of Ribiero and Plummer should have a season out on loan at League One clubs, The Championship is no place to blood youngsters straight from the reserves/youth setups IMO, the club has moved on massively since the days of Woodman, Caret etc getting their debuts in the 1st team, I'm sure GJ will do whats best for their careers.