Will the kids ever be alright?

Waiting for a chance?
Look back at any statement that has been made regarding the future of Newcastle United, and you’ll see that youth development features heavily in pretty much all of them.

It’s a clear strategy from the club. We’ll try and produce our own players to go along with the more experienced players, all of whom will have been specifically sourced to fit a number of criteria.

Bolstering our youth setup is a good move and it’s something that every Premier League club should be doing in my opinion. It will ensure that the future of the game is in safe hands as the next generation of young players actually get a chance to perform on the big stage. Unfortunately though I feel that it may be a pipe dream in the pressure cooker environment that is the Premier League.

The emphasis is on results, of that there is little doubt. Just take a look at Wigan as the example of that, or Blackpool from last season, or even Arsenal and their trophyless run. Pretty football, but where has it inevitably got them?

To me this is why the youth are facing an uphill struggle to make an impact. Why would a manager risk a result by playing a rookie when he can just call in an experienced player? I’m talking generally here although obviously there are exceptions.

Some will say that if you’re good enough then you’re old enough. This is fair enough and it’s true to a point, but it works in certain special cases. Not every youngster can come in and impress and sometimes they need to learn the ropes slowly before getting a taste of the big time.

Just looking at our own squad for a moment. We have an array of youngsters who are tipped to make the grade and become first team players, but we’ve been saying that for a while now and still nothing has come to fruition when it comes to the products of our youth academy.

Now there is talk of loaning some of the highly rated youngsters out, with Alan Pardew suggesting that Shane Ferguson, Haris Vuckic and Mehdi Abeid could be set for a spell in the Championship. Apparently they are “too good to have hanging around” which makes me wonder just why this is the case?

I mean if they are too good to have hanging around is that not an indication that there is little space for them to grow and learn and play in the first team at Newcastle?

I’m just trying to think where some of these kids are going to fit in. Shane Ferguson is an easy one as he can play left-back or left-wing and has already shown that he can hold his own in the first team. What about Haris Vuckic and Mehdi Abeid though? Where do they fit into the equation?

The two buddies, Vuckic and Abeid, are very very good players and could be real assets to us. The problem is when to give them their chance. Look at what they have to dislodge just to get a look in – Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Danny Guthrie and now seemingly Dan Gosling.There is a brick wall of talent standing in the way of our young lads progressing.

They’ve all had their chances in isolation, but can you really see any of them dislodging some of the more senior players? I can’t.

Mind you if there is one thing that they have it’s time. Sammy is is only 19, as is Haris and Mehdi while Shane is slightly more senior at the age of the 20. God I feel old all of a sudden. Who knows what will happen in the future and they may well get their respective chances to nail down a first team place.

I just can’t see it happening anytime soon unfortunately.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

79 thoughts on “Will the kids ever be alright?

  1. Good point on the young players not really having a place ready for them in the first team. However, that is definitely a good thing, especially as mike Ashley is concerned.
    These young players need first team experience to improve. Instead of having to force them into the premier league, they can now develop more in the championship, which is where I think all of those players mentioned could easily go. They may just have to wait longer until they can star for Newcastle.

    That is another reason why it would be good for us to make it into the Europa league this year. More matches means more first team opportunities for our quality young players.

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  2. AndrewT – True, but the fans play a part. Look at the furore St Whoton has when he played the kids in the cup and lost. He should have played a full team apparently….

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  3. Apart from the odd exception the kids won’t be good enough to displace first team regulars because the 1st teamers have experience on their side. Very few of the bigger teams have “kids” come straight into the first team, the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea send their prospects out on loan to get that experience then they come back ready to challenge for a starting place like Wilshere, Sturridge and Welbeck did.
    The clubs who throw youngsters in at the deep end are generally the clubs who don’t have the financial clout to do anything but take a chance.
    The top clubs let other clubs take that “chance” for them, smaller clubs are happy because they get better quality players than they’d normally have, bigger clubs are happy because they’re potential 1st teamers gain much neeed experience, the player gets to play, big smiley faces all round.
    We’re a top 4 club 😯 :mrgreen: let the “smaller” clubs give our young uns the game time 😉 😀

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  4. They should only be loaned out to clubs that are going to play them week in week out. 19 -20 year olds should be going out to championship teams or PL teams 17-18 year olds should be going to L1 or 2 to the likes of Carlisle who Newcastle has a good relationship with. The only player mentioned that we should keep is Shane Ferguson he has already proven that he can handle the big leagues and can play in more than one position.

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  5. Its certainly a tough situation for these guys. I mean shane may have been within a shout of left back at the start of the season but raylor has nailed that one down. In case of injury its going to be santon obviously, and perhaps then fergie might finally get a chance, and that’s not even on his favoured position. Out on the left? Well there’s jonas, marveux, obertan, and even arfa and ba.

