The Kids Aren't Alright

I've written about this topic before, but the lack of talent coming through our very well-funded youth system is still a serious disappointment. The last player to come through was Jonathan Fortune several seasons ago. One could argue that the sales of Scott Parker (especially) and Paul Konchesky prove its worth, but surely the point is to find talent for our first team, and the system has singularly failed to do so for over five years now. Moreover these fees have to be set against those we paid out for players who were moulded by the selling club (eg. Euell, Young).

Indeed not a single player has come close to making even a handful of appearances during this period. Fans regularly read in the programme and on the website about some up-and-coming player, and before we know it they are playing for Southend et al.

This issue becomes all the more frustrating when the teams which we now compete with in the mid-section of the Premiership seem to have no such problems finding talent. We lost to Bolton (goal by Kevin Nolan) and Villa (goal by Steve Davis), whilst the likes of Man City and 'Boro have plenty of youthful exhuberance.

We can only find out if players are good enough by giving them a chance. I don't recall for instance being overly impressed with Scott Parker initially, but the confidence garnered from a long run in the side saw him develop into a £10m player. If Curbs is frustrated with the inconsistency of Rommedahl and Thomas, then what can we lose by giving Lloyd Sam a chance for example? Given Powell's inadequacies at left-back, throw in Kelly Youga and see what he can do.

If the problem is Curbs' unwillingness to take the risk then he is overly cautious. If however the problem is that these players are genuinely not good enough, then questions need to be asked of the coaches and the scouting process. When we were more cash-strapped, we had no choice but to give the likes of 16-year old Paul Konchesky an early debut. Maybe now, given the choice between blooding a youngster or paying £1m for an experienced player, the club will always take the latter, which makes you wonder why we have a youth system in the first place. The Defoe and Samuel situations were unfortunate, but one wonders whether the latter certainly would still be sat in our reserves? Fans love to see a homegrown player come through the ranks; there is a good reason why the likes of Ledley King, Steven Gerrard or John Terry are so revered at their clubs, not simply the fact that they're damned good players.