Kids watch: Eccleston does the trick, Hammill continues Saint futility, Anderson settles for assists, & more

Nathan Eccleston is looking more and more the business. The 16-year-old Manchester product netted three more goals today in the U18s 5-0 annihilation of West Brom. The same West Brom that held them scoreless just a month-and-half ago. That brings the young striker's tally to 15 in 16 matches. Did I mention that in three of those matches he played less than a total of 120 minutes? The kid's scoring pace has been impressive to say the least. Just imagine our side five years from now if he, David Amoo, Marvin Pourie, Gary Mackay-Steven, and the whole plethora of young International hopefuls continue to progress and develop into Premiership-quality players. We're going to be world-beaters even if a fraction of them 'make it'.

(Oh, by the way, my friend Ciara wanted me to mention that Michael 'Fekkin' Magic' Collins also scored. Typical Irish.)

The thing about Eccleston is that he didn't come with all the hype that accompanied most of our other Academites. I wouldn't necessarily say he came out of nowhere, but he did work his way from a player who wasn't even on the bench at the beginning of the season to playing every minute of our last 13 matches. That is deserving of recognition and commendation alone. In the article I linked above, Hugh McAuley seems to hint at the 16-year-old possibly already moving up the ladder and playing for the Reserves as early as this spring, an impressive feat nonetheless.

Apparently, England has no talent at the youth level, which is easily rubbished by pointing out Eccleston. He plays on a youth side with players from all over the world, Dean Bouzanis is an Aussie, Shane O'Connor and Michael Collins are Irish, Ayala is Spanish, Astrit Ajdarevic and Alexander Kacaniklic are Swedish, Gary Mackay-Steven is Scottish, and Marvin Pourie is from Germany. Pourie and Collins are both forwards as well, competing for time with the Manchester kid, but despite the German's prolific scoring record, he now sits second fiddle to the Englishman.

Since I'm on the subject of the Academy, I was wondering where all our other 'baby galaticos' are? It appears Argentine ace, Gerardo Bruna, despite being just 16, will train with the first team and get some time with the Reserves. Finnish wonderkid, Lauri Dalla Valle, also 16, arrives in January and it is rumored that he'll do the same and young Spanish star, Dani Pacheco, 17, has seen minimal time with the Reserves already. Who knows about Ayala, he might be injured, but I haven't heard much of him lately.

I'm beginning to wonder if Southampton is the right fit for Adam Hammill. Just when it looked as if he was settling in after a two assist outing, leading the Saints to a 4-0 thrashing of Hull, he was essentially a non-factor in his club's 1-1 draw at Coventry. In fact, he was taken off the pitch in the 68th minute with the score at one apiece. At least it ended in a draw. The Saints next play a home fixture on Saturday with Preston, the team of none-other-than Neil Mellor who scored just his second goal of the campaign this season, helping the Lilywhites defeat Burnley.

Paul Anderson has decided to no longer score goals and now just set them up. The 19-year-old Wirral wonder got two more assists today to help Swansea win 3-0 at the Liberty over Southend. Anderson only played 59 minutes before being replaced by Thomas Butler. With Leyton Orient taking it up the arse, 0-1 at the hands of Carlisle, the Swans now sit all alone atop the League One table, a point and a goal clear of the aforementioned Cumbrians, which they travel to on Saturday. Anderson, like Hammill at Dunfermline last season, appears to be turning me into a Swans supporter. Hell, if Rafa goes, this blog will be changed to Swans Banter?

Since Hartlepool wasn't playing a side that featured another Liverpool player on-loan, they won, 3-0. Godwin Antwi started and played the full ninety. The Monkey Hangers head to Swindon next Saturday. Finally, Ryan Flynn failed to make the bench for Hereford. Shocker.

Kids watch: Academy kids destroy Wycombe, Southampton finally wins with Hammill, Antwi loses to Peltier, & more

The U18s began their double defence of the FA Youth Cup with a resounding 5-0 shellacking of Wycombe. The Wanderers were undefeated in thirteen contests coming in while racking up a ridiculous +27 goal difference. Though they managed to hold our boys for the first half, an explosion of goals in the second, led by a brace from Nathan Eccleston, crushed the young Chairboys' hopes and dreams of the upset. I was utterly shocked to read about this win, especially considering Wycombe's dominance of all previous comers and the fact that it was at their house. Here are some other pics from the contest.

Adam Hammill may have finally had the match that gives him the belief of shining in the Championship. The flashy left-winger set up at least two goals and possibly three in the Saints 4-0 demolition of Hull City last Saturday. The most important aspect is that his side won, a first when the 19-year-old starts. Hopefully this will give George Burnley confidence in the youngster to make him a regular starter.

Godwin Antwi has continued his futile streak when it comes to on-loan 'derbies'. The twenty-year-old has now been on the third losing side of Hartlepool when they face a club featuring another Liverpool player on-loan. This time it was Lee Peltier and Yeovil Town thrashing the Monkey Hangers, 3-1, at Huish Park. I'm not sure if it's a continued sign of hard luck or an emphasis of his value to the side, but after going up 1-0, Antwi had to go off the pitch to receive treatment and while his side was down to ten men, the Glovers scored a pair to take the lead. Both players played the full ninety.

