Underage squads: Best Prospects

Slight chance Lee O'Connor might feature for United in the nothing game against already relegated Cardiff on Sunday. He trained with the first team this week and several youngsters are expected to be given their chance.

Luca Connell will leave relegated Bolton, rumoured interest from Premier League clubs, such as Champions League finalists Tottenham

Stimpy wrote: Luca Connell will leave relegated Bolton, rumoured interest from Premier League clubs, such as Champions League finalists Tottenham

Going from what all the Bolton fans have been saying about him, Luca is destined to be a star. I know I might get shot down but if Mick can just have a thought for the future he should be grilling the Irish underage coaches about his potential and character and if he is one we can’t afg to lose get him involved with the senior. Even cap him against gib to tie him down, Wales do it so why can’t we.

He is going to the Under 19 Euros?

johnvonp wrote: skylarking wrote: The O'Shea wrote: That'll likely be another one we left too late so. I share this fear. Superb for Bolton, technically gifted. Still with our underage setup though, and has turned out since his lauded performances in the Bolton 1st team. Another who could've easily done with a 2 min cameo against Gibraltar If I remember correctly he wasn't even starting for our u19 team at the same time as the Gibraltar/Georgia matches. Bringing him on against Gibraltar would have been outrageous.

We should start him against Denmark, just to be on the safe side.

The O'Shea wrote: Dr. Pat wrote: johnvonp wrote: skylarking wrote: The O'Shea wrote: That'll likely be another one we left too late so. I share this fear. Superb for Bolton, technically gifted. Still with our underage setup though, and has turned out since his lauded performances in the Bolton 1st team. Another who could've easily done with a 2 min cameo against Gibraltar If I remember correctly he wasn't even starting for our u19 team at the same time as the Gibraltar/Georgia matches. Bringing him on against Gibraltar would have been outrageous. Ya, didn't start the first game against Romania. Knight and Bolger in midfield (they won 5 nil to be fair). He's never been a regular starter for our underage teams. Wasn't actually in the u-19 squad for the first round of qualifiers in October. He has either developed/improved massively over the past six months or we failed to identify his potential early enough.  He started every game at the U-17 Euros last year IIRC. Clearly, he's streets ahead of the likes of Bolger and Knight in terms of his development. He seems to be one of the most highly rated teenagers in the Championship; we're certainly in no position to ignore that, and England arguably aren't either, which may well become a problem...

This is where having a short term manager is a bit of a problem. Mick has no real incentive to build for a future that won’t involve him so he’s not going to use a squad place on someone who is not ready yet. Spurs are very good at developing talent so he will start to attract more attention.