Troy Parrott F AZ Alkmaar b.2002

[kennedmc]

TP is one of a number of young striker prospects in English football who has a better than average chance of making it at the top level. (And as a Spurs fan, I hope he does)

Whereas HK is a world class, once-in-a-generation striker, like eg Shearer or Lineker before him.

There is nothing to be gained by comparing the two.

It is reasonable to hope that TP might be eg another Theo Walcott or Robbie Keane, though there is also the possibility of his being eg the next Francis Jeffers. Or (just as likely) somewhere in between.

Agree 100%. I was clumsily (!) trying to say something similar.

[ColourfulPeanut]

TP is one of a number of young striker prospects in English football who has a better than average chance of making it at the top level. (And as a Spurs fan, I hope he does)

Whereas HK is a world class, once-in-a-generation striker, like eg Shearer or Lineker before him.

There is nothing to be gained by comparing the two.

It is reasonable to hope that TP might be eg another Theo Walcott or Robbie Keane, though there is also the possibility of his being eg the next Francis Jeffers. Or (just as likely) somewhere in between.
Oh I agree compeltely. I was using the comparison for that reason. Kane is one of, it not the best striker in the world. Parrott's career path is similar thus far and it's a good way to temper expectations when a player of Kane's level didn't excel until his 20s.

[EalingGreen]

hopefully not. overhyped bit part player in realityAgree he never became the Superstar everyone was predicting.

But 400 top flight appearances and 47 England caps by the age of 31 is not to be sniffed at.

Put it this way, I'd have a player like him in the NI team in a heartbeat!

And Kenny would do the same for ROI, too.

[Exgrad]

I think everyone just needs to be patient with Parrott considering how young he is.

At his age Harry Kane was in the exact same spot, on loan at Millwall. It took him a few more years and loan spells to really kick on, so it's very early days to be expecting much from Parrott.

Exactly, few posters need to take a deep breath. Parrott has a lot of potential but it may take a few seasons to see that develop, we're not looking at a Jadon Sancho or Raheem Sterling type talent here. These are the exceptions and most players take longer. Watched most of the match the other night and was surprised at the quality (or lack of). People on here scream for the young players to go on loan, looking at Kelleher maybe its not always the right decision. Spurs have a 16 year old striker coming through at the moment, seems to be taking the slot vacated by Parrott. Anyway, he will learn something from the loan, going on game the other night battling a 6ft plus centre back for a long punt will be one of the things he may learn.

[seanfhear]

Exactly, few posters need to take a deep breath. Parrott has a lot of potential but it may take a few seasons to see that develop, we're not looking at a Jadon Sancho or Raheem Sterling type talent here. These are the exceptions and most players take longer. Watched most of the match the other night and was surprised at the quality (or lack of). People on here scream for the young players to go on loan, looking at Kelleher maybe its not always the right decision. Spurs have a 16 year old striker coming through at the moment, seems to be taking the slot vacated by Parrott. Anyway, he will learn something from the loan, going on game the other night battling a 6ft plus centre back for a long punt will be one of the things he may learn.
Back in and try to get away with it (wink)

[Bungle]

He was world class at youth level. I watch a lot of youth football and he stood out as one of the best young players in youth football for his age group. Even with that, there is a huge jump to men's football. Millwall play horrible football. Far worse than Tottenham youth teams but if he is the real deal or at least has the potential to be, he will adapt and begin to learn. Playing in front if some of the most hostile fans around is also part of the learning.

Steven Gerrard mentioned once that Joxer Kelly was one of the best young players he has ever seen. His life outside of football was all over the shop and Gerrard had him living with him for a while to try and keep him on the straight and narrow. That didn't work. These days there are even more distractions for young lads.

I see glimpses of a really good player, but Knight, O'Shea and Collins have already shown something that he hasn't. They have all played very well at Championship level. I think Knight has an unreal ceiling and I see Rooney has namechecked him as an outstanding talent. Lampard liked him as well.

[Eirambler]

Knight will play for a top English or European club unless he's unlucky with injuries I think. Seems to have everything you would want from a young midfielder - passing, tacking, dribbling, goals, a great engine and a really good attitude too. Collins also looks to have the potential to go on to good things. Important to remember though that Parrott is a year younger than both of those lads and three years younger than O'Shea and Molumby, who have only really broken through at senior level in the last year. There are no guarantees for him but he has plenty of time on his side at the moment.

[tommy_c12000]

25 minutes gone, Boro 3-0 up. Parrott has touched the ball once. Millwall simply awful. Aimless long balls, need Matt Smith on if they persist playing so primitively

[Razors left peg]

Parrott has dropped a lot deeper since they have gone 3 down and is working very hard in fairness to him. He shows touches of class but holds onto to ball too long sometimes. It's like he thinks he's their best player and is trying to make something happen. He's probably right but I'm not sure he's creative enough to be playing that deep, you'd like someone to be feeding him the ball around the box and let him be selfish with it in dangerous areas. Millwall are a horrific team though

[Razors left peg]

Hes come off on the hour again. Fair to say this loan not going as well as we hoped

[tommy_c12000]

Millwall are simply woeful throughout apart from Jed Wallace. I can only see it improving for Parrott if they revert to a traditional 4-4-2 with him alongside target man Matt Smith. I suspect this will be trialed sooner rather than later

[seanfhear]

It's a football education ~ all part of being a footballer.

