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Forwards : Shaq Mcdonald : Dwight Gayle`s heir apparent. Has fantastic pace, tremendous energies, infectious enthusiasm and a positive mentality that puts Mr.MacAnthony in the shade. Shaq is that rare breed – a natural born goalscorer. And the hardest part of football is scoring a goal so again Shaq draws comparisons to Dwight Gayle in his overall value to the club.
Jaanai Gordon : Another one with an eye for goal and boundless enthusiasm. Jaanai played for the first team against both Norwich City and Hull City. A centre forward per se with a physical presence who intimidates opponents to the benefit of both Jaanai himself and his team mates – particularly his fellow strikers. Yet another who is comfortable on both his right and left peg.
Levi Wright : A powerhouse and a pest to the opposition. Quick with a voracious appetite for goal. Levi and Jaanai are a real handful and their Craig Mackail-Smithesque work rate within games is a considerable asset to any side.
Regan Carthey : A left winger and a particularly tricky operator. For the older poshie think Tommy Robson, for the middle aged(ish) poshie think Matty Etherington. Regan`s notable progress was rewarded with a place on the bench vs Charlton Athletic.
Of course in a perfect world all these lads will go on to become professionals, be it at POSH or perchance with another league club. POSH have in place contingencies should certain lads not make the grade and so provide the necessary education for the lads to attain academic qualifications.These qualifications will be with the lads for life and transferable onto any prospective CV. It is my hope this may encourage the lads to eventually undertake their coaching badges and thus pass on their current experiences to the next generation. But that`s along way off. In the meantime I implore all of you reading this to get yourselves along to the Nene Park Academy for the 11am kick off time on Saturday`s. I will publish the lads 2013/14 fixtures on here when they are out this June. FA Youth cup games are midweek with a 7pm kick off time. Nearly 1,000 of us turned up at London road last season to watch the lads thrash a renowned Aston Villa Under 18 side 4-0. Three weeks later the lads bravely went out in the Fourth Round at highly rated Leicester where a lad called Micheal Cain hit a brace for the Foxes. Not a lot of people know that – or of the huge talent emerging from our Under 18`s. Plenty more certainly should.
I would especially like to extend my gratitude to Phil Adlam for his continued assistance in the compilation of these blogs.
Subsequent blogs will feature the next age groups down in the Academy, finishing with the youngest.
Defenders (continued);
Matt Carter : A distinguishing feature of Matt is that he can play at either right or left full back.A carbon copy of first teamer Craig Alcock in that respect. It is important to make these comparisons as POSH will require continuity and a seamless transition throughout the squads to become a recognised force.
James Sage : An imposing central defender in the Chris Turner mould, James stands at 6ft 3“. In addition to his strength James is quick and reads the game well. Again, in recent seasons at times POSH have been lacking a physical presence, most notably at set plays where we have conceded far too often. James certainly fills such a void. A left footer, James is also versatile enough to perform at left full back.
Joe Burgess : Like James, Joe is as strong as an ox who never backs from a challenge and is fully committed in the tackle.Joe bosses the right side of central defence. It is also worthy of note that James and Joe et al have been at POSH for a number of years. They have POSH in their blood and are used to playing alongside each other. Hence, more fuel to the seamless transition fire. It is vitally important for POSH to build upon a solid defensive foundation for whilst everyone associated with POSH loves our attacking style, history shows that any successful side needs a strong defence. With these U-18`s coming through that is precisely what tomorrow`s POSH will attain.
Midfielders ;
Tom Conlon : Tom is a left sided attacking midfielder with a good turn of pace. POSH acquired Tom from Newcastle Town. Like current first teamer Grant McCann, Tom has a wand of a left foot and is a specialist at taking set plays. Tom is also a fine passer of the ball.
Jermaine Anderson : Jermaine is vey composed player exhuding a maturity of performance beyond his tender years which helped him progress to a first team substitutes apearance last November. Many feel it is just a matter of time before Jermaine breaks into the first team on a more regular basis. Jermaine is the perfect foil for the creativity of fellow midfielder Charlie Coulson as his defensive role is a vital one that Jermaine undertakes with maximum effect. A player comparable to former POSH loanee and current transfer target Jack Payne who breaks up the play and then retains possession.
Another crucial part of a successful side is having a player who can sit in front of the back four or five offering effective protection.
