Never quite the same after his ruptured cruciate ligament. Seems to be enjoying his career again now though, pleased for him as I thought he did well for us.
Exactly. I think only Stat has seen this as a direct comparison. I don't actually remember anyone comparing Connolly or any other young striking prospects to Rooney either. :shrug:
And that's equally difficult because throwing them in may have been exactly the right thing to do - they just weren't good enough to succeed. That isn't them ruined, it's just they didn't make the grade. Those are the breaks at the highest level.
I think you are taking the comparisons too literally. The comparison is with them being given a go at 18 not Ferguson is the next Rooney or Shearer. Bent debuted at 17 in the PL btw and I did make a comparison with Heskey at 18 if that is more palatable?
Read my other posts, far from overlooking, I think that is exactly what I am saying, each player is different, and how they respond to matches, pressure etc. in their development is all individual. We already admitted we waited too long with Caicedo, I think we did with White too, but we can...
Everton had only conceded 20 goals in 17 games before playing us, only 6 other teams had better defensive record. Ferguson scoring against Arsenal then Everton, then saying it was just that Everton can't defend doesn't quite ring true. Everything needs perspective and context, but I would say...
There was no damage done to Connolly. He showed great promise and deserved his crack at the first team. What has happened isn't damage, it's an arc of a career path that happens to many players that can show great promise, but ultimately fall short at the very highest level. Hypothetically had...
I don't disagree with you on this, you don't change transfer policy because of Ferguson being the answer, BUT, if the manager thinks and judges he is good enough to be in the first team, you do not send him out on loan. The purpose of a loan is for players not able to get into the first team who...
The flip side is we sent White out on loan for a fantastic season with Leeds while we had Duffy making mistakes galore, then White comes back and we only get 1 season out of him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but little doubt in my mind White was ready and should have played instead of Duffy...
Shearer was 17 on debut for Saints, still the youngest scorer of a top flight hattrick at 17 years, 240 days. Robbie Fowler played 28 games scoring 12 goals as an 18 yr old in his first season. Jermaine Defoe starting his first full season as an 18 year old making 35 appearances scoring 10...
I would suggest you don't base any of your strategic thinking on Aaron Connolly.
You are basically saying we can never get excited about a young player because of what happened to 1 young player, and we base all future development plans for young players on what happened to 1 young player...
I'd rather get excited about a young prospect than sit on my hands worrying he might not match the hype. Let his family, his friends, the club and manager worry about cautionary tales.
Seeing a young talent emerge and flourish is what Lancing and this club is all about and trying to do. To not...
I thought his movement for his goal was exceptional for a young forward. It looked simple enough, but showed a lot of natural intelligence and instinct to suck the defenders into the 6 yard box with him then check and step back into the space. That was very Sheringham-sque.