Jonny Drury is joined by Lewis Cox to discuss West Brom's youngsters.
A number of young talents have been training with Carlos Corberan's side in pre-season - while a handful turned out in their opening friendly.
Lewis and Jonny discuss which youngsters are closer to the first team - and whether they can follow in the footsteps of Tom Fellows and have a big impact.
A number of young talents have been training with Carlos Corberan's side in pre-season - while a handful turned out in their opening friendly.
Lewis and Jonny discuss which youngsters are closer to the first team - and whether they can follow in the footsteps of Tom Fellows and have a big impact.
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00:00Boxing, last season we saw the emergence of Tom Fellows, who was arguably one of Alvin's
00:13best players, best attacking players, in terms of certainly the second half of the season.
00:19Now, in this pre-season already, we've seen snippets, pictures of a number of youngsters
00:24who have been training with the first team. A lot of those youngsters have been in and
00:27around the first team on the bench in the league last season. Is there anyone who could
00:33potentially follow in the footsteps of Tom Fellows this season?
00:38It's difficult, isn't it, Jonny? The quality and ability that Tom Fellows has got and the
00:44impact he made, certainly as an attacker coming in for his first senior football at the club,
00:50it's rare, let's be honest. It doesn't happen that often, does it? It's pretty rare. I think
00:56we spoke numerous times last season and haven't seen that from an attacking perspective since
01:00Sardar Berejino, one or two in other positions, maybe defensively. So, yeah, it doesn't happen
01:07very often. Obviously, full credit to Tom Fellows and the coaches who have helped him
01:11get there. But I don't think for a second that the club and the likes of ourselves and
01:19certainly supporters should automatically hang hopes on someone and the next one along
01:26will go and have the impact of Fellows next season and we can rely on that for that position
01:30in the squad. I'm sure Carlos Cogman doesn't necessarily look at it like that. The one
01:35I think that you could potentially say, OK, X is part of my four or five in that position
01:42is probably Caleb Taylor, the centre-half. Now, Carlos said, I think a couple of times
01:47last season and he was quite firm on it, that Caleb will be part of his squad next
01:51season, as in this coming season. Obviously, young centre-half. 21 now, is he, I think,
01:56if not 20? Had the brilliant loan at Cheltenham a couple of years ago, was around it last
02:01season, ended it at Bolton, top end of Ligue 1, had an injury, so couldn't quite get going
02:05there. But immensely well thought of, isn't he? And I think if we look at it with obviously
02:11Bartley signed his new deal, Asni Kipra's gone, Lashemi Ajayi and obviously Torbjörn
02:16Higgins come in. I still reckon Cogman will be in the market as we speak for another centre-half,
02:21but I do think Caleb Taylor will be right there. How many appearances he makes, that's
02:26up in the air and for it to be Fellows-esque would take injuries, wouldn't it? It would
02:31take suspensions, would take the opportunity to come in regularly in league games and then
02:36to impress, which is a big ask for a young centre-back and a champ. So, I think Caleb
02:40Taylor will be in and around the squad. It would be interesting to see how much, does
02:43that balance, isn't that, of training with Albion all season, being on the bench for
02:48most of the league games versus being on loan in Ligue 1 and playing 40-odd games. It's
02:53a real difficult balance, but you probably get to a point with a young player where you
02:56hit a ceiling maybe, level off in terms of how much you can do out on loan. So, maybe
03:02that's why it's the time for Caleb Taylor in Albion's 2024-25 season. Just quickly,
03:09there are a few other names, aren't there? I mean, I've been writing about Fenton Hurd
03:13today. Obviously, he's the latest of Albion's under-21s to agree that pro deal and very
03:18well thought of as well as an attacking midfielder is Fenton Hurd. You've got Harry Whitwell,
03:22got Reyes Cleary, been writing about, obviously, the sort of high-profile attacker in Albion's
03:28youth ranks. Mo Fowle is an interesting prospect, isn't he, Mo Fowle, who had those loans last
03:34season in Ligue 2 where he scored. I think within there, you've got a sort of pocket
03:39of midfielders and attackers who, most of which haven't been away on loan yet. Some,
03:44the likes of Whitwell, Hurd are only 18, 19. Cleary's now 20, I think. So, I think they're
03:50all of an age, certainly Hurd and Cleary and probably Fowle again, if he goes again, maybe
03:57to Ligue 1 this time, where the loan suits them, I think. Now, I imagine they'll be around
04:02it pre-season, the friendlies, obviously, mostly behind closed doors. The Carabao Cup
04:06early rounds in August, obviously, gives Carlos Cuervo and his staff a long time to properly
04:11assess them, doesn't it? And then sort of gauge, generate the interest further down the leagues
04:15for that first loan in most of their cases. And I think, as we've seen, I suppose, with Fellows and
04:21several others, getting that first loan right, getting that move right, can realistically make
04:26or break, can't it? Not necessarily that extreme in all cases, but it can be huge. And perhaps
04:33then the handful of players I just mentioned, you look at next season as being their ones to
04:37really break into Albion's first team, like Fellows obviously had the Crawley loan. So,
04:42there are a handful, half a dozen of next off the rank in terms of progressed from the 21s,
04:48ready to go. But it's just at what point can they be fed in and can they expect to be regulars?
04:53Because as I said at the top, to replicate the impact Fellows had last term is rare,
04:59it's very difficult and obviously takes a lot of ability and exactly the right mindset and opportunity.