In the midst of a season surrounded by turbulence on and off the pitch, there may yet be flickers of light at the end of what has been quite a gloomy tunnel. Five flickers of light in fact.

On Thursday night, second-year scholars, David October, Jonny Leddy, Mark Timlin, Tom Winter and Jack Marriott were all offered one-year professional deals at Portman Road.

Perhaps slightly surprising, especially when you consider the promising youngsters that have slipped through the net and the decision-making and general disregard of the youth system altogether over the past decade, and in particular the last two or three seasons.

The Youth Cup exploits of 2005 almost instantly enters the mind. I was there to witness 15 year-old Ed Upson fire home in injury time to give the young Blues a memorable 1-0 victory against Southampton.

No mean feat when you consider the success stories that have came from the opposition’s line-up, which included amongst others the likes of of Nathan Dyer and Theo Walcott, while Gareth Bale was on the bench.

This should have been the start of something special, despite a number of those lads being offered permanent contracts, I feel they - and others before and since - were not embraced or regarded highly enough by the board and management and as a result many have left the club rather quickly and are plying their trade elsewhere.

When I say ‘they’ or in other words ‘the ones that got away’ I am talking about the likes of Darren Bent, Liam Trotter, Ed Upson, Owen Garvan, Danny Haynes and probably most notably Jordan Rhodes even Cody Cropper, who knows how good he would have been?

Bent was sold to Charlton for £2.7m which looks a snip when you bear in mind the amount of goals he has scored at the top level, also featuring in many England squads in the process. Garvan and Trotter have excelled at fellow Championship clubs whilst Upson has helped an impressive Yeovil side go on a ten-game winning streak in League One.

I know there are many other things you have to consider. I didn’t see these players train everyday and maybe the managers in charge of Ipswich felt the players didn’t suit the style of play or were quite simply not good enough and have just vastly improved since leaving.

It is also easy for the owners to sell when there is a reasonable transfer fee involved particularly when the club is in need of money, which for spells over the past decade we have, probably the main reason why the for mentioned Bent departed for a relatively small fee.

Others may argue that players may thrive in a different environment and have found their level. Players may have also asked to leave for regular football to further their own careers and achieve their ambitions.

Strong attention to the academy has always been a tradition and something that has made us proud over the years, and it is something that should have made the club's hierarchy proud too.

Developing young players and then giving them the opportunity to make names for themselves in the first team is a great asset to have, not only because it shows a sense of structure but also financially as well.

As we have seen, paying millions of pounds in transfer fees and inflated wages for Premiership players doesn’t always work out how you’d hope. It also gives a more homely, communal feel about the club and there is nothing better for football fans than to see a local lad impress.

Many people will say my opinions are overboard, and I fully respect that it is easy to look back in hindsight at where we’ve gone wrong, not every decision can be right and people make mistakes and sure it is about looking to the future and moving forward.

I also appreciate that I’m looking at things externally and am not aware of the negotiations and conversations that took place between players, agents and the club and there is probably more to it than what meets the eye.

Likewise managers may feel they cannot afford the luxury of relying on youth because they want to achieve the best results possible and have their own careers at stake.

The counter argument may be that younger players show great enthusiasm and can still improve the team, witnessed by Connor Wickham and 18 year-old Will Hughes as well as Wilfried Zaha who have both impressed at Derby and Crystal Palace respectively.

I also feel that there was a lack of patience that is always required with young players, who were still learning and understanding the game.

I feel our treatment of Ronan Murray, who has been on loan at Swindon and is currently on loan at Plymouth, is a better example of how we should handle younger players.

Loan spells allow the club to assess the player and give him a chance to improve rather than just deciding he doesn’t cut the mustard if he doesn’t make a big impact within the first 12 months or so.

Manager Mick McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor obviously cannot be blamed for the departures of the likes of Rhodes, Wickham, Trotter and Garvan but coming into the club and seeing eight faces that had joined on loan probably hinted that the structure of the club wasn’t and hasn’t been right.

Seeing Jordan Rhodes being credited with his 20th league goal of the season probably gave McCarthy a deeper understanding of the Town fans' pain and regret that one of there prize assets was let go so easily.

He is also seeing products of the youth system flourish, with both Luke Hyam and Tommy Smith both impressing, and so perhaps feels there is more potential success stories lurking that he can nurture.

