[Albion] Evan Ferguson

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Loving this quote from Evan on this morning's BBC website:

"It doesn't really bother me. It's just a game of football. It's all talk with people getting excited," he said.

Boy's properly grounded

Evan Ferguson: Growing hype 'doesn't really bother' teenager striker

Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson says the excitement around his development "is just talk" after he scores his first international goal.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Stato]

Yeah he really is like a young Harry Kane. Hopefully less of a sour faced prick though.

When Kane was Evan's current age he was on loan at Millwall in the Championship, playing for England's U19s and nearly 4 years away from his full international debut. We saw him very briefly for Leicester as a sub at the Amex a season or so later and he looked gangly and a bit ineffective, struggling to hold on to the ball. His first three goals in the EPL came in 2013/14 after he was 20. Ferguson, at 18, is less like a young Harry Kane and more like a more mature Harry Kane who has developed physically after several loan deals in the Championship.

This table shows U19 EPL goalscorers with 3 or more goals. It features the top 20 in terms of goals per game. After just 11 games Ferguson is currently the fifth best from a club outside of the big six. The cautionary tale is how many of these didn't go on to maintain anything close to these levels over their career. Quite a few of those who dropped off a cliff after their teens seem to be Everton players.

	Name	Club	Played	Scored	Goals per game
1​	M Owen	Liverpool	54​	28​	0.518518519​
2​	R Fowler	Liverpool	23​	10​	0.434782609​
3​	M Rashford	Man Utd	19​	8​	0.421052632​
4​	F Jeffers	Everton	32​	11​	0.34375​
5​	A Smith	Leeds	30​	10​	0.333333333​
6​	F Macheda	Man Utd	9​	3​	0.333333333​
7​	N Barmby	Spurs	16​	5​	0.3125​
8​	J Vaughan	Everton	17​	5​	0.294117647​
9​	C John	Fulham	17​	5​	0.294117647​
10​	M Greenwood	Man Utd	36​	10​	0.277777778​
11​	E Ferguson	Brighton	11​	3​	0.272727273​
12​	E Heskey	Leicester	21​	5​	0.238095238​
13​	W Rooney	Everton /Man Utd	69​	15​	0.217391304​
14​	V Anichebe	Everton	20​	4​	0.2​
15​	C Bart-Williams	Sheff Wed	34​	6​	0.176470588​
16​	A Januzaj	Man Utd	17​	3​	0.176470588​
17​	D Cadamerteri	Everton	34​	5​	0.147058824​
18​	F Silva	Wolves	32​	4​	0.125​
19​	J Milner	Leeds / Newcastle	63​	6​	0.095238095​
20​	R Sterling	Liverpool	37​	3​	0.081081081​

 

[Justice]

Still not a 90 minute player

 

[Stato]

Third line for me was:

"When he's in bed, the girls come first" but is that too saucy for this day and age?

Perhaps 'They say with Evan, goals come first' might be more relevant.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

When Kane was Evan's current age he was on loan at Millwall in the Championship, playing for England's U19s and nearly 4 years away from his full international debut. We saw him very briefly for Leicester as a sub at the Amex a season or so later and he looked gangly and a bit ineffective, struggling to hold on to the ball. His first three goals in the EPL came in 2013/14 after he was 20. Ferguson, at 18, is less like a young Harry Kane and more like a more mature Harry Kane who has developed physically after several loan deals in the Championship.

This table shows U19 EPL goalscorers with 3 or more goals. It features the top 20 in terms of goals per game. After just 11 games Ferguson is currently the fifth best from a club outside of the big six. The cautionary tale is how many of these didn't go on to maintain anything close to these levels over their career. Quite a few of those who dropped off a cliff after their teens seem to be Everton players.

