Mikey O’Neill

Hasn't really had a chance, those chances he's had have proven he's got ability but is not ready for men's football, he still plays at an U21s game pace

You can’t expect £600 million of new talent (plus extortionate wages and endless contracts) at Chelsea to put in crosses that beat the first man.  

Pointless exercise  anyway.  Chelsea only have one striker/bad striker and they loaned him out.

Quoted from Maringer

To be fair on him, not many 18 year olds are ready for first team football. You get the odd exception here and there (Ryan Bennett notably for us), but most don't really come into their own until they are 20-odd.

I'm not sure that's right. Most EFL players that make their debuts in their teens and hold down a regular place seem to make a good living out the game. On the other hand, the majority that don't cut it in their teens rarely make the grade when they're older and drift out of the professional game. Odd exceptions, but seems that way to me over the years..

Felt sorry for him one game. (can't remember who against)  Ha da defender to beat a challenge came in and both went to ground, he got up and would have been on goal if Taylor hadn't nipped in and slot it home.

Quoted from Yan89

On a side note, had a soft spot for Grimsby since I got sacked by North End on Football Manager a few years ago during my first season and managed to take you to the Prem with Ryan Ledson as captain. James McKeown, Sebastian Ring, Luke Hendrie, Mattie Pollock, Harry Clifton and Dembele made us a strong side to begin with.

As I’ve said, here’s hoping you have a strong end to the season and a good year ahead

Must say full respect to you, getting a promotion with Seb Ring in your squad is an outstanding achievement 👏

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm not sure that's right. Most EFL players that make their debuts in their teens and hold down a regular place seem to make a good living out the game. On the other hand, the majority that don't cut it in their teens rarely make the grade when they're older and drift out of the professional game. Odd exceptions, but seems that way to me over the years..

Harry Clifton was closer to 20 than 19 when he made his League debut for us. Jack Lester scored his first League goal (for Donny) when he was a few days shy of his 20th birthday.

Both some of the better players over the past few decades and weren't really near holding down a first team place until they were around 20 years old.

If a youngster hasn't played much by the time they are 21, I'm wary, but if they aren't doing much at the age of 18 or 19, I'm never that concerned. Khouri now into his 20s and the performance last night shows he might have a bit to offer. He seemed very lightweight when he played the odd game over the last couple of seasons.

So many recent loanees from higher divisions have decent technical ability, but look far too ponderous and it’s clear they are used to a slower academy style of football. I’m not at all convinced by the U23’s and academy model as higher division clubs sweep up players when in reality they would develop far better getting men’s football at a much lower level, then working their way back up the divisions.

That said, why would a young player join a lowly club on peanuts, when they can join a more prestigious club with better facilities and pay. In the long run, I’d argue they been short sighted, but you can’t blame them at all. Most of us would do the same.

Don't wanna sound negative but seen nothing in him to suggest hes ready for league football at all.

Definitely someone we won't be interested in going forward hopefully,  sorry if this is harsh but the lad has done nothing since being here.

Players like O’Neal are the reason we need a proper reserve league structure.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Players like O’Neal are the reason we need a proper reserve league structure.

Couldn't agree more.

It needs to go hand in hand with a stop to the hoovering up and stockpiling of talent by the bigger clubs too, which is clearly just trickling down the leagues.

Premier League 2, Academy football, whatever you want to call it simply isn't enough for players to develop suitably in.  You only need to look at the EFL Cup to see that these supposed elite youngsters get smashed about in a way they're just not used to.  3 or 4 games a  season against seasoned pros isn't going to be enough to aid the much needed wake up calls needed.  

We're no longer in a reserve league because the club said there wasn't enough teams in it and it became a glorified youth team fixture anyway.  I do understand the clubs reluctance to play players in these reserve fixtures because they don't want to to pick up injuries but I suspect it's also because there's little value in experienced fringe players running the risk of a knock by playing against kids.  If the fixtures weren't dominated by Academy kids, would managers be more prepared to run the risk of knocks to keep players ticking over?

The more we loan lads like O'Neill the more I think I favour more of a limit on the loan lads you can have in a season.  It's too easy to loan someone from the Academy of Preston, Derby, Stoke, Birmingham to fill a place on the bench.  They don't get much from it, we don't get anything and it's pretty much a waste of time.  I'd rather have Essel or Braithwaite getting the odd appearance from the bench than O'Neill or Dickson-Peters.  I've nothing against the loan market and it can and has worked for us with the likes of Smith, Lloyd et al.  But it's the loaning of lads just to fill a slot on the bench I don't like and I think that comes because the option is there to do so, almost a bit of a lazy option.