Patrick Roberts

[alfie]

Of course there is always the situation whereby someone shines at the under 18/17 level but can't progress, to be honest I have never been that impressed with him when he played.

[CaptainBilly]

Surely one of the biggest rules when managing a team is to not let the contract of your best players/players with the greatest potential dwindle down to the 1 year remaining mark. It makes zero sense financially and zero sense in a team building aspect. It smacks of a club that is very badly run that doesn't know where they are going, or where they are, to let the contract run down like this

[MJG]

Surely one of the biggest rules when managing a team is to not let the contract of your best players/players with the greatest potential dwindle down to the 1 year remaining mark. It makes zero sense financially and zero sense in a team building aspect. It smacks of a club that is very badly run that doesn't know where they are going, or where they are, to let the contract run down like this

Earliest possible day they could have offered a new contract was his 18th birthday in Feb of this year. They can't force someone to sign it if they don't want to.

[Black, White and Fred]

Of course there is always the situation whereby someone shines at the under 18/17 level but can't progress, to be honest I have never been that impressed with him when he played.

I am with Alfie on this one, when he has had his chances he hasn't exactly sparkled. I have only ever seen him tearing teams apart at U18s level.

[CaptainBilly]

Surely one of the biggest rules when managing a team is to not let the contract of your best players/players with the greatest potential dwindle down to the 1 year remaining mark. It makes zero sense financially and zero sense in a team building aspect. It smacks of a club that is very badly run that doesn't know where they are going, or where they are, to let the contract run down like this

Earliest possible day they could have offered a new contract was his 18th birthday in Feb of this year. They can't force someone to sign it if they don't want to.

Of course if he doesn't want to then yeah what can you do. And I know Fulham have other priorities at the moment, but in my opinion if you have top clubs sniffing around then I would expect a new contract to be offered to him at the first possible opportunity

[MJG]

Surely one of the biggest rules when managing a team is to not let the contract of your best players/players with the greatest potential dwindle down to the 1 year remaining mark. It makes zero sense financially and zero sense in a team building aspect. It smacks of a club that is very badly run that doesn't know where they are going, or where they are, to let the contract run down like this

Earliest possible day they could have offered a new contract was his 18th birthday in Feb of this year. They can't force someone to sign it if they don't want to.

Of course if he doesn't want to then yeah what can you do. And I know Fulham have other priorities at the moment, but in my opinion if you have top clubs sniffing around then I would expect a new contract to be offered to him at the first possible opportunity

We don't know that it hasn't

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

Most of his 'chances' seem to have been cameos when it's very difficult to make a mark.

If you've got dead wood on the pitch, and we've had a load of that, surely someone fresh who may make mistakes but can create that sparkle and panic is worth a go. George Williams seemed to be favoured before him.

There have been loads of small players,  Jimmy Johnstone of Celtic sticks in the mind, Pat Nevin, Charlie Cooke, Maradona, Peter Crouch, Lionel Messi, George Best wasn't that big (stocky though) and Billy the Fish (although a goalie) was tiny in comparison.

[jimmyc19]

Didn't play in the U21 earlier today so assumed that meant he would be in squad for tonight. He's not. There's something up. Either he's injured which I'm not aware of or he's off.

[Arthur]

I don't think there's a reason to panic...

Huw Jennings on development:
"You can't force it," he says. "There's got to be the right stepping stones..."

I'd like to believe you, FPT, but I wonder whether this season has seen Roberts be given the right stepping stones.

Has he played as often for the U21s as he could have? And what good has the little playing time he has had at senior level done for him? For the first XI, it seems to me that he typically has too little time to even begin to get comfortable (and if he hasn't torn the opposition to shreds in the few minutes he is on the pitch, there are those on here who straightaway conclude that he must be over-hyped and over-rated). Maybe the reason that he hasn't signed a new contract is that he is concerned that his development is stalling.

He will know that if he moves to a top club this summer, he is unlikely to see much, if any, first XI football next season. He may be thinking, however, that if he stays with us, he is unlikely to get much first-team action either. If so, what incentive has he to stay? He will feel he has nothing to lose by moving to Liverpool, Arsenal or whomever sooner rather than later.

[Arthur]

Didn't play in the U21 earlier today so assumed that meant he would be in squad for tonight. He's not. There's something up. Either he's injured which I'm not aware of or he's off.

