Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
I don't get your total objection to any loan whatsoever Eggs. I agree that they don't often work out well, but it doesn't automatically follow that they then would have been better off staying at the parent club. Sometimes you just have to face up to the fact that many of these players are simply not good enough to develop into players capable of holding their own in the most competitive league in world football.
In an ideal world we would develop our own players, and there are so many factors to take into account for a manager to decide to do this. Such as where the player is in his development, in his physicality, and in competition for places within the first team squad in his position. But once the manager makes that decision, he then has to play him, even if it's only regular cameo's from the bench. If you don't, then the player would probably have been better off going on loan.
I would say it's only the very best young players that would fit into that category, and you would normally have identified those players by the time they were 18/19. Most of our academy players wouldn't fit into that category I would guess. However they may still be assessed as having nothing more to learn playing in youth football, so the next best option with these players is to find them a suitable loan. With the emphasis on suitable. That is, going to a league at the right standard for him at that stage in his development, and to a club that is likely to play him fairly regularly and play a system he would easily slot into. Sometimes, the loan itself may not have been considered a success, but the players have still developed and come back mentally stronger and with a better attitude. Such as Gordon last season.
Personally, I feel that Everton, as a club, don't have a great record at developing players to Premier standard in recent years. Since Martinez left, we haven't had a manager who has been prepared to put enough trust in youth, and many of the loans we have arranged have not been right for the player. But that isn't the system at fault, it is bad decision making by people at the club. There has also been a lot of bad luck with players having injuries soon after going out on loan.
Anyway, bottom line for me is that, if a player is considered good enough by the manager and there is a commitment on his part to give him ample game time, then we should try and develop the player ourselves. If that's not the case, then we should loan the players out. The last thing we should do is keep the player here playing youth football so we can win trophies, as has arguably been the case over the last 5 years or so.
As a final point,Eggs, in any one season we would probably have upto 8/9 players who have outgrown the youth system, but who we consider still have the"potential" to develop into Premier players. With the best will in the world, we would only be able to drip feed perhaps 2/3 of these into the first team squad. What would you suggest we do with the rest Eggs?
