Development players released

[Fat_green_belly]

Always sad news. None of these boys made the bench or were loaned out apart from billy palfrey in a short spell
to torquay i recall. Ryan lane at least had a longer opportunity to impress after all his injuries.
I guess they didnt quite reach the standard required at the moment for pro level. Doesnt mean they
still cant make it as isaac vassell has proved recently. Argyle cannot wait 3/4 years for them all to
develop though.
I dont know enough about these development contracts to comment but hopefully argyle will sort if
necessary. I guess were now looking at the 2 centre backs rose and bentley along with fletcher as
potential squadders next season as they all have appeared in or around the first team this season.
Not forgetting rooney pf course who must be getting great experience under dave jones at hartlepool.
Thats what we need to do more of even to a lower standard.
As for the SWPL i noticed in the herald recently that parkway had signed a youngster on loan from
ECFC. So there you go perhaps tisdale reckons it might benefit his kids as well.

 

[briangreen]

Rooney has been hardly played at hartlepool

 

[Fat_green_belly]

Rooney has been hardly played at hartlepool

Unfortunately maybe it proves he isnt quite up to this level yet then? Although they have been
in a relegation scrap and managers will usually go for experience first in those situations.
I assume though he has been a regular on the bench coming on as a late sub at times?
If so he should still be learning from this and also maybe from different training methods used by dave jones.
He is an experienced manager so he must have seen something in young louis to have taken him in.
Probably would have been better in hindsight now though if he had been loaned out to a lower level to
get more gametime. Just like ECFC did with their young striker reid to torquay this season.
So i reckon we need to do better at getting these development/pro boys out on loan much more than we
have done this season.

 

[Pele10]

when is D-Day Mark?

 

[davie nine]

Rooney has been hardly played at hartlepool

Unfortunately maybe it proves he isnt quite up to this level yet then? Although they have been
in a relegation scrap and managers will usually go for experience first in those situations.
I assume though he has been a regular on the bench coming on as a late sub at times?
If so he should still be learning from this and also maybe from different training methods used by dave jones.
He is an experienced manager so he must have seen something in young louis to have taken him in.
Probably would have been better in hindsight now though if he had been loaned out to a lower level to
get more gametime. Just like ECFC did with their young striker reid to torquay this season.
So i reckon we need to do better at getting these development/pro boys out on loan much more than we
have done this season.

It takes 2 teams/managers to make a loan arrangement. I doubt that DA would have turned down any reasonable offer for those lads to go out on loan.
I think that Palfrey went to Torquay for a short period but don't recall any others this season.
I wish all the lads who have been released all the best and if they show the level of determination that Isaac Vassell has shown they may well be able to prove that Argyle were wrong in releasing them.

 

[MarkMatthews]

when is D-Day Mark?

I don't know for certain but I would expect we will know within a couple weeks. I do know that the communications department put the statement about the Development lads and Ryan Lane out pretty soon after they had told them so I expect we will find out pretty soon after they know.

I cant imagine what the lads are going through, I'm filled with trepidation every time I think about it or every time someone asks me my opinion on who will be taken on. As to previous comments about whether I have some sort of standing in the youth setup the answer to that is none what so ever, just a fan who has always took in an interest and a keener one when I started to wonder why I wasn't seeing any Plymothians in the first team.

Small, non vocal crowds (by that I mean no continuous chanting) and being close to the action does mean you see and hear everything that happens on (and off) the pitch and you quickly identify everyone's personalities and character traits, you see the way they hold themselves in the club house after games, there is no swearing, they are all polite and respectful. I find it pretty remarkable given the stereotype and past experience but I cant remember the last player we've had I thought had even an ounce of arrogance about them. Having had the two SWPL campaigns and this season in particular having so many Friday night games has meant I've seen a lot of Calver, Steer and Palfrey. I always wanted them to get on and I felt gutted every time they went out injured and I was gutted and wound up when I heard the news Thursday,when you spend as much time as I have supporting them all as individuals through the highs and lows of it all you cant help but become emotionally invested in their progress. I'm sure people like HC Green and Dick Argyle would agree with that to some extent.

On the squad for next season thread I said I didn't think Adams had any interest in Youth development as an "observation" not a criticism as I didn't wish to hijack the thread down that route so I suppose this is the thread I can post that as a criticism.

Its all very well saying we want to see it but they have to be good enough or whatever it was Adams said. My problem with that is if Adams actually isn't bothered about wanting to see it, then he has the excuse of "they weren't good enough" and the board and fanbase just accept that unquestionably? Most reasonable people on here can debate his tactics and signings in the first team, why not on his judgment on youth. Certainly enough people used it as a stick to beat Sheridan with. Many now seemed to have lost their interest. Adams has let more go than Sheridan did and off the top of my head has handed less game time to each individual than Sheridan did before releasing them.

I take the point that Adams will have forgotten more about football than I will ever know. I don't see why that means I should trust his judgement. Adams was appointed to the job by someone with less knowledge of football than me and almost certainly everyone else on this site! Its his judgement I don't really trust.( I trust he will always run PAFC well in a business sense that's not me trying to make any wider anti- Brent point.)

