Bit surprised to see Jamie Soule (19 in a couple of months), Nick Clayton-Phillips (20 this month), Finn Azaz (19), Rayhaan Tulloch (18) and Jack Fitzwater (22 in a few weeks) all stay here despite being further away from the first team than I am, especially with how well Leko’s loan spell has started. Not quite sure what the grand plan is with these lads if i’m honest, and I worry we will lose them without them ever playing for us with at least 1 or 2 coming back to bite. All of these lads had stand out ore seasons one way or another (be that playing first team, or impressing for the reserves), yet they will now spend another few months playing reserve football with no real chance of making first team.
Can’t blame the likes of Barry, Rodgers, Smith, Sinclair, Brown, Roberts, Dhanda and Throne for leaving our academy in recent years, because, despite giving a couple of these lads opportunities, we are still falling back on giving enough of them the right pathways.