Eagles kids should learn from mistakes of others who quit too early (From News Shopper)

Eagles kids should learn from mistakes of others who quit too early

4:08pm Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Crystal Palace

WITH deadline day gone and all of the top names staying at Selhurst Park, Eagles columnist SAM ROSS this looks at some former Palace protégés who moved on too soon.

TUESDAY evening was another busy night for Palace fans but thankfully it wasn’t as eventful as last week's dramatic exit to Cardiff in the Carling Cup.

The Eagles faced their biggest home fixture of the season, as well as dealing with transfer deadline day and the thought of the club’s prized assets being taken from them.

But the 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Brighton saw Nathaniel Clyne and Wilfried Zaha included on the team sheet, drawing a huge sigh of relief from fans.

Palace co-chairman Steve Parish confirmed there wasn't one realistic bid for any of the club’s starlets, most noticeably Zaha and Clyne.

The youngsters had unsurprisingly attracted interest from top Premier League sides, with Clyne reportedly a £3m target for Manchester United.

Clyne, who is not renewing teh contract which expires in the summer, was the only player I feared would leave.

The 20-year-old is clearly keen on a move to a top flight club and more worryingly so, he is ready for it.

Perhaps one saving grace which is helping keeping hold of our youngsters is the failure of former players who have fled the Eagles nest too early and joined Premier League outfits.

The most high profile, John Bostock and Victor Moses, were players with undoubted talent and quality but who were ultimately foolish enough to rush their progress as footballers.

Bostock’s move to Tottenham still annoys Eagles fans and there is probably no-one who regrets it more than the 20-year-old, who has only made 21 league appearances since leaving nearly four-years ago, none for Spurs.

Then what about Moses, whose transfer to Wigan injected some much-needed cash into Palace at the time?

Moses looked destined to become a top flight star, that is perhaps until he joined the Latics, a club which lack ambition and are content at avoiding relegation season after season.

After playing in Charles N'Zogbia’s shadow last year, he has failed to produce what all Palace fans know he can.

Another former Selhurst star is Wayne Routledge, now with Swansea, who managed to score his second ever Premier League goal in January some seven years after netting his first with Palace.

Routledge has struggled to make the leap from the second tier of English football to the top.

Arguably the player who has enjoyed the most success is Ben Watson, who joined Wigan in 2009.

Despite two loan spells to then Championship sides QPR and West Brom, Watson is now enjoying a successful stint at the Latics after playing a key role in their escape from relegation last season.

Young players are often labelled with fearlessness but tales of youngsters, not only at Palace, who have gone in search of Premier League success too soon should stick in the minds of the talented crop coming out of SE25.

Seeing them sit and rot in a reserve side would be a tragic waste.

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