Mathew Mallon leaves Everton U18s

Seems another stick with which to beat the Academy.

When he was in the Under-15s a couple of years ago, he sustained a stress fracture to his back thanks to his growth that sidelined him for an extended period.

Having finally come back and been fit to kick a ball again for just around 2 months, he suffered the same injury once again – leaving him sidelined for a combined stretch of about 16 months.

There's a lengthy interview with The Echo from October of last year: Meet the teenage Everton defender being fast-tracked after injury hell

Seems impossible to know how good he might become, but he's an example of the attrition rate discussed in recent threads.

After returning from injuries he seemed to make good progress last season getting some minutes from the bench at U23s, but nothing this season. He hasn't featured at u18s recently so likely told a while back he wasn't getting a contract, and we've played Roman Dixon at right back. It's a harsh system but we can't keep them all and he comes over as a solid dependable right back, maybe a League 2 player, good luck to him.

Michael (1), I didn't know about his injuries, you would never tell because he was a whole hearted player and never held back, started many attacks and defended with the same gusto, sorry he wasn't offered another contract with the Blues, wish him the very best at Blackburn, hope he comes through there he deserves some luck after those long months out with injuries, keep at it lad!!

Good luck to him. Will keep an eye out for the name and hope he does well.

I don't know how many games the youth teams have left for the season but this seems a very strange time to leave given there appears to be a shake up at the Academy or can he play for Blackburn? Or are we trying to convince somebody that we are serious about reducing the wage bill? Stop giggling down at the back.

They've only got a few games left, Alan, and their season will be done by the end of the month. He's not an active member of the squad, hasn't been since January, so no point in prolonging things if he can leave now.

I can't imagine he could be registered to play for Blackburn this season. I can imagine it has nothing to do with saving on the wage bill.

Michael(#6); I can understand there being a time limit on signing first team squad members but what is the point of stopping juniors like Mallon and Nkounkou from playing at their age levels (Everton or Blackburn), or are these youth coaches that desperate to have something on their CV?

As the giggling comment was meant to indicate, it is not a serious idea, more an, is there any other possible reason, especially as we seem to have, or getting, a new Academy Head.