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This loan has been an eye opener. I had written him off but he's back in the game. Working his ass off and showing some real class. Himself and Bowyer seem the perfect fit. Who knew?
Was excellent tonight, at one point he chased a ball 60 yards from the opposition box to make a tackle. I’ve really enjoyed watching his loan so far, he’s made every Birmingham game enjoyable. Was like a terrier. He’s having a great loan.
Maybe one of those late developers that really kicks on at this stage? Not everyone has to be ready at 18/19. It's still a long way from here to our first team, he's going to have to maintain this for a whole season to even be in with a sniff, but at least he's got that chance. Coming back from Germany his United career looked dead in the water and we would have got nothing for him so this loan was worth it.
How about he just stays where he is. I don’t know whats With this new phenomenon of keeping our players. The aim should also be you come to United and guarantee a good footballing career.
If he can help them stay top half of the table or even a play off challenge. He should see what he can do at that level at a permanent basis and hopefully generate a Prem career for himself. He’s not going to make it at United.
Glad he’s getting his career on track he was dominating U23’s football not too long ago.
well played by bowyer. That’s the shit. You’re a class player yeah. Tracking back is the real deal It’s the whole you’re a hotttie but do you have a personality.Glad to see Chong thrive. Beyond what I thought he’d do but he’s supposedly on 30k plus a week? That’s surely big money in the championship? At least we are backing proper players. I like him a lot. Hopefully he doesn’t do a lingard (as in refuse to be sold) Lingard was good don’t get me wrong. Selling at the right point is up to us
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I don’t know where to start with this
There is no new phenomenon. The whole point of an academy is that there is a hope that it produces players for Man Utd. A loan is just one avenue that helps that process along so why wouldn't the default position be to hope they do well and then depending on how the manager rates their talent they may get an opportunity. Or they may not. Not even sure of what point you're driving at.
sometimes it's good to be patient with young players. Arjen Robben looked completely useless when chelsea gave up on him and look what happened.
Lovely thing to read from the twot Bowyer.
The most encouraging thing is he has belief and put in the hard work. Even though he has been an excellent winger since youth team, it doesn’t mean it’s his best position. He has huge potential and who knows which position he ends up with
Yep, said it before, all the reasons Chong was struggling are ones that time and experience can fix. Physique and composure.
He's shown that he has good technical skills and pace so he has a chance if he keeps working on his game and intensity keeps up.
So great to see he's doing really well there after his last loan. Heard pretty great things from my Blues-supporting friends.
It's interesting that he's sometimes playing a box-to-box role now. I could totally see him as an LB/LWB à la Alphonse Davies too.
It's interesting that he's sometimes playing a box-to-box role now. I could totally see him as an LB/LWB à la Alphonse Davies too.
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LB/LWB is a good shout since he has shown tremendous work rate. Seems like that left/right central midfield role a la Di Maria when under Ancelotti at Madrid suits Chong as well.
Didn’t know Lee Bowyer is a manager now. The same one who played for Leeds and Newcastle? Was quite a twat during his playing days.
Nice to see Chong developing well
Nice to see Chong developing well
It's good Bowyer is putting the refs on blast and long may it continue. Make them answerable and they'll soon give Chong the protection that is his due. Exactly the same should be happening with Mejbri.
It's all well and good talking after the fact, once Chong's injured, but prevention in the first place is better than a band aid after the fact.
Chong seems to be getting to a level of notoriety where teams will be going out there with plans in place to stop him so that refereeing vigilance can't come soon enough.
Wasn't he playing as a midfielder before?
That’s not the sole aim of the academy otherwise we would just get a bunch of academy players and do a 6/1 rule for every position.
The point is he’s a winger who is 21/22 whilst we currently have 6 options right now in that position.
It’s not hard maths.
Is this Woodward or Ole?
Kids been looking like a mini Ronaldinho out there. His decision making had markedly improved, goes to show how important regular game time is at a young age. The dream would be if Birmingham got promoted so we could see him in the Premier League with them.
As has been mentioned the Championship has emerged as a great place to send youngsters out on loan. Chelsea used it to great effect with the likes of Mount, Tomori and Abraham. We've been using it well with Garner and players like Mejbri would probably benefit from it too. Not sure where Chong goes after this though, his level is too high for the Championship but European loans seldom work out well for us. The premier League used to be an option, e.g. with Sunderland and Welbeck and Evans. But the money in the league now means most clubs have strong teams and will rarely ever play another clubs youngsters. From what he's shown thus far Chong is quite likely to have a top flight career, but if it's to be with us he'll likely need a good 2-3 more seasons of regular game time first to kick on.
