Ghost of Clough

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

I am not one to post on here but watching our youngsters this week has given me fresh optimism. Let's just hope that these lads are given  opportunities to grow and progress at the club and do not feel they have to move to get that chance.
 

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match.
A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

Full draw:

4 goals and 5 assists, plus 1 goal in the FA Cup. 10 goals and 1 assist in 19 games last season as they narrowly avoided relegation.
I know how much a lot of people love xG (🤐), but he currently ranks 3rd in L2 for xG per game and 5th per 90 (out of those playing 50%+ mins).
He's a good all rounder - pace, dribbling, heading, link play, etc... Whilst being about as good as McGoldrick in front of goal, he's creating almost twice as many chances despite being in a midtable side rather than one competing for automatics. He's also only 21.

Warne said in his pre-match interview yesterday about being weary of Brown having a big game Friday and managing minutes - basically sounded like 45 mins was the plan for him Wednesday regardless because of this game. 

The starting lineup is difficult to predict. Whilst DBrown is eligible, I expect him to be part of the first team squad tomorrow so won't feature. From those available, I would go with something like this:
JThompson
Osayande   KRobinson   Cox
Perry   Hawkins   McAndrew   Gill
Allen   Wheeldon   Davidson

Subs: Shattell, Banks, Gough, Tola, Eames, Oguntolu, Simons

It's not that interesting.😀

You also forgot about John-Jules' loan expiring and cashing in on Sibley

Played on trial, then we went into admin a few days later. I'd be surprised if we decided not to keep an eye on him, and even more surprised if he wasn't on our current watch list. I would be surprised if he goes for anything close to £1m+ though

I lost track of all the subs, figured he can't have stood out much and gave him a 6 😂
I blame @Ellafella !!

Set pieces
Set piece goals: 5 (=7th)
Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th)
Set piece shots: 61 (5th)
Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th)
Aggression
Fouls: 166 (17th worst)
Cards: 31 (7th best)

Set pieces
Set piece goals: 5 (=7th)
Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th)
Set piece shots: 61 (5th)
Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th)
Aggression
Fouls: 166 (17th worst)
Cards: 31 (7th best)

Set pieces
Set piece goals: 5 (=7th)
Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th)
Set piece shots: 61 (5th)
Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th)
Aggression
Fouls: 166 (17th worst)
Cards: 31 (7th best)

Set pieces
Set piece goals: 5 (=7th)
Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th)
Set piece shots: 61 (5th)
Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th)
Aggression
Fouls: 166 (17th worst)
Cards: 31 (7th best)

Played on trial, then we went into admin a few days later. I'd be surprised if we decided not to keep an eye on him, and even more surprised if he wasn't on our current watch list. I would be surprised if he goes for anything close to £1m+ though

I love this list and a fair few of these still playing at a decent level. 👌 

I've always had a view that the administration card was played too easily. Weston was an U21 singing, so I won't include him in the academy discussion. Based on year of being a 1st year scholar:
2021
Played last night: Fapetu (CM) and DRobinson (CM, but played CB last night)
Lost during admin: Ryan (CB) to Brighton) and Eze (AM/W)
2022
Played last night: Cox (CB), DBrown (CF), Wheeldon (CF)
Lost during admin: Kellyman (AM/W), Sharpe (RW), Scanlon (AM)
2023
Played last night: Osayande (CB), Allen (CM)
Lost during admin: Kaba (CF)
Out of all of those who have left, only Kellyman would be closer to the first team than DRobinson.
In defence, Ryan would have been about on par with Cox (despite being a year older) and with no change to Osayande's game time in the U18s.
On the wings, there isn't much between Richards, Davidson, and Sharpe.
In midfield, there isn't much between Fapetu is further ahead in his development than Eze, Scanlon, and Allen, with him being the only one playing regularly at U21 level. I would also pick Allen as the one with the most potential.
Upfront, DBrown is the pick of the bunch, with neither Wheeldon nor Kaba playing U21 football on a regular basis.
 
We also lost Williams (2020 intake), who was on the fringes of the first team , as well as Buchanan (2017), Ebosele (2018), and Ebiowei (2021) who all left when their contracts expired. However, none would have been part of the U18/U21 squad at this point in time.
 
The goal aside, Collins was poor in that first half too as the balance wasn't there. It was no surprise Collins looked better in the 2nd half when paired with someone who naturally plays a bit deeper. It's a sham Brown hasn't had the opportunity in the first team to play with someone other than Collins.

Playing Elder, Wilson, Sibley and Collins ensured we met the qualifying criteria. The rest of the team could have been made up from a bunch of toddlers and we would have been fine.