The Academy/Development squads watch thread 2024/25

[BR0B0T]

They showed halftime footage of Kingsley, who was bothering the Reading Ladies (there signing autographs in the megastore)!

His missus didn't look happy!

[BR0B0T]

1-2 to United

One of the Reading Ladies is claiming Kingsley tried to finger her in the Megastore

all kicking off apparently #meToo

[BR0B0T]

Chong makes it 3-1!

[Hound]

1-4

Look rubbish at the back, but quite good going forward. Should have scored a few more. Olise looking handy (if a bit lazy)

[Royals and Racers]

Anyone clamouring for Barrett and Olise to be included in the first team should have watched tonight- Barrett did absolutely nothing and Olise has skill but just does everything at half pace. Jack Nolan was my Reading player of the match however 18 year old United left winger Traore was the best player on the park.

[Four Of Clubs]

.... was impressed with their big no 4 (Taylor?)

Got irritated by the occasional 'billy big bollix' attitude of Chong for much of the first half - who admittedly did produce a classy finish for their third, even if Andresson needlessly passed the ball straight to him

...for us: I thought Barrett chased around a lot as did Liddle but to minimal effect - agreed on Nolan who was deceptively quick for a tall fellah and Olise was clearly being targeted late on, could barely move two or three paces with the ball without being fouled.

East was unlucky following a prolonged period of pressure 2nd half, when a nice interchange around their box ended with his drive pinging off the post.

Sadly the move eventually fizzled out with another daft pass, lost possession and they broke to score - think it was for their 2nd?

We were too tentative when near their goal; whereas they were pretty ruthless near ours - much as the official report states.

Thought I'd missed our change at H/T queuing for a Bovril .... tall chap came on in CM?
.. played without a number - worked out it was Coleman with a clean shirt on for a head clash, whilst assisting for our leveller in 1st half stoppage time.

[Snowflake Royal]

Anyone clamouring for Barrett and Olise to be included in the first team should have watched tonight- Barrett did absolutely nothing and Olise has skill but just does everything at half pace. Jack Nolan was my Reading player of the match however 18 year old United left winger Traore was the best player on the park.

Seems pretty harsh. Olise put one on a plate for Barrett to blast over, involved when we hit the post and had his own effort well saved after waltzing into the box.

Always looked good whenever I've seen him.

[CrowthorneRoyal]

Anyone clamouring for Barrett and Olise to be included in the first team should have watched tonight- Barrett did absolutely nothing and Olise has skill but just does everything at half pace. Jack Nolan was my Reading player of the match however 18 year old United left winger Traore was the best player on the park.

Wasnt impressed with olise either tbh.

When it comes to Barrett, when he has the ball I think hes pretty good. Off the ball he is so lazy. Loses the ball and just stands and watches the opposition run off with it. A team mate lost the ball within a couple of feet of him and he just stands and watches. Running alongside Liddle only a couple of feet away calling for the ball. Moans at team mates.... Just seems to have the wrong attitude.

Ryan East is soooo left footed. He had a lovely chance that he could have taken on his right but HAD to put it on his left and by that time the utd players were all over him. Cracking shot at a different point in the match though.

Liddle was my player of the match. Seemed to make a lot more intelligent runs and worked really hard.

[Royals and Racers]

I can`t quite understand why Howe and Loader didn`t start on Monday. If it`s because they are with the 1st team squad, then that seems ridiculous - players of their age need games !!!!

[NewCorkSeth]

Anyone know anything about Shandon Baptiste? As an avid FM player I notice he is very good on the latest game and was seemingly let go for nothing many moons ago. Anyone recall his time here?

[Vision]

Anyone know anything about Shandon Baptiste? As an avid FM player I notice he is very good on the latest game and was seemingly let go for nothing many moons ago. Anyone recall his time here?

No idea on his time with us but he was pretty good for Oxford against Man City last night I thought. Very much in the Rinomhota mould.

[NewCorkSeth]

Anyone know anything about Shandon Baptiste? As an avid FM player I notice he is very good on the latest game and was seemingly let go for nothing many moons ago. Anyone recall his time here?

No idea on his time with us but he was pretty good for Oxford against Man City last night I thought. Very much in the Rinomhota mould.

I havent watched him play but from reading about him he seems to be a box to box type. Are we allowed to count him as one who got away? Like that Mawson fella?

[Ranty McRantface]

Anyone clamouring for Barrett and Olise to be included in the first team should have watched tonight- Barrett did absolutely nothing and Olise has skill but just does everything at half pace. Jack Nolan was my Reading player of the match however 18 year old United left winger Traore was the best player on the park.

Wasnt impressed with olise either tbh.

When it comes to Barrett, when he has the ball I think hes pretty good. Off the ball he is so lazy. Loses the ball and just stands and watches the opposition run off with it. A team mate lost the ball within a couple of feet of him and he just stands and watches. Running alongside Liddle only a couple of feet away calling for the ball. Moans at team mates.... Just seems to have the wrong attitude.

Ryan East is soooo left footed. He had a lovely chance that he could have taken on his right but HAD to put it on his left and by that time the utd players were all over him. Cracking shot at a different point in the match though.

Liddle was my player of the match. Seemed to make a lot more intelligent runs and worked really hard.

