I will start with some statistics for you; the average age of the current Ipswich Town squad as of 25th January 2011 is 23, exactly 50% of the squad are under the age of 21, only 29% of the 34 players currently in the squad are over the age of 25 and only three players are over the age of 30.

Young players can be a great asset to a team, with vibrant energy and willingness to perform better than a player that may have already sealed their place in the first team. But also they can hinder a side; with lack of experience some players can make schoolboy errors. But what can we expect, some of them are schoolboys. Young players obviously want to impress and improve as players, but can managers take the risk of playing them game in, game out so that they can gain some confidence?

Roy Keane obviously believed that he can take the risk, with Tommy Smith, Jake Livermore, Jack Colback, Andros Townsend, Tom Eastman and Connor Wickham regularly featuring in his first team. Some may say this is because of injury problems, but there are other players in the squad with experience that could have played.

The problem at the minute at ITFC is the young players are not very consistent. Tom Eastman, who adapted well to an unfamiliar position, but over a couple of games, against Derby and Barnsley, his performances started to slip.

Another player that I would mention would be Andros Townsend who had many man-of-the-match performances but then the next game he is substituted at half-time. We have had several young loan players playing at Ipswich, Andros Townsend, Jake Livermore, Jack Colback and Darren O’Dea.

This is a preferable option for the parent club and the player. The player, who at such a young age does not have commitments such as their own families or children to think of when moving around the country, also the young players would much rather be getting experience and playing first team football than playing reserve team football for a Premier League club.

In the eyes of the parent club, this is brilliant, the player gets the experience to develop and grow, so when they return they will come back as a better player. The club that the player is being loaned to gets the short-term benefits given that they get a good standard player.

Young players can mean big money from some clubs, such as Connor Wickham who has had interest from many Premier League clubs. But not all of them prosper, West Ham were apparently willing to put £3 million for Danny Haynes at one point, back in 2008, but Ipswich were claimed to have turned it down. Then a year later he transfers to Bristol City for an undisclosed fee, but I can’t imagine it was much more than £1 million, if that.

Then there is Jordan Rhodes who looked a bright prospect until Roy Keane shipped him and many other players out of ITFC. This could give the impression that Ipswich doesn’t have the best judgement when it comes to young players. Now there is Connor Wickham who has attracted £8 million bids from some clubs, so will he prosper or will he be like the rest and end up playing Championship or League One football?

Vic added 11:47 - Jan 28 What it shows is that to take a young player on loan is a bit hit or miss for the team who takes them on. FWIW I think think Keane did a good job in getting the youngsters into the team, though once in I suspect he was very demanding of them which may have caused them to start to worry about their play and result in them being over cautious. I also think that he held Connor back for some reason - note how CW was not able 'fit enough' or whatever to start games when RK was here, but as soon as he goes Connor starts every game!

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Facefacts added 13:25 - Jan 28 You mention schoolboy errors being made by younger players, but I suppose any obvious mistake, especially one that leads to a goal, can be seen as a schoolboy error. When an experienced player makes this type of error, perhaps it is more likely to be overlooked or quickly forgotten, especially if you still end up winning the game, have a look on youtube at the Liverpool v West Ham 2006 FA Cup Final own goal by Jamie Carragher, tried to backheel it, missed the ball. 0-1, but Liverpool end up winning on penalties, so all is forgiven. It's worth comparing young players who are here on loan, with young players who have contracts. Do you remember Gary Roberts, a young player who played so well when here on loan from Accrington Stanley back in 2006-7, signed a permanent deal and then was, in my view, terrible, nothing like the player he had looked when on loan.

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fourth added 19:22 - Jan 28 It may be that RK was happy to encourage younger players, because his approach to adults was competitive and dismissive. An Adult/child position is acceptable to children but not to independant adults, perhaps.
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Back_The_Boss added 08:27 - Jan 29 Interesting perspective. Never realised 50% were under 21!
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