Fulham Youth players

[JackyFulham90]

Reading FulTime Mag was an interesting read, Jol was saying how he plans to have Kacaniklic , Frei , Briggs & Mesca in the first team squad for next season but also that Tankovic , Woodrow & Banya are close to making the squad, has anyone seen any of them play? anyone else who can make the step up?

[Jamie88]

From what I've seen of Tankovic, I would be amazed if he doesnt make it big to be honest.
Woodrow should also be a great prospect, fantastic finisher.
Pat Roberts from the U18s too will have a decent career I feel.

[Mr K.Dilkington]

Tankovic just seems to ooze quality from what I've seen of him.

[jarv]

would be good to see some youngsters come up. However, the reality is, when in the prem., it is very difficult to get them playing time to make the progress which is required. (look at villa playing the youngsters).

A friend of mine worked for middlesborough for a year, assesing the business and studying the costs of buying in, wages, etc or producing their own. They decided to play some of the youngsters (after wasting millions on some prima donnas). However, very soon after implementing that policy, increasing the number of youngsters....they went down.

Seems like the other (lower)  divisions have a much better chance of progressing youngsters to the first team. The loan system should help but we seem to have players out on loan for ever. Hope to see some suvvess next season.

[JackyFulham90]

Jol seems to speak very highly of Mesca I think we will see him next season

[MasterHaynes]

We also have Altman, Islamovic,Passeley and Christensen who have continued their good form in the U21, I wouldn't be surprised to see 1-2 of these guys getting a look in next season and don't forget David. The future is White , The Future is Fulham

[MJG]

I think the young players he mentioned will get promotion to the 'first team squad' but not the match squad, exepect for the odd sub mention here and there.
Their next move will be on loan to at least a championship club for 3-6 months.
I believe its the 2014-15 season when the club hope to have a number of the u21's in the 18 man match day squad.

[Frankie-Peter Taylor]

Muamer Tankovic is outstanding. He's got the ability to be the best player to come through the academy ever.

[MasterHaynes]

I think the young players he mentioned will get promotion to the 'first team squad' but not the match squad, exepect for the odd sub mention here and there.
Their next move will be on loan to at least a championship club for 3-6 months.
I believe its the 2014-15 season when the club hope to have a number of the u21's in the 18 man match day squad.

I'd agree but exceptional players given the opportunity to play at the highest level naturally rise to that level and excel beyond expectations.  watching some of these players over the last 18 months I really have a feeling - and I suspect some at the club do as well - of the 6-7 players on verge of breaking through a couple of them will really shine immediately they get the opportunity, even 15 minutes as a sub, making it difficult not to involve them regularly.

[MJG]

I think the young players he mentioned will get promotion to the 'first team squad' but not the match squad, exepect for the odd sub mention here and there.
Their next move will be on loan to at least a championship club for 3-6 months.
I believe its the 2014-15 season when the club hope to have a number of the u21's in the 18 man match day squad.

I'd agree but exceptional players given the opportunity to play at the highest level naturally rise to that level and excel beyond expectations.  watching some of these players over the last 18 months I really have a feeling - and I suspect some at the club do as well - of the 6-7 players on verge of breaking through a couple of them will really shine immediately they get the opportunity, even 15 minutes as a sub, making it difficult not to involve them regularly.

I hope your right because I would prefer the 18 man squad to have at least 3/4 of the youngsters in it. Like you I also think some young players perform in bigger games/leagues and they should get that chance sooner rather than later.
For all the talk of Briggs/Kaca and Frei, none of them are in the team at the moment and 2 have been shipped out.
I want Trotta in the squad and the 3 mentioned above to be pushing for places in the team from day one next season. We should be building the team around those type of players, especially Kaca and Frei.

[David Allen Crankshaw]

Having just arrived home from the U21 win at Blackburn I was impressed with Chris David who scored a terrific goal.

[Scrumpy]

Having just arrived home from the U21 win at Blackburn I was impressed with Chris David who scored a terrific goal.

Nice one. Do you live 'up North'? Were there any other FFC fans making themselves known?

[cmg]

It's an exciting and interesting time for us on the development front. There is much more in the way of information about these days, but I'd wager we've never before as much young talent on our books as we now have.

The u21 side which won tonight was a noticeably young one and (with Mesca hopefully recovered from his serious injury) has more than a few players with 'great expectations'. The current u18s are even more exciting with several really impressive performers (in a variety of sizes!).

