When it comes to taking chances, there are few more adept than Devante Clut. On debut for Brisbane Roar in January 2014, the then 18-year-old scored a cracking volley from distance to level things at 1-1 against Wellington.
On Wednesday night, his first start of the season, he again rewarded his boss.
This time, Roar manager Frans Thijssen was the beneficiary as Clut scored a brace, the second of which sealed a 3-3 draw in an enthralling Asian Champions League match on the Gold Coast.
With his only other senior appearance coming as a substitute against Phoenix in January this season, that’s three goals from as many matches for the 19-year-old.
His impressive debut wasn’t enough to etch his name into Mike Mulvey’s plans last year, but there’s not much more Clut could’ve done to impress Thijssen.
It would have been no easy decision for the Dutchman to rest marquee man Thomas Broich, who has seemingly grown weary after featuring in all eight games since the Asian Cup break. But it appears Thijssen’s fears were quickly allayed by the direct replacement at his disposal.
Clut bagged 11 goals in 15 appearances during the 2014-15 National Youth League competition, steering the Roar to second place, behind champions Melbourne City only on goals scored.
His technical ability, confidence and playmaking prowess made Broich’s omission a far more acceptable prospect.
Following the draw with Suwon Bluewings, Thijssen told Fox Sports, “He did well of course. He’s in the youth team playing the same position every week, it’s better we look to him than to put somebody on that position.
“If you change players in the team, the position game, it’s not the same anymore. If you play with the same team it’s always better. Changing a lot of positions doesn’t help.”
Of course, Clut wasn’t the only member of Roar’s next generation to shine on Wednesday. Fellow teen Brandon Borello continued his breakthrough season with the opener, just a fortnight after scoring the winner against Urawa Reds. It takes the 19-year-old’s goal tally to five from all competitions this season, giving rise to optimism for the Roar’s attacking stocks post-Besart Berisha.
In their midst, the three-time A-League champions have a true goalscoring midfielder and a clinical striker, both of whom will undoubtedly be in the mind of Olyroos coach Aurelio Vidmar for future campaigns.
In relative terms, the youth of Australia have been largely neglected by the A-League since its inception – an odd tactic considering recent developments.
The FFA have proposed for NSW’s National Premier League Youth Divisions 1 and 2 to merge and split by geography, eliminating the presence of relegation and promotion. The objective of this is to supposedly replace the thirst for results with a focus on player development.
Considering there is no such fear of relegation from the A-League, you’d think clubs could afford to take a chance on youngsters and cast an eye on the future more often. But winning still appears to be the most valuable commodity and it’s refreshing to see the newest crop of talent making their mark and changing the mindset, even if it takes banging down the door to get a look in.
Western Sydney’s heavy workload this season has forced Tony Popovic to use a mammoth 33 players; the most recent debutant being 18-year-old Jonathan Aspro.
Jaushua Sotirio has also been given his chance to impress at the Wanderers, while Awer Mabil, Scott Galloway and Daniel De Silva have all continued to establish themselves in the A-League.
But for every success story, there are many talented teens left in the lurch across the NYL and National Premier Leagues. If Clut’s mature performance teaches us anything, it’s that the risk of picking a bright-eyed youngster is very often outweighed by the reward.
Paul
Guest
Their previous squad of journeymen weren't doing much better.
Jeff Williamson
Roar Pro
It's a great thing for Australian football to see young players rise up through the youth system. The challenge for them is to get a professional contract. And that's not easy.
Bob
Guest
Roar have generally done well bringing kids through unlike some other clubs, and they do seem to have a crop of young talent on the brink of breaking through at the moment as well.
Bfc
Guest
The Roar systems week to be producing a ongoing list of young talent (John Simes has the NYL side playing the same high pressing and possession based football as the HAL side, against men in the NPL...so the tactical transition seems to be seamless..). The Roar NYL side may not win the Qld NPL but the players are certainly learning the 'system' and developing... No financial reward for the club if the kids sign with other HAL clubs (like the MVFC) so an overseas transfer is a better deal for the club (Oar, Sarota, Zullo, McKay, DeVere, Yeboah, Smith...). Perhaps a 'salary cap discount' should be factored in for players developed by clubs via their Youth systems? Maybe time to make Brattan the 'local' marquee player as he is way more influential on the way the team plays than McKay and it is only a matter of time before he heads overseas...
