Jeremy Monga

[iancognito]

4 hours ago, Tommy G said:

If you were Monga, his parents and advisors what would you be doing? Firmly taking off blue tinted specs here. 

Stay at Leicester and be the next Joachim, Heskey, Barnes, Chilwell etc. Play regularly and get a big money move as you hit your peak.....

 

.......OR.........

 

........be the next Trey Nyoni and play twice a season in the league cup.

[Ric Flair]

2 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

He looked like a child. I remember watching him warm up in one of the Europa games (it might have been Randers at home). He tiny. I just cant believe he was anywhere near ready beforehand, but his ACL probably happened right at the moment he was.

Billy Gilmour still looks like one and had a good loan move at a similar age. Braybrooke was far too good for U21 football at 18 and as you say, at the point of his ACL was more than ready but stupidly we played him in an academy game the week before the Jan window was due to shut and he was lined up to go on loan.

[James_lcfc]

2 hours ago, iancognito said:

Stay at Leicester and be the next Joachim, Heskey, Barnes, Chilwell etc. Play regularly and get a big money move as you hit your peak.....

 

.......OR.........

 

........be the next Trey Nyoni and play twice a season in the league cup.

‘The next Trey Nyoni’ is a bit harsh! 

 

Still only 17 and already has senior appearances for Liverpool! Probably wouldn’t have many more if he did stay here…

[Guest]

Am I the only one who finds it weird, to the point of being slightly uncomfortable, that we've got 15-year-olds playing at the top level of professional sport? I'm as excited as anyone by him as a player and I think it's vital for the future of the club that there is a clear, viable pathway from the academy to the first-team. You can also tell from watching him that he's good enough and he's not just been thrown in there as a novelty. I just think of myself and my friends at that age and wonder how on earth it can be a good idea to subject even the most level-headed GCSE student to the insanity that is professional football, with all the money, pressure, scrutiny and everything else it entails.

 

He is a child - instinctively something about it feels wrong to me, and not just that it makes me feel old.

[VLC86]

9 minutes ago, Guest said:

Am I the only one who finds it weird, to the point of being slightly uncomfortable, that we've got 15-year-olds playing at the top level of professional sport? I'm as excited as anyone by him as a player and I think it's vital for the future of the club that there is a clear, viable pathway from the academy to the first-team. You can also tell from watching him that he's good enough and he's not just been thrown in there as a novelty. I just think of myself and my friends at that age and wonder how on earth it can be a good idea to subject even the most level-headed GCSE student to the insanity that is professional football, with all the money, pressure, scrutiny and everything else it entails.

 

He is a child - instinctively something about it feels wrong to me, and not just that it makes me feel old.

Him playing isn’t weird, I would definitely find it weird to ask him for a photo etc though.

[iancognito]

1 hour ago, James_lcfc said:

‘The next Trey Nyoni’ is a bit harsh! 

 

Still only 17 and already has senior appearances for Liverpool! Probably wouldn’t have many more if he did stay here…

I'll stick a fiver at Ladbrokes right now he never makes 50 appearances for them. There will always be £40m signings ahead of him.

[Tommy G]

12 hours ago, iancognito said:

I'll stick a fiver at Ladbrokes right now he never makes 50 appearances for them. There will always be £40m signings ahead of him.

Blimey stick your money where your mouth is 

[Out Foxed]

20 hours ago, iancognito said:

I'll stick a fiver at Ladbrokes right now he never makes 50 appearances for them. There will always be £40m signings ahead of him.

i'm sure they'll be all over pricing up that bet....

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

22 hours ago, Guest said:

Am I the only one who finds it weird, to the point of being slightly uncomfortable, that we've got 15-year-olds playing at the top level of professional sport? I'm as excited as anyone by him as a player and I think it's vital for the future of the club that there is a clear, viable pathway from the academy to the first-team. You can also tell from watching him that he's good enough and he's not just been thrown in there as a novelty. I just think of myself and my friends at that age and wonder how on earth it can be a good idea to subject even the most level-headed GCSE student to the insanity that is professional football, with all the money, pressure, scrutiny and everything else it entails.

 

He is a child - instinctively something about it feels wrong to me, and not just that it makes me feel old.

I think this is the danger and why some don’t follow through and make it. Hopefully he’s got good people around him 

[splinterdream]

22 hours ago, Guest said:

Am I the only one who finds it weird, to the point of being slightly uncomfortable, that we've got 15-year-olds playing at the top level of professional sport? I'm as excited as anyone by him as a player and I think it's vital for the future of the club that there is a clear, viable pathway from the academy to the first-team. You can also tell from watching him that he's good enough and he's not just been thrown in there as a novelty. I just think of myself and my friends at that age and wonder how on earth it can be a good idea to subject even the most level-headed GCSE student to the insanity that is professional football, with all the money, pressure, scrutiny and everything else it entails.

 

He is a child - instinctively something about it feels wrong to me, and not just that it makes me feel old.

Nah you're right in that sense, think Rob Tanner said something similar, almost like he needs protecting for his own sake. We're not experts in this field, but from what he has said, he wants to play 1st team football, so I dunno

 

[King Claudio]

23 hours ago, Guest said:

Am I the only one who finds it weird, to the point of being slightly uncomfortable, that we've got 15-year-olds playing at the top level of professional sport? I'm as excited as anyone by him as a player and I think it's vital for the future of the club that there is a clear, viable pathway from the academy to the first-team. You can also tell from watching him that he's good enough and he's not just been thrown in there as a novelty. I just think of myself and my friends at that age and wonder how on earth it can be a good idea to subject even the most level-headed GCSE student to the insanity that is professional football, with all the money, pressure, scrutiny and everything else it entails.

