Old Luggy took a gamble at the weekend when he handed teenage defensive midfielder Alex Woodyard his senior debut at the Pirelli Stadium against Burton Albion.
A gamble that you would have to say didn't pay off as, sadly, he only lasted a half in the disappointing 3-1 loss, and was handed a tough looking 4 out of 10 by, er, me.
You can only give what you see, and even in a suspension and injury hit squad this was, literally, a boy v men for the second year scholar.
The Shrimpers manager Paul Sturrock though felt he was right to take the risk.
Luggy told www.echo-news.co.uk: "Alex didn't let anyone down in there but he did find the pace of the game hard, like any player would making their debut at his age. I just took him off to make sure he didn't have a bad taste in his mouth but he has done well for us this season and deserved his chance."
Still, Alex has been in cracking form for Ricky Duncan's Under-18's and certainly deserved his promotion into the squad, if not maybe a straight replacement for the in-form but five yellow carded Anthonty Grant, who will be back for Cheltenham Tuesday evening.
Even so, with the confidence of youth he's not going to let a half-time substituion get him down, the Kent-based lad wants more!
Also speaking to the Echo Alex said: "I was really pleased to be in the team but it would have been better if we had got a good result. The manager told me on the morning of the match that I would be starting and I was a bit nervous to start with. The style of play was more physical than I had been used to and Burton were just a bit sharper and better than us, which was frustrating. They won more of the second balls but hopefully I can get another chance in the team again soon and we can get a better result."
You can only give what you see, and even in a suspension and injury hit squad this was, literally, a boy v men for the second year scholar.
The Shrimpers manager Paul Sturrock though felt he was right to take the risk.
Luggy told www.echo-news.co.uk: "Alex didn't let anyone down in there but he did find the pace of the game hard, like any player would making their debut at his age. I just took him off to make sure he didn't have a bad taste in his mouth but he has done well for us this season and deserved his chance."
Still, Alex has been in cracking form for Ricky Duncan's Under-18's and certainly deserved his promotion into the squad, if not maybe a straight replacement for the in-form but five yellow carded Anthonty Grant, who will be back for Cheltenham Tuesday evening.
Even so, with the confidence of youth he's not going to let a half-time substituion get him down, the Kent-based lad wants more!
Also speaking to the Echo Alex said: "I was really pleased to be in the team but it would have been better if we had got a good result. The manager told me on the morning of the match that I would be starting and I was a bit nervous to start with. The style of play was more physical than I had been used to and Burton were just a bit sharper and better than us, which was frustrating. They won more of the second balls but hopefully I can get another chance in the team again soon and we can get a better result."
The Woodyard Files
www.shrimperstrust.co.uk/home.asp?page_id=236