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Dom Ballard - Official: Loaned to Reading

Saint Garrett

By Saint Garrett
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Saint Garrett

Saint Garrett

Posted
Posted

16 years old, scored again last night for the B team. That's his 5th in 7 appearances and was an absolute peach. Also scored 9 in 7 for the u18s.

This kid could be immense - definitely one to look out for.  Might get a run out by the end of the season for the first team?

 

 

  • Like 2
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)

Some bright spark on here was advocating his inclusion in the first team squad back in November.... ;)

image.thumb.png.15190987f564f41f915d9a662d05c6ca.png

 

Edited by trousers
  • Like 2
davefizzy14

davefizzy14

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, SuperSAINT said:

The goal last night was a great little finish.

The fact he’s playing for the B team has a first year is pretty spectacular.  

Yep agreed. He looks a special talent and scoring for fun for both the B team and under 18s.

  • Like 1
Dusic

Dusic

Posted
Posted

Lovely finisher judging by some of his recent goals but looks quite slight of build so will need to bulk up a bit. Not all 16yo are physical ready for mens football afterall.

Also aware that we have seen a few good goalscorers at that level, Seager springs to mind - who haven't kicked on.

Leave him to develop and in 18months if he is still fit and scoring regularly then he might have a chance.

Charlie Wayman

Charlie Wayman

Posted
Posted

We've highlighted Ballard's potential on here before. Hopefully he will continue to develop at his current pace.

If we can find a first team slot for Broja irrespective of his form because he happens to belong to a big club then why not Ballard?

OK, it's  U23 Div 2 opposition and not Div 1 but that's not his fault and if we get promoted he'll probably flourish at the higher level as well.

Let's face it the two A's are not exactly setting our world alight so why not give the lad a chance, certainly next season he should be in and around the first team camp.

 

  • 3 weeks later...
Badger

Badger

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Chocolate Box said:

To be fair 2 of the3 were penalties. He is one of several exciting prospects though. We may have turned the corner.

He still had to score them though, and they all count, to be fair (to use in the in vogue phrase).

  • 2 months later...
SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, The Cat said:

I'm going to be first with the "enjoy him while you can" statement.

He could be an absolute star in the future.

Indeed.  The club have done very well to secure him, considering the interest in signing domestic talent.

SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, trousers said:

Looks like a great prospect. There again, so did Ryan Seager, Josh Sims, Jake Hesketh, etc at his age. Good luck Dom!

I know you know this, trousers, but it's REALLY hard to produce Premier league players.

egg

egg

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

I know you know this, trousers, but it's REALLY hard to produce Premier league players.

Yep, and there's a small matter of Seager suffering an awful injury. Sims had his health and injury issues, and was awfully managed. Hesketh just wasn't at the right level sadly. 

Ballard looks a hell of a talent though. Impressive bit of business tying him down. 

 

SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, egg said:

Ballard looks a hell of a talent though. Impressive bit of business tying him down. 

 

Very much.  Lots of interest in our players, I’ve heard. 

  • Like 2
OttawaSaint

OttawaSaint

Posted
Posted

Gaaaahhh! Can't decide whether to big him up or trash him, and then defend that position forever in the hopes of looking like a smartypants forum expert later...

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Gaaaahhh! Can't decide whether to big him up or trash him, and then defend that position forever in the hopes of looking like a smartypants forum expert later...

Go for both with something like "he shows all the skills at his age to go on and become a premier league player, but it's in his hands on whether he can achieve that potential." Not trashing, but you get to shake your head at another wasted talent, if it doesn't work out.

  • Like 1
suewhistle

suewhistle

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Gaaaahhh!

Why not have two accounts like some other posters. Then you could support yourself or disagree with yourself depending which side of bed you got out of that morning, or even how Dom played in his last game?

The Kraken

The Kraken

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Gaaaahhh! Can't decide whether to big him up or trash him, and then defend that position forever in the hopes of looking like a smartypants forum expert later...

The ceiling is high with this one.

Turkish

Turkish

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Are centre partings back in fashion now then? It's like the 90s never ended

Yes they are! One of the young lads in our team (23 one year off the grad scheme) has a centre parting and a malbrough classics denim jacket!!

BERMUDASAINT

BERMUDASAINT

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Gaaaahhh! Can't decide whether to big him up or trash him, and then defend that position forever in the hopes of looking like a smartypants forum expert later...

Fuck you have become childish......joined the bully boys have you?

  • Like 1
  • Confused 1
Charlie Wayman

Charlie Wayman

Posted
Posted

Good news and good luck to the lad. Another Shearer in the making but he's too good looking for that maybe?  One thing they have in common is that central parting although Shearer's is a lot wider.

Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Good news and good luck to the lad. Another Shearer in the making but he's too good looking for that maybe?  One thing they have in common is that central parting although Shearer's is a lot wider.

He had a Stuart Armstrong quiff when at Saints...

 

NINTCHDBPICT000452728397-e1544821330466.jpg

  • 4 weeks later...
HarvSFC

HarvSFC

Posted
Posted

Previous winners: JWP won the award in 2013, Jake Hesketh in 2014, 2015 evades me, Alfie Jones 2016, Jake Vokins 2017, 2018 evades me, Will Ferry 2019, Alex Jankewitz 2020, Will Tizzard 2021. 
 

Been a while since one of the winners made it here, hopefully it’s this time. 

Badger

Badger

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Previous winners: JWP won the award in 2013, Jake Hesketh in 2014, 2015 evades me, Alfie Jones 2016, Jake Vokins 2017, 2018 evades me, Will Ferry 2019, Alex Jankewitz 2020, Will Tizzard 2021. 
 

Been a while since one of the winners made it here, hopefully it’s this time. 

Jankewitz, yes that worked out well.

What became of Will Ferry though ? Was another that was highly rated at one point. 

qwertyell

qwertyell

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Badger said:

Jankewitz, yes that worked out well.

What became of Will Ferry though ? Was another that was highly rated at one point. 

Ferry's spent the season on loan at  Crawley in League Two.

Seems to play every week in some capacity, but for an offensive player, a return of 1 goal and 3 assists doesn't suggest he's going to come back here and make an impact any time soon.

Chewy

Chewy

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Previous winners: JWP won the award in 2013, Jake Hesketh in 2014, 2015 evades me, Alfie Jones 2016, Jake Vokins 2017, 2018 evades me, Will Ferry 2019, Alex Jankewitz 2020, Will Tizzard 2021. 
 

Been a while since one of the winners made it here, hopefully it’s this time. 

I’m sure Sam McQueen won it so guess that was 2015?

  • Like 1
Saint_clark

Saint_clark

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, qwertyell said:

Ferry's spent the season on loan at  Crawley in League Two.

Seems to play every week in some capacity, but for an offensive player, a return of 1 goal and 3 assists doesn't suggest he's going to come back here and make an impact any time soon.

People need to remember pure stats at a lower level don't reflect a players true talent, especially a complete rookie player. So many factors involved, first time he hasn't played with his mates in the academy, first time playing against professionals who don't give up easily, first time being away from his friends/family for long periods of time, the list goes on. 

 

Having said that, I can't remember the last time we produced a player that wasn't in that short, low on strength, good dribbling ability type of player. We seem to love overstocking on the weedy little players that other clubs pass on in the hopes one of them turns out to be the new Messi.

Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

People need to remember pure stats at a lower level don't reflect a players true talent, especially a complete rookie player. So many factors involved, first time he hasn't played with his mates in the academy, first time playing against professionals who don't give up easily, first time being away from his friends/family for long periods of time, the list goes on. 

 

Having said that, I can't remember the last time we produced a player that wasn't in that short, low on strength, good dribbling ability type of player. We seem to love overstocking on the weedy little players that other clubs pass on in the hopes one of them turns out to be the new Messi.

He plays more as a left wing-back too so probably unfair to put too much weight into end product. Also looks like he has bulked up while at Crawley, probably a decent championship or league one player in there, but probably not quite our level.

Would be interested to see how he compares with Vokins and Small, we have a few players of similar tendencies there.

david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted

Dom Ballard along with several others makes this U18 squad look really impressive, as in the past we have carefully

quoted " the odd name" of promising youngsters we now see that around a dozen U18's have also had  B team game time

often coming up against opposition players with league experience . 

In particular Dom has shown up well and scored for both U18 and B team and the move for others has been just a walk up

the corridor compared to former years.

Others who may show up well in the coming years include 16y.o. Tyler Dibling (who scored a hat-trick for the B side at

Newcastle)  along with other U18's; Kamari Doyle, Luke Pearce  and Lewis Payne (who has played in the B side all season)

and we now see the U18's winning the title in their league, whilst the B side came within goal difference of a play-off  

place in their league after a nightmare start to the season.

Lots of positives for the future, and intersting to see who gets their Prem. debut first? 

 

 

   

Tank

Tank

Posted
Posted
On 18/01/2022 at 11:15, Saint Garrett said:

16 years old, scored again last night for the B team. That's his 5th in 7 appearances and was an absolute peach. Also scored 9 in 7 for the u18s.

This kid could be immense - definitely one to look out for.  Might get a run out by the end of the season for the first team?

 

 

Dang it's Grealish's younger brother.

Be BOLD Ralph ... get this young guy in the A team.

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