As has been mentioned the Championship has emerged as a great place to send youngsters out on loan. Chelsea used it to great effect with the likes of Mount, Tomori and Abraham. We've been using it well with Garner and players like Mejbri would probably benefit from it too. Not sure where Chong goes after this though, his level is too high for the Championship but European loans seldom work out well for us. The premier League used to be an option, e.g. with Sunderland and Welbeck and Evans. But the money in the league now means most clubs have strong teams and will rarely ever play another clubs youngsters. From what he's shown thus far Chong is quite likely to have a top flight career, but if it's to be with us he'll likely need a good 2-3 more seasons of regular game time first to kick on.
Granted, I haven’t seen him play for Birmingham, but he was underwhelming for Werder and Club Brugge and never looks like a proper player at the Dutch national youth teams. I’d be surprised if there was a premier league player in there, but maybe he is just a slow starter and kicks on from here.
This won’t happen unless he signs a new contract extension as his current deal expires in 2023.
Think it's the position change that's helping him the most. Fair play to Bowyer for sticking him in a middle 3, Chong's stamina and work rate seem to be giving him the edge there in the championship.
IIRC, he signed a new 3 years deal last summer, so he's got 2 years with us, if he keeps developing as he is doing now, then the club must decide next year, either he joins the senior squad and gets to play games, or we sell him for a decent fee (25-35 M) and re-invest that money elsewhere. i dont want the club to go into this unnecessary cycle of renewals/loans till the player becomes useless (e.g Pereira).
the same needs to happen with Tuanzebe too.
the same needs to happen with Tuanzebe too.
i love your optimism
yes that is very optimistic valuation from my end, but Leeds paid 30m for James, so why not, anything can happen
He's been fantastic for Birmingham. It's pretty harsh to say that he can't be a PL player at this stage.
Championship's quality is actually quite high as compared to previous years.
Championship's quality is actually quite high as compared to previous years.
really pleased for him.
he’s finally found a club he feels settled, he’s loved by the manager and fans - and more importantly a key player.
If this continues he should really go back there again next year, if not permanently.
he’s finally found a club he feels settled, he’s loved by the manager and fans - and more importantly a key player.
If this continues he should really go back there again next year, if not permanently.
I've been really impressed with him, again yesterday. However, he needs to score a goal or two. He has only one assist so far. I didn't think he had this position and these qualities in him, but now I'm pretty sure that he will develop into a great footballer. I think he will play for a really good team, but not for United.
Was on holiday with a blues fan and he absolutely raves about him. Bowyer appears to be a very good man manager, which I would never have guessed from his time as a player. Hope Chong keeps it up, finally looks confident in himself at senior level football.
What are you talking about? Chelsea gave up on him because of injuries. He never looked useless.
It's a major aim of the academy, what you're saying makes no sense - I'm not claiming individual academy players must get a chance or to shoehorn in players that aren't at the level. You've created a narrative in your own mind around the club keeping players and now you're shadow boxing with a phantom. We don't even retain many academy players!
Producing football players and providing a pathway is one element but we don't commit millions of pounds annually to help flesh out the squads of Bolton Wanderers and Rochdale. That is just a necessary byproduct of the fact only a tiny fraction will ever be good enough.
I agree it's unlikely he'll stay here, I said it's a long shot to begin with so I'm not sure what you're on about quite frankly.
But we do though and have for years. It’s also a great selling point in getting the brightest youth talents. Come join us we not only have history of giving youth a chance we also guarantee our football education will give you more of a chance of becoming a professional footballer at the highest level in England.
Like David Platt, Robbie Savage, Keith Gilessepe, Johnny Evans, Danny Simpson, Danny Drinkwater, Shawcross etc to name a few.
I don’t see what’s so wrong in what I’m saying. You said keep him I said let him go and start a proper football career.
Been a manager for ages
I didn't say keep him. I think you perhaps need to read more carefully as maybe you've skimmed over what I said, made an assumption and now you're arguing against a point that hasn't been made. It's a forum, if you don't comprehend what is being said it creates a lot of nonsense discussion.
I said he could be a late developer, which he could because he's not 18 anymore and this is his first period of impressive senior football despite obvious talent.
I said it gives him a sniff, not a major chance or that he should be definitely kept, which just seems to me to be a rather obvious point that you have made yourself due to the players ahead of him and it will still only be one good season in the championship.
That's about it, I'm not expecting Chong to make it here but let's see if he has a stellar season and what the manager decides. He may not have written him off straight away even if you have.
Fair but 1% or 20% still means you want him to stay. I’m saying he has to go. So there’s a difference and also that’s how we get discussions. You argued for him staying, I argued against.
He's live on Sky Sports right now with Brum.
Broke his tendon will be out for around 4-5 moths
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