Our U23 decimated?

CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
Just looking at our U23 squad on the Swans offcial site.

Goalkeepers:

Lewis Webb 18 years old
Steven Benda is still there as U23 player but we all know he is now first team player.

Defenders:

Tivonge Rushesha, right back, 18 years old
Jordi Govea, left back, 21 years old
Mathew Blake, left back, 20 years old
Cameron Evans, centre-back, 19 years old
Joe Lewis, centre-back, 20 years old (almost 21)

Midfielders:

Jack Evans, 22 years old
Daniel Williams, 19 years old
Oli Cooper, 20 years old

Attackers:

Josh Thomas, 17 years old
Liam Cullen, 21 years old, he is now first team player like Benda


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One goalkeeper, two centre-backs, one right back, two left backs (one of them is always injured), three midfielders and one attacker.

Just wondering: are we in a process of phasing out our U23?
 
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jasper_T

First Teamer
U18s manager Jon Grey was put in interim charge last season, with Matty Jones as his assistant. Matty has since departed to lead Wales new u18s side, which I imagine was in the works for a while (he originally left shortly before Toshack and Richards did, and came back in the ensuing emergency).

Don't put too much stock into the official site squad pages. We gave out 6 new pro deals to graduating scholars at the end of the season (Ali Al-Hamadi, Ryan Bevan, Bradley Gibbings, Jacob Jones, Lewis Webb and Jake Thomas) and have signed a handful of other players (Adrian Akande, Rio Campbell) recently as well but mostly starting in the u18s group. There's a few really bright talents just signing scholarship terms at 16 (Josh Edwards, Kai Ludvigsen).

A good number have left this summer. Arnor Borg Gudjohnsen has gone back to Iceland. Mason Jones-Thomas was on trial with a Portsmouth XI last night (played 55 mins and won a penalty for them). Tom Price and Cam Berry who had loans in the WPL have gone as well, and Kieran Evans who was one of the brighter talents a few years back but couldn't push on. There have been understandable cutbacks financially and we can't afford to keep kids around into their 20s as we did in the PL.

GK - Josh Gould, Lewis Webb, Alex Rutter
FB - Tivonge Rushesha, Ryan Bevan, Matthew Blake, Jacob Jones
CB - Brandon Cooper (likely to leave on loan), Joe Lewis (same), Jake Thomas, Cameron Evans, Scott Butler (second year scholar but I hear good things)
MF - Jack Evans (a good loan fingers crossed lad deserves a break) Dan Williams, Erick Kenko, Oli Cooper, Morgan Clarke
FW - Ali Al-Hamadi, Josh Thomas, Bradley Gibbings
 

jasper_T

First Teamer
Potentially. Did alright on his only u23s chance. Gibbings a marginally brighter prospect imo though, and Campbell and Akande would also be rivals for gametime on the wing in the short/medium term.
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
jasper_T said:
Potentially. Did alright on his only u23s chance. Gibbings a marginally brighter prospect imo though, and Campbell and Akande would also be rivals for gametime on the wing in the short/medium term.
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Do you follow U23 matches live? How do you do that?
 

jasper_T

First Teamer
We used to be one of the best for providing free streams of our u23s fixtures, which mostly took place on Monday evenings when we were in PL2 division 1. Last season was a bit of a mess of technical difficulties, more Sat afternoon kickoffs clashing with first team games etc. but you'd occasionally find streams provided by the opposition instead. When the official site didn't work, the club facebook page often did.

The "upgrade" to SwansTV has actually seen u23s coverage suffer quite a bit imo. The one man and a camcorder approach had less moving parts that could break down. Live editing with replays and flashy intro screens aren't worth the hassle. Maybe we go back to that with new social distancing/behind closed doors fixtures next season, or maybe the games won't be shown at all.

Keep an eye on fixture lists and complain at the club's social media intern on twitter when they don't have a stream available (or it's broken).
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
jasper_T said:
Gibbings a marginally brighter prospect
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Would you be kind to elaborate why do you think he is a bright prospect. In 22 appearances for the U18 he scored one goal. I can't find the stats about any assists. The U18 was pretty awful last season: W4 D1 L18, scored 27 and conceded 70.
 

jasper_T

First Teamer
Technically good, uses space intelligently for his age. May find he lacks the pace to be effective at u23s level but did well in his appearances. Liked him for Wales u17s when I saw them a couple of seasons ago as well. The season ending early was rough on the lads transitioning from u18s to u23s, as they usually get half a dozen+ games in that Feb-May period to settle in and try to impress (as Rushesha and Jones-Thomas did the previous season with the cup run). Opportunities early in the season can be rare except when there's significant injuries (poor Jacob Jones at 16 playing in a rugby match at Oxford).

