No Debs, the players I was referring to was the likes of Pacheco, Suso, Tex, Ajdarevic, Brouwer ,Dalla Valle etc etc rather than the players that were brought in as young first team squad players such as Ilori, Markovic, Can, Origi, Coutinho etc.
These players are brought in at 15 or 16 but don't gain the necessary experience here as they age and by the time they are 21/22 they are having to compete with the likes of Ilori, Markovic, Can, Origi, etc. who have gained experience because they have been with smaller clubs. Maybe it is time to stop bringing players in from overseas at 15/16 who will never gain the experience required and concentrate on home grown youth and only bringing in players from abroad once they have that experience.
Maybe the likes of Pacheco, Tex, Suso etc once they had gained experience and had developed would now be on our wish list at 21 for the first team squad, just as the players we are now buying at 21, rather than just killing time sat in the reserves until we push them out of the door because they haven't had the experience to develop.
I think we are killing more careers than we are building by bringing in young lads (under 18) from abroad.
Not sure I have explained my point much better this time than I did before Debs, but I have tried mate.
You've explained perfectly well mate and whilst I agree to some extent we don't actually bring in that many from abroad at 16/17 any more. The ones I can think of are Chirivella and Canos who arrived aged 16, both are now 18 and both getting opportunities, even if Canos is on loan. We aren't actually allowed to bring them in any younger due to child trafficking laws and quite right too.
If I went through our regular u18s now or at least those who are still 18 most of them are British and/or local so the emphasis on recruitment has changed over the last few years. In fact I think most of our u21s are too.
I think those you mentioned were never good enough in the first place and/or didn't develop as expected and/or didn't show enough when they got an opportunity. Having talked a lot with youth team coaches about this they're not expected to set the world alight straight away when they get the chance, what they're looking for are ways in which they try to influence the game or try to make a difference. That might seem like it's asking a lot but if they don't even try then why persevere in giving them those chances when there are so many waiting to take their opportunity.
Look at Raheem, Flanno, Ibe, Stewart, Brannagan, Rossiter, Ojo, Smith and even Joe Gomez, they all used those early games to showcase their worth. Kevin in particular wasn't expected to do what he did, most thought of him as no better than a league 1 or league 2 level player, he wasn't even playing in his natural position but he impressed enough to get a new contract. Same with Flanno, not many thought out of his age group that he'd be the one to stay and claim a starting spot. Sometimes it's pure luck who gets a chance but they have to be ready and take it when they do, as they may not get another.
It may seem harsh mate but if we want to produce the best we have to weed out those who don't show their worth when given opportunities. Personally I'd say we kept hold of those players in particular too long but it's not all lost for Tex or Ilori as they're similar in age to Stewart and Brad Smith who only recently got starts without ever playing for the 1st team and both got new contracts as a result. It'll depend on what/how they're doing in training and/or if we have better/showing more who are younger.
Sorry Mods I've taken this totally off topic so going back to Jerome, good luck to him at Watford. I've no idea what their youth set up is like and who, if anyone, they have playing striker at the Academy but I really can't see him pushing out their starting, 1st team strikers. Troy Deeney, like Vardy is a hardened pro who's done it the hard way, playing league 1 and non league football until signing for Watford age 21. He hasn't had an easy, cushy, academy upbringing like Jerome has. It'll be a massive learning curve for him and I'm not sure he has the patience, the fight, nor the quality to become a PL striker.