How many players should Hibs sign in a season where we are operating a youth policy?

[RIP]

Young players in 1st team squad

• Stevenson
• Galbraith
• Stephens
• Crawford
• Hanlon
• Booth
• Wotherspoon
• Smith
• Horner
• Taggart
  
• Pallson
• Thornhill
• Antell

Older Players

• Hart
• Murray
  
• Scott
• O'Hanlon
• Stack
• Brown
  
• O'Connor
• Sproule
• Sodje

7 in 7 months - all more or less first picks

[DC_Hibs]

As many as possible when it improves the first team and if finances permit.

Adding 3 players to a squad that ended the season 10th is not enough and I'm sure you (and even Stevie Wonder) can see that. We must have let around 12 go also so our squad is lacking numbers not just first team lacking a bit of quality.

No signings since 17th June - around when the Calderwood shennanigans started is more than coincidence of course.

[RIP]

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As many as possible when it improves the first team and if finances permit.

Adding 3 players to a squad that ended the season 10th is not enough and I'm sure you (and even Stevie Wonder) can see that. We must have let around 12 go also so our squad is lacking numbers not just first team lacking a bit of quality.

No signings since 17th June - around when the Calderwood shennanigans started is more than coincidence of course.

How many players were Hibs planning to sign? How long were we giving Scott, Pallson, Thornhill, Sodje to be able to improve the team

If the 7 had had a pre-season together would we have finished 10th?

[Franck Stanton]

All for giving youth their chance, however......we need to marry that with experience, an "older head" to talk/cajole the youngsters through the game. Still need an experienced r/b, playmaker c/m and two strikers imo.

[RIP]

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All for giving youth their chance, however......we need to marry that with experience, an "older head" to talk/cajole the youngsters through the game. Still need an experienced r/b, playmaker c/m and two strikers imo.

I see your point Eric but 4 more players means that the Board would have let Colin sign ELEVEN OUTFIELD players in 7 MONTHS. Ansolute MADNESS IMO!!

Surely if we are operating a youth policy you have to put your faith in the U23's? Continually bringing in experience simply halts their progress - no?

[sahib]

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I see your point Eric but 4 more players means that the Board would have let Colin sign ELEVEN OUTFIELD players in 7 MONTHS. Ansolute MADNESS IMO!!
Surely if we are operating a youth policy you have to put your faith in the U23's? Continually bringing in experience simply halts their progress - no?

It could be that is what is required when you inherit an unworkable legacy. The madness being in the accumulation of substandard players.

[Cropley10]

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It could be that is what is required when you inherit an unworkable legacy. The madness being in the accumulation of substandard players.

- and add to that that Hart and EDG are at the top end of the wage bracket.

We won't get one - but a DoF would give us more chance of building a team, including youngsters, over a period than this constantly chopping and changing. Yogi only brought through one player FFS!

[Dirkster23]

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I see your point Eric but 4 more players means that the Board would have let Colin sign ELEVEN OUTFIELD players in 7 MONTHS. Ansolute MADNESS IMO!!

Surely if we are operating a youth policy you have to put your faith in the U23's? Continually bringing in experience simply halts their progress - no?

I've maybe missed it, but where has CC stated that we're running with a youth policy this season?

You can only put your faith in youngsters if the ones you have in your system are good enough. it's clear that we've a few good ones, Booth, Hanlon, Wotherspoon etc but you need experience around them to bring them on and get them through games. I'm all for bringing players through the ranks, but they need to be able to improve the team when they're brought in.

[Ray_]

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How many players were Hibs planning to sign? How long were we giving Scott, Pallson, Thornhill, Sodje to be able to improve the team

If the 7 had had a pre-season together would we have finished 10th?

Given the fact we obtained one point, out of fifteen, playing the league's worst teams, after the split, I would have to say, no we wouldn't have been any higher?

[RIP]

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I've maybe missed it, but where has CC stated that we're running with a youth policy this season?

You can only put your faith in youngsters if the ones you have in your system are good enough. it's clear that we've a few good ones, Booth, Hanlon, Wotherspoon etc but you need experience around them to bring them on and get them through games. I'm all for bringing players through the ranks, but they need to be able to improve the team when they're brought in.