	Name	Club	Played	Scored	Goals per game
1​	M Owen	Liverpool	54​	28​	0.518518519​
2​	R Fowler	Liverpool	23​	10​	0.434782609​
3​	M Rashford	Man Utd	19​	8​	0.421052632​
4​	F Jeffers	Everton	32​	11​	0.34375​
5​	A Smith	Leeds	30​	10​	0.333333333​
6​	F Macheda	Man Utd	9​	3​	0.333333333​
7​	N Barmby	Spurs	16​	5​	0.3125​
8​	J Vaughan	Everton	17​	5​	0.294117647​
9​	C John	Fulham	17​	5​	0.294117647​
10​	M Greenwood	Man Utd	36​	10​	0.277777778​
11​	E Ferguson	Brighton	11​	3​	0.272727273​
12​	E Heskey	Leicester	21​	5​	0.238095238​
13​	W Rooney	Everton /Man Utd	69​	15​	0.217391304​
14​	V Anichebe	Everton	20​	4​	0.2​
15​	C Bart-Williams	Sheff Wed	34​	6​	0.176470588​
16​	A Januzaj	Man Utd	17​	3​	0.176470588​
17​	D Cadamerteri	Everton	34​	5​	0.147058824​
18​	F Silva	Wolves	32​	4​	0.125​
19​	J Milner	Leeds / Newcastle	63​	6​	0.095238095​
20​	R Sterling	Liverpool	37​	3​	0.081081081​

Thanks for posting.

Quite a few of those did well also of course! Owen. What a start to a career!

Was Connolly too old when he scored to make that list?

 

[Lenny Rider]

Loving this quote from Evan on this morning's BBC website:

"It doesn't really bother me. It's just a game of football. It's all talk with people getting excited," he said.

Boy's properly grounded

Evan Ferguson: Growing hype 'doesn't really bother' teenager striker

Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson says the excitement around his development "is just talk" after he scores his first international goal.

www.bbc.co.uk

Unlike his fellow Irish striker at the Albion?

But who is ultimately responsible for the unravelling of Connolly's career?

The player?

The overall expectation after the brace against Spurs?

Ineffectual man management?

Whilst its great about Ferguson and we should enjoy every minute, its sad how AC has effectively f***** his career, my Irish neighbour in Spain firmly believed he was Robbie Keane reincarnated.

 

[Stato]

Thanks for posting.

Quite a few of those did well also of course! Owen. What a start to a career!

Was Connolly too old when he scored to make that list?

Yes. It's U19s only. He was 18 when he got the brace against Spurs, but didn't score his third EPL goal against Burnley until after his 19th birthday. If he had been younger, his 3 goals in 24 games in 2019/20 would have put him level with Fabio Silva.

 

[Muzzman]

The ManUre podcasts that keep popping up on my 'Youtube' suggestions are starting to grate a little. Nearly every one of them think they've just unearthed an unknown diamond that no one knows about in our Evan. They act as it's 'breaking news' and therefore he'll be cheap as chips.

It seems we are going to have to put each and every BIG 6 club's nose out of joint for them ALL to realise you can't bully Tony... he'll bully you and you'll thank him for it afterward.

Entitled pricks.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Still not a 90 minute player

He's 18

 

[Stato]

The ManUre podcasts that keep popping up on my 'Youtube' suggestions are starting to grate a little. Nearly every one of them think they've just unearthed an unknown diamond that no one knows about in our Evan. They act as it's 'breaking news' and therefore he'll be cheap as chips.

It seems we are going to have to put each and every BIG 6 club's nose out of joint for them ALL to realise you can't bully Tony... he'll bully you and you'll thank him for it afterward.

Entitled pricks.

Have a look at their forum: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/evan-ferguson-top-irish-prospect.472664/page-13.

The conversation is not about could they sign him, but when they do it. A lot think that he's not yet ready for the rarified air of their first team. After all, he has only been playing for a team 4 places behind them in the league. Someone thinks that they could buy him, then loan him back to us, some discussion of whether he'd be back up because he'd be kept out by Harry Kane, who also doesn't play for them. The levels of arrogance, entitlement and magical thinking seemed strong from City, Chelsea and Arsenal fans. Man Utd fans are the originals and still the best.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Have a look at their forum: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/evan-ferguson-top-irish-prospect.472664/page-13.

