(09-17-2020, 06:42 AM)PaulP link Wrote:I'll not going to get into another Bolton argument, but any development in the young blokes would be negligible since Bolton left. Yes, the passing of time makes them older, but how much real football development have they experienced since mid 2019 ? Teague played them in the 2nd half of last season because he had to. The minute trade time rolled around, he brought in grandpa Eddie, 100 gamer Martin and Pittonet, and pretty much banished the kids to stuff all scratch matches, and an occasional appearance in the seniors, like a human drip feed. Teague's priority was not development, you can be quite certain of that. That will have to change, but I don't think he will do it until he really has to.
It's not about Bolton, anymore. I too think the young guys' confidence is shot from the early days. Times have changed. 18 months older is a big difference in maturity.
If we're not going to play these younger guys in bigger roles, then why do we still have them on our list and why would we keep them past tomorrow's final game?
I think the next step for Teague now is to balance the winning with exposing some younger guys into bigger roles with more responsibility. I don't say that for the sake of it. We're not winning games of footy so think that's our cue to change it up a bit. I'm disappointed Teague hasn't. He's stayed loyal to the structure and senior players. That's ok to a degree. His next challenge is to get more our of the fringe types.