Saints victory against Everton was a welcome three points, but perhaps the most pleasing aspect was that it showed that we have another fine crop of youngsters coming to the fore.

Saints have quite rightly been hailed as a club that produces its own talent, the reality is that we have always done so and the players coming through now are the fruits of hard work done a decade or so ago.

But as a club we really are unique in how we develope talent, most of the other big clubs pay little more than lip service to producing players through the youth team, when was the last time a player came through the youth ranks at Chelsea and became a first team regular ? I would suggest John Terry, its the same story at Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool, it is a rareity for a genuine youth player to come through the ranks at any of these clubs now, the reason is quite simple, Jose Mourinho, Brendon Rodgers etc will say the right words about youth, but the stark fact is they are not interested in what might come through in 2-3 years time, their job relies on the here and now.

So to see Harrison Reed make his full debut and have such a good game as well as Matt Targett continue his education with a cameo role joined by Dominic Gape was a pleasure, not to mention Jake Hesketh's short but sweet game at Burnley.

Another pleasure was to see the hunger that these players had to play they bought a breath of fresh air to the side that was needed as we sought to break a run of results that must have been sapping away the confidence in the dressing room.

Of course it will be hard for these youngsters to break into the side when everyone is fit etc, but it is good to know we have cover coming through from the youth ranks.

If one criticism could be levelled at Ronald Koeman this season it is that he hasn't given youth its head until recent weeks and now perhaps he knows that he can trust the youngsters to play a part and that is good as it generates competitiveness in the squad and will make sure no one gets complacent. Koeman has been an advocate of youth at his other clubs, hopefully that will continue here, however it has to be justified and not just for the sake of it.

Of course not all of these youngsters will make it at Saints and probably the odd one or two will be poached by what they will consider bigger clubs, but it is all about keeping progressing.

Photo: Action Images

schatfield added 10:00 - Dec 22 i never saw the game at the weekend, but what was Reed like in his passing qualities? Never heard of Gape, look any good?
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halftimeorange added 10:21 - Dec 22 Dominic Gape doesn't look like a professional footballer. His shorts were too long and baggy and his shirt looked too small. He has an odd way of carrying himself and looked like a throwback to fifty years ago however, he immediately slotted in and he seems to my eyes to have fantastic potential. He reminded me of a young tiny version of MLT and that can't be bad.

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schatfield added 13:17 - Dec 22 halftimeorange, that was the best description of a player ever!
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A1079 added 23:51 - Dec 22 One thing that has always made me proud of being a Southampton supporter is the long legacy of our club bringing through home grown and young talent consistently. It is the backbone and the foundation to our club. Something to be really proud of.
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redwight added 17:21 - Dec 23 Although I read that MoPo claims that the Spuds academy is better than ours. Oh dear.
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