That was something McCarthy was starting to do in the Premier League with Wolves with teenage midfielders David Davis and Anthony Forde coming into the side.

Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are also likely to have been a massive factor towards the decision to offer five players professional contracts. Some players who are underachieving and on bigger wages may not have there contracts renewed and promoting youngsters on a much smaller wage is clearly beneficial with regards to retaining secure finances.

Furthermore, an emphasis will most likely be on finding talent at smaller costs, whether that be eyeing possible lower league talent or a reliance on the academy system with the added bonus that costs towards the academy is not an aspect included in FFP spending, meaning there is an opportunity for thorough development.

Though the new youngsters are highly unlikely to be first team regulars in the foreseeable future, it may also attract more fans to attend home matches, knowing that the club is beginning to find a some kind of structure and will be boosted by the fact the club have fresh, exciting and local talent on the horizon.

How the club conforms to the introduction of FFP we are yet to find out. But I think I speak on behalf of all Town fans when I say that we wish all of the five lads the best of luck and think it’s important that we don’t heap too much pressure on them and allow them to do their own thing.

But hopefully now with the reasons I’ve mentioned there can be an emphasis on developing them at Ipswich which can impact on a successful future for the club.

Liberox added 12:53 - Feb 19 Really great read, enjoyed it!
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blueherts added 13:29 - Feb 19 Excellent read - It is amazing to look at the Youth Cup winning team - But there is such a huge step up - players change from 16 to 19 - some mature , physically become strong , others let the external trappings of 'being a footballer' affect them - Hyam is absoluet class and having seen him at Acad and Ressie level he always stood out - I also liked the look of Murray - I hope Lawrence and Marriott can push on enxt season into the first team as that is where we will move foward - blend of our own and shrewd signings MM and TC are the men

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naa added 16:47 - Feb 19 I think people could come up with sensible, mostly footballing, reasons why so many of our youth team haven't come to fruition - if each player is taken in turn. However, the simple fact is that we barely have any representation of our youth setup in the first team squad (Smith, Hyam and, to a much lesser extent, Carson). Of all of those, all have been shunned in one way or another over the last few seasons. I suspect that with Marcus Evans's desire to get into the prem at the first opportunity it was decided that youth couldn't be risked. The problem has been that with such dismal failures ME is probably even more keen to get there ASAP and each new manager will be having that drummed into him. I seriously can't see much chance of new youth coming through in the next few seasons. MM might be a good manager for youth (I don't know enough about his previous roles to know if that's true or not) but I still suspect that the pressure on him will mean that he doesn't take any risks, and playing youths is seen as a risk. Until such time that ME can take a step back and try and build the club properly again, rather than a constant desperate push for promotion (which is obviously a technique that has failed horribly so far) I doubt we'll be seeing much youth development at Ipswich.

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Edmunds5 added 18:07 - Feb 19 I know where you're coming from @na but surely Evans can see himself that throwing millions at promotion hasn't bought success and so from this summer onwards I feel the building process will begin, there is a point in my opinion, where Evans has to be stubborn and give Mick a maximum of £1.5m-£2m to spend and then give younger players their opportunity. It may not get instant promotion but it will at least get a long way towards it and be benefiticial to the club short and long term. At the same time you may well be right and promotion may still be the immediate objective, and it isntJewell or Keane and I would trust Mick more with money than I would the previous two, I just feel that especially with financial fair play coming in, that Evans wants to try and be a bit more shrewd with his money and understands that a more structured approach may reap better success.

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Marshalls_Mullet added 11:43 - Feb 20 Really wouldnt count Bent in that category!! Yes it seems a low price now, but I seem to recall he had one year left on his contract and we had missed promotion AGAIN. We got £5m all in which doesnt seem as bad. I think he was reluctantly sold, rather than one that got away. We probably still had heavier financial pressures then.
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Pessimistic added 13:36 - Feb 20 Very enjoyable read and in the main I agree with the sentiments. Town must look to youth more in the future and their hands may have been tied to some extent by the F.F.P. rules that are coming into effect shortly. I agree too that the more home grown players in the squad we have, will ensure we have more supporters at Portman Road. It makes perfect sense!
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Michael11 added 15:44 - Feb 21 Very good Edmunds5. Agree with all of that mate.
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Edmunds5 added 17:31 - Feb 21 Cheers for all the commens guys! appreciate them!
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