Matt Macey Arsenal debut-Compensation due

And theres the difference...Locks has played 200+ first team games and Macey has played a handful (was on loan to Accrington)
Games or cash?

I suspect the other difference is that Matt Macey has been paid a lot more than locks over that period.

I also don't believe he would've got game time here if he had stayed, as a club we always look for a loan goalkeeper rather than trust our own youngsters. Don't doubt he has more first team appearances (and not many at that) than if he'd spent all that time here. No brainer for the lad when arsenal came calling

There is an argument a young goalkeeper is less likely to get first team football at a team like us than a young defender and definitely a young striker. Given the issues of goalies confidence, how they command an area and defence (which is based on maturity and personality) and possibly one mistake destroying a career I think it is maybe more attractive for a goalie to do what Macey has done than an outfield player. Also goalies tend to have longer careers. Spending a few years at Arsenal with no first team football is less of a 'waste' for a goalie than a defender or attacker.

Its not unusual for a very young striker to get first team football compared to a comparable goalie. You can just chuck a striker on and see how he does. Chuck a young goalie on (less substitute appearances) and he makes an complete howler and you can destroy him.

Would I have done what Macey has done, probably. If I had been Tom Lockyer with the same opportunity, I probably would have stayed at Rovers.

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Hardly the fault of the players.

EPPP means its become very easy for top clubs to stockpile young players from the lower leagues at a low cost. No longer does a young player's ability determine their price, which is pretty backward for a league so obsessed by money. The B league idea is a method of furthering this stockpiling while rendering FL academies useless.

If Chelsea/Arsenal/whoever can take a chance on 50 FL academy players, regardless of ability, for £2m under EPPP, its a risk worth taking for them. Not many players will turn down the chance of an Arsenal or a Chelsea if they love football, and I don't blame them regardless of motive.

Yet look at where our talented England U20 side came from - Lookman, Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Cook - all from FL clubs with games under their belts. These players won't excel at senior level unless given games.

Truth is the PL bent the FL over a barrel when EPPP was introduced, big lesson for anyone who thinks the Checkatrade trophy is a fantastic idea. 

Is it?

Look at how many games Jack Butland had played at Matt Macey's current age. Both talented keepers yet one stuck to the Football League and got experience, while one played u23 games and has 15 senior appearances to date. It relates to my point above, experience rather than age is what gets these players into a position where they're mature and confident on the pitch.

Then FL clubs need to show young players a route to the first team. Matt Macey would have seen, and could've asked around, and found out that young keepers at Rovers just get splinters sat on the bench and as soon as the experienced keeper isn't available an emergency keeper is signed often a young reserve keeper from a higher club. Best route for Matt Macey to play first team games for Rovers, sign for Arsenal

Add to that, whilst actually at top clubs these youngsters benefit from coaching that we just can't offer, in Matt's case, how can we compete with the experience of training with keepers like Ospina and Cech.

Who was that young keeper we had a few years back, played cricket in the summer when he wasn't supposed to? Wasting his time here, exactly as you say, as soon as he was needed someone else was brought in over his head.