Harvey Saunders

[Darlo_Pete]

He may be one of our own, as people sing when he comes on, but I wish he wasn't, too lightweight, he's always being pushed off the ball and offers nowt upfront.

[darlo2001uk]

He may be one of our own, as people sing when he comes on, but I wish he wasn't, too lightweight, he's always being pushed off the ball and offers nowt upfront.

'I wish he wasn't'.......what a grade one pillock you are.

[tdk1]

That's a daft thing to say about a 19 year old in his first full season

[Darlo_Pete]

So you think he's doing a good job then?

[Lallacab]

He may be one of our own, as people sing when he comes on, but I wish he wasn't, too lightweight, he's always being pushed off the ball and offers nowt upfront.

Really harsh!

Tbh I think he needs to go out on loan for some real game time - problem is if he does then we are even lighter in that area!

There’s a good few younger players going out on loan from Boro , Sunderland and Newcastle at the moment , it would be a positive step if one of them could give us a forward for free until the end of the season

[tdk1]

So you think he's doing a good job then?

Well he's not doing a bad job. Coming off the bench and running the channels he scares opposing teams. What do you expect from young players just finding their way into the game? Do you remember how curtis main bulked up after his first season in the team? Our problems at the moment can't be heaped onto a kid who is just getting into his stride, and if he's not ready the shortcomings of the squad are, as with so many other issues, with Wright, who has sold two strikers and bought one.

[Darlo_Pete]

I'd love to be proved wrong, but sadly I don't see that happening.

[tdk1]

Whether he goes on to be a world beater or not is pretty irrelevant to this point. The issue is that singling out a teenager from our own youth set up for criticism in a struggling team is pretty noxious, given the surrounding circumstances.

[quakerste]

Harvey is not up to it at the moment and needs taking out of the firing line. Having pace is not enough in the predicament we are in.

Fingers crossed a new striker comes in next week.

[Darlogramps]

So you think he's doing a good job then?

Not a question of whether he's doing a good job.

To exonerate the manager of any blame (as you repeatedly do) but single out a teenage striker is pretty horrendous.

The whole team is struggling, not just the young forward.

[Blackwell64]

In all fairness Harvey isn’t improving, despite getting more game time. The potential is obvious to anyone, but when he gets a fairly good run out like today and gets outstrengthed everywhere, doesn’t hold the ball up, and doesn’t contribute much, its... frustrating.

Although it’s not his fault with playing in a poor side (this season) he needs to get some football/game time on loan somewhere else, as having to resort to him coming off the bench isn’t working enough, we could do with another striker who will impact the game more.... easier said than done. As much as I like his effort such as Kidderminster, there is no room for blooding through youth if our chance of winning is hampered by it.

Also he’s 20, and will be 21 in the summer.

[Spyman]

He may be one of our own, as people sing when he comes on, but I wish he wasn't, too lightweight, he's always being pushed off the ball and offers nowt upfront.

We have all thought the same about you for years, Pete.

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[HarrytheQuaker]

Yes he is lightweight but FFS give the lad a break he will come good in time..Yes people say we don't have time but we do give him a chance ??lets beef him up a bit next season and see how he fairs, WORK in progress

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[QUAKERMAN2]

Harvey is still developing as a footballer, he has lightning pace and will without doubt be a very good player for us, 20 years old for gods sake.This league is too physical for him ATM but once he gets physically stronger will be a big asset.

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[en passant]

Agree that OP was OTT but the points made since then are recognising that we need a bit more than Harvey has to offer at the moment. No doubt he has the makings of a decent player who we may well be thankful for in years to come, but the frustration with him at the moment is not really of his making. The team has gone through a traumatic few months and has left us with few striking options so Harvey has had to be used more frequently than he might have expected had things gone more to plan. He has certainly put his all into every match he has played but as things get ever more critical in the battle to remain up it is clear that it is both unfair and unrealistic to place so much reliance on such a novice player. As others have said, we need a more seasoned second attacker.

[wizardofos]

20 isn't particularly young. I'm not sure if he'll "beef up" now - had he been 17 then maybe he would. The fact of the matter is that he was in their no. 4's pocket from the moment he came on. Every time the ball came near Harvey it resulted in no. 4 hoovering it up and starting another attack.
I'm sure Harvey's a nice lad.

[coles]

The kid has pace to die for a major assist he has a lot of areas that need development and if he were a full time pro would get time to work on those areas. In an ideal world we would send him out on loan to toughen him up but we can't afford the luxury of doing that our squad is threadbare so we need him. Unfortunately for Harvey that means he is doing his development in the full view of the public who also are desperate for a Darlo win. He will have good games and he will have bad games the important thing is that the fans support the kid.
Our fans have become very negative of late in the past when we were winning we were the 12th man now we are very negative and almost abusive I wonder if it's because the 5 yrs of success has created a fan base that has too high expectations.

