Those who have quotes various articles and opinions in this thread so far, I am grateful for you doing a lot of my work for me in writing the Vital article about this transfer. Thought it was best I registered my thanks/excused my sort of quote-stealing in some way.
I disagree. As long as Hoban is not struggling physically with injuries then I think he should play as many games as he feels he is able to. I fail to see how playing a lot would impact negatively on a young players development providing he's not struggling with 'knocks' or injuries. Practice nearly always makes players better rather than worse. What do you mean by this? So what if he's 20? Does that mean he's incapable of playing many games? Or does it mean that we should temper our expectations for him? If so, then don't worry, as my expectations for him are not silly or OTT. I just think Hoban is probably the 2nd best centre back we have - and if they're fit, I believe in playing the best players providing they're motivated & confident.
The fact many youth coaches advice against undue overuse of young players should be evidence enough. He isn't physically mature yet, never mind mentally mature. Young players subjected to frequent high pressure performance environments are mentally pressured into taking shortcuts that might impact their long term career in order to cope with the immediate requirements of what they're being asked to do. It's not a new idea. Here is just one example of a professional who believes he was asked for too much too early: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2244507/Michael-Owen-admits-playing-too-young.html As far as I am concerned if you have to temper your expectations of a player based on age then you're only furthering the suggestion he's not ready to be a first choice starter. I suspect Tamas has been signed with the intention of starting him over Hoban, with TH being used sensibly to give him more experience without prejudicing his long term playing prospects. The season is a long way off, though, so who knows what could happen between now and then?
Good signing imo. Experienced and good knowledge of the English game. More importantly it shows that the management are in tune with what the team really needs and are learning from the mistakes of last years transfer season. Anyone know what the Donny fans have to say about him ?
If he's a nasty a centre back as people say, he could be the sort of player we missed badly last season. Hopefully, Tamas doesn't know the meaning of *****footing around penalty box.
http://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=246859.0 "f*** him and good luck to them. Lots of ability. Very little discipline or application." http://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?action=search2 Tamas is another level top top quality. You feel confidence with our defence with him in the back four. His decision to play it back from the free kick is to off balance the other sides set marking and the keeper knocks it up. "He looks so confident and relaxed on the ball in fact all the back four inc turnbull looked so calm. Would have loved tamas' shot to have gone in Hope we can keep him and matie" "Brown was outstanding today, but I'd also like to give a special mention to Tamas, a beast of a Centre Back!"
No that's just your inference. I'm positive that Hoban is ready to be a starter for us if called upon. I think regardless of quality, younger players deserve a little more protection from criticism because they're still learning at a much faster rate than experienced pros. Therefore regardless of whether I think Hoban is 1st team quality or not I temper my expectations for him. Just as a hypothetical example, I may think Hoban better than Lloyd but if both of them made the same mistake I'd be slightly less critical of Hoban because he's younger & that error will teach him not to make the same mistake whereas Lloyd who is a 'older head' so to speak should know not to be making that mistake at this stage in his career. I hope I have explained my thought-process clearly. You have made some interesting points about the age of players though. I'm interested to know what shortcuts you are referring to when you say they are pressure into taking shortcuts that will - I assume you mean negatively? - impact their career? I think it can work both ways however. In terms of great young Centre-Backs who have become great through playing for their first teams just look at Papadopoulos, Mangala, Nastasic, Marquinhos, Varane, Bartra, Zouma etc. The list goes on. Young players usually get better the more they play. It's more of an anomaly for a young player to get worse due to playing very often. I have no stats on hand to prove anything, but I'd bet that the majority of young players would improve more by playing 30-40 games in one season than by playing 10. If you have some stats to prove me wrong I'd happily be proven wrong. Also, on the subject of Owen, I take anything he says with a pinch of salt. He just rueful. After his youthful pace deserted him coupled with some bad injuries, he quickly slipped down in terms of quality. Owen is also one of the worst pundits & commentators I've ever seen/heard. His opinions mean nothing to me. Lastly, it's a DailyFail article. That paper is the plague.
The FA: http://nav.thefa.com/sitecore/conte...ootball/NewsAndFeatures/2009/Overplay_dangers Article by the FA's Medical education officer: http://cuffleyfc.intheteam.com/site/files/5235/overuseinjuries[1].pdf Fact: at 20 years of age the vast majority of men have not finished growing. Couple that with the FA's own recommendations and findings on the impact of overplay and you have your answer.
He's one of those ***** you hate to play against but love in your team. If he keeps his head , great signing. If he carries on being a ****, stupid signing.
Fair enough. Thanks for the links. You've changed my viewpoint on this topic. That said, most men generally stop growing at the age of 21 & many stop growing much earlier than that (Personally I was a fast-grower & I haven't grown an inch since I was 16). So we're kind of splitting hairs here considering Hoban is 20. It all depends on the individual I suppose. But point taken, young players playing too much can have a negative impact on their development. I accept this.
Yeah, it's about risk management. Since you never know when a particular player will stop growing the only thing to do is play it safe. As far as I am concerned, WFC has been rather reckless with some of our young players under former regimes, albeit with good reason (no money).
Baggies mate of mine said he was excellent in their promotion season but didnt really feature in the Prem. He also said he came with a reputation but was impeccable in his conduct on and off the field.
Hope he has straightened himself off the field. If he has then he does have valuable experience as a backup. This must mean one of the current centrebacks is not going to be here come August.
It's dangerous to over-play Hoban who is 20 (as your body hasn't fully developed until at least 23) in the same sense that the 14 year olds stuffing themselves with protein and pumping iron during their puberty will all end up 5'5" with various health complications in 15 years time.
They don't count aside from Essaid. Ditto for Brown (no idea why we signed him). I'm thinking Ekkie is he happy here ? Maybe he is moving on. Essaid back to Spain ? Doherty on loan probably which leaves Lloyd, Hoban and Angella.
I can't see Belkalem going to Spain. If he can't get into our team he has little hope of playing more in La Liga. I think his being on loan to us from Granada was a formality down to something to do with his visa (think I remember something about this, but not sure). As for Ekstrand, publicly at least he's making all the right noises to stay put and have a better go next year. Well, recently anyway. I hope he stays and knuckles down and proves the doubters - of which there are far more than I realised - wrong.
There were rumours at the end of the season he wanted to move on or return back to Sweden. Just seen Arakel's post on Joel and how he want's to get stuck in for next season.