I am an optimist in this area and think that the emergance and developent of young talent is one of the most intriguing features of being a football supporter. However, one thing is certain. Most of these guys will not make Premier League footballers. Things just do not work out that way. If you unearth three or four regulars per age group you are doing well. The club's long-term plan seems to be to exceed this. A couple of top-notch International class players would be sensational. Here's hoping.

The likes of Haynes, Edwards, Mullery, Cruyff, Rooney, Messi were established regulars by 18. Pele scored a goal in the WC final at that age.

[JackyFulham90]

I think Frei & Kacaniklic are really good talents
Mesca looks good
I think this summer is going to be an exciting one but maybe with our u21s we don't need to spend loads of money

[Bobby2012]

Having just arrived home from the U21 win at Blackburn I was impressed with Chris David who scored a terrific goal.

Glad that Chris David scored. He is technically very strong on the ball and can make the difference. Jol is also very happy with his new singing. Hope that we will see Chris David soon in the first team..

Watch here interview with Jol about David: http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/8380486/fulham-sign-chris-david

[Oiseau]

would be good to see some youngsters come up. However, the reality is, when in the prem., it is very difficult to get them playing time to make the progress which is required. (look at villa playing the youngsters).

A friend of mine worked for middlesborough for a year, assesing the business and studying the costs of buying in, wages, etc or producing their own. They decided to play some of the youngsters (after wasting millions on some prima donnas). However, very soon after implementing that policy, increasing the number of youngsters....they went down.

Seems like the other (lower)  divisions have a much better chance of progressing youngsters to the first team. The loan system should help but we seem to have players out on loan for ever. Hope to see some suvvess next season.

You can still play youngsters and have enormous success. The key is to have a mix of younger players and experienced veterans. The reason why Villa are struggling is because their current first XI is almost entirely made up of youngsters. They don't have the experience to allow for the freshness and naivety of their younger talent.

Kaca has the potential to become a great talent. He desperately needs to improve his tracking back, his covering and his defending in general, though. He's not yet the 'complete winger.' I'm a little worried about Frei. He can seem quite one-dimensional sometimes. The reason why he was so successful at first seemed to be because opposing teams weren't expecting his 'tricks' and because he was comparatively unknown. Frei doesn't run to the dead ball line - he always cuts in. His close control is brilliant but I do wonder whether he actually is a winger. Frei's crosses are nowhere near as good as Kaca's and it doesn't seem instinctive for him to cross balls from the edge of the box. His constant cutting in makes me think that he could make an interesting number ten rather than a winger.

I've heard great things about Tankovic, Mesca and Woodrow. I hope that all three manage to break through into the senior team soon.

[JackyFulham90]

Having Berbatov , Hangeland , Karagounis & Duff in the squad is key for the youngsters
Hopefully next year Kaca , Frei , Kasami , Mesca , Tankovic all play a part in our season

[LukeJennings]

Dan Burn is one to watch out for! Been watching him week in week out with Yeovil he's getting better with every passing game and was my man of the match away at Hartlepool yesterday!

On top of this he's a very, very nice lad! Seen him on a night out and he bought me many drinks and spent a long time with him talking, he said he's very excited about the prospect of pushing for the Fulham first team and he hopes to gain a new contract, I told him I was a Fulham and Yeovil fan but only make about 10 Fulham games a season. He went on to say how he loves Fulham football club and everything about it is amazing, then we joked about the Michael Jackson statue haha,

But enough of the story he is a massive ariel presence at the heart of the defence, the only problem is with his feet but with time he has got very good on the ball, yesterday he took on 4 players and shook them all off. Give it 2 years he will be a force!

[MOR :]

I think all are very good players...I just think they probably need to bulk up a bit...but I'm in agreement that it's the squad they will be in and not regulars in the 1st team...

[Scrumpy]

Dan Burn is one to watch out for! Been watching him week in week out with Yeovil he's getting better with every passing game and was my man of the match away at Hartlepool yesterday!

On top of this he's a very, very nice lad! Seen him on a night out and he bought me many drinks and spent a long time with him talking, he said he's very excited about the prospect of pushing for the Fulham first team and he hopes to gain a new contract, I told him I was a Fulham and Yeovil fan but only make about 10 Fulham games a season. He went on to say how he loves Fulham football club and everything about it is amazing, then we joked about the Michael Jackson statue haha,

But enough of the story he is a massive ariel presence at the heart of the defence, the only problem is with his feet but with time he has got very good on the ball, yesterday he took on 4 players and shook them all off. Give it 2 years he will be a force!

You went from Yeovil to Hartlepool yesterday?! That's one hell of a long trip.