    But for Abeid and Vuckic its even harder, I do struggle to see where they can get into the team unless we have a massive injury crisis and even then we’d have to change our formation pretty drastically to fit them in-can you see that happening with things going well and the team only really starting to gel right now? For me those players just have to go out on loan at in jan unless we’re looking light. I think the key is to get them playing for another premiership team and then they can be judged-but I can’t see that happening for any of our players unless the promoted teams feel they could play better than their new recruits. That’s why I’d chuck em in the championship, let the teams see what they can do, and see if they want to pick them up in their promotion campaign…

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  6. Rich – Problem is that those players, like Wilshere, Sturridge, Wellbeck etc, were on loan at Premier League clubs. Can you see any Premier league clubs giving our boys a go considering our squad isn’t the biggest and they still aren’t getting a look in?

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  7. Ashley could buy Hearts ( for peanuts ) and use it as a ‘ feeder ‘ club, transferring the Toon youngsters so they can gain experience playing regularly together in the SPL.
    They would then qualify to play in the Champions League gaining even more valuable experience before being transferred back to the Toon.
    Expect a response from Funky Jesus.

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  8. For a player like Ferguson, who already has a little first-team experience at the PL level, would it make sense to loan him out to a team like Wigan? If you can’t get some sort of first-team guarantee from them, then a high-end Championship team would probably be the best option.

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  9. Sidekick – 😆

    Personally I’d never loan kids to the SPL. What is the point exactly? So they can play two teams a season? The quality is dirge. Even Forster looks better than he actually is 😉

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  10. i think the problem with loaning our kids out to other prem sides is that despite our lofty position the teams that would take our players would be considered as competition and Pardew wouldnt want to give them much of a helping hand. top 6 teams can get away with because chelsea and man u dont consider bolton or scumderland as direct competition to them.

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  11. Toonsy… They’re just examples the point being it’s rare for a youngster to break through straight into his parent club first team at the top level but that apart getting experience in the championship is better than playing reserve football. They’re not in our first team because at the moment they aren’t better than whats ahead of them. There are only 3 choices imo, reserve team football with the possibility of the odd cameo or cup start here and there or go out on loan and get first team experience and hopefully be better placed to push for the first team when they return or get rid and sell or release. I know which one I’d rather take.
    The cold fact is that no matter how good we may think they are the majority probably won’t make it at NUFC 🙁

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  12. Championship-level is decent enough. I’m really excited about the prospect of the 3 mentioned in the article getting some regular footy. Vuckic, Abeid and Ferguson aren’t far away from the first team…. just need games and experience. Their chance will come, it’s just a matter of seizing it when it does – could even be this season

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  13. @sidekick

    If you think hearts will win the SPL anytime soon your sadly mistaken there is more chance of us winning the league

    @Toonsy

    Not even the SPL can make Forster look good im afraid he seems to be going from blunder to blunder at the moment.

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  14. Agree with Toonsy that other Premier League clubs probably wouldn’t take our players but Abeid and Vuckic would fit into Swansea perfectly for me!

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  15. A spell in the Championship turned Enrique, Coloccini, Gutierrez and Carroll from strugglers into top Premiership players 😉

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  16. I think championship is a good league for players to develop first team experience. Fraser Forster actually developed a lot more when he was playing for Norwich than he has done in Scotland. If our youngsters want to get first team experience then I see the leagues below the premier league as good ones for them to develop.

    Toonsy: Just want to check you got that photo I emailed the yesterday for the article?

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  17. In FIFA when Forsster came back from loan he was rated at 78 ❗ People are forgetting how versatile vuckic and abeid are. Vuckic can play CM, CAM, and CF. Abeid can play anywhere across midfield inclluding on the wing (which with obertan and marvaeuw out we’re lacking in. Ferguson needs first team football to improve. I suggest a team in the championship really needing a lm player or lb. I suggest brighton. I also think Vuckic would do well there as there passing play really needs to be improved. Abeid looks brilliant from what we’ve seen but thats mainly reserve team football. He should go to a team in league one that’ll improve him that are also close by. I suggest hartlepool. Rant over 😎

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  18. If you have confidence that the young lad is going to be as good as the current first-teamers within the space of a couple of seasons, then loaning him out to the championship (or maybe even the bottom 3 or 4 PL teams if we ever reach the stage where we’re consistently getting European football) is the correct move. Do this for a few seasons, then when he develops to be as good as the first-teamers you currently have, you think about selling said first-teamer to one of the gullible big-spenders (aka Liverpool) and bring in the young lad. You can then use this money to bring in 5 or 6 talented youngsters (and maybe the odd undiscovered gem like Tiote) and repeat the process.

    Unfortunately, it is a long-term strategy which requires consistency with the board and management, and also trust from the fans, which is why it’s hardly ever implemented successfully.

