Man City U21 EFL Trophy scorethread sponsored by 6pm kickoff

[cassellswasmagic]

On another note. I’d rather we do get some tonkings now and sort things out than beat Worksop and Retford 6-0 and learn nothing new. We will be alright.

[yorkshire stag]

just starting to get a little concerned .......just a tad

[MTFCMusings]

They were tidy on the ball and Delap up front was brilliant, but we handed them three chances on a plate. They didn’t have to work very hard for their chances. Plus they gave us plenty of chances which we didn’t take.

[five to three]

A competitive match but also a chance for the manager to learn more. We need that creative midfielder still and serious competition at left back.

[arsene wengers coat]

Tonked by some kids.

World class kids... one of them is valued at more than our entire squad.

This. Their U21 team is better than most league 2 sides on paper. If we played against a team with Arnold, Brewster, Greenwood, Winks, McTominay, Rashford etc would anyone say tonked by some kids. No. These kids are brilliant footballers. If you’re good enough your old enough. The class of 92 at United (kids by the way) tonked everyone!!!

I guess we'll just wait for A 33 year old Teddy Sheringham to score in the champions League final for Man City U21s then...

[geoffhill]

Watched the game and here are my thoughts.
Benning is way past his sell by.
Smith is as I knew nowhere good enough.
Maynard was poor.
Reid looked ok.
Stech ok.
Sweeney ok.
Menayese good.
Sinclair good.
O'driscoll good.
O'Keefe good.
Clarke excellent.
Scott is not a footballer.
Gordon good.
Knowles will possibly make it.
Looking at Saturdays team.only Stech Clarke O'Keefe Menayese Sweeney O'Driscoll Sinclair look worthy of a start.Glad I am not a manager.Over to you GC.

[Sneag]

On another note. I’d rather we do get some tonkings now and sort things out than beat Worksop and Retford 6-0 and learn nothing new. We will be alright.

That's the view I'm taking for the moment.

[kevin kents tasce]

The players in City's team are not world class. A couple of them might go on to play a few first team games, but the best young players are already in and around the first team setup (Foden). Some of the players who played for City tonight will end up as L1 or L2 pros and some will be non league players.

O'Driscoll is a a living example of this. Played a few games in this competition for Southampton before being released and joining us after a trial.

What it does show is that the 99/100 kids in our academy will never make it. There are too many better players in the higher quality academies whonget pushed down to our level.

Smith for example is nowhere near league standard and the last great hope has just signed for Ilkeston Town.

The club should alter its strategy around young players and specifically target players released from the top academies. It's a romantic idea to get a local lad up and running, but let's be honest, the best local kids are at Forest, Derby or one of the Sheffield Clubs. It makes no business sense to try and force our own kids in at first team level.

[arsene wengers coat]

The players in City's team.are not world class. A couple of them might go on to play a.few first team games, but the best young players are already in and around the first team setup.(Foden). Most of the players who played for City tonight will end up as L1 or L2 pros and some will be non league players.

O'Driscoll is a a living example of this. Played a few games in this competition forSouthampton before being released and joining us after a trial.

What it does show is that the 99/100 kids in our academy will never make it. There are too many better players in the higher quality academies whonget pushed down to our level.

Smith for example is nowhere near league standard and the last great hope has just signed for Ilkeston Town.

The club should alter its strategy around young players and specifically target players released from the top academies. It's a romantic idea to get a local lad up and running, but let's be honest, the best local kids are at Forest, Derby or one of the Sheffield Clubs. It makes no business sense to try and force our own kids in at first team level.

Call it; Would you suggest we shut all our YT set up and saved the club the expenses and running costs?

[bobbystagsfan]

The players in City's team are not world class. A couple of them might go on to play a few first team games, but the best young players are already in and around the first team setup (Foden). Some of the players who played for City tonight will end up as L1 or L2 pros and some will be non league players.

O'Driscoll is a a living example of this. Played a few games in this competition for Southampton before being released and joining us after a trial.

What it does show is that the 99/100 kids in our academy will never make it. There are too many better players in the higher quality academies whonget pushed down to our level.

Smith for example is nowhere near league standard and the last great hope has just signed for Ilkeston Town.

