Jack Sparkes

[Jazzi]

Suspect that making him our 1931 player raised expectations that we might see more of him.

 

[Red Bill]

Yes Jack looks very promising but what’s the rush normally most of the fans would have never have seen
Him play and lots would never have heard of him,if it wasn’t for Tisdale giving him a pro contract a full one year early.

Also how many L2 clubs are playing 17 year olds in there team apart from us ?

It's important because in the nearly 50 years I've been watching football, i've seen so many young players in English football with flair and creativity who look like they're going to become the new Pele, Cruyff or Maradona, but who never quite seem to realise that potential as they develop. So i've often wondered if there''s a problem within coaching in this country, a perceived wisdom that results in these players getting their natural flair knocked out of them, before they have a chance to become the truly great players they once looked like they would.

So whilst i'm not suggesting Sparkes has that kind of potential, to some extent I do worry that he could become victim of what may be an overcautious approach to young talent in coaching in this country.

 

[Antony Moxey]

Give the lad time. We as fans are far too impatient and after seeing a young lad put in a couple of decent performances are far too quick to label him the next Rooney/whoever and start clamouring for him to be a first team starter every week.

Given the number of youth players who’ve either gone on to have a decent career here or have moved on to bigger things for big money I don’t think we do too badly in nurturing our youngsters properly.

 

[Moomin Grecian]

If I understood your post I might reply.

It’s fairly clear what he meant, Mike.

Tisdale, for his faults, has successfully developed some young players into key players which we’ve later sold on for big money. It took the likes of Nichols and Watkins to fully establish themselves but once they did they, they flourished.

Whereas there’s been very few of our youth that we’ve released and have since moved onto better things than ECFC. So, basically, we just need to wait and see with Sparkes. I’m sure he’s good enough, so hopefully he will take his chance when the time’s right.

 

[Red Bill]

Give the lad time. We as fans are far too impatient and after seeing a young lad put in a couple of decent performances are far too quick to label him the next Rooney/whoever and start clamouring for him to be a first team starter every week.

Given the number of youth players who’ve either gone on to have a decent career here or have moved on to bigger things for big money I don’t think we do too badly in nurturing our youngsters properly.

If you look again at the OP, you'll see that I said straight away I wasn't expecting him to be a regular starter, but had hoped to see him making a few appearances from the bench, and from my last post you'll see that my worry that this is reflective of a general problem in coaching, not just at City.

It's interesting that you mention Rooney, as although he may have been the best England had for a while, he's one of those players that I believe never quite fulfilled his promise and i'd add players like Joe Cole to that list as well. I worry that we only see the negatives of putting talented youngsters in early and none of the positives of throwing them in and letting them show us what he can do.

It's been suggested that Sparkes as got a little full of himself and that's why he hasn't been selected. IMO a good way to test that would be to play off the bench a few times, if he's as good as he thinks he is we'll have a wonderful player who'll win us some games, if however the coaching staff are right, he'll be knocked back down to earth with a bump that will teach him a valuable lesson that will help him in his development.

 

[IndoMike]

It’s fairly clear what he meant, Mike.

Tisdale, for his faults, has successfully developed some young players into key players which we’ve later sold on for big money. It took the likes of Nichols and Watkins to fully establish themselves but once they did they, they flourished.

Whereas there’s been very few of our youth that we’ve released and have since moved onto better things than ECFC. So, basically, we just need to wait and see with Sparkes. I’m sure he’s good enough, so hopefully he will take his chance when the time’s right.

"How many players have we released who've gone on better than us? Frear". Still honestly don't know what he's saying. Genuinely : not being stupid.

 

[Red Monster]

It's important because in the nearly 50 years I've been watching football, i've seen so many young players in English football with flair and creativity who look like they're going to become the new Pele, Cruyff or Maradona, but who never quite seem to realise that potential as they develop. So i've often wondered if there''s a problem within coaching in this country, a perceived wisdom that results in these players getting their natural flair knocked out of them, before they have a chance to become the truly great players they once looked like they would.

So whilst i'm not suggesting Sparkes has that kind of potential, to some extent I do worry that he could become victim of what may be an overcautious approach to young talent in coaching in this country.

While I agree with lots of what you say.

I don't know you’ve got any proof that Jack is having his flair knocked out of him he’s 17 and played a total of 44 minutes
League 2 football.

Ollie Watkins debut he played 13 minutes in our last game of the season at Hartlepool 2013/14
He was 18 , the following season he played twice .

 

[IndoMike]

Give the lad time. We as fans are far too impatient and after seeing a young lad put in a couple of decent performances are far too quick to label him the next Rooney/whoever and start clamouring for him to be a first team starter every week.

Given the number of youth players who’ve either gone on to have a decent career here or have moved on to bigger things for big money I don’t think we do too badly in nurturing our youngsters properly.

Don't think anyone's saying he's a superstar, although didn't Taggy imply he was the next big thing in his annual report or in an interview with the press? There's no doubt the coaches have done a very good job in recent years (sorry to see Simon Hayward leave) and you're right youngsters shouldn't be rushed, but he seemed confident when he played, he is in the squad, and it would be good to see him in the team occasionally. We don't seem to mind that Wilson is only 17.

 

[Red Bill]

While I agree with lots of what you say.

I don't know you’ve got any proof that Jack is having his flair knocked out of him he’s 17 and played a total of 44 minutes
League 2 football.

Ollie Watkins debut he played 13 minutes in our last game of the season at Hartlepool 2013/14
He was 18 , the following season he played twice .

If have no proof that he's getting the creativity knocked out of him, but as you'll see from my other posts on this thread, I worry that this is a problem throughout football in this country. I find it strange that in the last 40 years we haven't produced one player who'd make a list of the 100 greatest players despite many who appeared to have that potential. The law of averages surely should make this surprising.

I don't believe there's any point in making comparisons with Watkins, he isn't Sparkes and Sparkes isn't Watkins, players develop in different ways. In Watkins early appearances although he was obviously talented, i thought he was destined to be a player constantly running down blind allies, what impressed me about him was the speed of his development one he became a first team regular. If Sparkes really is a bit arrogant, let's harness that. No one would accuse Ronaldo of being too humble but that arrogance and self belief hasn't done him any harm. It just worries me that our inbred English dislike of extrovert boastfulness may be making us overlook and quash qualities that push players to the top. Just my opinion of course.

 

[Saint James]

"How many players have we released who've gone on better than us? Frear". Still honestly don't know what he's saying. Genuinely : not being stupid.

Frear was released not sold (like other youth players). Since leaving he is now playing in the SPL with Motherwell thus playing at a higher level than L2.