Today's game

first of all bear in mind it was town's first outing after a couple of weeks training. rotherham are a week or two ahead in terms of prep. As always ignore the scoreline. Here are my player comments for what they are worth:
Arthur: played 90 mins. Looked ok. No real chance with the goals. Kicking good
Connor Marshall. first time I have seen this young man. Put in an assured 45 mins at RB. Showed good composure. Caught out of position a couple of times.
Garner. Looked super fit. Played 90 mins high energy. Out of position a few times.
I'Anson. As per end of last season
Wood. Even though a friendly, took no prisoners
Pearson. Very strong in the air. A real threat at set pieces in opposition box, Again positionally not always right.
Silk. Played second 45mins. Did not do a lot wrong without being spectacular. Did not get forward much
Church. Played 90 mins. High energy, worked hard and broke up play.
Disley. played first 45 mins. A class act. He got the ball down and played it. Every pass he made went to a town shirt.
Thanoj. 2nd 45. OK never took control though
Artus. Clearly talented, Some good touches played in a central 3 not sure this is his best position. Needs more time and space.
Eagle. A typical Rob Eagle 45 mins. Not very penetrating but put in bags of effort.
Spencer. A big tough target man. won plenty in the air. Clearly not fit but could see what his game is about.
Mulready. 1st 45mins. Tried hard but not very effective. Did not have a goal scoring chance
Duffy. put in the effort, mainly flick ons, but looked interested and tried to create. His goal was a tap in.
Hearn. looks a really good prospect. Unlucky not to score. Good control, quick with a real eye for goal. His shot from edge of area was good which led to the goal.
Coulson. Steady, not at his sharp best. But we know what he can do
Makefo. Excited the crowd. Worked really hard to win the ball and made a few good runs. Looks like he was trying hard to impress. control still not quite there though.

Team spirit looked good, match fitness will make a huge difference as will more experience of playing together. The squad has talent and there are some good flexible options.

Sorry if I have missed anyone out. The new recruits fitted the pre-season billing as to what they are about.

Quiet man Hearn has the makings of a new hero

Although billed as a friendly it was little in evidence , some very meaty challenge's, pushing and studds showing from Rotherham must have been a rude awakening for some of our new boys.
I thought it was a good work out , and we were unlucky in the second half not to score more .
The first half we looked like a non league side , players in wrong positions . Second half we upped the tempo against a side who had been together for a few seasons. In all , I'm positive that our management team will gell the squad into an exciting team.

Some summarys correct but didn't think our lad Marna was used to controlling a football as evident as it seems today.

Showed alot of passion and commitmend which was pleasing to see

More hope and joy today than a long time. New boys as expected and hoped. Promising and with the money from AC meaning we can afford Kaka for 3 days who knows!!

1st half.

................Arthur
Marshall.....Garner....I'Anson.....Wood
Coulson.....Church....Disley.....Eagle
...........Spencer....Mulready

2nd half.
..................McKeown
Silk........Garner.....Pearson....Wood/Marshall
........Church....Thanoj....Artus
Hearn.............Duffy..........Makofo

Player ratings

Arthur 7 - Decent kicking, Like McKoewn rarely gave it short. Not sure what to report.

Marshall 8 - First time I've seen a player subbest then come back on again !
Seems to have a good all round game and thought he was one of the best players 1st half.
Positionally got caught a little when pushing out of defence but probably deserves a 1 year contract on this showing.
Like Wood, didn't look 100% comfortable on the left side.

Garner 8 - Hungry, competent, continues to grow from last season. Committed himself for the 2nd goal but also tackled well with a 1 on 1, good in the air and doesn't detract from a confident performance. Think he's captain material after he skippered England C.

I'Anson 7 - Unorthodox but effective enough. Still learning his trade and did nothign wrong except for 1 giveaway. Good attitude, keen as mustard.

Wood 7 - Once again exposed at times left side. Lack of pace looks accentuated when playing this side.
Now once again convinced we need a back up left back for Ridley.
Sprayed a fantastic ball 1st half but equally a lot of blind hoofs. Not his best ever game but can't complain.

