Patrick Roberts

[alfie]

My son has just told me he was reading (i do not know whether n/paper or mag), apparently stating that he should never have left Fulham as he has only had 4 mins playing time. I do not know if this is factual or just paper talk, but here is an example for Hyndman, maybe your agent does not have the answer.

[filham]

But he is probably being paid very well for the 4 mimutes.

[love4ffc]

Hindsight 20/20 grass is always greener....and all that. 

Young players have hard decisions to make now a days.  Things like deciding if one should stick with the small club who is developing them or move on the big club for big money?  On top of that they almost always have greedy snake charmers whispering in their ear that they can do better elsewhere. 

Is Patrick making good money?  Yes.  Was he making good money at FFC?  Yes.  Is his future with City questionable?  Yes.  Why?  Because no one can predict how great a young player will be or develop. 

Bottom line is, even if Roberts doesn't know it, he should of stuck with FFC. 

[valdeingruo]

I think what would help is if agents couldn't accept bonuses/fees until a player turns 21.

[f321ffc]

He never had much playing time at little ol Fulham, did he think he was going to walk straight into the first team at Man City? if so then i think he needs to take his advice from someone else, but then i suppose the extra £20 thousand per week or whatever it is more than makes up for the splinters.

[cmg]

Is his future with City questionable?  Yes.  Why?  Because no one can predict how great a young player will be or develop. 

This is precisely why he, and we, had no really sensible option other than to take the money.

If he had stayed at the kind of money he would have received here, he (and Fulham) would have been taking the risk. As it is Manchester City now bear the risk.

Personally I still think (and hope) that Roberts will become a top rate player. One think is certain - we won't know for sure one way or the other for another three of four years. He is (still) 18 years old.

[ToodlesMcToot]

goal.com put out an interview with Patrick just this morning. came across as a pretty happy young man actually.

if he's truly upset about his playing time then he's not a very smart young lad. what player with his first team playing experience, literally hours of it, would expect to go there any play anytime soon?

he's fine. I doubt he has any regrets at all about his move. now's a good time to get used to the bench anyway. odds are that he'll become far more familiar with City's cushy chairs than he will the first team field anyway.

[love4ffc]

Seems that if the FA really cared about developing future National Team players they would do something about advising young promising lads.  They would have a figure like Roy who the kids could turn to for counsel.  A figure who is experienced with developing young players and has been there done that.  

[westcliff white]

My son has just told me he was reading (i do not know whether n/paper or mag), apparently stating that he should never have left Fulham as he has only had 4 mins playing time. I do not know if this is factual or just paper talk, but here is an example for Hyndman, maybe your agent does not have the answer.

quite sure he does believe that but if he put it in print as he obviously has and I were city I would be fining him

[F(f)CUK]

Seems that if the FA really cared about developing future National Team players they would do something about advising young promising lads.  They would have a figure like Roy who the kids could turn to for counsel.  A figure who is experienced with developing young players and has been there done that. 

and hopefully will tell every promising player to join Fulham 049:gif

[Blanco]

Like Klopp said the other day, youngens should look for football education not money. Easy to say as a fan, if the money was offered to me I´d perhaps go for it aswell.

[Tonywa]

I also wonder, given his performances last season, just how much game time he would have got had he stayed at the Cottage.

[HatterDon]

I'd like a link to the publication. Sounds like something somebody said somebody said.

[Jamie88]

This doesn't sound like he's unhappy to me!

http://m.goal.com/s/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2016/01/20/19499362/hes-a-very-good-looking-dog-i-must-say-patrick-roberts?utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.newsnow.co.uk%2Fh%2FSport%2FFootball%2FChampionship%2FFulham

[Carborundum]

Money makes the world go round.  I'm struggling to think of a reasonable basis to criticise anyone accepting a contract that provides considerably more money for a very similar job.  When a job is as precarious as that of a footballer - one bad tackle and it can be over - it's surely not the player that's the problem in these circumstances.

But there is a problem, and it's a problem with the premier league rules.  If clubs weren't allowed to excessively stockpile players, then far more of the best players would be out on pitches being watched by fans of one club or another.  The paying public are being deprived of seeing the best players.  Squad size rules and the loan system aren't proving particularly effective.  A rethink would be good.  

[Artful Dodger]

Whilst we could say he would have been better off staying at Fulham, he wasn't playing much and when he did, he struggled to get involved on occasions so there was no guarantee he was going to play week in week out - even in a struggling team. Man City have a world class set up, top players and top coaches, so why wouldn't he develop his game there just because he isn't playing first team football? I would love to see him loaned back to FFC but we got £11m for a player that had rarely featured so I think it suited both parties at the time.

[J]

Sorry alfie but I think your son has been sold a kipper - I strongly suspect that what he was reading was facebook/twitter chatter that has no basis on fact.

[Blanco]

Like Klopp said the other day, youngens should look for football education not money. Easy to say as a fan, if the money was offered to me I´d perhaps go for it aswell.

Klopp was talking about Sinclair, who's leaving a top notch club/setup (Liverpool) to join a smaller club (Watford it seems) where he's more likely to get first team football. So the opposite of What Roberts did. So presumably Klopp would say (and I agree) that Roberts is better off at Man City than Fulham, irrespective of wages

Regardless of whether the player is going to a bigger or smaller club the premise of chosing education over money is still valid.

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Money makes the world go round. At the end of the day, we all work to earn money and pay our bills. He's earning more in a week now, than most earning in a year - of course he's happy. I'd be over the moon. Also being around players like Toure, Aguero, Silva etc. Watching them play, getting tips off them will only make him better.
If he doesn't improve much, then he's got the wrong attitude and we're better off without him.
Some players get the big move early in their careers and it ruins them. Others, like Stirling for example, thrive.
Let's see how paddy does.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aaronmcguigan]

He wasn't getting gametime last season and we can't afford a luxury player on the pitch this season. It was best for us to get rid and take the money and better for him for the opportunity to accelerate potential development by training alongside aguero, kompany and co