UELLfan

I'm only asking because with the addition of the indepth player reports I find myself developing my youth gems more and more.

I doubt that in previous iterations I would have dared to play two 16 years old youth products straight from the academy to Scots League 2.

I even have more reservations about the fact that I'd also have 3 more rotation players coming through our ranks and 2 more snapped at 16 and carefully nurtured through 3 seasons and a half to become occasional starters.

Of course, I'm also doing my fair share of bosmans and bought players, but the addition of this little screen has seen me pay more attention to the players I have onboard.

So, what's your take on this matter with FM08?

kovalenkov

I always prefer home grown players (real, not what UEFA says it is home grown) to purchased ones. However, for youth to actually be picked to first squad, they must prove themselves worthy.

scottn72

Usually end up playing youths out of desperation, and often find that they progress well and become established players.

Don't really buy too many (generally because I've no monet to buy with), and prefer to give youth a chance. It may take longer, but it can be very satisfying a fw years down the line.

Jenninga

I guess it's about patience.

In my Redditch go I had a relentless injury list and no money and had to use youths.

A few of them played very well getting average ratings of 6.80 - 7.00 over say 10 games. This was in most comparable to the senior players they'd replaced.

What I noticed is dispite inferior abilities on paper and an obvious lack of composure they seem to have more determination and enthusiasm.

I guess in moderation it's nice to see the little fellas coming through and it should be a valued part of any club for a LLaMa.

TC

I try to build a young team by developing my own youths and poaching promising youngsters from other clubs.

Of course, I'm always on the lookout for players who will help the team, no matter what their age, and Bosmans are often a rich source of talent for me.

It's a question of balance though, I feel that I focus a little too much on bringing on young players because of the first few years when there is (usually) no money available. Later when I move to a big team or take my little team to the big time, I find I am loathe to spend big money on a player because I have some 17 year old freebie, who in 3 years time will be just as good!

Miaus

Everytime I played in England I HAD to play youth players because I had no money, and no other players wanting to join.

But when I get established I tend to buy the finished product and just have the real promising youths promoted.

Tim Madisun

For lower leagues, it's youth all the way. I scour the country looking for decent prospects that will actually consider coming to me, then give the best of the bunch as many run outs as I can.

It's a policy which works well, as you're always encouraging young talent to push through to the first team squad plus it's slightly more organic. I tend to spend peanuts on players, and it keeps the wage bill down as generally you can pay youths a lot less than senior players. Mix with your experienced first team and it's all good.

I've found that out of my under 18 talent, most will be shown the door and only one or two a season will be decent enough to play first team football after a few years, so am always on the lookout for more. Hence scouting all the time :thup:

AnalogBoy

I like to use the youth that comes through, but generally they tend to be carp. A consistent feature of my transfer policy, though, is to snap them up young, giving yourself the feeling that you've developed them yourself even if your own youth team is carp.

SCM

I am aiming to slowly nurture my youth players over 4-5 years then slowly introduce them into the first team at that stage. When i have to sign players i look for a mix of old heads and young players who to my eye will grow into good players.

Any youth players that don't come up to scratch will be shown the door and the good ones kept. If things get bad injury wise then some of the youth players will get a run out in the team and so far this has worked well.

Craig0

A bit of both for me really. I will have my scout out and about most of the time and if I have a few promising youthies, I will look to play them when I can.