While I was enjoying some of the delights Somerset had to offer, on a mini break, an interesting topic helped populate the comments facility.
With the Hatters not making the best of starts to the 2022/2023 season, the subject of Luton’s youth policy became a potent agenda.
Sifting through the various posts, two offered a great insight into the debate.
The one from Chris Winter certainly caught my eye:
“When are the club going to sort out the mess that is getting young players from the youth league into the first team?
Yes, they are hamstrung by the council refusing to allow an indoor pitch to allow an under 23 development team to get to league status. But surely its possible as a stop gap to find a temporary site. To erect an inflatable cover or rent from a club theirs.
And I’m dog sick of NJ’s attitude with regards to young players, he bigs them up and then releases them at the end of the season!
Next, he pays a lot of money supposedly for Gomes and keeps Pereira who was free.
Yet he may loan them out as he cannot fit them into his 25-man squad. Yet possibly Watson who is 22 an only played for Derby because of their predicament will likely get a place an although Doughty has injury problems and played for Stoke. Will as well.
Where is the justice in that for Gomes and Pereira?
Why shouldn’t they agitate for transfers like Kioso, if NJ continues to constantly use his trusted players?
Pereira has already said he would love to go back to Bradford and rightly so, he would be a regular nowadays dropping a league means nothing if you shine, a big payday still can happen, same for Gomes.
Luton Town sort this situation out now!”
As did this one from Roby:
“Please, please give Thorpe more chances, Gomes too and Pereira!
How much money do the wages of all the development players cost in a year?
Plus, those of academy players!
Only JUSTIN in 15 years got regular chances and was a big, big hit!
Fergie took chances on the class of 92!
We must have spent many, many millions on wages over the last 15 years on players rarely given even a sniff of a chance.
If we don’t blood them then SCRAP the academy and development teams and do what we have done for 15 years and buy in ready-made talent!”
Some strong thought eloquently expressed but are they views you concur with?
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Previous article by Mad Hatter
Luton Youngsters Performance Earns Praise From The Support
I’ll add mh not saying nj is solely to blame as its gone on for years. An the clubs finances may have been a reason. But these from memory where sold as kids for peanuts. Max Aaron, the da silva triplets bakinson, akinfemwo, woodrow, maybe more I can’t remember.
We could do nothing about those, we were in non league where you get absolutely zero protection from the sharks above. Learn something about football before you talk absolute waffle & question everything about the club that’s done nothing but go forward for 8 YEARS now.
Da silva were sold when the club was still in dire straits….a million at the time was to much to turn down & agents promising youngsters & parents the world.
The have also made changes to the academy structure this summer, so can we not just give Paul Hart & his team a bit of time to try & make an impact before we abandon all hope. Patience is a virtue….
Alan I reiterate the problem stems from the cedars programme upwards I’m not trying to blame anyone it’s the system that’s failed an that goes back beyond the present management and ownership. The small pool that the scouts have is not producing many kids good enough!! We need to look further afield which we don’t appear to be doing. Meaning we pay hundreds of thousands for 18 to 23 Yr old to improve an sell on. An then they are disillusioned by being loaned out. Getting game time an realising that dropping down divisions is no longer a problem to getting a big move. I know you an I will never agree on this subject. But it is what it is for each of us. An also as I have said short term rent a pitch from a club with a suitable club to get into the u23 league.
Whether we agree or not, Chris’ comments are ridiculously over the top. We wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now if it wasn’t for NJ using players he trusts. Whenever he’s experimented we’ve gone backwards, or had awful results like the one against Newport the other night. How anyone can question NJ that strongly is disgraceful, all because they’re a little hurt at a slow start to the season, pathetic if you ask me.
Excuse me Cameron but it has nothing to do with how we have started the season. But about how the youth system is failing an has been for years. An nj does have a problem because he cannot get good youngsters for the team he’s buying them!!! But not playing them read my words!!!!
Not sure it’s about trusting NJ, this is a debate about the youth system and not what NJ has done for us.
And in that respect I agree with CW to a large extent. NJ would rather find a way to mention every player and the kit man three times over than ever mention the name Periera live in an interview, who has scored, assisted 3 and won penalties in season build up/cup… What do these guys need to do?
Has no faith in them so why are we draining our limited budget on an army of youngsters either not trusted or not fit for playing at this level?
Thank you Steve. Exactly.
100%
Read my words too, chris the club are trying to address this, that’s why I said see what happens with the new structure that has been set up, its been 2 months for God sake. Look forward not back….
Alan this is the first I’ve heard about it from you. All I’ve seen is Paul Hart is now heading up youth set up. Why haven’t the club come out an said we have big plans for the kids an development team. We are gonna do this or that. Half the problem is lack of communication between owners an fans. OK the stadium news will be slow I get that. But football side with things like this should be more open.
Hi Alan, huge respect for the problem you are trying to address at the club.
