I actually think that we give our younger players a fair crack of the whip when it comes to first team apps.
Taking a handful of the players mentioned earlier on, these are their total first team apps for us in the last 3 years (or 3yrs prior to their departure)
O'Brien 45, Laithwaite 38, G King 71, Dwyer 65, Philbin 50, T King, 29, Wilde 22.
That seems a decent number or runouts given the the quality of our first team squad.
Looking at the general way we play, and our cluelessness in final 30m, I genuinely think the kids aren't coached particularly well when they reach the first team.
They're probably no better or worse than Wigan's kids when they break through, but they stall as soon as they hit the first team squad. The issue I think is that they never seem to kick on and develop after that, and it's not through a lack of opportunities.