Brendan's Babes - youngest ever starting eleven???

[readingbedding]

Does anyone know the youngest (average) age of a RFC league 1st eleven?
Can we win anything with kids?

[Whistle]

Prolly the ghastly XI that lost 2-4 to Colchester in 1972.

[Alan Partridge]

Does anyone know the youngest (average) age of a RFC league 1st eleven?
Can we win anything with kids?

A team of young enthusiastic vibrant players, a big book of soccer tactics and a massve watch.

In the bag.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Not trying to be overly pessimistic but I get the suspicion that a lot of these homegrown youngsters are only getting a shout for the first team due to the new law in place this season

[strap]

The youngest starting XI I can find had an average age of 21 years 147 days on 27/11/1981, when we lost 2-0 at Southend in an Old Div 3 game.

The team was
Ron Fearon
Jerry Williams, Jon Cullen, Steve Wood, Martin Hicks
Steve Hetzke, Neil Webb, Gary Donnellan, Lawrie Sanchez
Kerry Dixon, Gary Heale

Stuart Beavon came on for Jon Cullen to add a bit of experience later!

I can only find 2 other instances when the average age of the staring Xi was under 22.

29/04/72 (21y 300d) in a 4-2 home defeat to Colchester in Old D4
02/01/82 (21y 328d) in a 3-1 away defeat at Newport County in Old D3

[Ian Royal]

So historically we are arse with a young team?

Encouraging.

[winchester_royal]

So historically we are arse with a young team?

IRRELEVANT.

Corrected that for you.

[Hoop Blah]

Not trying to be overly pessimistic but I get the suspicion that a lot of these homegrown youngsters are only getting a shout for the first team due to the new law in place this season

I didn't think it was going to make any real difference to our squad from last year was it?

I think they're getting their chance because we needed to get rid of the old timers and reduce the wage bill and it's a good time to give them their chance. We'll see come January how much they'll actually play and how much Rodgers will try to bring in his own signings to build the team in the long run.

There are only so many players he can bring in afterall, and I don't actually expect many of these kids to have played a significant proportion of the games come January anyway. Probably 2 or 3 per game (which is still very encouraging of course).

[Royalee]

Yes we can win things with youngsters and we will.

[RobRoyal]

Yes we can win things with youngsters and we will.

Are you trying to overcome your reputation as someone who constantly spouts baseless pessimistic inanities? If so there are better ways to do it than constantly spouting baseless optimitic inanities.

[Royalee]

Yes we can win things with youngsters and we will.

Are you trying to overcome your reputation as someone who constantly spouts baseless pessimistic inanities? If so there are better ways to do it than constantly spouting baseless optimitic inanities.

No, I call things as I see them and I'm a damn site more accurate than most on here.

[W&E Royal]

Yes we can win things with youngsters and we will.

Are you trying to overcome your reputation as someone who constantly spouts baseless pessimistic inanities? If so there are better ways to do it than constantly spouting baseless optimitic inanities.

No, I call things as I see them and I'm a damn site more accurate than most on here.

I'm lol!!

[Vision]

Not trying to be overly pessimistic but I get the suspicion that a lot of these homegrown youngsters are only getting a shout for the first team due to the new law in place this season

To be honest at this stage, including 4 out of 18 isn't too much of a tretch but there's no doubt it's worth considering. On the plus side the youngsters we do pick will have generally been battle hardened by the last 2 years of loan games so its not like we'll be chucking kids in it without 1st team experience. Also worth bearing in mind that it would mean that the transfer value of "homegrown" players increases even further thus making the need to produce our own even more vital for financial stability.

I do think a lot of the "Brendan's Babes" thing is overdone somewhat and particularly when people were talking as if we throwing a whole chunk of teenagers into the first team at once.. If we take Saturdays original line-up to be Rodgers' 1st choice then the only "Academy kids" in the line up would be Robson-Kanu & Pearce and they're both 20 with 2 seasons of pretty regular 1st team football behind them. The youngest is a loanee and he's 20 today and has over 80 league appearances to his name.

[Royalee]

I said we'd do well in 05/06 after the Plymouth game after seeing the improvements made that pre-season, I predicted we'd be very safe in our first season in the Premiership, I predicted after the Portsmouth away game we'd be relegated and then told the idiot car park crew that Coppell staying a year was a mistake and we wouldn't go back up - I'd say that's pretty good going.

No doubt some genius will point out how I predicted Derby would do well last season, but generally I'm a lot more accurate about my own club.

[brendywendy]

didnt you say wed be mid table last year at best?


or was that someone else?

[Royalee]

didnt you say wed be mid table last year at best?


or was that someone else?

I said we'd be playoffs at best IIRC and said we'd fail to go up.

[brendywendy]

why that would make you exactly right


how convenient!!!

[Royalee]

Shit.

[Maguire]

Not trying to be overly pessimistic but I get the suspicion that a lot of these homegrown youngsters are only getting a shout for the first team due to the new law in place this season

To be honest at this stage, including 4 out of 18 isn't too much of a tretch but there's no doubt it's worth considering. On the plus side the youngsters we do pick will have generally been battle hardened by the last 2 years of loan games so its not like we'll be chucking kids in it without 1st team experience. Also worth bearing in mind that it would mean that the transfer value of "homegrown" players increases even further thus making the need to produce our own even more vital for financial stability.

I do think a lot of the "Brendan's Babes" thing is overdone somewhat and particularly when people were talking as if we throwing a whole chunk of teenagers into the first team at once.. If we take Saturdays original line-up to be Rodgers' 1st choice then the only "Academy kids" in the line up would be Robson-Kanu & Pearce and they're both 20 with 2 seasons of pretty regular 1st team football behind them. The youngest is a loanee and he's 20 today and has over 80 league appearances to his name.

I agree. It's worth remembering that players like Hunt, Harper (ok both likely to depart), Armstrong, and Tabb are all "homegrown" anyway. They don't have to be homegrown at Reading FC.

Also, we've had so many of out players out on loan who have racked up so many appearances that a couple of them were due a shot in the first team squad anyway.

[Vision]

On a tangent does anybody know or have a link to how long our younger players have left on their contracts.

I'm curious to know how many extend beyond this season.