Ian, it was me who said that and I think we all realise now that the players we had in League One were half decent.
On youth development, Cole Stockton is an interesting case. He seems to have been on the scene for years even though he's only 22. That's because he and Jake Kirby are our longest serving players by far and both made their debuts aged 17 under Ronnie Moore. The following season, Cole played 31 times in League One, then 21 times in the season we got relegated. Ronnie used to rate him quite highly but I think he fell out of favour with John McMahon. As I remember, he played a lot for Rob Edwards (who had no money and was told to develop the youngsters) and then hardly got a game when Micky Adams arrived. Last season, he was given a few chances by GB before ending up on loan at Morecambe.
RLC makes a fair point in his last post. In fairness, Ronnie also played him quite a lot for a young player, but when the team was in trouble, McMahon and Adams just brought in outsiders. Cole has had several chances to impress over the years but has only managed 9 goals in 81 appearances for Rovers. That's disappointing, even though many were substitutions. However, he's scored about 10 in 35 for Southport and Morecambe. As RLC says, changing managers so often can't help, but I would add that McMahon, Adams and Brabin were risk averse and preferred experienced outsiders (wrongly, in my view).
I doubt he'll play again for Rovers. We now have so many strikers that when his loan ends at Christmas it will either be extended or he'll be transferred. At the end of the season, his contract will be up and he'll surely be off.