Posh player boost

Thursday, 19/01/2012

by Chris Harman, Shoot’s Peterborough blogger

After a disappointing couple of weeks on the pitch, Peterborough fans have been given something to cheer about with the news that talented youngster Joe Newell has signed a new four-and-a-half year contract.

The 18-year-old midfielder, a product of the Posh youth setup, is highly rated by the management and looks set to have a bright future in the game.

Newell has started two matches so far this season, and has featured as a substitute in several others. He appears to have taken the step up to senior football in his stride, and it looks only a matter of time before he cements a regular starting place.

Posh haven’t had much luck with homegrown players in recent years. The last youth team graduate of any real pedigree to emerge was Sean St. Ledger, and that was almost a decade ago.

Our youth system enjoyed a golden period between the mid-90s and early-00s when it produced the likes of Matthew Etherington, Simon Davies, Adam Drury, Luke Steele and the aforementioned St. Ledger.

Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has been working on restoring the setup to its former glories for as long as he’s been at the club, and it looks as if his efforts could be starting to bear fruit.

Ever the optimist, he reckons at least three of our current youth squad will be first team regulars within the next couple of seasons. He’s also stated that he eventually wants half of our starting line-up to consist of homegrown players.

One of these supposed future stars could be striker Jaanai Gordon-Hutton, who made headlines earlier in the season when he was named on the first team substitutes’ bench at the age of just 15.

Likewise, youngsters Dan Lawler and Kgosi Ntlhe have found themselves named among the subs for the first team at the expense of experienced senior players recently.

Darren Ferguson certainly seems keen to bring the youngsters through. He’s always built youthful squads, but this is the first time he’s looked towards the club’s own prospects so extensively.

Maybe MacAnthony’s right – maybe we finally have a new generation of youths capable of making an impression on the first team, with Newell being the first out of the blocks.

We could, of course, be getting ahead of ourselves. But after a decade of seeing our best youth graduates wind up in non-league football, it’s exciting to see one coping so well in the Championship.

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