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Thread | Vale signs
at 00:45 4 Feb 2025
https://www.qpr.co.uk/news/2025/february/03/harvey-vale-joins-qpr/
Is there already a thread for this? I looked but couldn't find one. If so lock this and I'll repost, but wanted to add some thoughts now he's done.
Firstly, this seems like an overall good deal for lots of reasons, but the excitement from the Ultimate Team social media kids is like they've just got a DM from Bonnie Blue. There's a LOT of hyperbole for a kid that has about 50 appearances to his name. Colour me intrigued...
The pros
- 21 years old. I really like this new strategy of pursuing young players, both first team and for the development squad. It's the right way to go about it and although a mixture of youth and nous is absolutely fundemental for this league, a club like ours can only sustain itself by developing assets become first team players and then sell
- Good pedigree - I'll contradict myself slightly as the academy system doesn't carrry as much weight for me as it does others, but if you did come through an academy system you would be hard pressed to beat the Chelsea and England youth one. Chelsea Academy player of the year winners list reads as follows;
2015 - Dominic Solanke, 2016 - Fikayo Tomori, 2017 - Mason Mount, 2018 - Reece James, 2019 - Conor Gallagher, 2020 - Billy Gilmour, 2021 - Tino Livramento, 2022 - Harvey Vale
Whilst I wouldn't put it past us, we'd have signed the only dud in the list if he doesn't make something decent of himself, and if he gets anywhere close to those players we're laughing. You might also ask why Chelsea would sell someone with such high potential, but then you see that everyone on this list except Reece James is playing elsewhere, and you realise the plan for these kids never involved the first team.
- Flexibility. Again, I'm never that enamoured by the trend of academy boys that can play multiple positions as lots of players 'between' end up not really being great at one thing or the other - but - the exceptions are those that are just good enough to do what you need them to. This is a lad that reckons his best position is inverted RW, but who was touted as of the best LBs in League One when he was moved there for a full season at Bristol. Marti is a modern coach and you know he likes tactical flexibility, having someone he can move around in game will be preferred, and it means he can add depth to multiple positions we're currently weak in
The cons
- Pro appearances v Academy. To put it bluntly, I couldn't give a toss how good someone is in the modern academy world... Of course Vale would be at the tippity top as far as pedigree, and credit to him for deciding to jump out early and get proper football at a permanent home, but the difference between a PL2 player and a lad with 100 pro appearances is stark. Look at Edwards compared to Ashby by way of a recent example. The good news is Vale has around 50 pro appearances and a full season with Bristol under his belt, and Kieran Morgan has shown the jump between dev squad and first team isn't as big for some as others, but I reserve the right to limit my excitement until I see how he handles the Championship, because he's completely unproven at this level.
- The tone of the signing. This is a bit of a personal one maybe and fully happy to accept I'm reading too much into things, but I never like the signings that are seen as a 'coup' for the club, and are treated as such. The tone of his player interview was a good example - a lot of 'why did YOU choose QPR' and 'what's so good about us over other options'? I find it a little self deprecating when signing a seriously injured 21 year old with a single season of league one behind him... Of course if he matches the lofty expectations and all the hype is close to real, that makes perfect sense, but I feel like we sometimes get all hot and heavy for players that are in demand choosing us, and act like we're just happy they're here. Really you want a kid to focus on trying to get in the team first, and then proving why he deserves the long term contract we've given him...
- Chelsea. I know I know, it shouldn't matter, and I guess it doesn't REALLY. Modern world, and if we excluded players coming from Chelsea we'd have a pool of about 7 kids to choose from. But I think it's worth acknowledging, by him especially, that there is a rivalry and you don't get a clean pass just because you're highly rated. You need to play that stink off you at QPR because if you come with a bad attitude and poor play - academy player awards or not - you'll just be a Chelsea reject...
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| | simmo
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