Kerr Smith was on loan for Barrow 1st half of the season, played only once ("looked like Bambi" according to one punter on Barrow's FB page and was punted back to Villa in January.

Agreed

Also agree.

Goodwin has no interest in developing our young players or giving them chances.

Add to that England having so, so much money and hoovering up anyone that takes one good free kick or heads a ball clear and it is utterly pointless. Even happening to Old Firm these days.

I would much rather spend the money taking gambles on later developers in the lower leagues of Scotland - something we have actually been very good at over the last 20 years.

Two things are definitely going to happen here.
1 Hutchinson (& his parents) will have far more money and financial assets to their names in 3 years time than they would if he has signed a contract at Tannadice.
2 The player has  reduced his chances of making it in the professional game.

From the times I’ve watched him he does have a lot of potential but that’s what it is just potential. He stands out atm because he is big and strong however IMO he doesn’t have a good first touch and awareness .

lifesanocean wrote:

Stillliving wrote:

Two things are definitely going to happen here.
1 Hutchinson (& his parents) will have far more money and financial assets to their names in 3 years time than they would if he has signed a contract at Tannadice.
2 The player has  reduced his chances of making it in the professional game.

From the times I’ve watched him he does have a lot of potential but that’s what it is just potential. He stands out atm because he is big and strong however IMO he doesn’t have a good first touch and awareness .

His attitude is also questionable.

Other laddies will catch up size-wise too. If he's got genuine quality he will make it. If all he's got is pace and power he'll be found out down there.
 

 
A 16 year old with a questionable attitude,  who'd have known 🤣

redford_must_score wrote:

Motherwell just sold a young Academy lad to Brighton.
Earlier today this was posted on a Motherwell forum

"This. As much as its depressing from a sporting level that this happens, financially it's certainly not all negative - banking six figures for kids who might turn out nowhere good enough as adults adds a fair bit of certainty to the planning budget. Part of a balanced portfolio and all that jazz"

Sound familiar?

In Motherwell's case they can afford to be a bit more philosophical when they lose young players.

They are fan owned and they know with confidence no-one at the club will benefit financially from the sale of any young player, only the club will, and will likely be re-invested in further recruitment. See also (Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen etc).

In our case in any young player sale, it goes towards paying off the massive debt owed to Mark Ogren (which he created himself).

Depressing af.
 

AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus are exploring whether they can snatch Lorenzo Sassetti from Dundee United for free after the 15-year-old striker played for Scotland's youth sides but recently switched to Italy. (Sun, external) - 'If you don't laugh, you'll greet' should be the club's new tagline. This transfer would be finalised in Feb 2027 once he turns 16.

Fergivicious wrote:

AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus are exploring whether they can snatch Lorenzo Sassetti from Dundee United for free after the 15-year-old striker played for Scotland's youth sides but recently switched to Italy. (Sun, external) - 'If you don't laugh, you'll greet' should be the club's new tagline. This transfer would be finalised in Feb 2027 once he turns 16.

Was about to post something similar... 
This would be CLASSIC Dundee United if we didn't have him on any kind of 'S-Form' signing...
 

Everton were posting photos of their academy recruits earlier today. This then guilted / shamed United into announcing Hutchinsons departure.

It’s a mess, the whole thing.

The Foundation put a lot of money into that, I’d like to think they’ll have something to say.

In fact, do The Foundation ask any questions when the begging bowl is brought out?

Shedtastic wrote:

What can the club do to keep those young lads when EPL teams come calling?

 
Offer a pathway into the first team.

Ross Graham spent 6 months on loan at Dunfermline and 18 months around the first team squad before becoming club captain while making a tidy wee wage. He’ll sign for a league 1 club on 6K a week and probably stay down there for a few years.

Brandon Forbes and Kerr Smith as examples could’ve done the same but chose 2 year deals on probably 3K a week or something, now they’re on trial for Arbroath and Inverness.

MockChop wrote:

Everton were posting photos of their academy recruits earlier today. This then guilted / shamed United into announcing Hutchinsons departure.

It’s a mess, the whole thing.

The Foundation put a lot of money into that, I’d like to think they’ll have something to say.

In fact, do The Foundation ask any questions when the begging bowl is brought out?

 
The Foundation definitely do ask questions. They regularly consult the membership over possible future and current proposed funding to the club.

All the top Scottish clubs, including Celtic and the Ranger have lost Academy graduates to English clubs recently. The idea that it's just Dundee United is completely wrong.

Finn Seemann wrote:

My concern is that the youngsters are being exploited.  Most end up being rejected and their dreams ruined before they reach effective adulthood.  Some literally don't survive that!  The flip side of that is we have to also have a route for the real talent to reach its potential.

Can't agree with this enough. I've had a tonne of dealings with former youth players through stuff I'm involved in, and through my work, who've ended up on the scrapheap after playing in youth setups throughout the scottish football leagues upto about 17/18 years old and some of them really don't recover from it and their overall character and ambition never really recovers from it. Their interest in football at any level is usually non-existent also.

Protections definitely needing to come in from FIFA and UEFA. I know it's not that simple, but for me some kind of ruling on players under 18 can't be sold until they've been "activated" as a first team player for 2 years, or until 50 appearances , whatever comes first. That means these real 'wonderkids' who really are ready at a very young age to play first team football can still be sold on, and the others aren't getting poached. 

I know contracts and freedom of labour laws come in to all this but just some ideas that at least somewhat feasible.

Last edited by Morphman (17/7/2026 12:59 pm)

Morphman wrote:

Finn Seemann wrote:

My concern is that the youngsters are being exploited.  Most end up being rejected and their dreams ruined before they reach effective adulthood.  Some literally don't survive that!  The flip side of that is we have to also have a route for the real talent to reach its potential.

Can't agree with this enough. I've had a tonne of dealings with former youth players through stuff I'm involved in, and through my work, who've ended up on the scrapheap after playing in youth setups throughout the scottish football leagues upto about 17/18 years old and some of them really don't recover from it and their overall character and ambition never really recovers from it. Their interest in football at any level is usually non-existent also.

Protections definitely needing to come in from FIFA and UEFA. I know it's not that simple, but for me some kind of ruling on players under 18 can't be sold until they've been "activated" as a first team player for 2 years, or until 50 appearances , whatever comes first. That means these real 'wonderkids' who really are ready at a very young age to play first team football can still be sold on, and the others aren't getting poached. 

I know contracts and freedom of labour laws come in to all this but just some ideas that at least somewhat feasible.

That's not a bad idea Morphman (although Ogren would then insist that the first team was full of potentially saleable kids!).  Where I think we need to see a difference is in better information on where these kids end up.  Academies should need to provide evidence of how many kids succeed and how they have assisted the kids that don't.  At least with some information kids (and parents) with stars in their eyes would have a better chance of avoiding gambling a kids' future on a pipe dream.

One of my son's friends is a cracking player.  Still 18, ditched from Hibs after an injury.  With another Prem team (1st team periphery) for a couple of years.  Now signed for a Lowland League team.  He's bright, going to Uni this year while playing and will undoubtedly do well in life (but I have a sneaking suspicion he might still make it as a footballer).  He's probably an exception as his uncle nearly made it (career ended by Darren Dods) and his family are comparably affluent so the pressure to make it is probably lesser.  Not all kids have that background or guidance. 

I think the clubs should pay for PFA Scotland to have a few representatives who the clubs are obliged to bring in when a kid is being rejected or indeed being sold upwards and that person should be there to represent the kids best interests with no commercial conflict of interest.  We are owe it to our kids.

Last edited by Finn Seemann (17/7/2026 2:28 pm)