If I was chairman I would be looking at other clubs handing out pro deals to apprentices, left, right and centre at the moment. I would be looking at them thinking how (at worst,) competitive our apprentices were in games with them and at best how exceedingly better our lads were against them and I would be saying its your job to make them good enough, other managers out there are taking on that task and juggling it with their other targets for the season. The argument about him only here on a short time and it being all about results. He was given a four year extension and has one of the most patient chairman in the Football League! If he was interested he would be doing it. The worry for me is this is now the second manager who doesn't appear interested in even attempting it appointed by the chairman.

It was supposedly one of his criteria, so I think if Mr Brent is interested in it he, would be well within his rights to question him on it and see if there was anything the board could do to help Derek achieve improvement in this area.

 

[Lyndhurst Road End]

I believe B P has signed for Torpoint for the rest of the season.
Concerning the youth player's we do get and the chances of them progressing here being very slim at present, I feel that Argyle really need to up thier game. If those up the road can do it, why can't we. Also to add the competition from a local football academy snapping up players to progress them and try to get them at other clubs around the country, we will have less of a chance of producing home grown players.

 

[Ted]

Am I the only person here thinking "it's football, they can't all make it".

Focus on your education whilst you're learning, don't depend on your feet.

As for Exeter, they don't have a choice but to field inexperience, if it pays off great for them, but the fact is we have a more competitive team, because we can afford it. That is the difference. They use youngsters to fill the gaps they can't afford to fill.

I'd rather we were competitive.

The standard our youngsters play at week in week out is terrible. That isn't Argyle's fault. That is something for the FA to address. Until they can prove themselves at a competitive level they won't be gambled upon in the first team.

 

[MajorGreen]

This is a really interesting thread, with some thoughtful and well informed comments.

The reason these "boys" have been released is that they are not deemed good enough. It remains to be seen whether they go on to prove the club wrong, but history would dictate that as a club, we don't make too many mistakes when it comes to releasing youth players. How many have been released, then go on and make a name for themselves in the game? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Ryan Leonard perhaps, but was he released? Or did he move on?

The sad reality is that football is a tough brutal business and if ONE players comes through every year, we've generally done well and could consider that a success. That means that at least five or six are going to be released every year. That's unfortunate for them, but that's life in football. Not many make it - and they and their parents would do well to remember that. We're a business, not a creche, or youth club. We can't afford to be paying players who are here through sentiment and the manager genuinely feels isn't going to effect the first team picture.

On the whole, I think the SWPL side has been a success. The younger players have played "competitive" games to whether they have anything about them, while it's also given DA the opportunity to give fringe players some game time. Let's remember, the days of Reserve Team football in the old Combo League are long gone. The competitive nature of these games, regardless of the quality of some, are crucial and I think it would be a mistake if the club decided to change that.

Having done some scouting for the club in the past, and witnessed coaching first hand at youth level, I have to say that I think we are falling short a little. Don't get me wrong, Kevin Hodges and Kevin Nancekevil do a good job and are good coaches but they are not supported by the same quality of coach within the rest of the youth setup. Scouting is often done by poorly-qualified enthusiasts (you could argue like me) or, with the greatest of respect to JJ, people who are not up to speed with the requirements of the modern footballer. Being big and strong and able to run fast, is not longer enough, when the rest of the kids catch up with them by U18 level. Technique and skill is far too often coached out of youngsters in favour of efficiency. I understand you need that... but the flair players will never come through.

So, while it's not for me to disagree with the latest batch of released players - it is probably the right decision - there is a trick being missed. Devon and Cornwall is a huge catchment area and the club must do more to ensure scouting and coaching at youth level, is carried out by people who are both capable and understand the attributes required to become a professional footballer. There are plenty of ex-pros kicking around the region... get them on board.

 

[Superguy]

Are the best lads in Devon and Cornwall with Academy's? No.

Cornwall under 18s just got to the final of the National County Cup . Whilst Devon under 16s just won the u16 Counties championship.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Saw Ben Steer quite a bit in preseason and I was impressed. Surely one of these four lads are good enough to be moulded into a first teamer, given the time? I wonder how many of our lads would have made it at Exeter. I bet Isaac Vassel would of.

 

[Keepitgreen]

This from Paul Wotton in today's Herald:

Wotton told Herald Sport: "You have to earn your right to be in the team. Just because you are born in Plymouth it doesn't give you an automatic right to play for Plymouth Argyle. What I would say is, what a great motivation it is for any 15, 16 or 17-years-old who are at the club and are from Plymouth to break into the first team squad."

Herald

 

[Mark Pedlar]

Well said Paul.

 

[Superguy]

Scrap the Academy. Focus on getting players on the way down not the lottery of trying to find players on the way up.

Just like Brentford. More and more lower clubs will follow this model.....https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... um=twitter

 

[SIWY]

That's a fair approach for a London club but I doubt how it would work for an isolated club like ours. While not many of our youngsters make it I feel that we still play a vital role in at least giving them the chance. If this were to happen wouldn't we completely lose the romance of 'one of our own' playing for Argyle? It would really hurt if 'one of our own' scores against us without even being in our system at any point.