The conversation is not about could they sign him, but when they do it. A lot think that he's not yet ready for the rarified air of their first team. After all, he has only been playing for a team 4 places behind them in the league. Someone thinks that they could buy him, then loan him back to us, some discussion of whether he'd be back up because he'd be kept out by Harry Kane, who also doesn't play for them. The levels of arrogance, entitlement and magical thinking seemed strong from City, Chelsea and Arsenal fans. Man Utd fans are the originals and still the best.

How to they compare with Leeds?

 

[Stato]

How to they compare with Leeds?

Same arrogance, less Latin. Probably have more progressive views about staging Shakepeare plays.

 

[dazzer6666]

Still not a 90 minute player

Would be highly irresponsible of the club to regularly play him for 90 mins at 18.

 

[Stato]

Owen. What a start to a career!

Would be highly irresponsible of the club to regularly play him for 90 mins at 18.

Indeed: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-owen-idUKBRE8B61BA20121207.

Owen was playing 90 minutes in most of Liverpool's matches by the time he was Evan's age. He played 44 times in 1997/98, usually for the whole game. They had Robbie Fowler and Karl Heinz Riedle in the squad, as well as some decent attacking midfielders and could have managed his minutes much better. I think that he's wrong to have believed that it would have been different had he been playing somewhere else. Despite Ferguson's words, he played Giggs the same number of times when he was the same age and rarely subbed him off. I think it would have been different had he been playing some time else. We know far more today and managing minutes of the youngsters is the responsible thing to do.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Indeed: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-owen-idUKBRE8B61BA20121207.

Owen was playing 90 minutes in most of Liverpool's matches by the time he was Evan's age. He played 44 times in 1997/98, usually for the whole game. They had Robbie Fowler and Karl Heinz Riedle in the squad, as well as some decent attacking midfielders and could have managed his minutes much better. I think that he's wrong to have believed that it would have been different had he been playing somewhere else. Despite Ferguson's words, he played Giggs the same number of times when he was the same age and rarely subbed him off. I think it would have been different had he been playing some time else. We know far more today and managing minutes of the youngsters is the responsible thing to do.

Giggs, of course played a huge number of career games. Owen is alongside Greaves in English football in the "what kind of career could they have had if they had stayed fit" debate.

The lesson is surely, you might get away with it, you might not. But our club are good at resisting short term pressures, see how gingerly they managed Lamptey back. We won't take undue risks.

 

[Justice]

Would be highly irresponsible of the club to regularly play him for 90 mins at 18.

Yes that the point I’m making he hasn’t developed with us yet. All this talk of him being poached by other clubs isn’t going to happen for a few years yet.

 

[BNthree]

Unlike his fellow Irish striker at the Albion?

But who is ultimately responsible for the unravelling of Connolly's career?

The player?

The overall expectation after the brace against Spurs?

Ineffectual man management?

Think it’s a combination of all of them.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

It reflects badly on the ROI forward players, but credit to big Shane for this. To get 6 international goals at centre back is something not loads of people do

The table isn't accurate - to start with Callum Robinson made his debut in 2018 and he has scored 8 goals in 34 appearances. Duffy has actually scored 7.

It must also be remembered that there was a huge turnover of players in the Irish team particularly forwards - in that period - and Ireland scored 1 goal in Kenny's first eight games in charge and won once in I think his first 20 games (against Andorra).

 

[zefarelly]

Still not a 90 minute player

If he scores 2 in an hour or less he can go and have a have a sit down. . . . Let someone else have a go.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Unlike his fellow Irish striker at the Albion?

But who is ultimately responsible for the unravelling of Connolly's career?

The player?

The overall expectation after the brace against Spurs?

Ineffectual man management?

Whilst its great about Ferguson and we should enjoy every minute, its sad how AC has effectively f***** his career, my Irish neighbour in Spain firmly believed he was Robbie Keane reincarnated.

I actually used the Connolly and Ferguson comparison tonight to explain to my youngest son why he needs to improve his attitude after a less than brilliant parents evening report! I usually find it easiest to explain things to him through football!