Excluding the youth: Is Alex Neil allowing development?

Under Neil Adams at the beginning of last season, many were excited by how heavily youth players featured in his plans. Josh Murphy established himself in the team and Jamar Loza scored his first ever senior goal. However, since Alex Neil took over the reigns, the opportunities for youth players have been limited. Many said that his involvement in the youth squad with Hamilton Academical would lead to a continued spell of game time for the under 21s. However, this has proved to be far from the case.

Loza was shipped out on loan to Yeovil and Josh Murphy was sent to Championship rivals Wigan. Promising prospect Cameron McGeehan spent time on loan at Cambridge United, where he got the chance to play against Manchester United twice. However, McGeehan was then sold to Luton for the meager fee of £98,000, and went on to describe under 21 football as a ‘graveyard’. Josh Murphy and Jacob Murphy were both sent out on season-long loans to MK Dons and Coventry respectively. Remi Matthews rejoined Burton, where he sat on the bench last season. Carlton Morris is spending the season with Neil’s former club Hamilton, where he has already scored twice. Jamar Loza remains at the club, however can be seen as the sixth-choice striker, and is yet to make the bench. The bizarre Louis Thompson transfer saga has rolled on, with him being loaned back to Swindon for a second season. The boardroom in Swindon must be rubbing their hands with glee at the fact that they have almost been paid to have a player on loan with them.

One youth player has featured for Alex Neil, with left-back Harry Toffolo playing the majority of pre-season and impressing many, getting his first ever senior start against Rotherham. However, with Martin Olsson’s return from injury, he is now the third-choice left back

While many see Neil’s youth policy as disregarding young players and letting the rot in lower leagues, I personally believe he is very clever with what he is doing. In the Premier League, the quality of football is considerably higher than in the Championship, meaning there is no margin for playing less able youth players for the sake of it. Instead, allowing them to spend a season playing regular, first team football in a slightly lower league is very sensible. No player can develop by watching a match in their club suit from the stands, however they can develop in a lower league getting gametime. While many will be disappointed that they cannot see the likes of the Murphy twins in yellow and green, when they are the stars of our squad in five years time, people will realise that the seasons away from the club were worth it.