Quote Originally Posted by jackal2 View Post
I love the stock excuses fans come up with for not giving young players a chance: "one for the future", "not the right time", "too much pressure", "needs another loan spell" etc. etc.

Brooks didn't look like the pressure was bothering him on Saturday. In fact, he looked like he was loving the experience. Very good body language and didn't seem at all afraid to command and communicate with the defenders in front of him. He was handling the occasion a lot better than "vastly experienced" Mark Howard was in Wrexham's goal at Maidenhead, put it that way!
A younger keeper can sink or swim. Fabien Speiss's career was probably destroyed by Shaun Derry. He was being watched by Man Utd because on the eve of the season we sold Bailkowski and he was just chucked in and not backed by Derry destroying his confidence. When Carroll was injured, instead of going to Speiss, Derry pulled Pilkington out of retirement.

I am all for giving Brooks his chance, but I would also be happy to ease him in and get in an experienced cover for Slocombe. Maybe share the keeping next season between Slocombe and Brooks but right now, we can't afford to make a mistake, both in the league and with another talented youth keeper