A lack of players is something we Pompey fans are becoming used to but there is always one factor that is recurring in these situations. The preference for begging other clubs for favours rather than including youngsters from the academy.
Although I understand many if not all of the academy players are not ready, I do think it would do them no harm at all to include them on the bench where necessary. In the past three years, on countless occasions we have gone into games without a full allocation on our bench purely because of the reluctance to use the youngsters. This has often been an embarrassing sight for Pompey fans.
On Saturday 25th August as we travelled to Carlisle for our third League one fixture, we once again failed to name a full bench due to a couple of injuries to Lee Williamson and Kieran Djilali.
In total we only had four substitutes and unless we are willing to integrate some youngsters for our match against Oldham this Saturday we are likely to name even less with an injury to local boy Adam Webster and the looming suspension for Kevin Long for his sending off against Oldham.
Michael Appleton can do very little wrong in the eyes of Pompey fans but this is one of the very few areas where Pompey fans are beginning to question. He has expressed that he is worried that he might be penalised by the Football League if he names any of youngsters in the squad and could occupy the spaces of players he already has.
This is understandable but I still think the inclusion of literally one or two in our lighter areas could do us a lot of good in both the short and long term.
The positives in doing this by far outweigh the negatives.
By no means am I suggesting throwing these youngsters in the “deep end” and giving them starts regularly but just including them on the bench and using them if needed. This would be huge for the players who would gain a lot of experience and knowledge at such a young age.
We have already seen two players progress from “rookies” to “squad members”. These being Ashley Harris and Adam Webster. Although neither has started many, both have both gradually become more accustomed to fist team football as the experience they’ve picked up has grown.
Neither were thrown in the “deep end” but have been included regularly ready to be used if needed and I think it’s time that we looked to repeat this with other young players. After all, although they lost 3-0 to Plymouth Argyle in the Capital One Cup, the youth side which was fielded still left the game with their heads held high.
However, I have a lot of faith in Michael Appleton and I am sure he’ll make the right decision and do whatever he can to guide the club to its new era, a brighter one.
The views of Tom Young are his own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial view of pompey-fans.com
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