Walsall blog: Young blood

Watching the Eng-er-land Under-21s playing down the road the other night it was really good to see such a hefty Walsall connection, writes Walsall blogger Mark Jones.

Daniel Fox, Scott Dann, former loanee Andrew Surman and even Stefan Moore's little bro ensured the Saddlers had the region's best (indirect) representation.

Whilst I was fairly scathing about the manner in which Fox and Dann left in January, I was really pleased for both of them.

Dan defended well, got forward loads, took quite a few set pieces and looked composed throughout.

Scott only had a short spell as sub but still managed to spend as much time in the opposition penalty area as his own. It brought back good memories.

Now there is no way that in six weeks Dan and Dann have suddenly become good enough to play for their country, they were clearly capable of doing that when they were Walsall players.

(Which probably also explains why Stuart Pearce was watching them in January, despite what one local journalist said at the time.)

Mark Bradley is now a regular Welsh Under-21 international and could be lining up against the Coventry Two in the next few weeks, assuming he doesn't get the call for the full Taff squad.

(And while we're on the subject what exactly has Rhys Weston done to upset John Toshack? Even Robbie Savage gets a Xmas card!)

Throw in the representative honours for Irishman Rene Gilmartin, Ishmel and Netan Sansara (still to make his WFC debut) and there's a pretty healthy picture for the young Saddlers.

Clearly there has to be plenty of targeted investment to enable the young players to come through in the first place.

The scouting systems, training facilities and schools of excellence for all ages from eight have all been in place since the mid-nineties.

Crucially the staffing has to be right too, which is why we're lucky to have Eric McManus, Bill Jones and Mick Halsall all working for us.

At the last supporters' forum, a suggestion to honour Micky H.'s ten years at the club got a favourable response. I hope this will be followed up and extended to include Bill and Eric too.

It is always noticeable that players who have come through the system at Bescot have been taught certain techniques.

I can see a certain resemblance between Alex Nicholls and Matty Fryatt and the first time I saw Manny Smith, the similarity in playing style with Julian Bennett was striking.

Despite a last minute dip into the loan market, Dicky Dosh is clearly pinning his hopes on our youngsters lifting us over the final seven games.

I'm pleased we've got a manager who is aware of the potential of home-grown talent and how important it is to a club like us.

The one nagging doubt about this policy is that it does make it an easy way to keep the playing budget low.

There are always times when a club needs to bring in a bit of know-how. The most successful teams are the ones that manage to get the balance right.

The ironic thing is that if results don't go our way over the next couple of games, we'll have the chance to blood even more of the kids before the season ends.

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