Our youth system has failed us

[stokearab]

The point I'm making is the youth system is to provide players for the first team and we've had a few in recent years that have done exactly that. With the guys in the fringes at the moment it looks like that will continue.

Ok. I'm going to say it.
Head in the sand stuff.

Accepting mediocrity you will get mediocrity.

Successful clubs constantly evaluate their progress, refuse to accept mediocrity and plan and implement changes accordingly. United don't seem to be doing that. Ask yourself an honest question. No bu l l s it. Do you think Jim McLean would accept the recent dividend from the investment. No he would not. That is the benchmark and you are falling way below it with your acceptance.

I respect your opinion but it's an opinion that accepts mediocrity and that's not what I want for my football club.

[stokearab]

The point I'm making is the youth system is to provide players for the first team and we've had a few in recent years that have done exactly that. With the guys in the fringes at the moment it looks like that will continue.

You quoted Fraser and Robson as examples. Imo that is simply nowhere near good enough. Matty Smith has had game time but was last season nowhere near the kind of impact player I have referred to. tbh it could be argued that neither are Fraser or Robson

[Chick A Saw]

The point I'm making is the youth system is to provide players for the first team and we've had a few in recent years that have done exactly that. With the guys in the fringes at the moment it looks like that will continue.

If the system is a success, how many players from the youth system will start every week next season?

If the system is a success, why have so many from the youth system been released since January?

[TerryTheTerror]

What dividend?

[stokearab]

What dividend?

If you don't understand dividend when applying to youth development there is a problem with your understanding of why we have a youth system at all

[stokearab]

Just wanted to add that Terry you are a great voice of reason on this forum but on some subjects you maybe need to allow yourself to ask could we as a club do better? How can we do better?

Currently we are in danger of anchoring in this league and that is not acceptable. So those who are in control need to be held to account. If you're not prepared to hold the club to account at any level, where does that leave you?
If we spend 2, 3, 4 more seasons in this division god forbid, will you still be finding positives and questioning people who won't accept it?

[stokearab]

Isn't it true that to be in the top tier for project brave the club need access to an indoor 11 a side pitch? The fact there is already one in Motherwell (on the old Ravenscraig site I think) that they and Hamilton can use means they can get in with minimum actual investment from the clubs.

This is you finding reasons why we CAN'T. We need to find reasons why we CAN. After the Jerry Kerr era youth development has always been our bedrock and a major plank of our financial well-being.
To under fund it or ignore it as we seem to have done is a very big mistake.

[TerryTheTerror]

I work in the financial sector so the word dividend has certain conatations for me. 🙂 The point I was making about project brave is valid and no amount of sentiment will make it any easier to sort out.

[stokearab]

I work in the financial sector so the word dividend has certain conatations for me. 🙂 The point I was making about project brave is valid and no amount of sentiment will make it any easier to sort out.

Sentimental! No. Good business organisation and forward planning. Yes.

I accept that Project Brave is b ollox but to suggest my comments are sentimental is also b o llox.
You argue against logic, you accept failure, you get what you are given, and you seem happy to accept what you're given. And right now you are given as a Dundee United supporter less than what we as Dundee United supporters deserve.

[TerryTheTerror]

I only disagree with you about our youth system being a failure, that's all. You seem to measure it by how much money we make from it and me by wether it produces players for our team. You can argue the toss about the quality of the players but such a thing is and always will be cyclical. I'd say we went through a spell of freakish high quality since Goodie, that's not the norm.