The club should alter its strategy around young players and specifically target players released from the top academies. It's a romantic idea to get a local lad up and running, but let's be honest, the best local kids are at Forest, Derby or one of the Sheffield Clubs. It makes no business sense to try and force our own kids in at first team level.

Their U21's are not world class, but id put money on most of them never playing league two in their career. A lot are involved in national team youth set ups and you're right about not getting into man city's team because they just buy talent instead of developing it. Foden hardly gets a sniff for city yet everyone raves on about him (not knocking him, but for how much pep talks about him he hasn't give him that much game time.

You say 99/100 of our kids won't make it to the first team, well that's wrong because Sinclair, Scott, Knowles, Smith, Walker are pushing for first team spots.

[kevin kents tasce]

It's not that straight forward AWC.

I think the club has a social responsibility to support local community football clubs and has a role to to use football to develop local kids to be good people.

I also think that the improved academy will help us attract 18-20 year old players who have not made the grade at top level academies and let us give them a pathway into first team football.

I don't think we should be forcing the likes of Alistair Smith, Lewis Gibbons and Zayn Hakeem into the first team just because they played in our youth teams.

[Sedgwick]

The players in City's team are not world class. A couple of them might go on to play a few first team games, but the best young players are already in and around the first team setup (Foden). Some of the players who played for City tonight will end up as L1 or L2 pros and some will be non league players.

O'Driscoll is a a living example of this. Played a few games in this competition for Southampton before being released and joining us after a trial.

What it does show is that the 99/100 kids in our academy will never make it. There are too many better players in the higher quality academies whonget pushed down to our level.

Smith for example is nowhere near league standard and the last great hope has just signed for Ilkeston Town.

The club should alter its strategy around young players and specifically target players released from the top academies. It's a romantic idea to get a local lad up and running, but let's be honest, the best local kids are at Forest, Derby or one of the Sheffield Clubs. It makes no business sense to try and force our own kids in at first team level.

why are they internationals in their age group then? Because they are world class in that bracket.

[gazza1988]

Not at all surprised. Every year we apparently make class, league beating signings. Every year 90% of them of are bang average for us, until they leave to play at a higher level and somehow flourish. All you can do is keep progressing as a team. Since flitcroft we've gone backwards.

The rot started with Flitcroft at the helm, not since Flitcroft - the stats prove that point.

Anyway lets see what happens Saturday.

8th place then 4th place is really rotten (I've not checked but since our return to the league DF got us our 2 highest finishes and I think Cox is next in line with 11th?). 4 players in the team of the year, really rotten. One of the best defences we've had in a long time, and in the league that season, again really rotten.

Which stats prove the point? Or are you pointing to us losing our no1 kepper, our RWB and most of our strike force as proof the rot started then? Only the league champions lost less games than we did. It was a foundation to build upon and we decided to tear it down. If you want to get technical DF didn't even need to improve at all he could have had exactly the same results happen again and we'd have been up on the weighted points per game.

[kevin kents tasce]

That's kind of my point Bobby.

Knowles was picked up after being released by Forest. He might make it at our level but I would predict he goes no further.

Sinclair looks a talent and might go on to be the anomoly to my opinion.

The other lads you mentioned shouldn't be anywhere near our first team really - which is the point I'm trying to make.

[Amber Andy]

Not at all surprised. Every year we apparently make class, league beating signings. Every year 90% of them of are bang average for us, until they leave to play at a higher level and somehow flourish. All you can do is keep progressing as a team. Since flitcroft we've gone backwards.

The rot started with Flitcroft at the helm, not since Flitcroft - the stats prove that point.

Anyway lets see what happens Saturday.

8th place then 4th place is really rotten (I've not checked but since our return to the league DF got us our 2 highest finishes and I think Cox is next in line with 11th?). 4 players in the team of the year, really rotten. One of the best defences we've had in a long time, and in the league that season, again really rotten.

Which stats prove the point? Or are you pointing to us losing our no1 kepper, our RWB and most of our strike force as proof the rot started then? Only the league champions lost less games than we did. It was a foundation to build upon and we decided to tear it down. If you want to get technical DF didn't even need to improve at all he could have had exactly the same results happen again and we'd have been up on the weighted points per game.

Massive mistake by the board to get rid of DF.

