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Thursday, April 24, 2008

QPR Youth Players Retained and Released

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Best of luck to those players released
"Danny Maguire, Romone Rose, Matt O'Brien, Reece Crowther, Josh Ford and Chris Arthur were all retained, but Lee Brown, Billy Coyne, Aaron Morgan-Cummings, James Folkes and Chris Goodchild have been told they won't be offered deals by QPR.

[For Profiles of the youth players - Youth Profiles]

QPR Official Site " HARD SIDE OF FOOTBALL

Last Friday was a day of celebration for some, but an afternoon of disappointment for others, as QPR's Second Year Scholars discovered whether they had done enough to earn themselves a one-year professional contract.

Danny Maguire, Romone Rose, Matt O'Brien, Reece Crowther, Josh Ford and Chris Arthur were all retained, but Lee Brown, Billy Coyne, Aaron Morgan-Cummings, James Folkes and Chris Goodchild have been told they won't be offered deals by QPR.

Youth Team Manager Steve Brown was handed the onerous task of letting the lads know their fate, and he admitted: "It's not easy, but it's part of football unfortunately.
"People often talk about the good side of the game we're involved in, but not a lot of people mention the horrible side of it, which is telling a young lad that he hasn't quite made it.
"When kids are given a two-year Scholarship, it is up to them to work hard, develop and take on board all the information they're given.
"Unfortunately, some of them fall short. That doesn't mean they're not going to bounce back, but QPR is a Championship club with aspirations of getting into the Premiership very shortly.
"As such, the selection process is very rigid.
"We've looked at the whole football scenario here," Brown explained.
"The difficulty is that there is no Reserve set-up. Yes, there are Reserve matches, but there isn't a group of Reserve players.
"At this stage of their development, the youngsters aren't ready to train with the first team, they've still got work to do before they are ready for that. So they could do with having a Reserve 'group' to work within.
"If we can set that up, it means we could also look at other teams who have released players that they feel aren't ready for their first-team, and haven't got a Reserve 'group' in place.
"It would give us a great opportunity to work with players who may have the potential to progress and improve between the ages of 18 and 21.
"It's worth noting that players don't tend to make their debuts at the age of 17 or 18 these days, it's now between 19 and 21.
"Angelo Balanta is the exception to that. He has made a seamless transition from the youth team to the first team, but it is unfair to expect the same of everyone else.
"Angelo has fantastic potential, and just like you don't expect every 16-year-old at Everton to be a 'Wayne Rooney', you can't expect every Second Year at QPR to be an 'Angelo Balanta'. He's a one-off.
"But the players we have kept on have got definite potential, they just need to develop their strengths further.
"At the moment, the Reserve fixtures we play aren't at a sufficient level to really test our youngsters.
"There's been talk of a Championship Reserve League, and if that happens, then the whole Reserve aspect becomes more of a worthwhile exercise for the Football Club." QPR


Also: From last week: QPR Official Site on Championship for U-18s

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