Much as I like Mark Bright, for these ears he's a tough listen on Palace TV.

He did make an interesting statement about young players during yesterday's game though. Along the lines of not selecting them for the senior team just for the sake of it, they have to be good enough.

And that's a point that too many on here don't seem able to understand.

I question whether it's harder for youngsters to break through these days owing to the way football is structured.

In days gone by, a promising young player would get selected for the reserves. Team mates and opposition would be composed mainly of experienced players. That young player would be exposed to something akin to the physicality of League football and the standard of play required.

I don't think that U.23 football provides that learning curve. For evidence I look at our and other club's U.23 performances against the likes of Bromley where at times it resembles Men v Boys.

From personal experience ( albeit many moons ago ), when I was 16 and playing at a decent standard, my biggest problem was coping physically - and the only way to learn was to keep playing through it.

Thoughts ?

Much as I like Mark Bright, for these ears he's a tough listen on Palace TV.

He did make an interesting statement about young players during yesterday's game though. Along the lines of not selecting them for the senior team just for the sake of it, they have to be good enough.

And that's a point that too many on here don't seem able to understand.

I question whether it's harder for youngsters to break through these days owing to the way football is structured.

In days gone by, a promising young player would get selected for the reserves. Team mates and opposition would be composed mainly of experienced players. That young player would be exposed to something akin to the physicality of League football and the standard of play required.

I don't think that U.23 football provides that learning curve. For evidence I look at our and other club's U.23 performances against the likes of Bromley where at times it resembles Men v Boys.

From personal experience ( albeit many moons ago ), when I was 16 and playing at a decent standard, my biggest problem was coping physically - and the only way to learn was to keep playing through it.

Thoughts ?

I think actually you have missed the point.

While there is a million pounds per placing to be played for it's difficult to justify the risk attached to blooding youngsters with that financial incentive in place.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. There is a reluctance to try given the financial implications. In days gone buy if you were mid table and safe one or two of the youngsters would have got a run out at the end of the season

This is a false economy. We gave Mitchell a couple of games at the end of the 19/20 season and he proved he'd be ready to step up to first team level. Signing a player to play in his position would have cost £15m to £20m.

We lost 7 out of 8 of the last games with our first XI. Would have been an excellent chance to bring a few youngsters on hungry to prove a point whilst the senior pro's were already in holiday mode.

Ultimately, we didn't gain any places in those final games and only took a brief look at one young player. So failed on both fronts.