Triallists tonight (Bangor away)

[WxmFc]

Originally Posted by WREX01

There’s no doubting that the squad is poor. We desperately need 4 decent quality signings to have any chance of the play offs.
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Agreed but Ricketts has said 2 more players and I'm guessing these will be the 'up and coming, promising players with potential', in other words, cheap.

Wonder where all the money has gone?

[Foxy]

Originally Posted by ted the red

If a team struggles to beat Bangor, Airbus & Lex, How the hell can the beat teams in their own league?
Looks like a long season ahead, this manager is clueless

Only seen one of these but the Airbus game was, as it should be, a very comfortable win. The scoreline may not have looked impressive , but that was partly because the entire second half was played with 8 of the youth team.

[corwenred]

Originally Posted by Foxy

Only seen one of these but the Airbus game was, as it should be, a very comfortable win. The scoreline may not have looked impressive , but that was partly because the entire second half was played with 8 of the youth team.

Exactly, I think we'll start seeing what the starting squad will be the Telford game on Saturday, this is the first proper test so if we get seriously out played then it's time to start questioning things.

[Congy Red]

There are some very confused posts on this thread. Pre-season is always confusing but the death of the club cannot be predicted from the planning phase.

We've got better, cleverer passers in midfield and more chances look like being created. Deverdics looks like contributing more.

Holroyd is excellent and Fondop looks as good as the various centre forwards we had last season (perhaps barring Quigley). Its pretty impossible to argue the attack has gone backwards this season, but neither can I argue it will be better.

Rutherford was important last season, but not stellar. If we sign a bigger threat for the right hand side I think we'll reach the playoffs from what has been evident from pre-season. If the formation clicks better than last season's, and I sincerely think it will then top three is likely.

[Omni]

Originally Posted by krux

That doesn't stack up on account of him being a goalkeeper, and not a box to box midfielder.

Unless of course he has let himself go.

It's to do with the periodisation of training. They measure the minutes very strictly, both in training and on the pitch in order to manage and prevent soft tissue injuries. This is why dibble only played 45 mins in the first friendly. Lainton wasn't due to play in Portugal due to not having the requisite minutes under his belt so he was rested as he was exceeding his allotted minutes.

I know this seems very dogmatic but it does seem to work in terms of injury prevention as was proven by our injury record last season and by Premiership teams who use the same model.

[Omni]

Originally Posted by aussiejackoinsaudi

Others say friendlies don't matter, they're only for fitness, I would disagree. Fitness is one component , there are others. As I live in Australia have not seen any games.

When you say others do you mean every manager and coach at every club?

You are right that there are other components to pre-season, such as instilling patterns of play and I would think that most that have seen more than one of the friendlies can testify that our shape and movement is improving.

Yes we have a paper thin squad which is nowhere near strong enough to compete over an entire season, but he players signed so far have improved our quality on the ball compared to last season bar Pyke, but that's because I've not seen enough of him to judge yet.

[Willywill]

For me, pre season friendlies are of very limited importance. After the Lex debacle, I doubt whether I will bother again. My views of the coming season are somewhere between the delusion of Congy Red and the vultures of Phill’s an Alki & Co. I think of the mess that Macclesfield were in last July, with very few signings - they made the best of it. It is worrying to think that I am probably going to see another season where WAFC play safety first footy and give us very little to get excited about. But as the happy clappers say - “we are very lucky to be here”!

[TaidTom]

Originally Posted by Willywill

For me, pre season friendlies are of very limited importance. After the Lex debacle, I doubt whether I will bother again. My views of the coming season are somewhere between the delusion of Congy Red and the vultures of Phill’s an Alki & Co. I think of the mess that Macclesfield were in last July, with very few signings - they made the best of it. It is worrying to think that I am probably going to see another season where WAFC play safety first footy and give us very little to get excited about. But as the happy clappers say - “we are very lucky to be here”!

Out of interest, when was the last time this was actually stated by someone? I'd guess about 2007. We need to move on from this fixation with 'happy clappers'. They're not there, merely a figment of your imagination. As far as I can tell, there's broadly two camps at the moment - those who hope Sam R is going to get it right and are prepared to hold judgement, and then there's those who continually predict he's clueless and we're doomed.

[Funny_Old_Game]

Originally Posted by Congy Red

There are some very confused posts on this thread. Pre-season is always confusing but the death of the club cannot be predicted from the planning phase.

We've got better, cleverer passers in midfield and more chances look like being created. Deverdics looks like contributing more.

Holroyd is excellent and Fondop looks as good as the various centre forwards we had last season (perhaps barring Quigley). Its pretty impossible to argue the attack has gone backwards this season, but neither can I argue it will be better.

Rutherford was important last season, but not stellar. If we sign a bigger threat for the right hand side I think we'll reach the playoffs from what has been evident from pre-season. If the formation clicks better than last season's, and I sincerely think it will then top three is likely.

All of this is assuming Ricketts knows how to manage.

Top 3? We were a mile off that last season with a bigger budget, better players and a manager who knew the league inside out.