Charlie Coulson : Another first team regular in waiting. Charlie is a vey creative midfielder with a quick mind. He made his senior debut versus Watford in April 2012 and to my surprise didn`t subsequently feature in the first team squad last season. England youth international call up`s did surface though and the coming season provides Charlie with the perfect stage to display his midfield adroitness.
This is preferable to bringing in loan players which a) means we spend monies unnecessarily b) Is a short term fix – if lucky and c) diffuses players like Charlie’s aspirations and hence potential.
Dan Lawlor: Dan is another very good passer of the ball with excellent distribution who operates in central midfield.A right footer who is again versatile in that he can also play at right full back. Such versatility is a feature of the U-18`s and although it would be asinine to talk of `total football` whilst these lads are still developing, it is evidently in their mindset.
Jevani Brown : Exciting attacking midfielder who like first teamer Kane Ferdinand likes to make decisive runs from midfield into the box. Jevani has a real cleverness in his movement and overall game again drawing comparisons with another first teamer Lee Tomlin.
This blog features the POSH under 18`s and is the first in a series of `The Future Of Peterborough United Football Club` blogs. Subsequent blogs will work their way through the Academy age groups finishing with the youngest.
The Under 18`s.
Goalkeepers ;
Alex Lynch : Already a Welsh youth international having been capped at Under 19 level, Alex is progressing well and is held in high esteem at POSH. A good all round performer, Alex excels in coming off his line and dealing with crosses and set pieces* – a crucial area of goalkeeping that separates the ordinary from the quality custodian.
Luke O`Reilly : A year younger than Alex but posesses the exact same qualities.Luke is extremely brave when coming for crosses.*
I pinpoint this area* as it is one `football playing sides` like POSH can be susceptible to and needs eradicating by future POSH goalkeepers if we are to become an established side on a sustained basis.
Defenders;
Micheal Richens : A right back not disimilar in style to current first teamer Mark Little in that Micheal is very adept at `bombing forward`. Marked a promising 2012 pre-season with a goal against St.Neots. Micheal went on to perform with aplomb whilst on loan at non league Histon United at the end of last season, where he displayed his notable defensive capabilities. Micheal is very comfortable in either a 4-4-2 or 5-3-2 formation and with current transfer speculation regarding Mark Little POSH fans can rest easy in the knowledge Micheal is eagerly awaiting his deserved opportunity
We need a defensive coach appointed on a full time basis over the summer. The amount of set pieces we conceded goals at last season became embarrasing. Indeed in the final game at Palace the final two goals we conceded were exactly what I am on about as well as being soo easily avoidable. The danger will be that because we can score our way out of League One this crucial area(adequate defending) will be neglected.Hence, on returning to the Championship for the 2014/15 season we will remain susceptible to what has always been our achilles heel under Darren`s tenure – an inability to tighten up and defend with confidence. Another imperative area a defensive coach can/will work on is the players having the tactical nous to see games out. Again, the amount of late goals – in the last 15 or so minutes – that we conceded last season virtually became our trademark. Ironically, the exact opposite of the situation Darren`s father Sir Alex experienced at Manchester United. So come on POSH, lets get us a sound defensive coach who will savour defensively educating and fine tuning our vibrant young squad. Thanks for reading this. RSVP when feasible.
