Academy/Development/Youth Squads/U18/U21 2026/2027

[BKLFox]

13 hours ago, Stadt said:

The counterpoint is a player might be dropped by Watford and end up at Bishop’s Stortford. Failing at Man City or Chelsea gets you another few decent moves still.

 

I agree generally though.

Ooh I agree but in the main if thought of enough to go to Man City in what ever capacity the chances are you’re not going to end up at Bishops Stortford from a Watford but yes an outside chance.

 

I think my main point away from attitudes etc is that these kids sometimes need protecting from themselves and from their advisors.

If we go back to 2015 and look at Patrick Robert’s then 15 in Fulham’s academy with what looks like the world at his feet & with comparisons to a young Messi & was already playing in the England U20 he jumps to Man C then it all goes wrong career wise.

He basically spent the following 7yrs bouncing around out of a suitcase until finally in 2022 he gets a free transfer to Sunderland who were in League 1.

He got his life back and helped get them to the premier league, he is still only 29 & plays for Birmingham now.

This is a kid that had the world at his feet but almost his entire career he’s spent on loan and his total transfer costs are under €12.5m.

What happened with that jump from Fulham to Man C given the quality he had?

It’s this I worry for Monga, Man C don’t spend 10m for a lad to be an eventual starter he’s there as part of the money churn and I feel he will bounced around the CFG circuit gathering CFG credits before eventually selling him on as a Man C academy product & there are no guarantees where that will be.

I also believe it would be the same for Page going to Man U for 15m he will be looked over because they will buy someone else for 55m+ to play that position and offset that cost with loans and a future sale of Page.

 

What might have happened to Robert’s, he had already got minutes in the premier league with Fulham 1mth after his 15th birthday including 35mins against Man C which probably stoked their initial interest but Fulham were relegated that season which then allowed him to get 17 games in the championship before Man City got him in the winter window of 14/15 season.
Fulham got promotion 2yrs later Robert’s would have been a solid part of that team had he stayed and still only 17 instead he found himself in the SPL before going on this mega loan tour I think options would have been sizeable for 17yr old who would have been part of promoted size.

In his case we can’t blame his attitude as every manager he worked under gave him a glowing reference for his professionalism and hard work, his downfall was getting into a machine far to early.

 

 

[HarryDee8]

Why ain't our striker in waiting josh king or our winger Lorenz Hutchinson made our first team bench??

 

Both showing they can score and look to take on their players man to man

 

They need minutes and their not that worse then some of our first teamers

[Holly B]

4 minutes ago, HarryDee8 said:

Why ain't our striker in waiting josh king or our winger Lorenz Hutchinson made our first team bench??

 

Both showing they can score and look to take on their players man to man

 

They need minutes and their not that worse then some of our first teamers

Josh King ??

He hasn’t played a full game in about 12 months and has hardly been prolific at either u18 or u21 level in terms of goal scoring.

Lorenz has at least been playing but he isn’t ready yet. Plenty of way better u21 strikers we could get try and get in on loan whilst those two get to the required level by playing every week.

[Chelmofox]

1 minute ago, Holly B said:

Josh King ??

He hasn’t played a full game in about 12 months and has hardly been prolific at either u18 or u21 level in terms of goal scoring.

Lorenz has at least been playing but he isn’t ready yet. Plenty of way better u21 strikers we could get try and get in on loan whilst those two get to the required level by playing every week.

Based on what. What other u21 strikers are better than Hutchingson?

[Holly B]

Mheuka

Furo

Two off the top of my head

 

[Ryy]

2 hours ago, Holly B said:

Mheuka

Furo

Two off the top of my head

 

Mheuka is unbelievable I really hope he’s not poached soon 

[honeybradger]

2 hours ago, Holly B said:

Mheuka

Furo

Two off the top of my head

 

There was a time when our U21s played Chelsea back in 2019 and Tino Anjorin looked lightyears ahead of Dewsbury Hall.

 

Now Dewsbury Hall is one of the top midfielders in the PL whereas Anjorin cannot get a game in Serie A.

 

Chelsea may have better talents than ours but our talents when nurtured properly can outmatch them in the long run.

 

Hutchinson is the same, Mheuka might be the better player today but if we put our trust in Hutchinson there wont be a comparison between them in 5 years time.

