All of these players were bought.  While this says volumes about the club’s current transfer policy, how good would it have felt for us fans had they progressed through our youth system?  Think about how much pride Wolves fans got seeing Matt Murray and Lee Naylor pulling on U-21 shirts, or hearing that Wayne Hennessey has kept a clean sheet for Wales, or even now when Jo Lescott plays for England or Robbie Keane scores for Ireland.

I don’t know about you, but 2006/07 season, Mick McCarthy’s first in charge, is one of the best in recent memory.  A young team, playing vibrant, attacking football finishing in the playoffs when many expected a relegation battle following the departures of Glenn Hoddle, Lescott, Naylor and Kenny Miller the previous summer.  For me, one of the best things about that season is the way that Mick was prepared to play our youngsters.  No fewer than nine academy graduates pulled on the Old Gold shirt that season, many for the first time.  It was thrilling to watch, and for the first time in many a season, there was a feeling that the club had a real future.

Now though, our future appears to be coming from other clubs.  Is this an indication of a general reluctance in England now to bring through their own blood, preferring instead to buy it ready made?  Arsenal are the most obvious example, taking advantage of stricter employment laws in foreign countries, for example in Spain where a player cannot sign a professional contract until his 18^th birthday.  The likes of Cesc Fabregas would still be in Spain if it were not for this rule.  Liverpool haven’t brought a regular first-teamer through their youth system since a young Steven Gerrard burst onto the scene 10 years ago (boy that makes me feel old), and even Manchester United, with their famous youth system have turned to buying from abroad.

We are nearly halfway through this season, and so far we have not played one outfield youth product.  Yes, you read that right- every outfield player who has featured in the League so far has been bought.  Admittedly, most of these have been bought in relatively cheaply, but surely it is even cheaper to not have to pay for them in the first place.  So where have all the youth players gone?  Is it a coincidence or a sign of something altogether more worrying that our two brightest prospects in recent years, Mark Davies and Lewis Gobern have spent so much time on the treatment table?  Injuries have definitely played a part, but cannot be used as the full answer.  Is there a general dislike by the management team to play them?  Dan Jones and Mark Little, who both impressed two years ago have scarcely played a game between them in the past 18 months, both being loaned out to lower League clubs.

And, maybe it’s time for us fans to take a look in the mirror.  Maybe we are perfect examples of the supposed English trait of building people up just to knock them down.  Look at the way that Keith Andrews, our youngest ever captain and Leon Clarke, who at one point was being dubbed as the ‘next Steve Bull’ were treated towards the end of their Molineux careers, and to a lesser extent Lee Naylor.  More recently, Stephen Gleeson was the next ‘big prospect’.  After supposedly interesting Barcelona following a youth tournament, and a string of excellent performances while on loan at Stockport County, Wolves fans had high hopes, which could lead to massive disappointment if he doesn’t fulfil the hype.  Of course fans are going to get excited about youngsters, there is nothing better than seeing one of our own out on the pitch giving their all, but maybe these expectations become burdens and need to more reserved.

So what of the next generation, the likes of the Bennett brothers, Ashley Hemmings and the precocious young talent of Zele Ismail?  Given our current squad, can anyone really see any of these getting enough opportunities to prove that they are good enough when every point is vital and potentially the difference between playing Premiership and Championship football the next season?  Maybe this is the problem with the English game.  With unprecedented (and some may say obscene) amounts of money in the game now, clubs cannot afford to gamble.  Every point is vital, especially in the Premiership where each place is worth an extra half a million pounds.  Clubs cannot afford to plan for the long term, quick fixes are the order of the day, and if this means bringing in foreigners ahead of blooding youngsters, then managers have to do this.

So, back to Wolves.  Maybe the conveyor belt just isn’t churning out the quality that it has in the past.  Or, are we in the midst of a downward spiral?  If the young players are not getting chances, maybe future generations will be less willing to join us at a young age, leading to less quality in the future.  Another observation is the difference in quality between our goalkeepers and outfield players.  Our youth system has produced three of the Championship’s best goalkeepers, in fact the last time a none youth team goalkeeper started a League game for us was Jan Butz in April 2007 and before that, Stephan Postma twelve months earlier.  I do not know what the problem is, if there is even a problem, it would just be really nice for the fans to see one or two home-grown players out there.

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