Newcastle United’s U23’s under the guidance of Ben Dawson reached the quarter-final of the Checkatrade Trophy last season only to be knocked out by a full-strength Sunderland side.
The team last year included Matty Longstaff and Elias Sorensen, but one of those has broken into the first team, and the other is on loan at Carlisle United.
Last night the Magpies’ youngsters travelled to Shrewsbury knowing only a win would keep them in the competition, but they fell to a 3-0 defeat, and Neil Redfearn looks to have taken the development side backwards.
Redfearn’s team have only won two games in the league, and they have lost every group game of the Leasing.com Trophy.
Last year under Dawson, the youth side performed well and reached the playoff final as well as a cup final, but this year they are struggling, and this latest result is just another setback for the youth team.
Last season the academy had some great success with bringing players through to the first team, but none of the current group look like they could make the step up, and failing in this competition is unlikely to help their development.