BigKerno

Ross Sinclair and Olly Hamilton - Brechin

John Robertson - Cove Rangers

Cammy Ballantyne and Shaun Struthers - Montrose

There were also a couple at BSC Glasgow but I think they had their loan deals terminated / expired due to lack of game time.

£20 reduction each month. That leaves them with £540 in their hip pocket. The young team are allowed to eat once the first team have all left the canteen. I don't think that is an issue but when your paying for it.....

Might be a bit unfair for this to be on this posting however....Saints now charging the full timers £20 a month for their lunch. The young lads got their wage slips with a £20 reduction (to about £540 a month) for "catering". No warning, no communication, just done. First, charging them anything is a scandal, second doing it without asking I didn't think was legal. Any views?

The guys out on loan can play for Saints. I know at least Olly Hamilton is playing. Cove are tipped to win League 2 and have invested substantially. The guy Fraser Fyvie plays for them now as well. A couple of Aberdeen loans as well.

Wee Olly Hamilton on the bench for Saints on Saturday. Headline writes itself if he gets on and scores. "Hamilton relegates Hamilton".

Are you seriously suggesting that St Johnstone shouldn't aspire to have a similar Academy to Hearts? Why? Project Brave only means more money spent if you want to be considered in the top tier of Academys - which Saints aren't because......yes you guessed it, they wont spend the money. Its about coaches and facilities. You need to be part of Project Brave to have an Academy in the first place so the argument about attracting players is irrelevant. Why does money need to be cut anywhere? I assume to have this view you understand the finances at play here - especially as the full time kids are being paid £500 a month. Ridiculous to suggest money should be cut from a playing budget that is already at the bottom end of the pay scale. I would rather not have signed McMIllan, Swanson and maybe one other (as examples) and pay for a decent Academy. How much was spent on the young guy from Ipswich?

There will be 7 full time "kids" next season with a few more joining from the U18's (if they are lucky). Do these 11 or 12 kids train as a group or are they part of the first team? What tactics do you teach kids that aren't playing regularly for the team that they are supposed to be registered with? How do you assess them? Do you send scouts across Scotland to their loan clubs because Saints wont. That's ludicrous. There is no plan and no strategy. It's indefensible.

Think its worth noting that we are not talking about 18/19/20 year old kids. Those who are being released are 17 as the last age group they can now play at with Saints is U18's (current 2001 crop). So its a loan move, first team or out if you are 17. Second, we are assuming that the money saved from the reserves will be spent on the Academy. It wont. Wait for another McMIllan signing instead of funding the youth. The reserve team costs nothing. Its made up of first team squad members who aren't selected on the Saturday and some £500 a month youth team players. What exactly is the vision and what are the reasons. I've heard many promises about friendlies / infrastructure / investment and still not seen any evidence of it. Guys like Maybury thrown in at the deep end and told to get on with it. Compare this to the likes of Hearts - the Academy is the biggest project in their inventory every year. Annual budget of around £150K.

Its death by a thousand cuts. Saints took ages last year to offer full time contracts to the young lads (June) and then only 2 were offered more than a year. Anyone who was offered a year contract has now been told they wont be kept on. I think this was to make sure they fielded an U18s team in the new setup. You cant complain about the SFA initiatives if you don't even subscribe. There was a lot of negotiation with the Finance team and even then it still took an age. You should see how long it takes for the young lads to be paid their expenses. Basically Saints will pay your wages if you are in the first team, otherwise anyone else who is fortunate enough to be full time will be loaned out  and funded by someone else. There will be a couple of token youngsters in the squad so that Saints can avoid criticism of not fielding youth and that will be it. Who will want to send their kid to Saints with this sort of pathway?

So what is the development plan for the kids? U18s to first team if you are good enough otherwise your not playing your football at Saints? Even the highland league teams have at least an U20s side. If they are put out on loan then 1) someone has to want them 2) they will let other people develop the kids 3) how do they gauge progress. I think the real question we have to ask is why they are getting rid of it in the first place. I assume that if you are out on loan the other team picks up your £500 a month?

Game was brutal. MOH was roasted by Cleland for not working hard enough. Last few games the reserves have done OK in difficult circumstances (Dunfermline was blowing a gale) with the young team playing. Clearly the fitness chaser for the first team is a waste of a jersey in this league. Also the young guys who need to put in a performance are let down by those around them not putting in the effort. Do we seriously think that the Partick reserves were a better side than a Saints team with 7 or so first team players? Thought Clelands post match interview was interesting "the young guys can see how difficult it is to get into the first team". If I was one of the young guys I would be chapping the door asking why I wasn't being considered if this is the standard.

Anyone else heard that there might not be a Reserve team next year? Saint considering pulling the funding for it. No idea where the younger guys would end up playing.

I saw the team lines. I think that there was 8 or 9 first team players. Kane and Hendry up front for example. I do worry about the younger guys who stepped up last year. Some are in the last year of their contract and may see playing time limited. I know it is up to them to perform but you need the chance.

Can't see the younger guys getting near the reserve team this year. Mainly the players who don't play on the Saturday will be getting match sharpness. I guess you can use the reserve league for two things; keep the first team squad happy or develop the young guys.

Saints u18 drew 2.2 with Dundee Utd at Gussie Park last night. Olly Hamilton and John Robertson with the goals. Saints 2.1 down at half time after the traditional circus defending. However a cracking match.Young Jack in goal saved a last minute pen. Great game. Saints hit the bar and post late on after Olly Hamilton squared to Kyle Green. Saints worked their socks off. 

Agree Radford. United will play the guys from the first team that need game time. We will have 2 or 3 overage players and the rest from the previous U20 squad. Remember how young our U20's were anyway. Mainly 16/17/18 year olds I think. Still be good experience for them. Wait to see the coverage from the club if they win! Everyone will want a piece of it then.

Bit disappointed with the coverage on this. Shame for the young lads. Nothing on the Saints website that I could find. It will be a tough ask for them but it would have been decent to raise the profile of this and give them a bit of a boost.

Hoodlum. Finished 2.2. Saints went 1.0 up and were strolling. Sloppy play again let Ayr in and again for their second. Saints scored again late in the second half and finished the stronger. Olly Hamilton with both goals. It's a game that Saints should have won.

A lot of the crowd were parents / friends of the young team that stepped up. The lad Hamilton that came on is only 15 as was 2 others on the bench.