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  19. couldn’t agree more jon r. Though the stage of constant european football may be a fair few seasons away. 😆

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  20. They must be half decent cos they’re wiping the floor with the rest of the Premier Reserve League.

    Mind you, I doubt they’ve been tested yet. 😉 😆

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  21. Personally I think it’s cyclical….for example:

    You have the likes of Cabaye & Tiote on long contracts, vukic et al play cup games for a season, retain them within the club, train them Newcastle way, go out on loan the next season by which time they come back ready to challenge the bench players, Cabaye/Tiote are 3 years older, coming to the end of their contracts, are sold/lose form & you have ready made replacements. Well I’m sure that would be the plan & it’s dependant on timing as well numerous other things.

    Maybe haven’t explained that very well, I’m on a ******* bus & there’s potholes but I’m thinking how cleverly was groomed & ready for first team action when scholes retired.

    Failing that you sell them & recoup your costs…

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  22. The Kids will do well if they are loaned out to get much needed experience of regular footy, and for me the championship offers that.
    I dont think any of our 1st teamers looked far too good for the CCC because its not that far behind the Prem, and a lot better than the SPL.
    The only problem for us loaning players is that there is a good chance that at the end of their loan they might not want to comeback to sit on the bench, unless there is the chance that they will get games with us.

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  23. @Big Dave

    The great thing about a loan is if they go out and do ok they are putting themselves in the shop window. Which means we will get some money for players that wont get into our team on a regular basis. If they do great then they should come back and get into our team and if they dont do well on loan then we have dodged a bullet and we should try and offload them asap. Loaning youngsters out is the way to go and we should be trying to get alot ore of our younguns out on loan.

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  24. Think it’s pretty clear that young kids who go out on loan and get games come back better players. Also shows them what ot’s like in the real footballing world, where their not getting **** licked everyday.

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  25. If we look at wide midfield we have 3 senior players for 2 places + kids. So sammi came on against everton. Perhaps we need the same idea elsewhere.

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  26. Good point premandup. We have more than that at cm if gosling is considered a senior player.

    Wait a sec, we already have this everywhere except with out strikers. 3 senior cb’s. 3 senior fullbacks counting Santon. Hmm, interesting

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  27. @Premandup

    Dont forget Ben Arfa, Lovenkrands and Gosling can play as wide midfielders aswell. So thats 6 senior players + kids

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  28. IMO if they are fit, training and playing reserve games then if they are good enough they will get a chance. For example when people were saying Marveux should start, Obertoon got injured and Marveux got his chance. As it happened he was felled down in an awful challenge by an Everton player and then it was a chance for Sammy Ameobi. There were mixed reviews about his performance although I thought he did quite well. He still looked a bit rough around the edges and in particular I wouldn’t want to see him anywhere near our own box in a defensive role. He is better at filling the Obertoon role than Marveux IMO. He can break and counter attack with pace at teams and give their defense something to think about. At the end of the day if these players are good enough they will get a chance in the first team. Ferguson is one that was good enough mentally but perhaps not physically. I know Guthrie isn’t a young gun anymore but he showed why it is important to have experience on the bench IMO. He has slotted in very well in midfield in the last 3 games and I would be confident that he can take over the playmaker role if Cabaye is still out when Tiote comes back. Bottom line is that as long as there are players like Guthrie around we won’t be seeing the likes of Abeid for a while.

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  29. On a totally unrelated note – frankies been kicked off x-factor and is trending worldwide on twitter as #frankiecokeupthenozza – bet he never thought he’d become infamous ! Maybe he can hang out with Nile Ranger

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  30. NI Toon, yes they can. But pardew chose sammi. I think it possible that as we determine our best 11. And our preferred shape. Then we may see the strategy for covering those positions clarify.

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  31. Tho don’t know why he was kicked off x-factor as no reason given, just that he broke the number 1 rule 🙂

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  32. And on a related note – it’s tough for established players to get a game at the moment, who would you replace on the bench HBA, Guthrie, Santon – think they would have to be exceptional for that to happen so only way to see them develop is to loan em out

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  33. @Stevep

    I think i would rather watch paint dry than watch that garbage show on the telly. Watching that show kills brain cells.

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  34. On another note- someone’s stolen my name on one of the other blogs 👿 rrr

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  35. The trouble with the kids these days, is they don’t have there feet on the ground, once in the reserves they think they have made it, and waste their lives away E.G Nile Ranger, however not all are like that, and I think we have a few who will make it 🙂

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  36. I think being called up to the u-21’s should help Sammy Ameobi. He deserves it after the effort he has been putting in. Hopefully he will come back with a feather in his cap and having learned something valuable.