[tommy_c12000]

Of course it is. No one is saying to the contrary

[Diggs246]

Yep. The reality is if robbie keane at 19 was playing for that millwall team. He is scoring goals

[Eirambler]

I'm not sure even Keane would be scoring goals in that Millwall team to be honest. It's a shame that's where he was sent, especially when you see the run Harvey Elliott is on at Blackburn. I think Parrott is going to have to ride the situation out for a while and hope a change of manager or approach might work in his favour.

[Razors left peg]

Parrott on bench against Bristol City today. I agree that even Robbie would struggle to score goals in this Millwall team.... but I would have hoped Parrott would have stood out a bit more.

[livehead1]

Parrott on bench against Bristol City today. I agree that even Robbie would struggle to score goals in this Millwall team.... but I would have hoped Parrott would have stood out a bit more.

His replacement managed it

[Razors left peg]

His replacement managed it

Bad night for him, left on the bench while Millwall score 2. Might struggle to get back in

[Exgrad]

Bad night for him, left on the bench while Millwall score 2. Might struggle to get back in

He'll get back in at some stage, so many fixtures in Championship...all though clear enough at this stage he won't be soring a hat full of goals there this season.

[irishfan86]

A bit of adversity will do Troy no harm. He’s scored for fun at every level and now this will force him to find new ways to score or contribute. Certainly if he’s going to play a part for us he’s going to have to be more than just a finisher.

[tetsujin1979]

Millwall's next two fixtures postponed due to a COVID outbreak: https://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/2020/december/millwalls-christmas-fixtures-postponed/

[zero]

gets his chance today in the cup at non league Bromley.

[tommy_c12000]

Did ok. Some nice link up play, but lost the ball cheaply on occasion too. Trying too hard for a goal, needs to relax a little. Missed a golden opportunity towards the end of his outing when he failed to control a tricky through ball from Woods. Overall, disappointing to see him not push on against a non-league side.

Danny Mac was Millwalls best player. Expect he should slot into their side

[tommy_c12000]

78 minutes for Troy today. Poor performance. Struggling to adapt to men’s football.

Dan McNamara looks excellent

[brine3]

Men's football my hole.

We need to stop sending our best players to England.

[kennedmc]

Men's football my hole.

We need to stop sending our best players to England.
Nobody 'sent Parrott anywhere. At 15 he sat down with his family and agent / rep and made the decision to go himself. Why? Access to some of the best youth academies in the world with top class and specialized coaching. Perhaps financial incentives too.

I think this loan has been a good reality check for those who had some unrealistic expectations about Troy. Look back on this thread and people are giving out about Mourinho for not playing him in the PL when he was nowhere near ready.

This loan spell in "mens football" will be good experience for Troy (Who turns 19 in Feb) and hopefully his early promise can turn in to a decent level PL player in the coming years.

[Diggs246]

Nobody 'sent Parrott anywhere. At 15 he sat down with his family and agent / rep and made the decision to go himself. Why? Access to some of the best youth academies in the world with top class and specialized coaching. Perhaps financial incentives too.

I think this loan has been a good reality check for those who had some unrealistic expectations about Troy. Look back on this thread and people are giving out about Mourinho for not playing him in the PL when he was nowhere near ready.

This loan spell in "mens football" will be good experience for Troy (Who turns 19 in Feb) and hopefully his early promise can turn in to a decent level PL player in the coming years.

Im still hopeful actually, he needs a few goals and then I think he could flourish

[seanfhear]

Im still hopeful actually, he needs a few goals and then I think he could flourish
In fairness so could I = = Only Kidding !

[Snapshot]

Ironic that Millwall were rarely described as woeful when Molumby was there. Maybe Millwall are ok and Parrott is woeful. He's only 18 and very promising, but he was brought there to score, occasionally at least. We seem to judge clubs and/or their style relative to how the Irish lad plays.

[tommy_c12000]

Millwall certainly had a great second part of the year last year when Molumby was there and finished 8th. They’ve been poorer this year as reflected by their league positions and the games I saw.

Robbie Keane at 17 with Wolves was having more of an impact than Parrott has been at almost 19 in the championship, and there’s not a lot of difference between that wolves side and the current millwall side. Which is a tad concerning to me, but let’s see what he does over the next couple of seasons. This is all allowing for the fact that parrott was out for 2 months and played minimal football for most of last year due to mismanagement.

Indeed, Parrott is struggling a bit more than what I would have expected. In many games he has had terrible service and really couldn’t do much. But in the last game he found himself in an excellent positions at least 3 times and gave the ball away cheaply. Millwall were looking like they’d turned the corner vs Bournemouth and playing reasonable football.

