Leicester kid called up for England

[Fez of Mahrez]

http://www.lcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Lates...1065960,00.html

Never heard of him, presumably one of the Under 16s from last season??

[Chairman of the Bored]

Where's Thracian when you need him?

[Fez of Mahrez]

Where's Thracian when you need him?

I'm not sure he'll know much about him, he certainly didn't feature for the Under 18s last season. As I said, he must have been in the Under 16s. JBF9 may know something about him?

[Milky]

He's o.k.

[Pete_foxes]

Well in a way it does not matter if we know who he is. If hes in the England sqaud he must be ok big up to the Youth system aswell its awesome!

[The People's Hero]

He's the next best thing and the best thing we can do for him is put loads of unnecessary pressure on him and chuck him in the first team where he'll be massively out of his depth. Then we can all bitch and moan when he's not as good as the ridiculous hype suggests.

That's the best thing for him.

[Chairman of the Bored]

Cap'n material for Blackpool, or so I'm led to believe?

[Thracian]

Where's Thracian when you need him?

Sorry but I've never seen him play. First team, Reserves and Under 18's is about all I can manage.

[Chairman of the Bored]

Job opportunity here then, I reckon?!

Anyway, great news and good luck to the lad.

[The People's Hero]

I hope he likes getting changed in shacks.

Right, I'm off to build a shanty town.

Who's with me?

Fez - I need your building skills.

Finners - You make the town sign (for some reason I want it in Welsh)

Daggers - You bring the Rioja. I've got the glasses.

[Chairman of the Bored]

I hope he likes getting changed in shacks.

A splinter in the jacksie from a roughly hewn seat is worth an hour of tactical briefings in my book.

[Geo V]

Never heard of he lad but its great news to see that the academy is working well. I dont know how Rudkin.Beaglehole and the rest do it but its about time that these kids actually kicked on and had solid careers because far too many come through and dont amount to much. That has got to be down to the coaching of these players when they get to the first team surely?

[Thracian]

Never heard of he lad but its great news to see that the academy is working well. I dont know how Rudkin.Beaglehole and the rest do it but its about time that these kids actually kicked on and had solid careers because far too many come through and dont amount to much. That has got to be down to the coaching of these players when they get to the first team surely?

It doesn't help if players develop in an attacking environment only to finally graduate into a largely defensive set-up.

But the other problem is instant demand.

Because of the huge sums of money involved and the consequent threat to their jobs which managers face even on the back of relatively short-term failure, it is tempting for managers to go for "tried and tested" rather than young people who will need nurturing through their inconsistency.

Today's managers and their chairmen need massive willpower.

Selecting a young player is easy but easing him through the whitewaters of first team development when they hit a few rocks and take a wrong turn requires more belief in your judgement than some will ever have.

Look at Porter. A few goals, a few assists, one of the few players last season to get anyone on the edge of their seats and yet the minute his form goes quiet fans are having doubts about him.

What does the manager do? Drop him to appease a few weak-minded critics or understand that he's hit a developmental plateau and help him negotiate the way on again upwards again?

Anyone can manage people when they're doing well.

The test is when they're struggling for some reason cos it is then that a manager shows his strength, his understanding and instils the individual with new belief and the team with a new responsibility - the responsibility for helping and lifting their team-mate through his crisis.

With an SAS team it would be second nature and so should it be for a football team.

[Ric Flair]

It doesn't help if players develop in an attacking environment only to finally graduate into a largely defensive set-up.

But the other problem is instant demand.

Because of the huge sums of money involved and the consequent threat to their jobs which managers face even on the back of relatively short-term failure, it is tempting for managers to go for "tried and tested" rather than young people who will need nurturing through their inconsistency.

Today's managers and their chairmen need massive willpower.

Selecting a young player is easy but easing him through the whitewaters of first team development when they hit a few rocks and take a wrong turn requires more belief in your judgement than some will ever have.

Look at Porter. A few goals, a few assists, one of the few players last season to get anyone on the edge of their seats and yet the minute his form goes quiet fans are having doubts about him.

What does the manager do? Drop him to appease a few weak-minded critics or understand that he's hit a developmental plateau and help him negotiate the way on again upwards again?

Anyone can manage people when they're doing well.

The test is when they're struggling for some reason cos it is then that a manager shows his strength, his understanding and instils the individual with new belief and the team with a new responsibility - the responsibility for helping and lifting their team-mate through his crisis.

With an SAS team it would be second nature and so should it be for a football team.

That's the problem though Thracian, a youngster who shows a bit of ability and then has a bad patch is always going to then have their doubters as they've never really proven their worth. Where as a player who is bought for a £1 million pounds will always be cast in a different light because they've proven their ability over a sustained period of time, so if they have a bad patch it's seen as temporary. We've seen lots of kids start off brightly and then disappear.

I hope Porter kicks on next season, so do lots of our fans as left footed wingers are hard to come by these days. But the jury is still out on him for me, but hopefully he has the drive and ambition to improve.

[Daggers]

<not quite sure what it is all about>

Thracian's previous total = 2.5

Mentioning 'defensive set-up' -1

Mentioning Porter -1

Obscure 'SAS' reference -1

Thracian's new total = -0.5

[Thracian]

That's the problem though Thracian, a youngster who shows a bit of ability and then has a bad patch is always going to then have their doubters as they've never really proven their worth. Where as a player who is bought for a £1 million pounds will always be cast in a different light because they've proven their ability over a sustained period of time, so if they have a bad patch it's seen as temporary. We've seen lots of kids start off brightly and then disappear.

I hope Porter kicks on next season, so do lots of our fans as left footed wingers are hard to come by these days. But the jury is still out on him for me, but hopefully he has the drive and ambition to improve.

Yes, yet it is sometimes strange the effect a transfer fee has.

Fryatt had a woeful last season yet seems to have been indulged far beyond where any home grown youngster who had cost nothing would have been abandoned and Akinbiyi was the classic. How long did he get picked for Leicester, not because he was playing well, but because he cost a packet?.

I would emphasise that I still hope Fryatt is successful - it is easy to forget that he too is young - but he does illustrate my point and I wonder how many youngsters not just here, but elsewhere, were prematurely written off and never recovered from the blow to their confidence at a time when quite the opposite was needed.

Ryan Smith, to me, is the classic example at Leicester. I remember thinking after the way he was ridiculed at Brighton that Kelly would never make a manager. But Smith, with the right guidance, is well capable of making a fooballer.

[The People's Hero]

Thracian's previous total = 2.5

Mentioning 'defensive set-up' -1

Mentioning Porter -1

Obscure 'SAS' reference -1

Thracian's new total = -0.5

Absolutely brilliant!

Hoisted by his own patard... or whatever the phrase is!

[Jonbluefox9]

I've heard the name mentionned before but I wouldn't know what he looks like. There were some decent players in the under 16s last season though so it doesn't surprise me that one of them is going to represent England.