Palace have to win to be sure of a play off spot; hence they will come at POSH more allowing POSH to be able to hit them on the break. And given the fact that Palace do try and play a passing game that will suit POSH`S preferred style of play.I would stick with the 4-4-2 formation and same starting eleven as per The Owls fixture. On the bench, Kgosi has to be included for NKP. POSH don`t need two centre backs on the bench and Kgosi could enter the fray at left back, pushing Rowey into a more dangerous forward position should the need require, particularly in the last 20 mins if Grant McCann begins to tire. I hope/imagine DF has already `in house` selected the side and the bench, giving the players time to focus on the job in hand. I must confess to being a bit surprised that DF admitted he`ll be receiving `other match updates` as we should solely concentrate on getting the necessary thrre points, which we are more than capable of. Finally, a massive thank you to Darragh and all of his staff for another cracking season and whatever the result at Selhurst Park, the future of POSH is supremely marvellous. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Get involved and post a response….go on …..you know it makes sense:
Having had three days to digest POSH`s vtal 1-0 win over The Owls I truly realised just how immense the performance of our two central defenders Bozzy & Zak was. Don`t get me wrong – the whole team deserves credit for an outstanding effort, but when one considers Bozzy had been out for a month and Zak got injured at Derby the week before coupled with the fact that The Owls are both a very physical and direct team, the pairing put in a performance that was near faultless. Some work is definately needed on matching our opponents at set pieces as surprisingly quite a number of Championship sides adopt a route one style. To be fair to Bozzy, he`s a converted midfielder and the likes of Shaun Brisley are still young and developing so one need not be too concerned. Likewise, the displays at left back from Kgosi Nthle up until his serious injury in November were most assured and I`m sure Kgosi will become a serious contender for our left back slot in the long run. Moreover, Kgosi is a left back per se. And on the suject of youngsters with obvious potential Nathaniel Mendez-Laing comes into that category. NML has shown glimpses of real abilty this season and I feel more game time and a greater level of self belief will benefit him. Of the more established players it is evident to all that if Lee Tomlin can concentrate solely on his abillty he can be whatever he wants to be. One can see why Darragh MacAnthony has continued to both praise Lee and fight his corner. Every poshie would love to see Grant McCann awarded a new contract and it would be interesting to learn whether Grant has any desires towards coaching as he appears well suited to such a post which in turn would benefit our extremely young squad. Which, last but by no means least, brings me onto Mark Little. Personally I was most disappointed Mark didnt win a merited end-of-season player award.He was our most consistent performer in my humble opinion. As with Grant, one hopes Mark is awarded a much deserved new contract. Like NML et al, Mark is only going to improve his game which, of course, will be to the benefit of Mark, The Club and our wonderful supporters. Thank you for taking the time to read this.All feeback and the like is most welcome#God Bless
Hats off to DF. He went with 4-4-2 as many had hoped. And he was evidently encouraging POSH to up the tempo throughout the game. Everybody played their part, players and fans alike. Playing Bostwick appeared a risk, but the way Bozzy played it`s hard to beleive he`d been out injured for a spell. Bozzy also has a physical presence desperately needed in our backline. Everybody knew The Owls would be physical and rely on set pieces for a goal….and but for lady luck would have scored from a set piece. This is an area POSH must improve upon over the summer. Likewise, better man marking at set pieces and also being first to the second ball. Every time we concede a set piece we look susceptible and it`s blindingly obvious opposition teams are exploiting our achilles heel. But the boys were outstanding vs the Owls in terms of effort, composure and bottle. We also played to our strengths of attacking at every opportunity. And so onto Selhurst Park, where given our form since Mid December we have nothing to fear+ Palace have hit the slippery slope big time for quite some time now. Lets get behind the lads once more. Onwards and Upwards:#UTP. Thank you for taking the trouble to read this gubbins. One appreciates it greatly. Send your feedback and keep the football family alive and well#God Bless
My bench for tomorrow is : Day, Brisley, Swanson, Cuvelier, Ferdinand, Pritchard and Macdonald. I wouldn`t start Kane* – for as well as he has played over the last few months – we simply need to go all out attacking. That said, I wouldn`t be surprised if DF started with him*. The concern then is thus sacrificing a more attack minded player like NML. In my opinion it is of little use bringing on NML when we have left ourselves chasing the game. Likewise, I certainly wouldn`t risk starting such a crucial encounter with players that are not fully fit. One or two have also questioned my playing Jack Payne at right full back. My answer to that is he has played there with aplomb for Gillingham. But I digress, back to the bench. I have Shaun Brisley on the bench as he lacks the required experience. However, Shaun epitomises the future and the promise of POSH and he should be a regular next season. Danny Swanson is also on the bench because he needs to demonstrate a greater level of consistency. Again, next season provides Danny with a perfect opportunity to seize his chance. He`s got all the tooks in his locker. Over to you, Danny. Pritchard and Cuvelier need to show some sort of impact to progress their careers be it at POSH or elsewhere. I do wonder why DF brought Cuvelier into the club only for him to get splinters on the bench.And finally to the inclusion of the boy Macdonald. Working on the adage that if you are good enough you are old enough, the way Mac is going I can just see him coming off the bench and nabbing a `Roy of The Rovers` winner. So I am a bit of a dreamer, but then dreaming is what football is all about. Finally, if we do get relegated it`s far from the end of the world. If you took the time to study our youth set up that Darragh is bankrolling you would surely see that the future is bright…the future is POSH. Once more, thanks for taking the time to read this. Any comments in response are always more than welcome.#Keep smiling
poshboi73 