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Jimmy Phillips is confident the next manager at Wanderers will be able to trust in the club’s home-grown stars.
After naming nine academy graduates in his squad at Cardiff City at the weekend and dropping senior stars such as Liam Trotter and Dean Moxey, the interim boss reckons the experience they gain in the final few weeks of the season will be hugely beneficial.
Along with first-team regulars Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Rob Holding – Niall Maher, Oscar Threlkeld, Tom Walker and Alex Finney also featured in the party which travelled to South Wales.
Tyler Garratt was handed his debut off the bench, while much-vaunted hot-shot Jamie Thomas also made the match-day squad for the first time.
While not strictly an academy product, Kaiyne Woolery took the number of youngsters in the squad into double figures and Phillips predicts those same players can provide the bedrock of next season’s squad in League One.
“I would be confident they can, yes,” he told The Bolton News. “The players do need to further their development but if they are willing to listen, to learn, to keep working hard at their game then this is a good environment for them to improve.
“I take pride in that on behalf of the academy but I have not picked the players just because of that reason. It is because of what I saw every day at training.
“I felt that the players deserved the opportunity and I think the team can consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken anything out of the game.”
Though Maher’s afternoon ended prematurely at Cardiff, his red card presented an opportunity for Garratt to prove his worth off the bench.
Little was known of the Lincoln-born defender before he was named on the team-sheet but Phillips insists he was ready.
“I said to the players that I named on the bench ‘you are not just coming along for the ride. If you are required, I will play you.’
“I have no problem and I have full confidence in the young players and all I wanted from them was a reaction, a hard-working performance. Yes, they might make some mistakes but we have to cope with it at this stage.
“It’s a good experience to play at Championship level.”
Phillips has been the head of the academy which has suffered its fair share of cutbacks in recent years as the club’s financial problems stacked up.
But he maintains the chances offered to young players at Wanderers still make them an attractive proposition in what is a crowded North West market with many more glamorous names on the doorstep.
“As an academy we’re in a hotbed of football with all the teams around us,” he said. “A lot of the parents and the kids have their heads turned by the big Premier League clubs but the ultimate thing is opportunity.
“It’s not marked down but if you don’t get one you will never know how good a player you can be. That is something we can offer.
“That is why I have a lot of hope for the future. We have shown as a club we are willing to give young players a chance, the rest is down to them.”
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After naming nine academy graduates in his squad at Cardiff City at the weekend and dropping senior stars such as Liam Trotter and Dean Moxey, the interim boss reckons the experience they gain in the final few weeks of the season will be hugely beneficial.
Along with first-team regulars Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Rob Holding – Niall Maher, Oscar Threlkeld, Tom Walker and Alex Finney also featured in the party which travelled to South Wales.
Tyler Garratt was handed his debut off the bench, while much-vaunted hot-shot Jamie Thomas also made the match-day squad for the first time.
While not strictly an academy product, Kaiyne Woolery took the number of youngsters in the squad into double figures and Phillips predicts those same players can provide the bedrock of next season’s squad in League One.
“I would be confident they can, yes,” he told The Bolton News. “The players do need to further their development but if they are willing to listen, to learn, to keep working hard at their game then this is a good environment for them to improve.
“I take pride in that on behalf of the academy but I have not picked the players just because of that reason. It is because of what I saw every day at training.
“I felt that the players deserved the opportunity and I think the team can consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken anything out of the game.”
Though Maher’s afternoon ended prematurely at Cardiff, his red card presented an opportunity for Garratt to prove his worth off the bench.
Little was known of the Lincoln-born defender before he was named on the team-sheet but Phillips insists he was ready.
“I said to the players that I named on the bench ‘you are not just coming along for the ride. If you are required, I will play you.’
“I have no problem and I have full confidence in the young players and all I wanted from them was a reaction, a hard-working performance. Yes, they might make some mistakes but we have to cope with it at this stage.
“It’s a good experience to play at Championship level.”
Phillips has been the head of the academy which has suffered its fair share of cutbacks in recent years as the club’s financial problems stacked up.
But he maintains the chances offered to young players at Wanderers still make them an attractive proposition in what is a crowded North West market with many more glamorous names on the doorstep.
“As an academy we’re in a hotbed of football with all the teams around us,” he said. “A lot of the parents and the kids have their heads turned by the big Premier League clubs but the ultimate thing is opportunity.
“It’s not marked down but if you don’t get one you will never know how good a player you can be. That is something we can offer.
“That is why I have a lot of hope for the future. We have shown as a club we are willing to give young players a chance, the rest is down to them.”
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