Printable View
Michael Obafemi scored Southampton U18s' last goal in a 4-0 win over Chelsea, which is his fourth in four games and his sixth in eight: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...pton-v-chelsea
Lee O'Connor notched up a brace for Manchester United against Middlesbrough: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...-middlesbrough
Conor Tee scored Leicester's opener against Arsenal: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...ster-v-arsenal
I see ferry played for Southampton seemingly he was in an under 18 squad for us last season while he was at bury .
He hasn't totally ditched us. He retweeted the following on his twitter (WillFerry10): https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/917489846633066496Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
Two more for Obafemi today: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...-v-southampton
And the other from our own Will Ferry.Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
Conor Tee got a brace for Leicester against Swansea: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...ster-v-swansea
Adam Idah on the scoresheet for Norwich U18s: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...lham-v-norwich
Ryan Cassidy hit double figures for the season for Watford U18 today: https://twitter.com/casso_9/status/934519192237346816
Michael Obafemi got the assist on Southampton's winner against Brighton: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...ton-v-brighton
Sam or Liam, have we ever had a spate of 17 to 19 year old goalscorers like we have had now or is the coverage of the under 18 leagues and general increased coverage of everything football providing more visibility? There appears to be 5-10 that are serious hotshots across PL teams. Very hopeful for the future. We might not see the fruits of all this for 2020 qualification but 2022 could see some of these lads involved.
slot more coverage I suppose. If u think about it 10 years ago we had Stokes as an 18 year old top scoring loads in spl , Barrett played for arsenal as an 18 year old, Billy Clarke played for Ipswich at the same age, best played at Southampton at 18 And mcgoldick also played for Southampton at 18 . Out of all of them we didn't get much striking ability at senior level. Will many of the lads we post about here now play for their clubs senior sides by age of 18? Be nice if we capped the tee lad soon for our 19sQuote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Post of the year for buzz kill reality check is all yours, right there, liamoo :)Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
Liamoo probably does have a point about it being easier to follow the fortunes of Irish players going through English academies and, sure, some will fall by the wayside (it would be unrealistic for us to think that all of the Irish talent will make the the grade when thousands of their peers will end up in lower leagues or out of football altogether, as Irish hopefuls like Conor Clifford, Conor Henderson, Noe Baba, Sean Murray, John-Joe O'Toole and Alex O'Hanlon have previously). It can be difficult to even transfer regular scoring at U18 level even to U23 level, as Ronan Hale has recently found out. And yet... there is cause to believe that there might be at least a few future international strikers amongst this bunch.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
Let's first look at two previous groups of young strikers that we had high hopes for - Liamoo's group from about a decade ago of McGoldrick, Stokes and Clarke (Barrett would have been a few a few years prior); and a group from about five years ago, which would have been made up of Maguire, O'Brien, Drennan, Burke, Mason and Hogan. OK, none of them turned out to be the next Robbie Keane, but of the first group Stokes probably had the talent to be part of the international set-up, but lacked the application, while McGoldrick was only able to confirm his eligibility in 2014 and but for that and injuries would have had more caps and a few goals for us - he's back on form this season so he should get more games in upcoming friendlies and the UEFA Nations League. So two out of three from that group went on to play for the Senior team and McGoldrick is likely to play a bigger part over the next couple of years. Of the second group, Maguire, O'Brien and Hogan took indirect routes to Championship level but they are all there now and have received call-ups to the international side, with Maguire already making his debut. So it's likely that two or three of that group of six will play a part over the coming years.
So while there was no superstars among those groups, at the end of the day four or five out of nine will likely end up with senior caps for Ireland and hopefully three of them will end up with a bunch of goals between them. So not a terrible success ratio. Right now, we are tracking about 12-15 young Irish strikers, including the top scorers in qualifying for both the last UEFA U17 Championships. If a similar proportion does make it out of that group, then five years from now we will hopefully have a half-dozen extra forwards to choose from. And while Ronan Hale has found the step-up to U23 level a little steep initially, Aaron Connolly, Jonathan Afolabi and Gerry McDonagh have already had some success at that level, with McDonagh and Connolly already after getting senior game-time. Meantime Adam Idah, whose record for our U17s can only be described as phenomenal, notched his fourth competitive goal for Norwich's U18s since his move from College Corinthians in the summer, Michael Obafemi has been on an excellent scoring spree for Southampton, Ryan Cassidy is topping the scoring chart in his league, Glen McAuley has had a couple of great seasons at Liverpool, Shola Ayoola has notched three goals in recent weeks for Stoke U23s and we've yet to see how good Parrott and Okoflex could be. Plus there's likely to be a few others who use the League of Ireland as a springboard for their careers over the next few years.
To answer Ole Ole's original question, based on the numbers we're looking at, I do actually think this is an unprecedented group of striking talent coming through. So there's definite reason for cautious optimism that we won't fall over a goalscoring cliff over the next decade, at the very least, and that we will quite possibly have a really strong forward line in five to seven years time
Cheers Sam. That's what I'm sensing myself but it's good to have it confirmed by someone a bit more knowledgeable.
