A Forest team that can win and score goals into the bargain. Who knew? Well apparently all along the very things we struggle for in the First Team are bubbling under in the Youth team. We beat Wigans youth 9-1 the other day and beat Southampton in the FA Youth cup 5-1 last night.
These two excellent wins have grabbed attention in ways that wouldn’t usually happen had our form been good. Considering how our first team is doing, it really does grab attention. Goals, goals and more goals in games for them, and particularly Patrick Bamford have had fans on Facebook and Twitter clamouring for his inclusion in the first team.
Now I won't go as far as a few who got a bit carried away and suggested we play the whole team. The typical knee jerk reactions of the over emotional, people who I often point out always claim certain courses of action have to be taken and all decided that we are being relegated already. I wouldn’t go as far as to say replace the whole first team with a bunch of wet behind the ears kids, but they do need blooding, and the best couple, Bamford and Lascelles need to be given a chance to shine where other more experienced players are failing.
In two games Bamford has scored 9 goals. That’s right 9.Considering since November the first tem have scored 4, and 3 of those were in one game, it speaks volumes. Bamford is banging on that door now for selection. We thrashed a Southampton side that is highly thought of in Youth circles. They invest a lot in their future. Look at the players they have produced. Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain stand out names, but also players like Andrew Surman who are carving our perfectly good Premiership records. Well we beat them, and one hell of a beating. It’s making people sit up and notice.
Jamal Lascelles also played last night and he has been a much vaunted prospect for a while now. Arsenal were linked before, and now the fact is with our shaky defenders at the moment, can Lascelles really be worse than Chambers recent displays? So should these guys be given a chance? It is called a chance, and that means we know it might not work, and with our situation that becomes a risk. Let’s be honest it would be a risk. The step up would be huge for them, but then again top youngsters have to make this step up some time. Every kid has to start somewhere.
Lascelles would likely have had a chance last month when we were missing a lot of defenders, but he himself was out. Now it seems he is back in the frame
The other aspect with last night was that reportedly the likes of Mark Arthur, Frank Clark and Steve Cotterill himself were there to watch. That can only be a good sign; they are watching, and hopefully willing to try. Davies was a little reluctant to blood youngsters, though I am sure in these cases he might have also considered.
The other news is that the likes of Lascelles and Bamford have contracts expiring. This had a lot of people worried on the net, and complaining about the board again. But youth contracts work differently. For a start the money involved won’t be as much. And the club were having dealings with Bamford recently according to Paul Taylor of the Evening Post. So the club seem to be sorting this out.
It certainly gives a few things for us to talk about, and sends the tongues amongst fans wagging. Personally I'd like the youngsters to be given a chance. It sends a message to the next batch that if they do well they can make the step up. Additionally in a home game with the fans support it would only give them a boost. The kids are looking good for an FA Cup success, and at least there might be some success this season.
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