2nd best goals....2nd best defence.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Interviews/2015/February/City-u19s-v-Schalke-Patrick-Vieira-preview

Viera talks such sense and he must be in line for the No.1 job.

There's so much money involved these days that clubs are scared to take chances with inexperienced managers. Same as with kids.

True, but that's a poor excuse.

You only have to look at the dippers: Flannagan, Sterling.

Rags: Wilson.

Spurs: Kane

Arsenal: 

Soton: Bale, Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse, Lallana

These are teams that are not that many points off our position in the PL. There's equally as much pressure on United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool to get into Europe and win something.

I'm not saying throw them in tomorrow - but if they aren't given any time whatsoever....what's the point? Send them on loan, bring them back...then sell them. Not a good holistic approach for our academy.

The very fact that we could have an academy player on the bench every single game - and it can be rotated for positions, even if they get 15 mins - can only be a massive incentive for the academy players to improve, otherwise, what are they playing for? A career in League One, the SPL, or some foreign club??

I agree with you. But we've seen that we can't easily beta weak teams (the games you'd think you could give a kid the last 10 minutes). The manager feels under pressure and will nearly always go for an experienced player on the bench rather than a kid.

Maybe the owners should tell the executives that he wants a kid on the bench for every game whether it be a COC 3rd round tie or the CL final.

The time saints were pushing the likes of bale we were peddling Richards, Ireland , etc  we were less well of so had to use the academy much more, Liverpool have played the odd 1 or 2 & sterling seems to have proved himself but spearing didn't make the grade flannagan is a bit part player wisdom & others are out on loan. This ibe kisd seems a good prospect. Spurs seem to have a good batch coming through recently, townsend, Kane, Mason & bentaleb, United have played Wilson the same amount of time we have played pozo. Tey have admittedly blooded januzai evans mcnair & blackett the latter pair being forced on them this season through a chronic run of injuries. We on the other hand have had to play Boyata another product of our academy. I,m afraid it appears if you are in the top echelons of the premier league you maybe get 1 or 2 thru. Unless you are really lucky like spurs or utd of 93 batches of kids is very rare.

I do personally think the expectations placed on managers for instant success does factor in their thinking of blooding kids. I can't think of 1 at Chelsea.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek? Played against Lisbon.

Nathan Ake in the C1C.

I don't think Chelsea are the best example.

They have sent 30!!! of their players out on loan this season.

They got Courtois back after 3 years on loan and he doesn't look too bad. They've also got Matic back (having sold him earlier). They've also let a few decent ones go in Bertrand, de Bruyne

Over the past few seasons, LFC have given opportunities to the following:

Jordan Ibe
Suso
Wisdom
Adam Morgan
Samed Yasil
Jerome Sinclair
Conor Coady

Jordan Rossiter - their U18 player of the year was named on the bench on several occasions this season.

add to that prior to his injury, Jon Flanagan was a regular starter.

And how many of ours have made the bench in the first team squad at all for the past few years?

Pozo
Bytiqi
Lopes

Very disappointing....I'm not expecting them to start every week, but ffs, get them on the bench each week as we never play half of the subs anyway!

yes but then you could say ibe bought from Wycombe after making his league debut for them suso was bought & played about 2 games then loaned out again. we could say the same of sturridge  evans b4 rape Stephen Jordan glen Whelan the list is common depends on how far back you want to go. oh yes joe Hart.

I really don't think we should be going that far back to the likes of Whelan, Evans to justify why we've hardly given any youngster a chance in the past 4 seasons....with the exception of Bale, all those players I've mentioned have been recent.

Bloody hell, if memory serves me right, Whelan didn't play one single first team game....

The game yesterday was a classic example of a game where a kid could have been given half an hour, we were 5 -0 up with half an hour left. Was Jovetic injured by the way or is he sulking?

Exactly MCM. Even if we had one academy kid, it could be Angelino, or Pozo, Byrne, Barker....we brought Navas on, but that could easily have been Barker.

I can understand Bony for obvious reasons, but Angelino could've been tried at LB for Kolorov.

Even if it was just for 20 mins when we were 5-0 up, or even at half time when 3-0 up...

I just think we could integrate an academy player when we face some of the lesser teams, even if it's not every single game.