 

He is a child - instinctively something about it feels wrong to me, and not just that it makes me feel old.

Agree with this. I personally think 15 too young regardless of how good they are. 

 

Loads of youngsters with top potential have had careers ruined through injury by playing too much when they are young as their body not yet developed. 

 

Michael Owen one obvious example. 

[Tommy G]

On 03/06/2025 at 20:54, King Claudio said:

Agree with this. I personally think 15 too young regardless of how good they are. 

 

Loads of youngsters with top potential have had careers ruined through injury by playing too much when they are young as their body not yet developed. 

 

Michael Owen one obvious example. 

Wayne Rooney another - had a mega career but he couldn't really do it in the top flight beyond 30/31 - by that age he looked like he'd been on a building site his entire adult life.

[HankMarvin]

2 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Wayne Rooney another - had a mega career but he couldn't really do it in the top flight beyond 30/31 - by that age he looked like he'd been on a building site his entire adult life.

Tbf he looked like that at 16

[Tommy Fresh]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

Wayne Rooney another - had a mega career but he couldn't really do it in the top flight beyond 30/31 - by that age he looked like he'd been on a building site his entire adult life.

Youri Tielemans is 28 and doesn't seemed to have shown signs of dropping off. How far has sports science come since Owen and even Rooney first broke through? 

[st albans fox]

1 minute ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Youri Tielemans is 28 and doesn't seemed to have shown signs of dropping off. How far has sports science come since Owen and even Rooney first broke through? 

It can also depend on the style of the player 

youri is a plodder 

 

strikers are more likely to be ‘explosive’ sprinters which puts more strain on the body 

[niyaminski]

On 02/06/2025 at 16:00, Finnegan said:

he's even likely to play next season, for a title chasing Championship side

He’s off to Southampton then is he? 😃

[filbertway]

Kin ell - Apparently Rooney was Brad Pitt when he burst onto the scene, but playing from the age of 15 turned him into a worn out leathery ball bag

 

[filbertway]

If Monga doesn't play for the first team he's still going to play for the 18s and 21s  or do those games not count as having an impact on a developing body?

 

People making out like these lads just sit in a shell, slowly developing until they're ready to play football.

 

Insane.

 

James Milner, ultimate pro and disciplined. Played in the prem since he was about 5 years old

[lcfc sheff]

3 minutes ago, filbertway said:

If Monga doesn't play for the first team he's still going to play for the 18s and 21s  or do those games not count as having an impact on a developing body?

 

People making out like these lads just sit in a shell, slowly developing until they're ready to play football.

 

Insane.

 

James Milner, ultimate pro and disciplined. Played in the prem since he was about 5 years old

This 100%. It’s how you look after yourself! Rooney got caught a few times smoking in public. Imagine what he’s like behind close doors! And the drinking!!

[Guest WarehamFox]

3 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

This 100%. It’s how you look after yourself! Rooney got caught a few times smoking in public. Imagine what he’s like behind close doors! And the drinking!!

And the line of old ladies, no wonder he looked knackard so young. 

[goose2010]

18 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

This 100%. It’s how you look after yourself! Rooney got caught a few times smoking in public. Imagine what he’s like behind close doors! And the drinking!!

Pirlo smoked throughout his career along with some of the greats. 

 

Players won't risk their careers now with smoking and drinking, especially the younger generation. The sales of alcohol are dropping ridiculously in the past few years and if predictions are correct they won't improve for a long time. 

[Foxmeister]

55 minutes ago, goose2010 said:

Pirlo smoked throughout his career along with some of the greats. 

 

Players won't risk their careers now with smoking and drinking, especially the younger generation. The sales of alcohol are dropping ridiculously in the past few years and if predictions are correct they won't improve for a long time. 

Johan Cruyff used to smoke in the dugout!

[goog]

[volpeazzurro]

4 hours ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Youri Tielemans is 28 and doesn't seemed to have shown signs of dropping off. How far has sports science come since Owen and even Rooney first broke through? 

He showed a lot of signs of dropping off in his last two years with us. Fortunately the Villa doctors science were able to wean him off the bone idol pills he'd been on!

[lcfcbluearmy]

On 02/06/2025 at 18:44, ALC Fox said:

I'm hesitant to suggest this with our dodgy financial behaviour, and I'm generally of the opinion that we need to take our medicine and accept that we're not going to be back in the Premier League for a few seasons.

 

However, is there anything stopping us from employing Monga's parents as 'consultants' as a way of circumventing the rule on giving Monga a professional contract? I suspect there is. But if we could actually give them some sort of role in youth player liaison, something that's provable and can survive an external audit, maybe that could help?

 

Plus, is there anything against telling the parents this is what we will pay your son when he turns 17 without actually signing anything?

No he can sign a pre contract as soon as he turns 16 this is basically a loose agreement of this is what we will pay you when you turn 17. This is commonly done and completely legal, however there is nothing stopping him backing out of it at anypoint up until he officially signs a pro contract at 17