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U18s

Sideways Jim

By Sideways Jim,
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suewhistle

suewhistle

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, The Cat said:

West Ham seem a much bigger team, very strong.

Yes, a bit older apparently, which was commented on, and from what I saw of the game was reflected in both physique and experience. Saint's only goal was made by our only player who seemed to match their size and physicality.

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Mr Saints

Mr Saints

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I live locally so I went along to it. We were second best but did not help ourselves with the insistence of playing out from goal kicks, the two centre backs looked so uncomfortable in possession, but that’s the “playbook” I guess 🙄

 

positives were Stepien-Iwumene (number 8 ) in midfield looks a player with good presence and Dibling showed good awareness and touches. That’s about it.

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Fabrice29

Fabrice29

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Posted

Meghoma is going to be some player, thought he was the stand out Saints player yesterday. Lots of the others were bullied and that can happen at this level so no shame in that especially as I thought technically at times Saints looked the more comfortable on the ball. Reckon there will be more out of that Saints team making it than the West Ham team in a few years but tough match up against one of the strongest youth teams in the country right now.

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Hodgey

Hodgey

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Posted

Shame the wheels have come off a bit, as there seems to be some talented players at this age group,  I don’t like the playing younger players excuses - if you are getting thumped by 7 and 6 there is more to it than that.

on the Athletic comments there was someone who seemed very ITK who said Doyle won’t sign a new contract and will sign with someone else, and Payne is wanted by 3 Prem clubs (but under contract). That’s a bit worrying as Morgan and Doyle were seen as two of our best. I wonder if some players are understandably below par due to being unsettled.

hearing good things about the two ex Spurs lads, with Ballard described as a great talent who needs to work on his decision making - which sounds worryingly similar to many of our 1st team attackers !!

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SaintNewForest

SaintNewForest

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Posted
12 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

Shame the wheels have come off a bit, as there seems to be some talented players at this age group,  I don’t like the playing younger players excuses - if you are getting thumped by 7 and 6 there is more to it than that.

on the Athletic comments there was someone who seemed very ITK who said Doyle won’t sign a new contract and will sign with someone else, and Payne is wanted by 3 Prem clubs (but under contract). That’s a bit worrying as Morgan and Doyle were seen as two of our best. I wonder if some players are understandably below par due to being unsettled.

hearing good things about the two ex Spurs lads, with Ballard described as a great talent who needs to work on his decision making - which sounds worryingly similar to many of our 1st team attackers !!

 

Doyle signed a contract last summer. He can't just walk out and is under contract. Not comparable to Morgan. 

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SaintNewForest

SaintNewForest

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3 minutes ago, daldridge7 said:

It was a two year contract wasn’t it? That means it’s up at the end of this season. You can only sign them up to short contracts at that age

 

A 2-year contract signed in the summer of 2022 would expire in 2024.

So, he either has a year or 2 (depending on the length of his pro-deal signed last summer) and either way, he still has a contract with us for next season.

We have to move heaven and earth to keep the likes of Doyle and Ballard here, in my opinion. Otherwise what's the point in having the academy. 

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david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
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Any criticism of recent U18 performances must be tempered with a few key factors that can explain the situation better.

The early season successes of the U21 side can be attributed to the 6 or 7 lads from the 2021/22 intake who began as 8 year olds

( JJ Morgan (now Chelsea), Ballard, Dibling, Doyle )...yet all started the season at U21 level, despite still qualifying to play U18 level. 

In January this year , we sent out 7 of the " regular U21 squad "  on various loans, in addition to 8 others,  already out on various loans.

 

The massive changes in the U18 squad since then have meant that many of the new intake, even includes some  14 and 15 year olds

who are coming up against opponents  3 and 4 years older, yet still manage to DAJFU , despite the massive  age differences. 

Indeed, (in particular)  15 y.o  Jay Robinson has earned starts with U21 side  and even scored twice to win a game at Aston Villa.

 

Aside from the "schoolboy players ",  the current U18 lads are almost entirely first year graduates and struggling to come to terms with U18 level.

This is not all bad news but extremely encouraging, as when they move up a level next season, it will make the club's choice of those who 

who are retained even harder.    Inevitably, some will not make the grade, and some others may slip through the net but succeed elsewhere.

The big dilemma is anticipating who may be  " those late developers "  who will not shine whilst they are still in their teens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JRM

JRM

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Eric The Red said:

I see West Ham won the Youth Cup final tonight, winning 5-1 at the Emirates so perhaps our 1-6 at their place wasn't so bad?

It's an unusual score for a final that's for sure, makes you wonder if West Ham have a few older lads masquerading as u18s. They took 7000 fans to the Emirates for the final, impressive turn out. 

Hopefully our lads get another chance to win something in the B team play offs 

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

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On 08/04/2023 at 06:18, david in sweden said:

Seems like the Hammers don't sign any teenager under 6 feet tall....

