OAFC33

Number 9 trialist looked worth another run out.

A player of Daytons slight physical build needs a few tricks and a lot of pace - he seems to have neither.

Big miss tonight - Dayton had another poor game. He looks feeble.

I had a St. Mirren fan taunting me when we signed him and on 1st impressions alarm bells were ringing but yesterdays performance was outstanding.

1st year scholar.

Groundsman, kitman, gopher and tea-boy under the Dickov regime. Quite pally with a few of the players.

A 1st year pro's wage wouldn't free up enough cash to bring a new cleaner in. These lads are on minimum wage.

Personally i think the lack of a quality finisher is highlighting all the other minor shortcoming of the side. Brown is being made a scapegoat for yesterday when his error probably shouldn't have proved crucial against such a poor side. How long can we persevere with Rooney? An out and out striker is where i think we should be concentrating our efforts this month - Kevin Phillips isn't doing anything at the moment ( you can always dream ).

Released after 6 months as a pro while we're taking players like Plummer on loan. Am I missing something here?

Don't mind taking loan players if they can do a job. In the games he's played Plummer's been consistently appalling.

I agree that those are our best 4 but I'm not sure that either Lanzoni or Grounds are genuine full backs. I prefer to see a full back overlapping and getting down the line - it's not part of Grounds or Lanzoni's natural game and neither are blessed with the pace a full back needs.

He's a 20 year old who's had very little first team football.

Grounds is a poor left back, that fact has been highlighted by Mills. Lacking in pace and doesn't get forward enough. A full back needs to be more dynamic if we're playing wingers.

Simple - involve them in reserve football and 1st team training. How many youth team players were involved in match day squads under Dickov last year? 1 - Chris Sutherland, due mainly to Croft blowing up after an hour. So far LJ has had 5 or 6 involved since he took over with a couple making debuts. This gives the lads a chance to up their game and the senior coaching staff the chance to assess them in the senior environment.

As someone with a son going through the youth system at the moment I can't praise Tony highly enough for his enthusiasm and dedication to the youth system. The stats concerning how may have 'come through' the youth system are misleading as many are only picked up at 15 and 16 years of age when released by other clubs who have the budget to import overseas players into their academies. The hit rate achieved by Latics is far in excess of clubs with comparable budgets in the area. 4 scholars from 9 last year and i believe a similar number will make the grade this year if Johnson remains in charge as he seems more focused on bringing the youth through and bridging the gap from youth to senior football.

Grounds and Kusunga marshalling the defence - one speaks little English and the other seems to lack any leadership qualities considering he's really the senior defender in the side. Mellor isn't a left back, he doesn't seem to be able to concentrate in the games i've seen him play in - even at reserve level.

Very young team which Latics fielded last night as several of the 2nd years are out injured. Played some nice football and completely out played Sheff Utd for the majority of the game. Thought Byrnes and Walters were excellent playing wide.

How about someone still involved with the club - Tony Philliskirk.

I'll congratulate Postman Matt as I don't think I've ever seen the word EXHUMED used in a football context before.

Dickov's treatment of the youth players was appalling - threw them in for the odd game and the smallest mistake saw them back in the stands the week after. If a League 1 manager can't work with a youth system he's not up to the job.

Brown let himself and the team down yesterday - allowed Hughes to goad him. After that he looked completely out of sorts.

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