Everton U23s secure a late win over Burnley

"For your enjoyment"! Delicious. Unlike Saturday, I guess you're saying!

Much slower paced game than Leeds.

Matt Biondi

All this prating around at the back pisses me off. If you look back at footage of our '80s games, as soon as the keeper collects the ball, the TV camera goes straight to the opponents' half because that is where it ends up... and straight away, they are on the back foot. Simple.

Not a lot going on and, as you'd expect at this level, littered with mistakes. Young Dobbin forgetting the ball as he went on his run made me smile!

Nice effort from Cannon. Good direct ball out to him and made his own space for a nice curling shot.

Burnley playing some decent stuff to be fair. Rooney's cousin in defence for them. Hadn't put 2 and 2 together.

Is that the U23s or the first team you are refering to?

Kyle John, the right back, is having a decent game too.

Having a good period now.

I would rather have Dobbin, the pantomime horse, than Rondon.

Within a month, he was in their U23s and a short while later, Burnley had an injury crisis and he actually featured on the first team bench a couple of times.

What's Big Dunc going to say to the FSW?

"Well, boss, these kids are better than we are..."

You put Rondon and Iwobi in this team and they would still be shit.

You put a couple of these lads in the first team and they might suprise everyone.

He's certainly gonna say there are better options than Rondon – even at this level. 😂

Good second half by the boys. The young sub, Rhys Hughes, done very well. Goal and great link up with Dobbin for the assist.

Dobbin grew into it after an erratic first half, but these are young players.

I called out Kyle John, the right-back, earlier but Warrington was the stand-out for me. As well as his range of passing, to steal Ian Snodin's chips, he took the midfield by the scruff of the neck.

I never saw the game, read about it too late but I was impressed with Warrington in a couple of FA Youth Cup games last season then he seemed to go off the boil the next couple of times I saw him.

Glad he had a good game tonight. When he played well, he looked like a proper footballer who knew how to get about the midfield and bring other players into the game.

I hope he continues to improve; maybe he deserves a place on the bench to boost his confidence. It could also make him realise: "I'm as good or better than some of these fuckers... I'll be coming on soon"!!

I don't see any stand-out players who are likely to immediately improve the first team yet. By all means give some youngsters a bit of time to help them develop and maybe give the crowd a buzz... but there doesn't seem to be anyone like Rooney, Barkley or Rodwell tearing things up and demanding first-team consideration.

I, more than most, preach about giving the youngsters time and space to breathe and develop but, if I was at Finch Farm for a week, I wouldn't have any problems having him at least train on occasion with the first team.

Duncan was in the stands and there are far more qualified people than me at Finch Farm, so let's hope they take care of his development (and others') appropriately.

As Sam said, I don't think he is a "burst on the scenes", "knock down the first-team door" talent but, in a couple of years, he could be.

I really want him to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate the midfield. He has something different from the other midfielders, but I thought in the first half Onyango outshone him.

There's a great example of his work in the Leeds game, he dispossesses their player in our half, and as the space opens up, he carries the ball forward, helping to set up our last goal.

He doesn't do it often enough for me. His play reminds of Liam Walsh in many ways.

You are both correct, there are no standout players who are ready to go straight into the first-team squad but it is nice to see potential in a few of them and hopefully they will push on and become regular players with the first team.

I think young players today are given fantastic wages before they have earned them. Better to give them good decent wages in their early years with the carrot of the vast amounts of money that becomes theirs if they fight and scrap to get to that point. Some young players are close to being millionaires in their early twenties without showing any outstanding ability. Too much, too soon, I'd say.

Now, I just looked up. The Championship is the richest non-top flight league in the world and the 9th richest in Europe in its own right. Like you say, maybe a bit of incentive would be a better approach.

Anyway, let's not have me take it away on one! It was good to see some promise out there last night.

When Harry Redknapp was manager of Birmingham City, he was bemoaning the fact that some of the players he was trying to get on loan were asking, or their agents were, for wages starting at £10,000 per week. Liam Walsh of Everton was one of those players who went to Birmingham.

Harry got the bullet not long after and Liam's face never fitted the new manager, so he came back to Everton, but not for long. In the January, he was sold to Bristol City for over £2M. I think he had a taste of big wages, for him, and was keen to go.

He might have been better staying and waiting for his chance... or maybe he thought he was better at getting the bird in hand than waiting for the two in the bush.