.... either that, or someone ought to look a bit closer at their birth certificates ! 

their team are top of the U18 league and have at least a dozen points lead...

Notice that West Ham beat Arsenal 5-1 in the Youth Cup Final so this puts our semi final defeat in some sort of perspective.
Perhaps we could look at getting a couple of their players in as loanees next season in the Championship

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Eric The Red

Eric The Red

Posted
Posted

I see the U 18's won their final game this afternoon, 5-1 against Arsenal with a Ballard hattrick. Surely it would be worth putting him , and perhaps 1 or 2 of the others on the bench for the last few first team games. They can't do worse than our usual subs!

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Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Eric The Red said:

Tyler Dibling played for England 1-0 win vs Croatia tonight in the Euro U17 championships. Shame he's not available for a runout on Sunday.

Good assist too. Would be good to have him and a few others feature a bit more for the u23s next year, but most important for him is consistent football and finding his favoured position in the team. I've seen him play on the left, right, as a 10 and as part of a front two.

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david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted
On 19/05/2023 at 10:49, Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan said:

Good assist too. Would be good to have him and a few others feature a bit more for the u23s next year, but most important for him is consistent football and finding his favoured position in the team. I've seen him play on the left, right, as a 10 and as part of a front two.

Tyler Dibling has a real talent, (or else why did Chelsea want to pay 6 mill. for him?) .... but is still a tad behind Dom Ballard

in his development, but in a year or two.... we could have a really good squad when the year 2005-born lads move upto the senior level. 

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The Cat

The Cat

Posted
Posted

A few new names in the U18 side playing out in Italy at the moment.

3 of the starting 11 were born in 2008, including Gomes who will surely be a regular in the team this season. 

Nice to see my son's friend was captain.

Screenshot_2023-07-29-09-12-32-60_0b2fce7a16bf2b728d6ffa28c8d60efb.jpg

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Master Bates

Master Bates

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Posted
9 minutes ago, The Cat said:

A few new names in the U18 side playing out in Italy at the moment.

3 of the starting 11 were born in 2008, including Gomes who will surely be a regular in the team this season. 

Nice to see my son's friend was captain.

Screenshot_2023-07-29-09-12-32-60_0b2fce7a16bf2b728d6ffa28c8d60efb.jpg

Is that kicking off now?

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The Cat

The Cat

Posted
Posted

Probably worth updating this thread as they have started their season now.

Lost 5-0 to Palace in the first game on Saturday. We put out a  young team with loads of first year scholars.

Second year scholar Tyler Edmundson has gone on loan to Sholing for a month. They won 3-1 away at Plymouth Parkway last night, hopefully not the first team from Southampton to win in Plymouth this week.

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SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

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Posted
5 hours ago, The Cat said:

Probably worth updating this thread as they have started their season now.

Lost 5-0 to Palace in the first game on Saturday. We put out a  young team with loads of first year scholars.

Second year scholar Tyler Edmundson has gone on loan to Sholing for a month. They won 3-1 away at Plymouth Parkway last night, hopefully not the first team from Southampton to win in Plymouth this week.

Guessing this is like a development loan? So can play for saints if needed.  

Although we have about 300 centre-backs.

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Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, The Cat said:

Probably worth updating this thread as they have started their season now.

Lost 5-0 to Palace in the first game on Saturday. We put out a  young team with loads of first year scholars.

Second year scholar Tyler Edmundson has gone on loan to Sholing for a month. They won 3-1 away at Plymouth Parkway last night, hopefully not the first team from Southampton to win in Plymouth this week.

Should be a good experience for him there, they have Jake Hesketh and Flannigan so two players who spent plenty of time through our academy

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The Cat

The Cat

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8 minutes ago, Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan said:

Should be a good experience for him there, they have Jake Hesketh and Flannigan so two players who spent plenty of time through our academy

He knows some of the Sholing players too. They had 3 on the bench on Tuesday that he played with either at Sholing youth or Southampton Schoolboys before Saints signed him.

I think it's a good idea to expose the U18's to men's football with short term loans. Technically the players won't be anywhere as good as they'd face in Academy games but the physicality will be completely different and they can learn so much.

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david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted

Rather harsh criticism from one or two above. 

Fulham  U18's  put  5 goals past us in both fixtures last season,  so it's not so surprising, and the 

0-5 defeat at  Palace in first game this season was a let-off.... as they beat us 7-1 at Staplewood  in April.   

Both of these London sides have strong squads at this age group.

 

The majority of our U18s are new / first year scholars and still finding their way at this level. 

One of two more were still under 16.y.o. last season and need time to adjust to any level of organised youth football.

There will likely be a lot of yo-yo scorelines, but this is just the start of their careers. 

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