Coulson 5.5 - A few nice touches but looked slightly out of sorts today and unconvincing right side.
As I've said before, like Eagle I don't think he's a wide player and think we need to seriously consider ditching the wide men and going 3-5-2(with attacking wingbacks/midfielders) unless we get proper wingers in.

Church 7.5 - Impressed with his attitude and workrate. Good off the ball running and closing down. Some passes went astray but was vocal and you couldn't fault his effort. Get the feeling he may need to improve the technical side of his game. Started to look tired 2nd half, but not suprising given the effort ! Greedy free kick blazed over the bar ! Will do well I think.

Disley - 8 Mr Composure has obvious ability and looks to have a touch of class. Didn't set the world on fire, just played it sensibly into the space. Think there's a lot more to come and looks a good signing !

Eagle - 6 Largely anonomous. Like Coulson I really think he needs to play more centrally to pose a goal threat.  

Spencer 7.5 - Target man in the air as you would expect. Signs he's more than a just big lump and his ball control and pace were better than I expected.

Mulready 7 - Some nice touches and worked hard to hold the ball up sometimes without success. Looks a shade lightweight. Not a chance of him winning anythign in the air. Didn't see any shots to judge him on. Needs to step up to find a 1st team place !

McKeown 6.5 - Like Arthur, I didn't see either goalkeeper really make a save but slightly disappointed he didn't save Rotherhams 3rd because I could see the backflick coming and thought he should have anticipated it better. Too early to judge though !

Silk 7 - Not blaming him hust hardly saw him involved at all.

Pearson 7.5 - Committed and good in the air as you'd expect. Maybe unfair but maybe didn't look quite as commanding as Garner was to me. Definite threat at set pieces and will score his fair share. Quite slow and struggles to get back after attacking set pieces so we need to be aware of that.

Thanoj 7 - Worked hard enough and some nice little passes but not overly involved in the thick of the action. Will improve with time.

Artus 7 - Some will say he had a poor game because of misplaced passes but I like this kid !
Played a lovely ball to Hearn with the outside of his foot and whilst his passing went astray, he was showing the right idea of trying to move the ball into space. Showed some nice bits of individual skill too. Blew hot and cold but has the potential to do well IMO. Set pieces reasonable.

Hearn 8 - Not the "battering ram" I was expecting but has pace, is tricky(ish), decnt in the air and able to hold the ball up. Signs first touch needs working on but we are only in the 1st pre-season game !
Before he hit the post that led to Duffy's follow up goal, you could see the first thing on his mind was to cut inside and try to score. I like it !
So much hype over him not quite the force I thought he;d be but not that far off !
No doubt this guy WILL score goals, but whether it will be hatfuls is another question.

Duffy 8.5(MOM) - The class act for me today. Forget the goal(though it wasn't a tap in) his touch looks very polished and won almost everything in the air often goign to player !
That said he wasn't up against Rotherhams 1st choice centre back pairing but if he plays like that every week we will have a solid, reliable piece in the jigsaw on which to expand on. Now wondering if it could be worth playing 2 target men up front... !?

Makofo 8 - Dodgy start but grew as the game went on. His touch can look awful but the ball has a habit of sticking to his foot so like the player, I think his skills and threat is underestimated(alwats said so).
Played the right passes at the right times. Certainly has the potential to cause defences problems, though you just wonder if he's gonna deliver. Time will tell but he's certainly the "different option" Woods talked about.
No lack of effort in the tackiling department or in the air and overall, answered his critics well today.
  
Conclusion:

Ths most pleasing thing about today was the amount of commitment on show. Never seen so many tackles being made and most of the time we won them. And that's not just the defenders that's every player on the pitch.
Good workrates and attitudes all round though we did seem to go stale for brief periods.
I got the impression we need to work just as hard WITH the ball as we did without it and hope they can instill this into the players. Lack of movement at throw ins was a bit disappointing.

Plenty to like and very early days but didn't come away from Blundell Park as positive as I hoped even though it looks like Scott and Hurst have already planted a very good ethos of hard work and commitment into the side(well done !)  
Just wonder if we're a touch short of "quality" but right now I'm a lot more concerned about the effectiveness of the wide players and left back cover.
Anyway, it's very early days and Rotherham were a very good side(though the scoreline doesn't quite tell the whole story as we had a goal disallowed, hit the bar and had a few goalmouth scrambles) but we will need to step up in terms of team balance and gameplan in the coming weeks.

