Owen James and the dearth of strikers....

Itsthehopethatkillsyou

Itsthehopethatkillsyou

Active member
#1
#1
I know the title sounds a bit Harry Potteresque - but assuming Thomas is ruled out (again) for a spell, the young lad James must warrant a place on the bench - though it is only youth level (league cup semi final) he grabbed a brace this morning v Exeter. Anyone know anything about the lad? ready to step up?.
(Seems we are unintentionally heading back to that youthful first 11 we have been craving - hopefully Chrissy will bring the best out of the kids like he used to when in charge at youth level)
 
RATC

RATC

Well-known member
#5
#5
Itsthehopethatkillsyou said:
Well better late than never, I doubt young Owen will get on the pitch today but great to see a couple more local lads make the step up COYY!
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Wouldn't be surprised to see him get on. It'll be Obika leading the line and his injury history means he struggles to get through 90 minutes
 
R

Ricey

Junior Member
2018-19 shirt sponsor for Jamie Hanson
#7
#7
Did get on and looked lively. Movement looked great just no-one to deliver the right pass - did have one shot blazed over the bar for a split second I thought we might have a new hero!!

Hope he pushes on next season!!
 
M

McXal

Junior Member
#8
#8
I thought he was very impressive given the circumstances. Certainly looked physically far more developed and capable of handling first team football than his other youth team-mate in the squad (and, say it quietly because I thought he worked extremely hard today...maybe even Napa too).

As above - some of his movement, was highly impressive - although admittedly in the latter stages which had started to get significantly less competitive. Well done kid. Hope he hits the gym and works hard in the summer and comes back thinking about pushing on
 
C

Corporate_Clive

Active member
#9
#9
McXal said:
I thought he was very impressive given the circumstances. Certainly looked physically far more developed and capable of handling first team football than his other youth team-mate in the squad (and, say it quietly because I thought he worked extremely hard today...maybe even Napa too).

As above - some of his movement, was highly impressive - although admittedly in the latter stages which had started to get significantly less competitive. Well done kid. Hope he hits the gym and works hard in the summer and comes back thinking about pushing on
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Owen Jones = the new Joey B?
 
Itsthehopethatkillsyou

Itsthehopethatkillsyou

Active member
#12
#12
It is fantastic to see local lads get a chance - remember a while back (correct me if I'm wrong) when Chris Wilder had a clause (or something) put in by Lenagan to ensure that a good percentage of the squad had to be youth team products - it had followed a fair few years of very very few youth team players being seen close to the 1st 11, but recently with Appleton and now Robinson we have had managers that appreciate the youth set up and don't need encouraging to include them in the starting 11. And this is vital for us fans - because though Football is a predictable game: we will get promoted and relegated from time to time, but what really makes the fans feel closer to their club (and be compelled to come back through thick and thin.... and to infect their offspring with Yellow and Blue fever) is when you see someone on the pitch who is feeling the elation of promotion or the pain or relegation as much as you do as they are were also fans of the club growing up - I would genuinely prefer to see a team made up primarily of local lads than one of players (I won't say mercenaries - it's a bit unfair as it is generally a footballers lot to be constantly shifted from pillar to post throughout their career) with no personal connection to the club other than as an employee.. EVEN if it meant seeing them relegated...seeing someone in an Oxford shirt going through what you do makes you remember why you started supporting the club - and personally speaking it reminds me of the bond forged when I stood on the London Road and the joy of seeing local boys Joey and Chrissy tearing into defences, and the sadness of seeing when the boys efforts ended in heartache - yes they failed from time to time but that's life, knowing they cared meant a lot.
Anyway enough waffle - enjoy the bank holiday safe in the knowledge that oufc are safe, oufc have a good manager, oufc have culled a lot of Clotets cr*p, the sun is shining...and that borntobeyellow seems to have finally been flushed round the U bend šŸ’© huzzah!
 
Mellowyellow

Mellowyellow

Active member
#18
#18
If a youth player is genuinely good enough, then play him. Sentimentality shouldnā€™t come into it. If our youth players arenā€™t as good as one we could loan or sign then so be it. The player Baptiste, was at Hampton and Richmond. He did quite well, without pulling up trees. How then can you justify playing him in a team 4 to 5 leagues higher, just because ā€œheā€™s one of our own?ā€
 
Dave T

Dave T

Well-known member
#20
#20
Mellowyellow said:
If a youth player is genuinely good enough, then play him. Sentimentality shouldnā€™t come into it. If our youth players arenā€™t as good as one we could loan or sign then so be it. The player Baptiste, was at Hampton and Richmond. He did quite well, without pulling up trees. How then can you justify playing him in a team 4 to 5 leagues higher, just because ā€œheā€™s one of our own?ā€
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Thatā€™s not entirely true though is it. As 1/ how do u know they are genuinely good enough, without playing them.
And 2/ playing them helps them improve and develop.

Weā€™ve seen plenty of evidence that there is a big gulf between u23 and first team experience. You only have to look at player like roofe and lego to see that
 
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