[RabCNesbit]

soothmoole, on Jun 16 2008, 05:50, said:

stranraer given up young players already?????????? latest 3 are 27 29 and 31.

Who are they?

[RabCNesbit]

soothmoole, on Jun 16 2008, 09:48, said:

murdie anderson and gary carnichan

Old news m8. Is it not Grant Carnochan?



Ps Murdie is only 26 hardly old I would say!

[FC_1919]

RabCNesbit, on Jun 16 2008, 10:46, said:

Old news m8. Is it not Grant Carnochan?



Ps Murdie is only 26 hardly old I would say!

But hardly going to break in to the first team.

[I'm blue dabededabada]

The Stranraer Reserve set up in my opinion has not served the purpose it was set up for or at very least not worked to its potential. The team was set up to bring through a batch of young promising players who may one day be able to make the step up to 1st team football for the benefit of Stranraer FC. Yes you can argue that one or two performances from Stuart McColm proves it has been a success but this setup is about more than one individual and to me the big concern is the number of players who are being restricted opportunities to develop due to a lack of match practice as players who have little scope to progress are chosen before them.

There is no doubting that Murdie, Anderson and Carnochan are all good players but each I think has missed the boat in terms of making at this level. The big problem is when each one of these players plays which promising young player is sitting out. Will Callum Dunn be on the bench as Murdy starts up front. Murdy is a better player than Callum at the moment but Callum at the age of 17 undoubtebly has more potential and needs regular games to improve. Will Glen Mitchell, Lewis Richardson, Craig McClintick sit out as Carnochan or Anderson play. Yes you can argue that these players are there to support the 'young' players and a team of under 19s was never realistic but we are not talkin about a team of under 19s. Does Micky Wilson, Jek Kiltie, Roddie Cooksley, Jonesy, Stashy, Rab Joe, need experienced players along side them?? These are players are far from inexperienced at this level as it is and Im sure are not needing the support of another 2 players at the wrong end of their 20s and one well into his 30s. Surely the reserve team should be about more than sticking a token one or two players who are 17/18 in alongside what is basically a top South team not a reserves set up.

Players at this age need football and just getting the odd run as sub is not good enough or starting the odd game wont ever see these players reach their potential. Threave for a few years played a young team and werent that successful but a few years later they reaped the rewards. Im sure at times they could have signed players who were better but decided to stick with youth for the good of the team in the long run.

Last year the excuse was that it was too late notice to get the team together and had to get a few players who were older to fill the team, whats the excuse this year? From a Newton point of view I aint bothered as if anything it might helps us. We were never going to sign any of these 3 players and we might manage to get eventually get a couple of the young players who are not getting a chance at the club but as a Stranraer fan I am concerned and while it operates like this I dont see the value of having a reserve set up. This isnt a slant on the players playing for the reserves as who can blame them for wanting to join under the illusion of 1st team football.

I really hope this can be sorted and by that I dont mean one player making it eventually onto the bench of the 1st team. What I mean is the reserve team being used for young players to develop. Im not talking about playing players who are never good enough just because they are young but as a person who has been involved with football at the 16- 18 year old level in the past I know there are enough players with potential in the age bracket of 16-20 to more than fill a reserve side. Even in the last few months of the season the benefit of games was obvious at Wigtown as a few boys who didnt look great at the start of the year started to look very good players. Only through regular games will you find out if young players will develop and be good enough but at the monent I feel there are a large nember of boys who will never get the chance to properly show whether they have the ability.