General Robinson Player Development

[Gary Baldi]

Wasn't Blackstock just 17 when he left and could do because he hadn't signed a contract? And the fee was compensation for his development?

 

[Left Wing Cross]

Wasn't Blackstock just 17 when he left and could do because he hadn't signed a contract? And the fee was compensation for his development?

Struggling to find more details but:https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6559385.football-united-pay-kassam-385-000-rent/

This says we got £200,000

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

Wasn't Blackstock just 17 when he left and could do because he hadn't signed a contract? And the fee was compensation for his development?

I remember it being very slightly similar to a Dan Agyei situation in some ways - Blackstock scores a ridiculous amount for the youth team/reserves, including six goals in a game as I remember, and people were calling for him to get a chance in the first team, but the wise old heads on here were saying ‘ah no, he’s not ready’. Then he left and played and scored a lot of goals at much higher level...

 

[Gary Baldi]

I remember it being very slightly similar to a Dan Agyei situation in some ways - Blackstock scores a ridiculous amount for the youth team/reserves, including six goals in a game as I remember, and people were calling for him to get a chance in the first team, but the wise old heads on here were saying ‘ah no, he’s not ready’. Then he left and played and scored a lot of goals at much higher level...

He was 17 when he left and had little to no league experience. So totally comparable

Damned Karl Robinson for not playing Blackstock...

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

He was 17 when he left and had little to no league experience. So totally comparable

Damned Karl Robinson for not playing Blackstock...

Yeah he had no league experience so he definitely shouldn’t ever be picked in... the league... wait, how do you get league experience again?

Oh well, he only scored 5 goals in 11 games for Premier League level Southampton when he was 18... so he definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it in League 2, would he, what with only being young and having no experience! ?

Jesus wept

 

[Marked Ox]

Distinctly remember the Dexter Blackstock sale in 2003 which I think rather set the precedent for the years to come - other clubs knew that Firoz would happily cash in quick; Blackstock hadn't even had the chance to play a game for the first team before Southampton snapped him up. Was just a year after Jamie Brooks' ill-fated trial at Arsenal IIRC

Blackstock chose to go and wouldn't sign a pro contract with us. Nothing to do with Kassam, the player chose to go to Southampton and the fee was decided by a Transfer Tribunal which meant that we ended up getting over £1m (including sell on etc) all told for him.

 

[Foley]

I remember it being very slightly similar to a Dan Agyei situation in some ways - Blackstock scores a ridiculous amount for the youth team/reserves, including six goals in a game as I remember, and people were calling for him to get a chance in the first team, but the wise old heads on here were saying ‘ah no, he’s not ready’. Then he left and played and scored a lot of goals at much higher level...

Fair point Atkins and KR are the same person ( have you ever see them in the same room?)
Both hate bringing on and have little proof of their experience in developing young players.

 

[Foley]

Yeah he had no league experience so he definitely shouldn’t ever be picked in... the league... wait, how do you get league experience again?

Oh well, he only scored 5 goals in 11 games for Premier League level Southampton when he was 18... so he definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it in League 2, would he, what with only being young and having no experience! ?

Jesus wept

He didnt go straight into the Southampton first team.
How do you know he could do it in L2 as a 17 year old? Whitehead on the other hand was clearly good and ready in my view at the time.
Blackstock was taken by Southampton for the future and would have been in their youth team/ reserves without a big injury crisis.
He went out on loan twice as a youngster from Southampton.

 

[Marked Ox]

I remember it being very slightly similar to a Dan Agyei situation in some ways - Blackstock scores a ridiculous amount for the youth team/reserves, including six goals in a game as I remember, and people were calling for him to get a chance in the first team, but the wise old heads on here were saying ‘ah no, he’s not ready’. Then he left and played and scored a lot of goals at much higher level...

Blackstock was being integrated into the 1st team before he left as he was warming up at 1st team games with the other players I saw away from home (Swansea in March 2003 I can remember for sure) whilst 16. He left to join Southampton when the transfer window opened July 2003 when he had not long turned 17. He made his debut for Southampton 15 months later on 16 Oct 2004.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

Fair point Atkins and KR are the same person ( have you ever see them in the same room?)
Both hate bringing on and have little proof of their experience in developing young players.

Good straw man argument which I never, ever made...

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

He didnt go straight into the Southampton first team.
How do you know he could do it in L2 as a 17 year old? Whitehead on the other hand was clearly good and ready in my view at the time.
Blackstock was taken by Southampton for the future and would have been in their youth team/ reserves without a big injury crisis.
He went out on loan twice as a youngster from Southampton.

Both loans were in the Championship, two divisions above where we were at the time so not sure how that supports your argument. How do you know he wasn’t ready? The point is he could have played for us, clearly would have been good enough and would have been more likely to stay if he thought he had a chance with us.

To all those saying he wasn’t old enough - why has KR played Lopes and Spasov at similar ages then??

 

[m]

Well if ever there was a pointless argument...

 

[tonyw]

Nobody? Maybe he was the weakest link but he was very young and if I recall wasn’t used in the same position every game? Maybe all the other players were actually very good and he was just good? We did only lose one game at home in the league, Huddersfield & bloody Sodje if I remember correctly.

Ricketts was gone long before that season.

He played his first few games for the club in our ill-fated last season at the Manor, under first Mike Ford as caretaker and then David Kemp (his final game that season was the God awful 6-2 defeat at Bristol Rovers)
Then he was pretty much a regular the following season under first Mark Wright, and then Atkins.
By 2002/03, Atkins had seen enough, and he only made a couple of substitute appearances before he was shipped out. The Huddersfield/Sodje season was 2003/04.

So basically Ricketts played a lot for some of the worst Oxford teams in history (but still managed to be the fan's weakest link 20% of the time!) - and was gone before Atkins has turned us into a functional outfit.

But unlike someone like Simon King, it wasn't as if Ricketts didn't get a chance at Oxford. He did get a chance, and didn't take it. And if anyone did identify back then that he had PL quality talent, then certainly Kemp/Wright/Atkins were all completely incapable of unlocking it.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

A lot of supporters thought Ricketts was good.

Atkins was such a dour manager, never promoted the youth.