A miserable sixty minutes spent watching the Development team.

When I replied to those who had commented on my piece on the Villa match yesterday morning, I mentioned I was going into Cardiff and hoped to be able to watch the Development teams game with Colchester at Leckwith – I did, but wish I hadn’t.

I’m not going to waste my time writing on a game that was a waste of time, so I’ll just post my contribution to a messageboard thread about the Academy teams run of high scoring recent matches (I’ve been out of the loop a little lately, but I know they have beaten Sheffield United 8-0 and am pretty sure that had 4-1 and 5-0 wins over Watford and Huddersfield as well) ;-

“But what waits for these Under 18 players when they get too old to play for that team? I went along to Leckwith yesterday afternoon to watch the Under 23s play against Colchester and gave up watching after an hour – I asked myself was the reason I left early because I had things to do with my house move (which I did) or whether it was because I had no desire to watch any more of what was on offer and decided it was the latter – I would have stayed if there was anything worth watching.

As for the game, Colchester won 1-0 with a goal stabbed in from about eight yards when City failed to clear a corner and,in the first half at least, were comfortably better than the usual mixture of trialists and young professionals unfortunate enough to have been selected for us.

I missed the first few minutes, so maybe City did all of their dangerous attacking then, but the only goal attempt I can remember from them in the opening forty five minutes was a shot by James Waite which ballooned miles over the bar.

Waite was in the starting line up, as were the Wales Under 21 internationals Mark Harris and full backs Cameron Coxe and Rhys Abbruzzese. Harris played in his normal position up front, but the other two had to be moved to accommodate trialists (one of whom was called Josh Whittingham!) and so Coxe was on the right wing and Abbruzzese in the pointless sitting midfield role that he had been used in once earlier in the season – a little under a year ago, these three (especially Coxe) were doing well for Wales in the prestigious end of season Toulon tournament, now, like Waite, Harris and a few others, they are coming to the end of a campaign which I would argue has seen their career progress stagnate or even decline.

For me, this is because the never ending stream of trialists has meant there is no sense of continuity in the team they play for and the young City lads are forever performing in a side where around half of their team mates are new faces – add in the adoption of a hit and hope long ball policy and watching Under 23 matches has had little to recommend it this season.

The glorified trial that has been the Development team’s season hasn’t been a complete failure. After all, it brought about the signing of Ciaron Brown and the McKay twins (Paul the centreback was doing well until he sustained what looked a bad injury about a month ago), but I noticed that Brown’s level of performance was well down on what he was doing three months ago – it looked to me as if he has had been dragged down to the Development team level after looking like someone who could possibly play first team football in the first few matches after he signed for us.

Judging by the way things have gone in 17/18, the likes of Brown, Harris, Coxe etc. and the better players in the Under 18 team will be hoping they can be loaned out next season.”