[coolhandfox]

2 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

There was a time when our U21s played Chelsea back in 2019 and Tino Anjorin looked lightyears ahead of Dewsbury Hall.

 

Now Dewsbury Hall is one of the top midfielders in the PL whereas Anjorin cannot get a game in Serie A.

 

Chelsea may have better talents than ours but our talents when nurtured properly can outmatch them in the long run.

 

Hutchinson is the same, Mheuka might be the better player today but if we put our trust in Hutchinson there wont be a comparison between them in 5 years time.

Impossible to predict who will be better in 5 year time out of the 2.

[honeybradger]

10 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Impossible to predict who will be better in 5 year time out of the 2.

You underestimate the impact that a club putting its full trust in a player can make. There is a new Mheuka at Chelsea every couple of years yet they rarely make it.

 

Mheuka will struggle to gain the trust of Chelsea as they can always bring in a new £50mil forward. Look at the difference in Mount's performances for Chelsea when they had a transfer ban Vs when they started bringing in players to replace him.

 

If Hutchinson was made to be one of the main men here that would give him a brilliant platform to kick off from. The long term trajectories of the two players will be down to how the respective clubs manage them in the long run.

Edited 30 August by honeybradger

[HarryDee8]

Every position should have 2-3 players ready and waiting. Which is a problem we have had for the last 3 seasons.

 

The youth need to be on the bench to test the current batch.  Lorenz Hutchinson can't be that much worse then the current lot in his position 

Edited 30 August by HarryDee8

[honeybradger]

Another good comparison would be Izzet.

 

Not considered to be Chelsea's best youth player at the time but after being given a solid long term platform by us went on to be the best player of his cohort.

 

If we could sign Mheuka on a permanent it would be a different story but Hutchinson being developed as our own player > Mheuka on a loan.

[coolhandfox]

42 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

You underestimate the impact that a club putting its full trust in a player can make. There is a new Mheuka at Chelsea every couple of years yet they rarely make it.

 

Mheuka will struggle to gain the trust of Chelsea as they can always bring in a new £50mil forward. Look at the difference in Mount's performances for Chelsea when they had a transfer ban Vs when they started bringing in players to replace him.

 

If Hutchinson was made to be one of the main men here that would give him a brilliant platform to kick off from. The long term trajectories of the two players will be down to how the respective clubs manage them in the long run.

Injuries, luck, personality, how they adapt to coaching can all play a massive part.

 

Giving someone a platform is only one element.

 

Impossible to predict 5 years time.

 

If you can you are in the wrong job and should be a football scout.

 

 

 

 

 

[lcfc sheff]

A lot has been said about other teams nicking our academy talents this summer. 
 

hope after seeing Jayden Joseph the club can perhaps start looking at poaching other teams u21s with a promise of a pathway

[Mungongo]

U21s play at Man Utd at 2pm today

[Kinowe Soorie]

How many of our former academy players are currently playing in the Prem, or with Prem clubs?

1. Barnes.
2. Dewsbury-Hall.

3.Calvin Bassey.

4. Monga.

5. Kipré.

6. Nyoni.

7. McAteer.

Edited 31 August by Kinowe Soorie

[moore_94]

32 minutes ago, Kinowe Soorie said:

How many of our former academy players are currently playing in the Prem, or with Prem clubs?

1. Barnes.
2. Dewsbury-Hall.

3.Calvin Bassey.

4. Monga.

5. Kipré.

6. Nyoni.

McAteer

[Rubbersoul]

The game at 2 is probably being shown on MUTV 

[coolhandfox]

Hutchinson playing so not he's off just yet.

[Holly B]

22 hours ago, Holly B said:

Mheuka

Furo

Two off the top of my head

 

 

[moore_94]

No Tommy Neale for the under 21s, hopefully off on loan

 

 

[DJ Barry Hammond]

Might Tommy be needed Tuesday @moore_94 

 

Skipp’s still out and Page and Braybrooke played the full 90 on Saturday.

 

Plus, from his pre-season he deserves a shot at the first team.

Edited 31 August by DJ Barry Hammond

[lcfc sheff]

Any links for the game?

[ACF]

That’s a fair finish from Lacey

[Holly B]

1-1

[moore_94]

Lacey again