[QUAKERMAN2]

The kid has pace to die for a major assist he has a lot of areas that need development and if he were a full time pro would get time to work on those areas. In an ideal world we would send him out on loan to toughen him up but we can't afford the luxury of doing that our squad is threadbare so we need him. Unfortunately for Harvey that means he is doing his development in the full view of the public who also are desperate for a Darlo win. He will have good games and he will have bad games the important thing is that the fans support the kid.
Our fans have become very negative of late in the past when we were winning we were the 12th man now we are very negative and almost abusive I wonder if it's because the 5 yrs of success has created a fan base that has too high expectations.

Spot on.

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[Beano]

The kid has pace to die for a major assist he has a lot of areas that need development and if he were a full time pro would get time to work on those areas. In an ideal world we would send him out on loan to toughen him up but we can't afford the luxury of doing that our squad is threadbare so we need him. Unfortunately for Harvey that means he is doing his development in the full view of the public who also are desperate for a Darlo win. He will have good games and he will have bad games the important thing is that the fans support the kid.
Our fans have become very negative of late in the past when we were winning we were the 12th man now we are very negative and almost abusive I wonder if it's because the 5 yrs of success has created a fan base that has too high expectations.

Spot on.

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Brilliant post.

[Darlo_Pete]

In our current predicament. can we afford to have a work in progress? I think the answer is no.

[loan_star]

The kid has pace to die for a major assist he has a lot of areas that need development and if he were a full time pro would get time to work on those areas. In an ideal world we would send him out on loan to toughen him up but we can't afford the luxury of doing that our squad is threadbare so we need him. Unfortunately for Harvey that means he is doing his development in the full view of the public who also are desperate for a Darlo win. He will have good games and he will have bad games the important thing is that the fans support the kid.
Our fans have become very negative of late in the past when we were winning we were the 12th man now we are very negative and almost abusive I wonder if it's because the 5 yrs of success has created a fan base that has too high expectations.

Spot on.

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Brilliant post.

And threads like this are hardly likely to encourage the lad. The negativity around here and on twitter is ridiculous. You are right, we have had it our own way for too long and theres quite a few who can't handle the change in circumstances.

[loan_star]

In our current predicament. can we afford to have a work in progress? I think the answer is no.

Behave Pete.

[al_quaker]

Saunders has got pace - which gives him a chance of a decent career in football. But he's not ready for this level of football yet, certainly not when we're trying to break teams down, and he's having to learn on the job due to lack of alternatives. But it's not his fault he's our main alternative up front.

Saying that, learning from someone like Mills would do Saunders a lot of good. Mills looks most threatening when running into the channels and then running at defenders - it's the type of thing Saunders could become good at, but he needs to learn when to make those runs and develop a bit of composure when he does get the ball.

Perhaps when Caton is available it's time for him to be given a go ahead of Saunders as an alternative? (Or another experienced striker to come in)

[Darlo_Pete]

Saunders has got pace - which gives him a chance of a decent career in football. But he's not ready for this level of football yet, certainly not when we're trying to break teams down, and he's having to learn on the job due to lack of alternatives. But it's not his fault he's our main alternative up front.

Saying that, learning from someone like Mills would do Saunders a lot of good. Mills looks most threatening when running into the channels and then running at defenders - it's the type of thing Saunders could become good at, but he needs to learn when to make those runs and develop a bit of composure when he does get the ball.

Perhaps when Caton is available it's time for him to be given a go ahead of Saunders as an alternative? (Or another experienced striker to come in)

That's the trouble given our current position, we need to break down teams and as you say he's not ready for this level of football yet.

[al_quaker]

But saying stuff like 'one of our own...but I wish he wasn't' is quite frankly ridiculous when it's not his fault he's not quite ready for this level of football.

[m62exile]

He struggled yesterday against a very good CB in Teague, also he came on at a time when we started to play poorly and run out of legs as a team (a common sight this last few months).
On the other hand Mills had a couple of runs in the first ten minutes then was patently knackered for the next half an hour, including the sloppy loss of possession that gave up their first goal.
Long way to go for Harvey but he’s got some raw ingredients and will prove to be useful this season too.

[D_F_C]

I actually understand what Pete is trying to say, but it's the way he delivers it that's the issue.

Saunders has pace and has something about him. He does cause errors and gives defenders a different headache, but he still has much to learn. We would be in better shape if he was a 3rd choice striker rather than a 2nd. I.E. we'd have 2 strikers on the bench to choose from

[Comfortably_numb]

In our current predicament. can we afford to have a work in progress? I think the answer is no.

Pete unwittingly highlighting our predicament.

Suspect we can only afford to have Harvey as an option and not some crazy bat s*** Martin Gray signing on a 2 year deal who turns out to be gasher than Michael Gash....