On my perspective, we have watched and waited patiently for years with the likes of Addy, Beckwith, Panter and many more in the manner you are asking.
What is hard to keep that same patience and faith is with the only thing tangible since JJ being Kioso and how badly we managed that situation, unfortunately the club may need to bare some to responsibility if today’s fans are a little itchier and less patient in expectations.
If Thorpe and/or Periera broke through this year I am sure that would go a long way in instilling some confidence, however, I firmly believe NJ wakes up adamant that he is going to move these guys on and no matter what he sees on the pitch or training is ever going to stop him going to bed with exactly the same determination not to play them.
Agree totally with the comments start giving the youngsters more chances more game time ,Harry Isted what’s going on there if NJ doesn’t have confidence in him let the lad go and let him play football along with many others at the club cause I’m sure these players can have good careers else where and be ” Game Changers ” at other clubs
The club made their plans for the future when Paul Hart made move. NJ also spoke about it at the time too, stating the are hoping he (hart) can reproduce the success he had at Leeds and Charlton academies….or was it only me who read these comments…..can’t wait to see how many turn up to watch the next development & youth games..should a full houses, as so many are in support of youngsters. At the under eighteens Saturday morning it was mainly family & friends present
Hoping to become Leeds Alan. That’s all no this is what we want to do this is how we hope to do it. For fans consumption less is more!!!! But you are right about attending kids games but it was ever thus. I remember freezing mornings at the back of dallow Rd with 2 men and a dog watching them. I’m to old now for that lark sadly.
Oh Chris I give up, who said hoping to become Leeds. This is a site for all. Not all comments are directed at you perse. Not everyone can agree with everyone…
Lol Alan mate my intention was for the whole system from the bottom at cedars to the first team. But people are only interested in the fringe players An it’s gone from a debate between me you could an jimbo to a moan fest. Lol really sorry mate. This wasn’t my aim. An as I said you an I will never agree on this one.
This also doesn’t address the likes of Thorpe, Periera and Gomes this year. We can build the best academy in the world but will NJ actually play them or trust them?
It only promises more Panters and Beckwiths being released in the future, or worse Kiosos forcing transfers after breaking through, than sustainability.
Would like to see some fruits of our labor today to trust in a newly implemented vision of tomorrow and believe we have the players on the fringe ready to do that but don’t think they’ll get a chance is all
That’s what I’ve been trying yo say.. things were put in place in the summer to address this….. but it won’t change over nite….look to the future not the past…. anyone with an ounce of sense will realise we are still in mid August and these changes were only implemented late May… get real please…..
Understand it’s for the future Alan and I am real… Get it… But the biggest problem is NJ not playing them.
So this is a future where either NJ starts to play youngsters, in which you are admitting his flaws in his appraisal process or we are saying that Periera and co simply are not good enough and should be replicating this message in our Comms instead of leading everyone on.
Or, it is a future where NJ is not picking the team… Which I would hate to imagine as I believe NJ is a far bigger asset to this club then any youth setup.
I want us to be real about the problem today so we can be real about our expectations of the future.
As I have said, bed in Periera, Thorpe and Gomes and all of the intentions stand up… If not, we arent fixing or communicating the actual problem here
good luck with this one alan. a brand new development system, will take time, and football supporters want instant results. be patient, it will produce results. my thoughts about pereira are well known, give him a chance. also other young players. if they perform well, try them. this will run on forever.
Did Thorpe not feature in the last 2 games?????
he did and let’s hope he’s given further chances
The only problem with the academy is that the first team has exceeded expectation, rising from the conference to the championship in double quick time. Academies get players from about 7 years of age but they’re in a competitive market for those boys. The super top boys went to bigger clubs when we were lower down. And In some cases we rightly made a lot of mo way to fund the club.
It takes longer to tweak an academy than to tweak a first team. So it’s no wonder the current crop of academy have struggled to break through to our (now much better) first team as much as we’d like. They signed up when we were in the conference. Only Pelly is left in the first team from those days.
Give it time.
Jim you have probably explained it far better than I did. Congrats on that. My original point cedars doesn’t work because of lack of local talent it was OK in the national league now it needs more scouts further away as in the old days. I didn’t expect immediate results changing systems that will take yrs. Lack of news from the club about what changes Hart will try to implement no news!!! But why no effort to short term rent a pitch for under 23 games so we can play in the league this we could do. Everybody is obsessed with fringe players. We know it will take yrs an is not an instant fix
Yes and looks good as does Periera but then hold press conference and chuck them right back in the loan conversation.
Sorry for sounding hyper critical mate, I am sure you are all working so hard behind the scenes.
Hopefully window slams shut and with them part of the group.
Morning mh, interesting to see that a certain website is claiming that we have a seven figure bid in for that Greek German defender we where linked with in the summer. I am not even going to try an spell his name 😂😂😂😂 let’s see what happens