[bobbystagsfan]

Another thread turned into drooling over Flitcroft.

[kevin kents tasce]

I often agree with you Sedgwick, but calling them lads world class is a real stretch.

They have undoubted talent, but they have to go far to be world class. There are many players in their age group who play first team football in the top league's in Europe and South America. If these other players are already at a better standard, how can the kids who played tonight be considered to be world class?

[Amber Andy]

Another thread turned into drooling over Flitcroft.

You brought the subject up Bobby.

Face facts, it's been garbage since he was let go.

[Sedgwick]

People on here will be freaking out and worrying because there's still an expectation, even after a global pandemic, finishing 21st and having a wage cap that we have a Devine right to be top 3.... We don't and were miles off that.

I can see us being nearer the bottom Half of the table for a bit, then improving and finishing above mid table towards the playoffs at best. If the manager is to be successful then he needs two seasons minimum to have a proper go. We will probably find out that not every signing was right, some that were kept on should have gone etc.

Please end this insane expectation that we will sign a manger, he will sign a load of players and have us around the autos immediately. Its never going to happen.

[bobbystagsfan]

Another thread turned into drooling over Flitcroft.

You brought the subject up Bobby.

Face facts, it's been garbage since he was let go.

Did I? I'm sure one love and bigalstag was the one who mentioned him

[Amber Andy]

People on here will be freaking out and worrying because there's still an expectation, even after a global pandemic, finishing 21st and having a wage cap that we have a Devine right to be top 3.... We don't and were miles off that.

I can see us being nearer the bottom Half of the table for a bit, then improving and finishing above mid table towards the playoffs at best. If the manager is to be successful then he needs two seasons minimum to have a proper go. We will probably find out that not every signing was right, some that were kept on should have gone etc.

Please end this insane expectation that we will sign a manger, he will sign a load of players and have us around the autos immediately. Its never going to happen.

True we are miles off. The club don't seem to buy into the two season minimum idea.

[cassellswasmagic]

People on here will be freaking out and worrying because there's still an expectation, even after a global pandemic, finishing 21st and having a wage cap that we have a Devine right to be top 3.... We don't and were miles off that.

I can see us being nearer the bottom Half of the table for a bit, then improving and finishing above mid table towards the playoffs at best. If the manager is to be successful then he needs two seasons minimum to have a proper go. We will probably find out that not every signing was right, some that were kept on should have gone etc.

Please end this insane expectation that we will sign a manger, he will sign a load of players and have us around the autos immediately. Its never going to happen.

[Amber Andy]

Another thread turned into drooling over Flitcroft.

You brought the subject up Bobby.

Face facts, it's been garbage since he was let go.

Did I? I'm sure one love and bigalstag was the one who mentioned him

Well you certainly got me going Bobby after I decided not to mention his name again. You talked about his six month purple patch. Well you best keep it in your memory as it ain't going to happen again soon.

[bobbystagsfan]

People on here will be freaking out and worrying because there's still an expectation, even after a global pandemic, finishing 21st and having a wage cap that we have a Devine right to be top 3.... We don't and were miles off that.

I can see us being nearer the bottom Half of the table for a bit, then improving and finishing above mid table towards the playoffs at best. If the manager is to be successful then he needs two seasons minimum to have a proper go. We will probably find out that not every signing was right, some that were kept on should have gone etc.

Please end this insane expectation that we will sign a manger, he will sign a load of players and have us around the autos immediately. Its never going to happen.

Can we pin this everywhere please? Brilliant post.

Ever since the Evans era that's what's been expected every year. 1 season = promotion or bust it seems. We need stability and to grow.

A good example of this are Wycombe, nearly went out the league with ainsworth, stuck with him (no thats not Me suggesting we should have stuck with JD) and theyre in the championship now. Bet they've spent nowhere near what we have either

[kevin kents tasce]

I agree with the need to have a longer term plan.

This was why I was against the Flitcroft sacking. He appeared to.have a clear vision for the team and I thought he would build upon the playoff season.

I also made a comment when David Sharpe came in to say that we needed to stand by him should it go wrong with Coughlin.

There needs to be a clear strategy for taking the club forward which we stick to for at least 3 seasons or else it'll be one disaster after another.