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Zach Mitchell - Sept 2025 on a season long loan to Hibernian (p22)
Comments
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Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.0 -
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.3 -
That's a bit unfair given that he was good enough to perform at the level he is currently at, including a 1-0 win against Celtic and earned him rave reviews in doing so from St Johnstone fans. In the 7 games he started they conceded 5 goals in total but immediately following his departure they let in 15 goals in the same number of matches.Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
The one thing that is certain is that the only way he is going to improve is through experience and starting 8 league games in 22 months isn't going to do that.
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Just feels like a bad loan that will be cut short in Jan assuming he doesn't randomly come on as an 88th minute sub over Christmas or something.
Hibs must have seen something they like in him to take him on loan so it's all a bit odd.2 -
Hibs saw him play very well for St Johnstone last season which presumably created their interest in Zach.0
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And lobby Fifa over the potential late registration, it's bizarreMarcusH26 said:Just feels like a bad loan that will be cut short in Jan assuming he doesn't randomly come on as an 88th minute sub over Christmas or something.
Hibs must have seen something they like in him to take him on loan so it's all a bit odd.1 -
Yeah exactly to go to all that extra effort to lobby FIFA to get it done and he's made what 2? U21s appearances. Even if they've got a really settled backline surely he should be making the bench every week in the SPL?fenaddick said:
And lobby Fifa over the potential late registration, it's bizarreMarcusH26 said:Just feels like a bad loan that will be cut short in Jan assuming he doesn't randomly come on as an 88th minute sub over Christmas or something.
Hibs must have seen something they like in him to take him on loan so it's all a bit odd.0 -
What would be the point in that?Addick Addict said:A thought has just occurred to me. Could it be that the U21 game that he played for Hibs doesn't count as one of the two clubs he's permitted to play for? If that's the case then might a "gentleman's agreement" have been struck between us and them whereby he doesn't play for them before January so we can send him elsewhere?1 -
We will have seen that they aren't using him and probably asked the question. If the Hibs manager, given where they are, is honest enough to say that he is unlikely to get a regular place in the foreseeable then what we don't want is him stranded for a whole season on that basis (as he was at Colchester). By recalling him in January we can then send him to somewhere else where he is likely to be a starter. If Hibs play him then we can't do that under the two club rule.arny23394 said:
What would be the point in that?Addick Addict said:A thought has just occurred to me. Could it be that the U21 game that he played for Hibs doesn't count as one of the two clubs he's permitted to play for? If that's the case then might a "gentleman's agreement" have been struck between us and them whereby he doesn't play for them before January so we can send him elsewhere?1 -
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .0 -
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Yeah but that was one bad performance (in a whole team of bad performances) versus pretty much every other side he's played in.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
He's probably got a way to go before he actually gets to the level some suggest he can reach but I think he's still going to be some player... if we can get him game time.2 -
And therein lies the problem. We have a player who has made 8 starts in two years in pro football and we, as fans, expect him to be both match fit and the have experience that comes with being a regular member of a side when he is called up once in a blue moon for us.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
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Yh because we’ve handled his development all wrong I remember watching his debut at 17 at home to Cheltenham when he was the 2nd best player on the pitch for us that day, in 3 years he hasn’t gotten any better because we’ve only given a bunch of meaningless cup games and some questionable loans, bare in mind this is a time we were watching Inniss Lavelle and Hector at the backStu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.2 -
This is the exact situation why we shouldn’t automatically assume that best course of action for our youth are loans. Sometimes it is better to let them develop in the youth setup and occasional cup games. Zach was clearly not ready for his loan to colchester. I can’t imagine what it is like for an 18 year old to be booed off the pitch by home fans and then subsequently be benched for most of the season. Now he is being loaned to a side that has an established starting defense and clearly wasn’t likely to play much. He would have been better off playing for the under 21s.
as for what his potential might be, I have some doubts that it is higher than league one given his lack of pace or strength but it certainly hasn’t helped given the situations he has been put in the last couple of years2 -
Bostonaddick said:This is the exact situation why we shouldn’t automatically assume that best course of action for our youth are loans. Sometimes it is better to let them develop in the youth setup and occasional cup games. Zach was clearly not ready for his loan to colchester. I can’t imagine what it is like for an 18 year old to be booed off the pitch by home fans and then subsequently be benched for most of the season. Now he is being loaned to a side that has an established starting defense and clearly wasn’t likely to play much. He would have been better off playing for the under 21s.
as for what his potential might be, I have some doubts that it is higher than league one given his lack of pace or strength but it certainly hasn’t helped given the situations he has been put in the last couple of years
Totally agree. Some seem to forget that, at the age of 17, he was made the U21s captain. He was also recently given a three-year contract. Those decisions were made by different people at Charlton. Equally, his older brother, Billy, never went out on loan and by the time he was Zach's age had made more than 60 appearances at a level than we have been up until this season.