Hopefully he will get a goal soon and settle in. I suspect Bodvarsson or Bennett will start ahead of him for the next couple of games (and rightly so). But parrott will get more chances if he stays for the season. Hopefully he comes good

[MancIrishWolf]

No disrespect Tommy, as I’m a big fan of your work on here, but not sure a young Keane is a fair comparison for Parrott.


Had the joy of watching Keane in his first season, including a Keane & Bull double in our first live game which was like watching the rebirth of Jesus for our family. However, Keane benefitted greatly from the experience of Bull, Goodman & Freedman upfront, a supply line of Froggatt & Simpson & quality players like Murray, Richards & Curle at the back, so we were infinitely better than what looks an extremely turgid Millwall team.


That said his impact was astounding with two on his debut and top scorer with 11 in the league (surprisingly low given the calibre of striker, although McGhee rotated players), however as a striker he was a once in a century type player, let alone once in a generation for Ireland.


From what I’ve seen of Parrott, he seems a different type of Kane like player with a taller physique who possibly needs to grow into his frame (Drogba took until his mid-20’s), whereas Keane had that elusive low centre of gravity running from deep. That said, Keane’s attitude and confidence was impeccable, so if Parrott’s attitude is poor, maybe this is the humbling he needs to bring him down to earth and focus his attention.

[Olé Olé]

The Championship is much stronger now too.

I agree he is struggling but I don't think there's any harm in that. The side is not great and he's not getting his chances. A little adversity will surely do him good. It's quite handy that there are no vitriolic Millwall supporters in the stands to really drive it home to him when he doesn't have a great game or doesn't score or create.

Big test for him now to turn it around before the end of the season.

[Diggs246]

Starts today. Let's see how he goes.. I actually have a good feeling!

[tommy_c12000]

Excellent, hopefully he will do it today! I always have a good feeling at the start which gradually disappears as the Millwall game progresses. Hopefully today will be different!

[tommy_c12000]

1-0 down HT. Dan Mc has made such a difference to their quality of play. Parrott poor. Touch is off. Will be taken off shortly unless big improvement

[Eirambler]

Parrott getting a lot of stick online for his first half display, playing wide left. Not as much as Shane Duffy is getting from the Celtic fans all the same.

McNamara's rate of progression is incredible.

[tommy_c12000]

His ball protection, strength and control just not there at the moment. These were all things we saw him have 18 months ago during his brief flirtation with senior football

[tommy_c12000]

Subbed after 79, came into it a small bit in second half. Millwall poor today 2-0 down.

[Eirambler]

It's not working out at Millwall for whatever reason. Would like to see him recalled and sent to another club for the second half of the season. Might be no harm if it was a League 1 team.

[tommy_c12000]

Yes agree, millwall won’t object much. It’s in their interests to target a tried and tested goal scorer at this stage. Surprised to see him starting today, pressure from Spurs?

Reasonable to drop down a level or continental loan (preference)

[Olé Olé]

I would stick it out. He's only 19 in a couple of weeks. The pandemic will ease and he'll be all the better for a bit of adversity. From watching him a few times for Millwall, a bit of tenacity and effort when Millwall don't have the ball is sorely lacking. The penny will have to drop with him soon. Pulling him from the loan doesn't really teach him a lesson on that.

[Eirambler]

Hopefully articles like this one are just a footnote from a rare turbulent period early in his career. Who knows.

https://the72.co.uk/215556/sorry-to-say-it-spurs-fans-these-millwall-fans-target-dreadful-player-after-nottingham-forest-defeat/

[tommy_c12000]

I would stick it out. He's only 19 in a couple of weeks. The pandemic will ease and he'll be all the better for a bit of adversity. From watching him a few times for Millwall, a bit of tenacity and effort when Millwall don't have the ball is sorely lacking. The penny will have to drop with him soon. Pulling him from the loan doesn't really teach him a lesson on that.

Sticking it out is fine if millwall are willing to keep him. But Rowett is under pressure and is not going to keep giving Parrott chances if he continues to be a passenger. I think it’s more likely that Rowett will end the deal and look for an alternative

[DCWA]

Some of the comments do not bode well for Parrot. I am in no place to add anything substantive to the discussion as I have not seen him play for Millwall but considering there plenty calling into serious question his technical ability it seems to possibly more worrying than simply not being quite ready for men’s football, you would expect to signs that there is a player in there at 18 years of age if he was to go on and reach the heights we had all hoped he would.

Yes, btw, this is probably a rash enough post and hopefully will be proven so.

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldn't take much notice of what fan reactions to anything are. There's always a scapegoat and it's often the outsider who is convenient. Not to say they're wrong, but having watched the Millwall game I wouldn't have said he was all that bad. There were certainly worse performances.

[brine3]

Needs to go to the continent and play in a proper team. Being stuck out in the wing in the championship will not do anything for him. That's not what Ajax or Barca would do with their young players.

Should never have signed contract extension under Mourinho either.

Needs new direction quick, career could be non-starter otherwise.

[tetsujin1979]

Ajax are famous for playing their promising youth players in multiple positions to help develop their overall game

[brine3]

They don't ship them off to the churn that is Millwall, is what I am referring to.

[tetsujin1979]

they don't play many 18 years olds either

[Diggs246]

Dropped today