Neither, I think. Hasn't he been abroad with the England U19s?

[fulhamben]

Didn't play in the U21 earlier today so assumed that meant he would be in squad for tonight. He's not. There's something up. Either he's injured which I'm not aware of or he's off.

over a week ago

Neither, I think. Hasn't he been abroad with the England U19s?

[hovewhite]

in my opinion ,needs to toughen up.Undoughted talent in his feetWill be that much better next season!

[WestCountryWhite]

What makes it even more ridiculous is we have 2 creative midfielders in the entire squad. Ruiz and Kaca

Parker, Tunniclife, Fofana and Guthrie are all the same type of player with very little creativity between them all and yet Roberts can't even make the bench. He ll be gone in the summer I'm sure

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

What makes it even more ridiculous is we have 2 creative midfielders in the entire squad. Ruiz and Kaca

Parker, Tunniclife, Fofana and Guthrie are all the same type of player with very little creativity between them all and yet Roberts can't even make the bench. He ll be gone in the summer I'm sure

And Symons put both of them on after 67 minutes tonight.

Roberts has a lot of silky talent but when has he delivered with that creativity when given (his somewhat limited) chances?

[fulhamben]

What makes it even more ridiculous is we have 2 creative midfielders in the entire squad. Ruiz and Kaca

Parker, Tunniclife, Fofana and Guthrie are all the same type of player with very little creativity between them all and yet Roberts can't even make the bench. He ll be gone in the summer I'm sure

And Symons put both of them on after 67 minutes tonight.

Roberts has a lot of silky talent but when has he delivered with that creativity when given (his somewhat limited) chances?

won a penalty in one game, surely the point is that in a large percentage of games this season, the players kit did pick have failed big time. yet he still gets no game time

[Mince n Tatties]

Most of his 'chances' seem to have been cameos when it's very difficult to make a mark.

If you've got dead wood on the pitch, and we've had a load of that, surely someone fresh who may make mistakes but can create that sparkle and panic is worth a go. George Williams seemed to be favoured before him.

There have been loads of small players,  Jimmy Johnstone of Celtic sticks in the mind, Pat Nevin, Charlie Cooke, Maradona, Peter Crouch, Lionel Messi, George Best wasn't that big (stocky though) and Billy the Fish (although a goalie) was tiny in comparison.

I dont buy into the size thing, load of nonsense. .
Roberts is a giant compared to Jinxy Johnstone..

[Bronaldinho]

Club confirm he's been offered a new deal.

Fingers crossed he realises this is the best place for him. With a strong pre-season and a summer overhaul of playing staff, he'll have a much better opportunity next year for first team football.

[cmg]

Don't know if anyone noticed Charlton's young no.3 yesterday. Played mostly RB, cleared one off the line, otherwise not too outstanding. He is Joe Gomez, Pat's CB team mate with England u19. He's younger than Pat but 7" taller and has been more or less a regular for Charlton this season. His contract situation is about the same as Pat's and, although not as talented, I imagine he's quite a hot property.

I had a look at the rest of the England u19 team. Izzy Brown, Rubens Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Smith-Brown, Angus Gunn, Alex Kiwomya and Charlie Colkett don't attract any attention from the big boys as they are all already with either Chelsea or Manchester City. Between them they've played a total of 8 minutes first team football for their clubs, although Kiwomya managed a few appearances on loan for Barnsley.

Brendan Galloway is at Everton, Ben Chilwell at Leicester and Harry Wilks at Spurs - the only sniff of first team they have had is Wilks' 3 minutes in the Europa.

Demarai Gray being a winger is quite comparable with Pat as a player (although he is 5' 11" but not as good!). He has had 35 outings with Birmingham this season, including fairly regular starts, but hasn't done much since his spectacular hat-trick against Reading.

I had hoped to have seen a lot more of Roberts this term, but, in comparison with his contemporaries and given his present physical limitations, it doesn't really seem that he is being stifled.

[McBride78]

Good post CMG, nice research.  I think had we not struggled so much this season, perhaps we would see more of Roberts.  Would be great if we can secure safety.  At that point, why not play him?  I, like most of us, think he may bring a creative spark to our side but is not getting a sniff in this relegation fight.