Hodgson, has actually given chances to young players , only a couple have come off. It’s that simple. Remember a kid called Perick ,or something similar , a couple of seasons back. Does anyone know if he still plays at any level?
The proof of the pudding , is not actually with Hodgson, it lies in the fact that none of our younger group of players can even get a Championship loan. Ask yourself Why .? And even young players that have left in Hodgsons time, do not feature above div 1 and then not regularly .
Malachi Boateng, does really well in Scotland , now with Dundee, in the Scots Prem, plays most weeks rarely subbed , as was the case last season in the Scot’s championship with Queens Park.. But he is the only one that achieves this sort of consistent level. Maybe we should call him back.
It’s only an opinion, I have watched him a few times ,last year and this one, for me he obviously has something, to play week in week out even up there, but I’m still left thinking , as far as the Premiership in England is concerned still a bit to do, but maybe he is one Hodgson could help to become a top class player.

Edited by Putitout (12 Dec 2023 12.35pm)

It'll be Gareth Southgate, in the Championship, with the Academy kids

Spot on. The simple fact is that very few people are good enough to be professional footballers, and very few of them are good enough to play in the top flight. If filling squad vacancies was as simple as just giving kids a chance then the club would force it upon the manager as part of the contract.

When the people who have spent a fortune, a load of time and almost all their energy on the academy, and shouted from the hilltops about it, are also in charge of the manager's terms of employment, they wouldn't stand back and do nothing if they felt he was blocking players who were good enough.

I would struggle to name a single player to leave Palace's youth system and go on to prove the club wrong.

I am no expert on football ability, but when you come across a winner you can normally see it straight away. The first time I saw Olise for us he scored after about 10 minutes coming on and some of his touches made me think he was real quality.
I can't say I have had the same feeling watching any of our other youngsters getting a run in the premier.
It was the same with Wan-Bissaka, that day we played him v Tottenham.
To be fair, Im talking about REAL quality. As I say Im no expert. I dont know what it was like the first time Joel Ward say ran out for Portsmouth.
There must be some who take time to materialise into average premier players, but top stars, I reckon you know from the off. Its just whether they make the distance mentally and physically.

Yes and yep.

I think it somewhat a mere desperate fantasy that we have an academy filled with Zahas and Zidanes, they're just not being given the chance.

I understand this desperation, especially when we have one of our frequent spells of not winning for a given amount of time, but the truth remains that very few in any of these will ever play in the top flight or at any reasonable level, for good reason.

It's a very romantic notion, a kid from the academy making his debut, scoring a hattrick and turning out to be one of the best players in the world. The reality is very different however and that's what the manager has to contend with.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

I remember Vieira saying that less than 2% of academy players will make it to full blown pros. If only half of those make it to the premier, (and Im guessing here) but that is probably only one or two per season.
So many young players. So few that make it.