I thought the experience would come from Stack, O'Hanlon, Scott, Murray, Sproule, O'Connor and Sodje. Striking a balance between old and new. If we continue to sign more older players there's soon going to be no room in the side to promote youth. And yet that's where the future is surely?

I can't remember such caution when Whittaker, Thomson, Brown, Riordan and O'Connor all came through into the first team

[Dirkster23]

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I thought the experience would come from Stack, O'Hanlon, Scott, Murray, Sproule, O'Connor and Sodje. Striking a balance between old and new. If we continue to sign more older players there's soon going to be no room in the side to promote youth. And yet that's where the future is surely?

I can't remember such caution when Whittaker, Thomson, Brown, Riordan and O'Connor all came through into the first team

You've listed 7 experienced players and out of them i'd guess only Stack, O'Hanlon, Sproule and O'Connor are likely regular starters. That leaves 7 places in the starting eleven before subs. Youth's only the future if you can produce players of a good enough standard to maintain or improve your team. Despite what some people seem to think, giving a youngster game time doesn't automatically mean they'll develop into a player good enough to hold a place in a SPL team.

TBH i can't see your point in comparing the current youngsters with the players you've mentioned. With the exception of Booth, none of the current crop appear (yet) to be of the same quality.

[Stevie Reid]

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You've listed 7 experienced players and out of them i'd guess only Stack, O'Hanlon, Sproule and O'Connor are likely regular starters. That leaves 7 places in the starting eleven before subs. Youth's only the future if you can produce players of a good enough standard to maintain or improve your team. Despite what some people seem to think, giving a youngster game time doesn't automatically mean they'll develop into a player good enough to hold a place in a SPL team.

TBH i can't see your point in comparing the current youngsters with the players you've mentioned. With the exception of Booth, none of the current crop appear (yet) to be of the same quality.

Whilst that's true, giving a youngster game time is the ONLY way that he can ever develop into a player good enough to hold a place in an SPL team - doing it on loan can be a help, but regular first team exposure is needed.

FWIW, no one really had a clue how good any of our youngsters were going to be before they started playing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting another golden generation from what we have at the moment, but you never know.

[Dirkster23]

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Whilst that's true, giving a youngster game time is the ONLY way that he can ever develop into a player good enough to hold a place in an SPL team - doing it on loan can be a help, but regular first team exposure is needed.

FWIW, no one really had a clue how good any of our youngsters were going to be before they started playing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting another golden generation from what we have at the moment, but you never know.

I agree with you Stevie, but it doesn't appear we have players of the calibre of Riordan, Brown etc coming through at the moment. How many young players can we afford to blood in the first team and still maintain hopes of cup runs and qualifying for Europe? We've already got Booth, Hanlon, Wotherspoon, Palsson and Galbraith (Towell last season) playing in the first team. I'm just not sure what some people expect?

[Stevie Reid]

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I agree with you Stevie, but it doesn't appear we have players of the calibre of Riordan, Brown etc coming through at the moment. How many young players can we afford to blood in the first team and still maintain hopes of cup runs and qualifying for Europe? We've already got Booth, Hanlon, Wotherspoon, Palsson and Galbraith (Towell last season) playing in the first team. I'm just not sure what some people expect?

I know, some may be being overly optimistic - I try not to knock optimism though, and what were our prospects going into Mowbray's first season?

We'll just have to wait and see.

[BEEJ]

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Young players in 1st team squad

• Stevenson
• Galbraith
• Stephens
• Crawford
• Hanlon
• Booth
• Wotherspoon
• Smith
• Horner
• Taggart
  
• Pallson
  
• Thornhill
• Antell

Older Players

• Hart
• Murray
  
• Scott
• O'Hanlon
• Stack
• Brown
  
• O'Connor
• Sproule
• Sodje

7 in 7 months - all more or less first picks

And your point is, caller? We have sold and released 22 players during the same seven months.

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I've maybe missed it, but where has CC stated that we're running with a youth policy this season?

Glad you asked that. Where has this been stated as Hibs policy for the coming season and beyond?

Or is it simply being inferred due to financial necessity and the existence of East Mains?