It could be argued that Stokes wasn't the only one from that group that lacked application. I don't think Leon Best is short ability either, as he has been able to demonstrate when he has felt like it.
Little bit of trouble getting updates from today, as U18 results not showing on Premier League site but got some info on twitter and there's some good news from a few of our main striking prospects:
Biggest performance of the day: Aaron Connolly got a hat-trick for Brighton U18s against Blackburn: https://twitter.com/AaronConnolly_9/...53120638738432
Adam Idah scored against Man City U18s in U18 Premier League Cup: https://twitter.com/adamidah1/status/936956217917890560
Ryan Cassidy got 2 for Watford in an U18 Professional Development League clash with Crystal Palace - he's on a blistering run, top scorer in his league already: https://twitter.com/casso_9/status/937043080980717570
McCauley was injured so didn't play for Liverpool today.
Very encouraging stuff from those lads. If even one could become a Robbie😂
It'd be very difficult to get another Robbie, but if two or three can develop into internationals capable of scoring 30+ over the course of their career, then we'd be well set up for the next decade or so - and right now there's at least half a dozen youngsters whose careers are certainly moving quickly in the right direction towards that goal, along with a quite a few others who have also shown some potential.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungle
At the same time, the first one of any of these lads making their PL debut would attract so much hype, compared to the hype Robbie was offered after scoring 11 goals in the Championship at the mere age of 17.Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
Yeah, and I think it could well surprise a lot of people how quickly this could happen, particularly the Debbie Downers who think we have no talent coming through. In fact, an optimistic, but not entirely unrealistic, timeline could see a number of players emerge so quickly it make people's head spin, possibly breaking into first teams before the next European Qualifiers in March 2019:Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
1. Aaron Connolly has already made his senior competitive debut for a Premier League, albeit just some garbage time in the League Cup. At 17, he's already playing regularly for the U23s and has a couple of goals to his name at that level - his hat-trick upon a return to U18 level yesterday is an indicator that he's ready to continue at a higher level.
2. Jonathan Afolabi is the same age as Connolly and has actually played more and scored more (4) than Connolly at U23 level this season. I watched a youtube video of Southampton's 4-0 win against Reading earlier this season and he's grown into a big lad - by the time he hits his twenties he could be a towering target man, like Andy Carroll size. A few more goals in the coming months and Mauricio Pellegrino might start looking at him as an option (or he might get a loan deal)
3. Adam Idah is over a year younger than the two of them, only moved from College Corinthians in the summer, but already has four goals in seven games for Norwich's U18s which has led to his U23 debut already. If he can build on that and become a regular at that level in the New Year, who knows what could happen next season?
4. Ryan Cassidy also went to England in the summer, to Premier League Watford. Since then, he's bagged 12 goals for their U18s and is top scorer in the U18 professional Development League. If he keeps this up, surely he will move up to U23 level soon.
5 It feels like we've been talking about Glen McAuley for ages and he's been scoring a bit more sporadically in recent months, but he's still only 17 and at a top-six academy. And while his pathway to Liverpool's first team might seem a bit far as yet, he will hopefully get a shot at U23 level soon and maybe a loan move within the next 18 months.
6. Michael Obafemi is now third in the scoring charts in the U18s Premier League, so he will hopefully be following Southampton team-mate Afolabi up to U23 level soon.
7. Gerry McDonagh already has nearly a full season of first-team action under his belt, albeit on loan at lower levels - when he returned to Forest's U23s he got something like six goals in seven. If his current loan deal at Tranmere is successful, a promotion to Forest's first team could follow
8. Shola Ayoola has started scoring for Stoke's U23s
Again, it's probably still overly optimistic to expect any of them to break through by the start of the qualifiers, but there's a good chance that the Long/McGoldrick/Maguire/Hogan strike force we are likely to start with will quite possibly be only a short bridge to the next generation and that bodes well the future of the National Team
I think we could have a lovely youthful feel in 2-3 years.
It would be great to get to euro 2020 because it will be the biggest sporting event ever held in the country and we would play in front of our own fans for group and possibly a last 16 game. The financial benefit could be massive for the game.
However,i would gladly sacrifice the qualifiers for wc 2022 unless we get a group like our last one for wc2018 if it means getting a vibrant team coming through,albeit with a few beatings and plenty of learning curves.
Glen McAuley back scoring for Liverpool U18s in their 2-2 draw against Man utd. Lee O'Connor got an assist for United:https://www.premierleague.com/match/...td-v-liverpool
Possibly getting overshadowed a little by his Canadian team-mate Liam Millar, who netted a hat-trick today, but Glen McAuley has kept his own form going, scoring one against Hartlepool in the FA Youth Cup 3rd round: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/acad...tlepool-united
‘It was a night to remember’ – Irish striker excited about his future at Norwich after Youth Cup hat-trick: http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/i...ture-1-5319481