I think with Barrett it's a personal issue. He featured here and there under Gomes but since Bowen has taken over its as if he's just given up. He'll be off in Jan I reckon.

Olise is still very young but I think he has a lot of potential. You tend to get more inconsistency with wingers.

Not a fan of East. I think he's another Jake Taylor type in the making. Definitely has the right attitude just not good enough.

Someone else mentioned about Howe and Loader not being involved to which the point was they need minutes. I totally agree and I can not stand hearing managers talk about experience when they bench them or just bring them on match days. Most people learn better by doing, how can you do that if you play 5mins a game every now and then? How can you do that by watching more than actually playing? The club pride themselves on the Academy but when you actually look at the fine details we don't actually give these kids as much development opportunities as they should have.

[Hound]

Feel a bit for Barrett. Gomes obviously rated him enough to involve him and he obvs thought that his chance had finally come. He talked about how hard he was finding it getting motivated for the u23 before Gomes, so it must be even harder after having a little run in the first team, which was clearly a dream come true for him

I don't think he is quite good enough for us sadly, though he obvs has talent. I suspect there is a fair chance he'll be off to Div 1/2 in Jan.

Olise has plenty of time. Would like to see him more involved in the first 18 again though - he is good enough

[Royals and Racers]

The U23`s next match is a Premier league 2 div 2 match on Monday January 6th away to West Brom KO 7pm. the match is being played at the Aggborough stadium kidderminster, which is the home of National league north side Kidderminster Harriers. West Brom currently lie 3rd in the table with 22 points with the Royals in 7th on 16 points( 2nd to 5th take part in the play-offs)

[Sutekh]

Feel a bit for Barrett. Gomes obviously rated him enough to involve him and he obvs thought that his chance had finally come. He talked about how hard he was finding it getting motivated for the u23 before Gomes, so it must be even harder after having a little run in the first team, which was clearly a dream come true for him

I don't think he is quite good enough for us sadly, though he obvs has talent. I suspect there is a fair chance he'll be off to Div 1/2 in Jan.

Olise has plenty of time. Would like to see him more involved in the first 18 again though - he is good enough

They both need loans to lower division clubs. They need to show they can perform to given levels in games that do matter. We all know they have talent on the ball but it’s as much what they contribute when their team doesn’t have the ball that’s important as well as their consistency at being able to do what is asked/expected by their management game after game after game. And also when they do make mistakes it’s about how they react and how quickly they learn.

It takes quite some talent to come through into a professional side as an under 20 and consistently play week on week and obviously the higher up the league you are the harder it becomes. Reading would appear to be one of the better sides at getting youth through but when the team is struggling it gets even harder for a youngster to make that jump and Reading have been struggling and are not “out of woods” just yet. That said Richards and Rinomhota have still made it through and we are all hoping for the likes of Olise, Loader and Barrett etc. to be able to join them.

At the end if the day it’s up to them to perform to the levels, and beyond, that are being asked of them in the Academy and training sessions. If they do that consistently they will get their chance just as Richards and Rinomhota etc. must have done previously.

[3points]

The U23`s next match is a Premier league 2 div 2 match on Monday January 6th away to West Brom KO 7pm. the match is being played at the Aggborough stadium kidderminster, which is the home of National league north side Kidderminster Harriers. West Brom currently lie 3rd in the table with 22 points with the Royals in 7th on 16 points( 2nd to 5th take part in the play-offs)

Assume this is available to the paying public? Might go as am in the Midlands that day

[Victor Meldrew]

Anyone know anything about Shandon Baptiste? As an avid FM player I notice he is very good on the latest game and was seemingly let go for nothing many moons ago. Anyone recall his time here?

No idea on his time with us but he was pretty good for Oxford against Man City last night I thought. Very much in the Rinomhota mould.

I havent watched him play but from reading about him he seems to be a box to box type. Are we allowed to count him as one who got away? Like that Mawson fella?

Have seen him a few times now for Oxford and the part of the family of ours that are committed Oxford United fans really rate him.
I like the look of what I have seen and, rather than Fosu who strikes me as a bit greedy, this could well turn out to be one who got away.

It is looking more and more likely that we will be able to judge all of our rejects next season when they return to play us.
Incidentally Dickie is being talked up but he does still look a bit cumbersome to me.

[Royals and Racers]

The U23`s next match is a Premier league 2 div 2 match on Monday January 6th away to West Brom KO 7pm. the match is being played at the Aggborough stadium kidderminster, which is the home of National league north side Kidderminster Harriers. West Brom currently lie 3rd in the table with 22 points with the Royals in 7th on 16 points( 2nd to 5th take part in the play-offs)

Assume this is available to the paying public? Might go as am in the Midlands that day

Yes- might be free, however they cannot refuse supporters entry to the game

[3points]

The U23`s next match is a Premier league 2 div 2 match on Monday January 6th away to West Brom KO 7pm. the match is being played at the Aggborough stadium kidderminster, which is the home of National league north side Kidderminster Harriers. West Brom currently lie 3rd in the table with 22 points with the Royals in 7th on 16 points( 2nd to 5th take part in the play-offs)

Assume this is available to the paying public? Might go as am in the Midlands that day

Yes- might be free, however they cannot refuse supporters entry to the game

Cheers R&R