Swansea is on a roll and though Anderson has cooled off on his goal-scoring pace, when the 19-year-old Wirral product plays, the Swans usually get a result. In fact, they are undefeated in his last 19 appearances. Unbelievable. Their lastest match was a 6-2 drubbing of Horsham in the FA Cup. Though Anderson failed to net, he did have one disallowed for reasons unknown and assisted on at least one other. The Swans still sit atop the League One table with a match-in-hand and a considerable goal difference differential of 13 over table top sharers, Leyton Orient. They play Southend at the Liberty on Saturday.

Finally, Danny Guthrie played the full match in Bolton's 4-1 win over Wigan at the Reebok. The 20-year-old failed to score, but did collect his first career Premiership booking. Ryan Flynn has still yet to feature for Hereford and if you haven't heard, Besian Idrizaj, Craig Lindfield, and essentially Robbie Threlfall, have all concluded their loan spells. Cheerio.

Today's Banter: The kids crush Bolton, Carson gone, God may need surgery, & Agger almost back

It's a match day so I'm not going to indulge as much as usual. First off, the Academy hailed brimstone and fire on the young Wanderers of Bolton to secure a 5-2 victory. Nathan Eccleston and David Amoo notched a brace apiece with Marvin Pourie adding the fifth. You know, I've heard of the latter two kids, but this Eccleston seems to be the business. Hopefully he'll continue to develop and progress so if he ever gets to the first team, we can stick it to the Mancs about stealing one of their own right out from under them. They can have their Cofie and biscuits and shove them you know where. Anyhow, youth coach Hugh McAuley was pleased with the scoring output, but disappointed that the clean sheet wasn't kept.

Well, it's looking more and more like a done deal that our keeper/super-model extraordinairre, Scott Carson, may be making his loan to Aston Villa permanent. Apparently we've agreed to terms with Martin O'Neill's side. I have mixed feelings about this as I think Carson is as good if not better than Reina, but the Spaniard is always going to get the nod with Rafa calling the shots. Hopefully we're getting a respectable chunk of change for him and can use that money to sign Masche permanently. In any case, I'm gonna dread when we have to face the Villans from now on, just another keeper with more cause to shut us down.

Word out of Cardiff is that Robbie Fowler is having hip issues. So much so that he may need surgery to fix the problem. Details are far and few between, but God is traveling to Germany sometime next week to see a specialist. He's the same guy that treated Michael Owen and Ronaldo, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Hopefully it's not as bad as thought and he'll be back to fitness in no time.

Speaking of getting back to fitness, the return of Danny Agger after the international break looks highly likely. The Dane has returned to training and as soon as he gets to fine fettle, he'll be back on the pitch for us. Maybe he'll feature for the Reserves on Tuesday, who knows, but we need him back ASAP. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Nasri?, Benayoun content being super sub, Eccleston comes through, & more

- According to this article, we're going to make a £10m bid for French superstar Samir Nasri. Bullocks. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice to have him, but first off, he primarily plays central midfield and we're kind of loaded in that department. He is versatile enough to play the wings as well, but unless he's going to be content sharing time there, he won't approve the transfer. Finally, if he's as good as advertised, I kind of doubt £10m will be enough to snag him. French players are usually bargains (unless Houllier is the buyer), but that sounds a bit low. Unfortunately, we won't get a look at the 20-year-old when Marseilles come to Anfield on Wednesday as he is convalescing from flu-like symptoms.

- Yossi Benayoun, the only player who felt like scoring for us on Saturday, has proclaimed that he's content being a super sub. It's good to see Yossi have a change of heart from his early season tantrum about not getting enough playing time. He really shows class in that article and its a real testament to our side to have such quality in depth. He should be our starter on the right come Wednesday, that is if Harry Kewell isn't miraculously back from injury and Babel is available.

- Nathan Eccleston lead the way with a brace as the Academy beat Stoke City 3-2. Joe Kennedy scored the other goal. The kids now sit at 3-2 for the season though still have -1 goal difference. Their next match is Saturday when they travel to Blackburn.

- After bagging the next Lionel Messi in 16-year-old Gerardo Bruna, we're apparently tracking Irish Starlet James McCarthy and may make an offer for him at the end of the season. The 16-year-old Hamilton Accies midfielder is the youngest ever scorer for his club and has attracted attention from seemingly every club on the planet.

- Finally, Djibril Cisse can't wait for Wednesday when he makes his return to Anfield in a Marseilles shirt. The 26-year-old French striker said he was on the phone with Stevie-G the moment he found out about the draw. He also said some nice (and true) things about our captain like calling him the best midfielder in the world. Bolo Zenden also plays for Marseilles. Hopefully he'll give the average Anfield performance and be more of a burden to his own side. Cheers.