(03-26-2020, 12:04 AM)Snake Plissken Wrote: Has there been a single academy player released in the last 5-10 years that shouldn't have been?
As much as the club gets wrong these days, I can't think of any young players whose release was a mistake.
Interesting question. Probably not. So in reality we've hardly brought a player through that's become what could be described as better than decent whilst with us or subsequently for anyone else. Paterson and that's about it until Hickey.
03-26-2020, 08:06 AM (Edited 03-26-2020, 08:06 AM by Neave.)
Would've played McHattie above most of the jokers we've had at LB since. Same goes for King out wide. I quite liked - was it McKirdy, the wee CM - too.
Wouldn't rate any of them over 6/10, but they were solid enough and gave a fuck.
I don't think the point re. keeping academy players on longer is so much that they'll prove the club wrong and leave us kicking ourselves for releasing them as that keeping them a bit longer would mean we had backup players capable of stepping in for a few games, on fairly low wages, and would keep a sense of continuity in the squad. Obviously the levels involved are totally different, but it was something SAF always did at Man Utd - behind the superstars, there was always a decent number of youth team players who weren't really 'Man U class', but understood what the club was all about and were solid enough backup. Imo, emulating that model wouldn't be a disaster - let them go once they decide they need to be playing first team football, but until then we're better off with our own youth products as backup than expensive diddies.
(08-21-2017, 01:25 PM)i8hibsh Wrote: I AM A LONER BY CHOICE
I AM SINGLE BY CHOICE
I HAVE NO KIDS BY CHOICE
(03-26-2020, 12:04 AM)Snake Plissken Wrote: Has there been a single academy player released in the last 5-10 years that shouldn't have been?
As much as the club gets wrong these days, I can't think of any young players whose release was a mistake.
Didn't particularly rate him but we'd have saved literally millions of pounds for no real loss on the pitch if we'd kept McHattie instead of signing Oshaniwa/Rherras/Garuccio/White and probably some otters I'm forgetting.
Again fairly bog standard players but we haven't replaced Nicholson or King with a better quality of winger since they left.
03-26-2020, 09:06 AM (Edited 03-26-2020, 09:07 AM by Zizou.)
(03-26-2020, 08:06 AM)Neaven Staismith Wrote: Would've played McHattie above most of the jokers we've had at LB since. Same goes for King out wide. I quite liked - was it McKirdy, the wee CM - too.
Wouldn't rate any of them over 6/10, but they were solid enough and gave a fuck.
McHattie - ICT
King - St Patricks Athletic
McKirdy - personal trainer
(03-26-2020, 08:06 AM)Neaven Staismith Wrote: Would've played McHattie above most of the jokers we've had at LB since. Same goes for King out wide. I quite liked - was it McKirdy, the wee CM - too.
Wouldn't rate any of them over 6/10, but they were solid enough and gave a fuck.
McKirdy was playing for Selkirk ffs.
While he was way above that standard he was certainly below Premier standard.
(03-26-2020, 09:06 AM)Ross Kemp On Spice Wrote: McHattie - ICT
King - St Patricks Athletic
McKirdy - personal trainer
I think we're good without them
The players we've replaced McHattie with haven't exactly gone onto better though:
Oshaniwa - Akwa United
Rherras - Qarabag (fair play to him for wangling that move )
Sowah - released by Hamilton last summer
Smith-Brown - Oldham Athletic
Grzelak - Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Polish second tier)
Struna - FC Voluntari (finished bottom of the Romanian top flight)
Mitchell - back at Man U reserves, not kicked a first-team ball since he left us
Bobby Burns - loaned to some Aussie backwater
Will be interesting to see where Garuccio and White end up when they leave us, realistically we're talking Central Coast Mariners and Bradford City.
We were never going to get big money for McHattie but so what? With a few more years under his belt he'd be better cover for Hickey than Garuccio, and he'd still probably only cost us about a grand a week.
(03-26-2020, 10:13 AM)Nicolas Sarkozy Wrote: The players we've replaced McHattie with haven't exactly gone onto better though:
Oshaniwa - Akwa United
Rherras - Qarabag (fair play to him for wangling that move )
Sowah - released by Hamilton last summer
Smith-Brown - Oldham Athletic
Grzelak - Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Polish second tier)
Struna - FC Voluntari (finished bottom of the Romanian top flight)
Mitchell - back at Man U reserves, not kicked a first-team ball since he left us
Bobby Burns - loaned to some Aussie backwater
Will be interesting to see where Garuccio and White end up when they leave us, realistically we're talking Central Coast Mariners and Bradford City.
We were never going to get big money for McHattie but so what? With a few more years under his belt he'd be better cover for Hickey than Garuccio, and he'd still probably only cost us about a grand a week.
I get your point but I don't think the poor recruitment that followed is a solid argument for keeping clearly mediocre players. Same goes with Brandon etc.
(03-26-2020, 09:13 AM)Currahee! Wrote: McKirdy was playing for Selkirk ffs.
While he was way above that standard he was certainly below Premier standard.
McKirdy or Damour? McKirdy or Grzelak? McKirdy or Martin? All the same position, none were better players for Hearts imo. Not saying McKirdy did anything of note, but neither have these three cunts.
(03-26-2020, 10:17 AM)Ross Kemp On Spice Wrote: I get your point but I don't think the poor recruitment that followed is a solid argument for keeping clearly mediocre players. Same goes with Brandon etc.
You're always going to need guys that are happy to be backup players though. Realistically guys that come through the youth system and aren't quite good enough to play every week will generally be happy to play that role and cheap. If you bin them, you've got to either spend more on your backup players (meaning less to spend on your key men), or recruit players at the same cost who are likely to be shite journeymen.
Got to be good for the culture of the squad as well - if behind the starting XI we'd had boys on the bench/reserves like Brad McKay, Billy King etc. who know what it's all about, the starting XI might not have been such a soft touch in derbies recently.