Thetownend.com

I was talking to a friend about Jordan Young rejecting chelsea and thought to myself, we have lost a lot of young talent to big clubs but im sure there is a lot more than i know of, so who knows who have we lost to who and how are they progressing?

Obviously Theo Walcott trained with the club before going to Southampton
I know Lukas Jutkiewicz is featuring reguarly for Coventry
Chris Zebroski managed to have a few seasons in leagues above us and is established in league two
Jamie Stephens still should be in his last year at Liverpools academy now
Alex Henshall has been training with the first team at Man City and looks good in Man City training videos on youtube

Any more?

The Legendary Ben Tozer.

Wasnt Joe Mills or was it Matt Mills that was with us as a kid and signed by Southampton.

Also wasn't Mick Channon with us as a schoolboy? I am not sure maybe Reg would know that one.

There have been many more too but I can't remember them at the moment.

How the mighty have fallen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Collins

In recent years ('04?) you've got Leigh Mills who went to Spurs for a few quid, now playing for the mighty Winchester City.

Was that the deal that brought Slabber here on loan as well? Not sure who came out worse out of that one.

That was the deal in which Spurs would devote "their best efforts" to giving us some loans & came up with sod all. Another Diamandis Coup.

I think we've made a tidy sum from moving young players on. I know that we'd rather keep them, but seems that you as much money for some young untried player than you do for a 20 goal a season striker. (Although the deals that are done I guess in most cases have clauses dependent upon first team appearances, intl call ups etc) 

wasn't Mark Yeates' short loan involved in one of these deals. I don't think Andy King liked him.

Indeed - Yeates was part of the deal, got sent back and we eventually got Slabber instead.

Who I don't think was as bad as people remember. His finishing was woeful but he linked up well with Parkin who got something like 7 in 6 up top with Slabber.

I may be wrong, but remember thinking that Spurs had turned us over

Don't think Channon was actually with us, but in his biography, is a bit about how he was on the point of signing for STFC when Soton nipped in and beat us to it....in much the same we nipped in and beat Bristhole City to Don Rogers' signature.

Thanks for clearing that up, I knew there was a link but didn't know what it actually was.

Yates is now a decent player but I remember when he signed on loan with the two diamond earings and yellow hair and bit of a swagger he was like a young King.

I wondered what happened to him.....

We lose very few and bring through very few. It's really tough for kids trying to make it in the game.

And for that matter, Lee Trundle.

We don't really help ourselves on this front, we don't give youth players much of a chance do we? Bodin got a bit of stick at the start of the season for not being good enough, but is now doing fairly well at Torquay, Kennedy got a bit of a run but one or two poor games and we bring in a loanee to take his spot: not much of a surprise that these guys aren't coming through as we might hope really.

The main memory on this front is Lloyd Macklin getting all sorts of shit on his home debut a few years ago, absolutely shot his confidence. It's all very well and good saying these players disappear into Premiership academies and are never seen again, but we're not exactly Crewe for giving players a chance are we?

Managers are reluctant to throw them in as their jobs are on the line. It's a results business and they are scared of losing their jobs. If clubs were more patient with giving managers longer then i'm sure kids would come through more frequently. Likewise, fans need to be patient with the young players too as it's daunting to say the least playing forst team football.
Our crowd does contain a high proportion of cretins

Exactly what arriba said.

Agreed.

This is what annoys me the most - giving them half a chance and then dropping them for no real reason. Bodin was played out of position, Kennedy didn't do much wrong, neither did Thompson or Storey. You need to give them a proper chance and treat them the same as experienced players (i.e. not dropping them from sight after a single bad game). Would really like to see Bodin come back in January and be given some games out wide.

As regards Macklin, I think the main problem was he just wasn't good enough. Whilst having your own fans shout out abuse isn't a help, it's not an excuse for the player concerned either - if their skin isn't thick enough for that then they ain't going to make it.

Spot on arriba. Trouble is it's only going to get worse with the Premier League being able to pick up the promising kids for a pittance

I would also add though that over the last few years we have not actually had many middle of the road seasons.We have been involved in relegation/promotion alot and managers are not going to throw youngsters in

Marshall was another...always liked him and can see him getting a decent move soon.

He scored last week!

Big mistake letting him go, never understood why we did and have always thought we'd end up regretting it.

Are we talking about Mark Marshall here?

If so the reason we let him go is that he was fucking shit. Players like McNamee had more ability in his little toe.

He could run fast though. O'Briantastic.

Agree. Was useless for us

And we didnt bring him through the ranks either

....desperately look to get out of Barnet.

No one wants him. We let him go because he's rubbish.

I went to school with all the Mills brothers, I know Joe/Fish Mills was with Town at a really young age but left quite early on, don't think Matt was ever with us, though could be wrong.

heather was shit at football too. very one footed

her movement was very wooden.

Ah, another Bradon Forest alumni.

I believe Matt was with Swindon as a schoolboy. Got picked up by Southampton pretty early though.

This. When you look at a player and think "the new Ricky Shakes", you know he won't last.