I can't remember our u18s side ever being particularly strong. Cullen and DJ tore it up together for a brief period after the latter signed iirc. Compared to most Cat 1 academies we don't spend the same kind of money on recruitment in volume, and with the u23s emptying out we had players like Rushesha up an age group as a starter, and Josh Edwards on the bench at 15. Emphasis in the PL was spending large fees to make the u23s side competitive (a procession of Scotsmen costing half a million+ each), we weren't tempting 16 year old lads from Barcelona over with huge pay packets and houses for mum and dad like Man Utd have just done. The u18s will always be a patchwork of local lads and rejects from other academies given a second chance, with the odd well-regarded signing (DJ, Garrick, Lewis Webb).
 
ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
jasper_T said:
Technically good, uses space intelligently for his age. May find he lacks the pace to be effective at u23s level but did well in his appearances. Liked him for Wales u17s when I saw them a couple of seasons ago as well. The season ending early was rough on the lads transitioning from u18s to u23s, as they usually get half a dozen+ games in that Feb-May period to settle in and try to impress (as Rushesha and Jones-Thomas did the previous season with the cup run). Opportunities early in the season can be rare except when there's significant injuries (poor Jacob Jones at 16 playing in a rugby match at Oxford).

I can't remember our u18s side ever being particularly strong. Cullen and DJ tore it up together for a brief period after the latter signed iirc. Compared to most Cat 1 academies we don't spend the same kind of money on recruitment in volume, and with the u23s emptying out we had players like Rushesha up an age group as a starter, and Josh Edwards on the bench at 15. Emphasis in the PL was spending large fees to make the u23s side competitive (a procession of Scotsmen costing half a million+ each), we weren't tempting 16 year old lads from Barcelona over with huge pay packets and houses for mum and dad like Man Utd have just done. The u18s will always be a patchwork of local lads and rejects from other academies given a second chance, with the odd well-regarded signing (DJ, Garrick, Lewis Webb).
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Enjoying the insight, jasper, which is filling the gaps in my knowledge of the 'Unders' sides. 👍 I've been praising young Liam Cullen on here a great deal as, from what I've seen of him the past couple of years, I rate him as a good prospect. You have probably seen more of him and I'd be interested to know your opinion of him.
 

jasper_T

First Teamer
He was lethal at u18s but struggled for a good while to replicate that at u23s. Toshack and Richards seemed reluctant to play him as a 9 with beefier options Courtney Baker-Richardson and Botti Biabi available, as did Wales u21s manager Rob Page preferring Mark Harris and Nathan Broadhead, so he got limited gametime as an ineffective winger . He's very similar to Brewster in that he's a natural goalscorer and little else. Bit small, bit slow, very selfish. Always the first to start moaning as well, but I saw an interview he did a few weeks back and at least he's aware of that. Tries hard

I honestly didn't have much hope for him going into last season. Decent scoring record at u23s (was 2nd top scorer behind Brighton's Connolly in 18/19, but Byers bagged one less than Cullen's total from midfield the season prior) but always on big money so wouldn't have been at all surprised to see him move on. Then he makes a couple of matchday squads when we're short on options and away we go. Football#s like that, if you don't get the chance you don't get anywhere. A few more of ours will be eyeing the door now with Guehi's return, for the good of their careers.
 
KVetch

KVetch

Key Player
Al Hamadi seems like an interesting signing, scored a goal for the Iraqi U23s. Can our academy produce and develop with the loss of the C1 status and Toshack and Richards. Evans is another one I'd love to see develop. All of them for their sake and ours!
 

jasper_T

First Teamer
We produced Allen and Davies with the pre-EPPP model. We've only been Category 1 since the summer of 2016 (although started playing Cat 1 fixtures a season earlier) so even Connor Roberts didn't really come through the existing system, as he went to Yeovil for the 15/16 season, followed by less-successful loans. Joe Rodon had already signed pro terms and was on the bench for a cup tie in Jan 2016. For many of our graduates the expanded u23s program was their only taste of the upgrade in standards, and we've yet to see players who will have benefited throughout their earlier development. How much difference it actually made is a worthwhile debate, especially now that funds are tight (£5m a year is a lot to a £25m turnover club), we don't get Cat 1 benefits we used to get (like Checkatrade Trophy fixtures, which we always did well in), and being in the Championship with a hectic fixture list allows/forces us to blood young players much earlier than in the PL.

Al_Hamadi's another of those u18s pickups. Good scoring record with Tranmere. Don't know how much of that was size rather than ability, the lad is massive. This will be his season in the u23s to show what he can do.
 
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