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  37. Squad rotation
    Two nasty words. We are having great success with keeping settled side at present but keeping the same eleven cannot last already the injuries that come tiredness muscle strains have started to appear. I do not accept they are professional footballers surely they can play one game a week. First and foremost your modern footballer has to be an athlete and there is no way an athlete can peak nine months of the year. Players don’t like being rested when on a winning run but the benefits are in the long term. Of our present team I would play Krul SaylorColo Tiote and Cabbaye in many games as possible being the spine of the team and make game to game maybe two but definitely one change. I am not dropping anyone just suggesting they get a rest. This policy could accomodate the three lads talked about being loaned out.
    What do you others think of a rotation policy Sir Alex has done it for years and been sucessful

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  38. DJG
    November 8, 2011 at 20:16

    “Hopefully he will come back with a feather in his cap”

    You mean like a pimp? 😆

    Sorry. In a funny mood and need cheering up 🙁

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  39. I don’t know what to call you now 😆

    Im not calling you lover by the way so that’s out of the question 😉

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  40. I like the kid, he seems to have his head screwed on and his feet firmly on the ground. Could say Shola has drilled that into him but you could also say that having a millionaire footballer brother could have had the opposite effect. He has the talent to make it as well by the looks of it. Hopefully he can steer clear of the hip problems ect. that Shola has suffered from. Here is a question. I hope the English coaches don’t try and coach the talent out of him and turn him into a stronger ball winning more direct player. We should send him to Spain and let him get some coaching out there. 🙂

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  41. DAVE ime hear early finish today batty only wanted 14hr shift 😉

    bet a certain little guy drove you mad today with new game 😀

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  42. Dave: it’s a photo that Toonsy wants to use for my next article, need one that is bigger in size

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  43. Ice I haven’t seen him from I got in until there at 9.30 when I had to tell him to turn it off, apparently he finished his homework today in a record 15mins so he could get up onto his game, 😆 he was over the moon telling me he is on level 13 even though I dont really know what he is talking about 😕 .
    Zoe what pic ? can you not edit it bigger or what ? if you want I can edit it for you

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  44. ICE: LOL and by the way we lost on Sunday and I nearly quit my team

    Dave: I’ve got another one to send to Toonsy in a bit, don’t worry

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  45. ZOE aye i read that the other day i smell trainers pet there somewhere me thinks. its not on like not training and still getting a game,think your going to have to make your gob go,you wouldnt be any worse off than you are now imo

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  46. ICE: Yeah, it’s frustrating but I’m going off to the gym tomorrow get pumping the iron aha! and getting my head down and putting the effort in to make sure they notice me etc. I am giving it until xmas and see if there is an improvement, if not I may go and find a new team

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  47. Going to be slow news days on NUFC front I feel the next couple of days.

    Really wish I’d be the new Cod now 🙁

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  48. ZOE dont waste money on gyms,just train running in sand on the beach builds leg and calf mussles,it also improves your speed 😉

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  49. ICE: haha i don’t have a beach near me and plus i’ve been going to the gym since June. Made me got a lot stronger as I’m only 5ft3! Also if you remember Toonsy saying about the NUWFC offer if I go to that particular uni that is giving me something to work towards. So going to get my head done and put lots of effort in

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  50. zoe i agree with icedog. Thats apparently how shearer trained (and Santiagoooo) :mrgreen:

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  51. Andy Mag how did you get from scot toon to that 😆
    Dan my wee lad thinks its the best thing ever 😉 and cant wait till the w/end to get playing it all day 😀

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  52. Guys,

    Just looked it up, the ACoN is running from Jan 21 – Feb 12.
    in that period we are playing

    Saturday, 21 January 2012
    Barclays Premier League
    Fulham v Newcastle, 15:00

    Wednesday, 1 February 2012
    Barclays Premier League
    Blackburn v Newcastle, 20:00

    Saturday, 4 February 2012
    Barclays Premier League
    Newcastle v Aston Villa, 15:00

    Saturday, 11 February 2012
    Barclays Premier League
    Tottenham v Newcastle, 15:00

    So I am assuming if Nigeria, Senegal, and Ivory Coast dont make the final, our guys will be back for tottenham, making our hardest game without them Villa. And they might even be back for that!!!

    I don’t think we will miss our africans that badly…………………

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  53. dan4toon
    no was refferring to changing me name. Not old enough myself to buy cod 👿 but my bro will get it 4 me. :mrgreen:
    Big Dave
    Duno just thought it on the spot as it is me nickname (bar the mag part) 😆

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  54. The players normally meet up a week or two before the cup, so we may miss them a little longer, but a lot of the teams will miss same number of players if not more

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  55. CrappyPunk – Yeah they usually go a week or two before as Alan says. Plus Nigeria aren’t in it this year so Ameobi is safe and won’t be going anywhere :mrgreen:

    The flipside is that Senegal and Ivory Coast are likely to go quite far though.

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