Dave K. wrote:
Not convinced, is Corey Hall injured, could even play Linnett at centre and SKD on the wing, brign in a young forward. PLt on the wing, certainly a few options.
I don't think bringing in a loan every time you have a player injured is a good look for young players, particularly one with a really poor record of developing players from their own academy.
Tbf, it isn’t ‘a player’.
I fully acknowledge that Rovers’ academy systems have not produced enough SL-quality players. I’d really like to know why that is or at least why the club thinks it is. Obviously, ‘we stuffed up’ or ‘the local talent pool is shallow’ are slightly impolitic lines. But with careful framing and context, it could provide reassurance or improve understanding. Or maybe it is better kept in house, while keeping on broadcasting the optimism - so long as they don’t unthinkingly believe it themselves.
Winning is the best look for the first team. Focusing on winning is a minimum. A productive academy is certainly more valuable than an unproductive one, but it is always the means rather than the end. Patience… there’s a balance to be struck and you don’t want to be constantly knee-jerking but I am thoroughly inoculated against 5-year plans that involve the first team. Determination, ambition (and, ideally, the budget to match it) - that’s a good look.
It’ll be interesting to see how many of Hull’s 19-20 year old fringe squad players/reserves are kept on. It is a different model. There’ll be another year’s academy graduates coming through and Smith seems less than entirely impressed with the current reserves model.
I honestly don’t think this system works for either Rovers or Hull. To the point where I genuinely thought that losing the academy licence could have offered an opportunity for Rovers to do something fundamentally different. In one sense, it’d feel like a huge risk - it’s much less unpopular to fail when following convention. But y’know - if it is failing anyway. It’s a bit of a Dominic Cummings-type mindset and thus deserves to be treated with some suspicion, I admit.