Liongeart
Guest
umm, how many goals has Broich assisted in this year? I'm sure you'll find it's a lot more than your statement leads us to think. Just the previous ACL game, which Roar won, two goals were scored off his passes, including one by Borrello.
The Bear
Guest
Broich needs to really forge a relationship with his strikers more. Berisha and Broich partnership was successful because Berisha could receive and shoot in one motion. Time to see what the Solo, Ricky and /or new guy can do. Who will make way for Devante? Someone has to ...
Rob Gremio
Roar Pro
except that Broich is our best player by a long, long way. The kids have much promise - Clut has done well every time he has been given an opportunity, and Borello is just brilliant. With Broich getting older and needing to be rested occasionally, Clut will get his chances now - especially if he can put together the types of performances he has provided when given chances previously. Exciting times in Brisbane. They need to make sure Clut and Borello have nice 2 or 3 year contracts now, though!
Ben
Guest
Championship. It sounds better (to me).
The Bear
Guest
I think Tyson will have a selection dilemma now. He has no loyalty or allegiances to Broich. This kid will leave if we can not use him. Like Gerria did !!
Bob
Guest
Roar can afford to experiment but if they make the top 6 they are good enough to win it, there's no standout favourite this year, so there is a need for balance
Bob
Guest
That's pretty much it ... if nothing changes, nothing will change!
Waz
Guest
Oi, we've every intention of winning the Grand Final thank you very much !!
Waz
Guest
Or squads like Roars with five good young kids? I take your point, it's worthy of attention as a problem to fix tho
Franko
Guest
Would love to see Borello and Clut play out the rest of the season. BR aren't going to win it, heck they may not even make the finals so why not develop talent for next season and beyond.
Franko
Guest
Yeboah leaving was fair enough, Brisbane get $2-300k for him and hopefully a lot of knock on additions to that fee. What Bob correctly points out that if Yeboah stayed, he could easily have been poached by another club and Brisbane would have received nothing. It seems the FFA need to put something in place to ensure that if clubs take the time to develop the next Rogic / Kruse / Leckie and then have the guts to debut them, they are appropriately rewarded when that player moves on. One of the main objectives for the A-League is to produce tomorrows Socceroos. You won't do that whilst clubs get nothing out of it.
Lionheart
Guest
Yes, remember another Roar youngster in Kwame Yeboah who was snatched by a German club after making a mark in the senior team. Clut and Borrello seem special.
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
FFA could and should tighten up on the injury replacement rule - and then the A-League will have squads like the current Newcastle Jets - inexperienced and lacking talent.
Bondy
Guest
The young boys played well again for Brisbane last night . You never know if you dont give kids a go .
Bob
Guest
The biggest issue with youth development is there is no security in doing it: if a club develops a young kid the rest of the HAL looks on and as soon as the contract is up he's signed elsewhere (especially by the great parasite in the South, Melbourne Victory who have turned poaching other teams best players in to an art form). This is not an issue unique to the HAL but it's an issue worthy of looking at - there must be a better system that's fair to the young player and fair to the club that developed him? Impressed with Roar this season, quite a crop of young talent they have there!
Waz
Guest
As you say, for a league without relegation it's odd that more younger players aren't used. I think the FFA could and should tighten up on the injury replacement rule - why bother developing youth if you can get a journeyman replacement? Perhaps the first injury replacement has to come from the youth squad and the second elsewhere and so on ... Roar are doing an excellent job and Theijssen signalled his intent when he backed Donachie over Smith in the Adelaide game and Brown over Steffanuto generally and of course Borrello is in the form of his life, more so for the way he's playing each game than the goals he's grabbing imo