Sam Osborne

[matt_magpie]

Hope it works out for him but at the time he was at Notts I never saw anything that would warrant him starting over the players we had, and certainly not the players we’ve since signed.

Totally agree, neither him or Bird have done much but that’s not to say they won’t maybe in the future. Tend to think if these were 2 players that had come in on loan a lot more people would have dismissed them as not good enough. I think maybe because we signed them on scholarships there’s a feeling we should have done better with them, maybe that’s right, maybe they should have been coached better or maybe their just not good enough to play at the top of the National league or higher.

[laddo]

It's right that we look at home grown players with more fondness, positivity , patience and give them more of a chance as YA products playing in the 1st team are a rare thing at Notts. It needs to improve over the long term for sure. However it's wrong to pretend they performed better than they did, that they were unlucky, or harshly treated. Sentiment only gets you so far.

Both played ok for Notts (as you would expect it was a mixed bag) when I saw them, but far more important is the fact the manager at the time didn't believe they performed well enough to nail time a starting XI spot in a playoff calibre side. That's why they only played the number of games they did, the professional qualified l manager didn't believe they were good enough to play more.

Just like Osborne with the more attacking players at Notts at the time and since listed earlier, Bird wasn't anywhere near as good as Lacey, Rawlinson, Brindley or Turner. And that position has improved since thanks to our recruitment.

Bird and Osborne are both still only 23 and still have plenty of time to go up the divisions but as things stand the clubs both have played for since they left Notts tells you the story and answer to date.

I strongly suspect they've played more then they would have if they had stayed, because at present they aren't good enough for Top 6 of the NL. If they were they wouldn't be at AFC Fylde and Buxton FC respectively.

We made the right decision on both for the club and for the player.