I'm not rushing to the bookies just yet but all in all, a good day.

UTM.

Oops I wasn't sure if it was Arthur or McKeown in goal 2nd half. Sorry !  

Quoted from 1600

1st half.

................Arthur
Marshall.....Garner....I'Anson.....Wood
Coulson.....Church....Disley.....Eagle
...........Spencer....Mulready

2nd half.
..................McKeown
Silk........Garner.....Pearson....Wood/Marshall
........Church....Thanoj....Artus
Hearn.............Duffy..........Makofo

Player ratings

Arthur 7 - Decent kicking, Like McKoewn rarely gave it short. Not sure what to report.

Marshall 8 - First time I've seen a player subbest then come back on again !
Seems to have a good all round game and thought he was one of the best players 1st half.
Positionally got caught a little when pushing out of defence but probably deserves a 1 year contract on this showing.
Like Wood, didn't look 100% comfortable on the left side.

Garner 8 - Hungry, competent, continues to grow from last season. Committed himself for the 2nd goal but also tackled well with a 1 on 1, good in the air and doesn't detract from a confident performance. Think he's captain material after he skippered England C.

I'Anson 7 - Unorthodox but effective enough. Still learning his trade and did nothign wrong except for 1 giveaway. Good attitude, keen as mustard.

Wood 7 - Once again exposed at times left side. Lack of pace looks accentuated when playing this side.
Now once again convinced we need a back up left back for Ridley.
Sprayed a fantastic ball 1st half but equally a lot of blind hoofs. Not his best ever game but can't complain.

Coulson 5.5 - A few nice touches but looked slightly out of sorts today and unconvincing right side.
As I've said before, like Eagle I don't think he's a wide player and think we need to seriously consider ditching the wide men and going 3-5-2(with attacking wingbacks/midfielders) unless we get proper wingers in.

Church 7.5 - Impressed with his attitude and workrate. Good off the ball running and closing down. Some passes went astray but was vocal and you couldn't fault his effort. Get the feeling he may need to improve the technical side of his game. Started to look tired 2nd half, but not suprising given the effort ! Greedy free kick blazed over the bar ! Will do well I think.

Disley - 8 Mr Composure has obvious ability and looks to have a touch of class. Didn't set the world on fire, just played it sensibly into the space. Think there's a lot more to come and looks a good signing !

Eagle - 6 Largely anonomous. Like Coulson I really think he needs to play more centrally to pose a goal threat.  

Spencer 7.5 - Target man in the air as you would expect. Signs he's more than a just big lump and his ball control and pace were better than I expected.

Mulready 7 - Some nice touches and worked hard to hold the ball up sometimes without success. Looks a shade lightweight. Not a chance of him winning anythign in the air. Didn't see any shots to judge him on. Needs to step up to find a 1st team place !

McKeown 6.5 - Like Arthur, I didn't see either goalkeeper really make a save but slightly disappointed he didn't save Rotherhams 3rd because I could see the backflick coming and thought he should have anticipated it better. Too early to judge though !

Silk 7 - Not blaming him hust hardly saw him involved at all.

Pearson 7.5 - Committed and good in the air as you'd expect. Maybe unfair but maybe didn't look quite as commanding as Garner was to me. Definite threat at set pieces and will score his fair share. Quite slow and struggles to get back after attacking set pieces so we need to be aware of that.

Thanoj 7 - Worked hard enough and some nice little passes but not overly involved in the thick of the action. Will improve with time.

Artus 7 - Some will say he had a poor game because of misplaced passes but I like this kid !
Played a lovely ball to Hearn with the outside of his foot and whilst his passing went astray, he was showing the right idea of trying to move the ball into space. Showed some nice bits of individual skill too. Blew hot and cold but has the potential to do well IMO. Set pieces reasonable.

