Sheffield Wednesday youngster Bailey Cadamarteri is yet to make his Championship debut for the Owls, despite his impressive form for the youth sides.
Sheffield Wednesday are in need of goals. The Owls have scored just five all season and remain without a win after losing 1-0 away at Watford in what was Danny Rohl’s first game in charge last weekend.
And the lack of goals and form has led many fans to call for youngster Cadamarteri to be given a chance in the first-team.
The 18-year-old has been in prolific form the club’s U21s this season and was named on the bench for the goalless draw vs Huddersfield Town before this month’s international break.
He didn’t make his debut though, and he was left out of Rohl’s match day squad at Vicarage Road last weekend.
And having his say on Cadamarteri and why he might not be involved at the minute, Joe Crann said on the Owls Heaven Podcast:
“Look, he’s scored 11 goals in nine games this season, he scored another one against Coventry; he’s literally scored half of the 21s’ goals this season. Thommo [Neil Thompson] obviously, he’s seen him every day, he thought he was good enough to bring up for the Huddersfield game.
“The problem is, as is always the case in youth football; I’ve watched Bailey playing for the 18s and he always stuck out. Last season he found it quite difficult in the 21s. I think a lot of people thought he scored a lot more goals last season than he actually did, because people were talking about him, because West Ham were looking at one point, I think Brentford were looking at him another point, so because of all this hype around Bailey, there was a lot of: “Get him up to the first-team, get him playing”.
“But I do think in these sorts of case, you have to stand by the managers and the coaches. They’re the ones who’ll see it.”
A chance calling for Cadamarteri?
It’s easy to get carried away with young players when they’re doing so well at youth level. And it’s also easy to forget that Cadamarteri is only 18 years old, so the time might not be right for him to make his debut no matter how many goals he’s scoring.
And like Crann says; fans don’t see the behind the scenes at the club, so expect the coaches and staff to have a much better understanding of when Cadamarteri might be able to come into the first-team and make an impact.
He’s certainly on his way there and it’s likely that we’ll see him in action at some point this season. And for Cadamarteri, coming into a side struggling for form and struggling for goals; he could make a real name for himself if he can get on the scoresheet and impress.
Sheffield Wednesday take on Plymouth Argyle tonight.