I see from the SWA website he's gone on loan to Merthyr. I just hope this doesn't end up being another one of those promising players who never gets given a chance to improve, and ends up staying at that level.

Considering we have such huge money problems given our ownership structure, my personal opinion is that players like this should be playing - at least from the bench - to see if exposure to a better level of competitive football improves them. I appreciate that in the short term that might not be the best option, but there needs to be some more joined up thinking between the football management team and owners where our young players are concerned.

If it means we end up finishing 13th instead of 11th because of a couple of individual mistakes, then so what?

rncfc wrote:I see from the SWA website he's gone on loan to Merthyr. I just hope this doesn't end up being another one of those promising players who never gets given a chance to improve, and ends up staying at that level.

Considering we have such huge money problems given our ownership structure, my personal opinion is that players like this should be playing - at least from the bench - to see if exposure to a better level of competitive football improves them. I appreciate that in the short term that might not be the best option, but there needs to be some more joined up thinking between the football management team and owners where our young players are concerned.

If it means we end up finishing 13th instead of 11th because of a couple of individual mistakes, then so what?

My thoughts exactly

Didn't this forum sponsor his kit this season?

Waste of money then.

I thought he did well in the Checktrade game against Cheltenham.

If we are playing with 3 Centre Backs I can’t understand why he wasn’t put in with 2 experienced pros to get him through the games. Especially when we struggled with injuries.

Hopefully he’ll do well at Merthyr and be in contention for a place in the first team in August.

I don't understand why some qustion why these youngsters are sent out on loan, if they're not doing it in training, practice matches etc then why should they be risked in league games and to be honest, no disrespect intended, if a player did end up at Merthyr"s level and stayed at that level then thats probably the players true level, cream will always rise to the top

I can see him and Touray being released at the end of the season without really being given a chance of playing for the first XI.

daftasfxxx wrote:I don't understand why some qustion why these youngsters are sent out on loan, if they're not doing it in training, practice matches etc then why should they be risked in league games and to be honest, no disrespect intended, if a player did end up at Merthyr"s level and stayed at that level then thats probably the players true level, cream will always rise to the top

If the best our academy can produce isn't good enough for a middling L2 club, then we need to be asking questions of why we are throwing so much resource at it.

Look at the amount of players Exeter have sold in recent years and what they have done with the money. In my opinion it's less to do with a huge difference in facilities or coaching, and more to do with the young players actually being given a chance to improve in a competitive environment at Exeter, whereas they are not here.

daftasfxxx wrote:I don't understand why some qustion why these youngsters are sent out on loan, if they're not doing it in training, practice matches etc then why should they be risked in league games and to be honest, no disrespect intended, if a player did end up at Merthyr"s level and stayed at that level then thats probably the players true level, cream will always rise to the top

If we choose to sustain ourselves as Exeter do - nurturing and then selling academy players at profit to balance the books, then we need to be either raising their profiles and involvement in the first team, or setting strict perfornance conditions in the loan terms, so they don't end up wasted, broken or disillusioned.

rncfc wrote:I see from the SWA website he's gone on loan to Merthyr. I just hope this doesn't end up being another one of those promising players who never gets given a chance to improve, and ends up staying at that level.

Considering we have such huge money problems given our ownership structure, my personal opinion is that players like this should be playing - at least from the bench - to see if exposure to a better level of competitive football improves them. I appreciate that in the short term that might not be the best option, but there needs to be some more joined up thinking between the football management team and owners where our young players are concerned.

If it means we end up finishing 13th instead of 11th because of a couple of individual mistakes, then so what?

I agree, it does worry me the lack of faith in the youth that Flynn seems to have.

In saying that , Semenyo and Bakinson have played a lot so we can only assume Jay and Toray are not quite there yet.

Either Exeter has been lucky lately or have got a better academy, scouting system than us, seems to point to the latter but i still stand by that if the player was doing it in training, practice matches then MF would have no hesitation putting him in the first team

From what I've seen of Jay is not a lack of ability but a serous lack of pace

Baladabadi wrote:I can see him and Touray being released at the end of the season without really being given a chance of playing for the first XI.

Wasn't Foulston given a 2 year contract and Touray 1 ?

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote:

Baladabadi wrote:I can see him and Touray being released at the end of the season without really being given a chance of playing for the first XI.

Wasn't Foulston given a 2 year contract and Touray 1 ?

Yep, Foulston is contracted with us for next year. Touray isn't.

whoareya wrote: If we choose to sustain ourselves as Exeter do - nurturing and then selling academy players at profit to balance the books, then we need to be either raising their profiles and involvement in the first team, or setting strict perfornance conditions in the loan terms, so they don't end up wasted, broken or disillusioned.

This, 100%.

Liverpool brought on a lad the other night after 6mins (because of injury) at 0-0 in an important cup game who was 16 years old. 16! He did okay, got some useful experience under his belt and will doubtless benefit from the experience. I can't imagine us doing the same, and that's a pity.

I've not seen much of Foulston, but I know that Touray looks like a talent from what I've seen of his goals on Sgorio. With Harris gone, I'd argue we should bring him back and give him the same chances we were giving Harris. There's no point developing other teams' players at the expense of developing our own, especially when we need to sell players or have a cup run every season to balance the books.

Think it is a little unfair to compare our academy with just Exeter . Now if it's a fact that every other League 2's academy are regularly producing players for their first team or selling them for large sums, them obviously we have a cause for concern. I don't believe that is true. I'm sure these things are usually cyclical. I remember Man U dominating the premiership with a large % of the team coming through their academy. Not many nowadays.

Whilst the academy subject has been raised. Anyone know what's happening with replacing Byron Anthony?