There is one other aspect to this. On another thread, someone expressed their disdain at the decision of the parents of a 15 year-old to leave us for Villa with distance between home and the Midlands one of those reasons. How does Zach feel when he's packed off to Scotland and for the second time can't get a minute of first team football at the club he is loaned out to for half a season? Yes he's older but even the most experienced of pros have some self-doubt when things don't go right let alone one who has started eight games in two years through no fault of his own.2 -
Just because he played well at youth level doesnt mean we have handled him wrong, by that metric its millwalls fault Cherno Samba doesnt have a few balon dorsCrispywood said:
Yh because we’ve handled his development all wrong I remember watching his debut at 17 at home to Cheltenham when he was the 2nd best player on the pitch for us that day, in 3 years he hasn’t gotten any better because we’ve only given a bunch of meaningless cup games and some questionable loans, bare in mind this is a time we were watching Inniss Lavelle and Hector at the backStu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.0 -
And stacey long captained england u16s instead of Wayne Rooney who was in that team, that point you make is irrelevant. We shouldnt be writing Mitchell off however he has had the chance to impress at senior level and hasnt so far (in england). How many chances do you propose we give him because he was good at youth level ? Or who do we drop for him ? Also if we just kept him as a back up people would be saying that he shpuld be playing first team football on loan.Addick Addict said:Bostonaddick said:This is the exact situation why we shouldn’t automatically assume that best course of action for our youth are loans. Sometimes it is better to let them develop in the youth setup and occasional cup games. Zach was clearly not ready for his loan to colchester. I can’t imagine what it is like for an 18 year old to be booed off the pitch by home fans and then subsequently be benched for most of the season. Now he is being loaned to a side that has an established starting defense and clearly wasn’t likely to play much. He would have been better off playing for the under 21s.
as for what his potential might be, I have some doubts that it is higher than league one given his lack of pace or strength but it certainly hasn’t helped given the situations he has been put in the last couple of years
Totally agree. Some seem to forget that, at the age of 17, he was made the U21s captain. He was also recently given a three-year contract. Those decisions were made by different people at Charlton. Equally, his older brother, Billy, never went out on loan and by the time he was Zach's age had made more than 60 appearances at a level than we have been up until this season.
There is one other aspect to this. On another thread, someone expressed their disdain at the decision of the parents of a 15 year-old to leave us for Villa with distance between home and the Midlands one of those reasons. How does Zach feel when he's packed off to Scotland and for the second time can't get a minute of first team football at the club he is loaned out to for half a season? Yes he's older but even the most experienced of pros have some self-doubt when things don't go right let alone one who has started eight games in two years through no fault of his own.
The fact of the matter is if he was good enough he wpuld be playing at Hibs and he isnt. I hope itbworks out but its clearly on him.to prove himself at senior level.0 -
This is a fair and accurate view, imo just adding its up to him to prove he deserves game time.thenewbie said:
Yeah but that was one bad performance (in a whole team of bad performances) versus pretty much every other side he's played in.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
He's probably got a way to go before he actually gets to the level some suggest he can reach but I think he's still going to be some player... if we can get him game time.0 -
It's also been posted that Zach has been injured during the first part of this season.Radostanradical said:
This is a fair and accurate view, imo just adding its up to him to prove he deserves game time.thenewbie said:
Yeah but that was one bad performance (in a whole team of bad performances) versus pretty much every other side he's played in.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
He's probably got a way to go before he actually gets to the level some suggest he can reach but I think he's still going to be some player... if we can get him game time.
It would be interesting to hear the situation from Zach himself as I'm pretty sure we're only half of the story thus far.
He is a skilfull young man who whilst his time at Charlton has been 100% dedicated to fighting his way into the 1st team squad. He's Charlton through & through.
He had a rough time at Colchester when their manager changed but as others have correctly stated, he soon became a fans' favourite at St Johnstone ...a shame he's not been able to continue the progress he made there with regular 1st team football.
I sincerely hope that he'll get his opportunity back with us in January. As AA stated, he's been a heck of a way from home for long enough.
