McAleny in talks over new deal

Would be nice if one of these hot prospects could become a first team regular eventually. Too many have had the potential but never realised it at the top level.

Would be nice to get him tied up - looked bright in his (brief) cameo, a little surprised this wasn't sorted out earlier, everyone would have known that his contract was expiring on 30 june.

Really hope we don't loose him because we've delayed on giving him a contract.

I don't feel I have the knowledge on the player to comment but I think there seems to be a lack of oppurtunity for young player's and definitely not enough for them to learn at the highest level.
Is that because of the risk involved or becasue they are not that good that they are not worth putting in with the added pressure to try and bring them on???

Denis - I get inpression you're not surprised !!!!

Well young Conor, your 21st birthday approaches. What do you intend to make of yourself? You have talent. However, you're competing for a spot against a fair group of talented fellows about your age. Given the budget Moyes has to work within, no one's going to do you any favors.

Denis (363) - "Really hope we don't loose him because we've delayed on giving him a contract".

We might have delayed on giving him a contract because the players we have his age are proving themselves better.

When is the penny going to finally drop with people that this club is being run by a desperate grubbing loser with no money???

The board members of our club combined could probably buy and sell most other Premier League clubs...BUT ...they won't invest in the club while Kenwright is at the helm. They're waiting for him to finally implode from the pressure from the banks.... D'you see?? Then, when he does, they will step straight in.

Untill that happens, expect more of the same desperate no-shows, hedgeing, wrangling shameless capitulations, which ultimately dominoes to the holding back of the youths (as they reach maturity, and expect lucrative/fair contracts, and as you've seen with Gosling, the promises of Fagin.

Don't get me wrong: Moyes may yet pull the rabbit out of the hat for him, and maybe get him a long way back in.... but the banks have a head start.

Saw this guy play against Dallas I think? in the last pre-season. He looks very sharp and is worth a contract. If Moyes does his usual and lets him go and instead play anyone over 30 it'll be a travesty. He's worth a bench place this season at least.

Interesting comment Kevin but not one backed up by the facts surely? Whilst the average age of the squad has crept up recently, Moyes drove it down significantly in the early years of his term I thought? I certainly don't think we have played too many teams consisting of entirely over 30s over his 10 seasons?

James 376, the point I was trying to bring across is that the club know all the youth players inside out (or they should do anyway). Therefore, there is no reason (that I can think of) for the club to let someones contract run out unless they have no intention of extending it.

Hence either the club want him to stay (therefore sort contract out before expiry) or they don't (therefore release him at contract expiry). Keeping a player in limbo would not seem to be a great tactic, i.e. not exactly showing him that he is wanted. None of us obviously know the details but for me its strange given he looked sharp and he cannot possibly cost the club that much in wages.

Also I seriously doubt the reason the club is holding back is because we have a truck load of other 19-20 year olds who are much better - we don't. Also he's 19 not 21.

Seems very strange that he wasn't officially 'released' and he hasn't gone and got himself sorted somewhere else in the last month. He was only offered a one year deal last year, when you would expect someone who was rated to be tied into a 3-4 year deal at least. It may be that he was kept on to bolster the reserves mainly, with the off-chance that he would show enough progress to secure another deal.

He will be 20 in a couple of weeks which is by no means past it in terms of player development but it is increasingly unlikely he will have a late growth spurt or fill out, and his small stature may be what is going against him. I know people will be up in arms about that statement, but it is an unfortunate fact of life that being a lightweight can make it much harder to succeed in the current EPL.

The fact that he doesn't seem to have looked for another club yet may be an indication that he still thinks he can make it (and wants to do that at Everton), but it seems he may have his work cut out to persuade the club to continue to invest in him.

Denis (421) - Fair enough. I agree with your 1st paragraph. The question for me is why he hasn't been offered a new contract yet. It could be due to the fiscal constraints Moyes works under; no newflash there for any of us.

I did want to make the point that, bar injury, young players put themselves into a club or on their way somewheres else. Considering "truckload" is your term not mine, we do have other youth vying for the spot Conor hopes to land. It's up to him to make Moyes decide "I'm keeping Conor". It's not necessarily just another example of the Club's financial bumbling.

What if the kid's just thought to be not good enough?

From what I've seen, another headless chicken in the mould of Branch, Cadamarteri, Barlow... no great loss here.