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Whilst I agree with the sentiment a lot of what makes players is dealing with adversity thats what footballers have to deal with, how many African players for example have to come to Europe to "Make It".Fanny Fanackapan said:
It's also been posted that Zach has been injured during the first part of this season.Radostanradical said:
This is a fair and accurate view, imo just adding its up to him to prove he deserves game time.thenewbie said:
Yeah but that was one bad performance (in a whole team of bad performances) versus pretty much every other side he's played in.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
He's probably got a way to go before he actually gets to the level some suggest he can reach but I think he's still going to be some player... if we can get him game time.
It would be interesting to hear the situation from Zach himself as I'm pretty sure we're only half of the story thus far.
He is a skilfull young man who whilst his time at Charlton has been 100% dedicated to fighting his way into the 1st team squad. He's Charlton through & through.
He had a rough time at Colchester when their manager changed but as others have correctly stated, he soon became a fans' favourite at St Johnstone ...a shame he's not been able to continue the progress he made there with regular 1st team football.
I sincerely hope that he'll get his opportunity back with us in January. As AA stated, he's been a heck of a way from home for long enough.
Whilst i appreciate the sentiment he is Charlton through and through, it doesnt explain the simple fact that football is a meritocricy and if one is good enough they will make it. I sincerley doubt he is training like prime John Terry and Nathan Jones is going yeah but lets stick with Macca.
Also as for hearing from Zach, one is sure it would be interesting but it would "interesting" to hear from Lyle Taylor, Johnny Williams, Danny Murphy, Francis Jeffers et al it doesnt mean they are right.0 -
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So, on the basis that football is a straightforward meritocracy, as you suggest, I assume you are comfortable when a homegrown talent such as Karlan Grant elects not to sign a new contract in order to move to a club at a higher level? Or when a loanee such as Conor Gallagher is recalled in January by a a PL club from us as an eventually relegated Championship club to one that ultimately makes the play offs. Those players were, after all, good enough to do that. In the same way as no one on earth at CAFC has ever called Defoe something like "Judas" for doing what he did because there was a recognition that West Ham were in a better place at the time.Radostanradical said:
Whilst I agree with the sentiment a lot of what makes players is dealing with adversity thats what footballers have to deal with, how many African players for example have to come to Europe to "Make It".Fanny Fanackapan said:
It's also been posted that Zach has been injured during the first part of this season.Radostanradical said:
This is a fair and accurate view, imo just adding its up to him to prove he deserves game time.thenewbie said:
Yeah but that was one bad performance (in a whole team of bad performances) versus pretty much every other side he's played in.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I hope you're right.Crusty54 said:
Have you ever seen him play?Stu_of_Kunming said:
Or he’s just not very good.Crispywood said:One of the very few players development we have got horribly wrong.
He is a very good player who has been let down by the club.
But I still remember his performance at Cambridge earlier in the season in the Caraboa cup.
It was dire .
He's probably got a way to go before he actually gets to the level some suggest he can reach but I think he's still going to be some player... if we can get him game time.
It would be interesting to hear the situation from Zach himself as I'm pretty sure we're only half of the story thus far.
He is a skilfull young man who whilst his time at Charlton has been 100% dedicated to fighting his way into the 1st team squad. He's Charlton through & through.
He had a rough time at Colchester when their manager changed but as others have correctly stated, he soon became a fans' favourite at St Johnstone ...a shame he's not been able to continue the progress he made there with regular 1st team football.
I sincerely hope that he'll get his opportunity back with us in January. As AA stated, he's been a heck of a way from home for long enough.
Whilst i appreciate the sentiment he is Charlton through and through, it doesnt explain the simple fact that football is a meritocricy and if one is good enough they will make it. I sincerley doubt he is training like prime John Terry and Nathan Jones is going yeah but lets stick with Macca.
Also as for hearing from Zach, one is sure it would be interesting but it would "interesting" to hear from Lyle Taylor, Johnny Williams, Danny Murphy, Francis Jeffers et al it doesnt mean they are right.
We have a duty of care as we would if we signed an African player. This happened not once (when the manager changed at Colchester and he brought a host of his former players into the club in January leaving Mitchell stranded) but now at Hibs to when they were desperate to sign him. Because of injury and the fact that they are third in the SPL, we should be concerned about his progress and mental well being given he is hundreds of miles away from home and not doing what he was sent on loan to do.
I don't think football should ever be that clinical or cynical which is why I raised the hopeful theory that perhaps the reason why Mitchell wasn't in the matchday squad yesterday and hasn't been given a few minutes here and there by Hibs is because we have raised our concerns about his lack of game time and would rather see him going somewhere he is almost guaranteed to play even if that means dropping down to League 2. We've seen what that's done for Kanu and Mbick and Mitchell simply cannot improve as a player sitting in the stand for two years.
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