Hearn 8 - Not the "battering ram" I was expecting but has pace, is tricky(ish), decnt in the air and able to hold the ball up. Signs first touch needs working on but we are only in the 1st pre-season game !
Before he hit the post that led to Duffy's follow up goal, you could see the first thing on his mind was to cut inside and try to score. I like it !
So much hype over him not quite the force I thought he;d be but not that far off !
No doubt this guy WILL score goals, but whether it will be hatfuls is another question.

Duffy 8.5(MOM) - The class act for me today. Forget the goal(though it wasn't a tap in) his touch looks very polished and won almost everything in the air often goign to player !
That said he wasn't up against Rotherhams 1st choice centre back pairing but if he plays like that every week we will have a solid, reliable piece in the jigsaw on which to expand on. Now wondering if it could be worth playing 2 target men up front... !?

Makofo 8 - Dodgy start but grew as the game went on. His touch can look awful but the ball has a habit of sticking to his foot so like the player, I think his skills and threat is underestimated(alwats said so).
Played the right passes at the right times. Certainly has the potential to cause defences problems, though you just wonder if he's gonna deliver. Time will tell but he's certainly the "different option" Woods talked about.
No lack of effort in the tackiling department or in the air and overall, answered his critics well today.
  
Conclusion:

Ths most pleasing thing about today was the amount of commitment on show. Never seen so many tackles being made and most of the time we won them. And that's not just the defenders that's every player on the pitch.
Good workrates and attitudes all round though we did seem to go stale for brief periods.
I got the impression we need to work just as hard WITH the ball as we did without it and hope they can instill this into the players. Lack of movement at throw ins was a bit disappointing.

Plenty to like and very early days but didn't come away from Blundell Park as positive as I hoped even though it looks like Scott and Hurst have already planted a very good ethos of hard work and commitment into the side(well done !)  
Just wonder if we're a touch short of "quality" but right now I'm a lot more concerned about the effectiveness of the wide players and left back cover.
Anyway, it's very early days and Rotherham were a very good side(though the scoreline doesn't quite tell the whole story as we had a goal disallowed, hit the bar and had a few goalmouth scrambles) but we will need to step up in terms of team balance and gameplan in the coming weeks.

I'm not rushing to the bookies just yet but all in all, a good day.

UTM.

Good post mate i'd agree with that

Quoted from 1600

1st half.

................Arthur
Marshall.....Garner....I'Anson.....Wood
Coulson.....Church....Disley.....Eagle
...........Spencer....Mulready

2nd half.
..................McKeown
Silk........Garner.....Pearson....Wood/Marshall
........Church....Thanoj....Artus
Hearn.............Duffy..........Makofo

Player ratings

Arthur 7 - Decent kicking, Like McKoewn rarely gave it short. Not sure what to report.

Marshall 8 - First time I've seen a player subbest then come back on again !
Seems to have a good all round game and thought he was one of the best players 1st half.
Positionally got caught a little when pushing out of defence but probably deserves a 1 year contract on this showing.
Like Wood, didn't look 100% comfortable on the left side.

Garner 8 - Hungry, competent, continues to grow from last season. Committed himself for the 2nd goal but also tackled well with a 1 on 1, good in the air and doesn't detract from a confident performance. Think he's captain material after he skippered England C.

I'Anson 7 - Unorthodox but effective enough. Still learning his trade and did nothign wrong except for 1 giveaway. Good attitude, keen as mustard.

Wood 7 - Once again exposed at times left side. Lack of pace looks accentuated when playing this side.
Now once again convinced we need a back up left back for Ridley.
Sprayed a fantastic ball 1st half but equally a lot of blind hoofs. Not his best ever game but can't complain.

Coulson 5.5 - A few nice touches but looked slightly out of sorts today and unconvincing right side.
As I've said before, like Eagle I don't think he's a wide player and think we need to seriously consider ditching the wide men and going 3-5-2(with attacking wingbacks/midfielders) unless we get proper wingers in.

Church 7.5 - Impressed with his attitude and workrate. Good off the ball running and closing down. Some passes went astray but was vocal and you couldn't fault his effort. Get the feeling he may need to improve the technical side of his game. Started to look tired 2nd half, but not suprising given the effort ! Greedy free kick blazed over the bar ! Will do well I think.

Disley - 8 Mr Composure has obvious ability and looks to have a touch of class. Didn't set the world on fire, just played it sensibly into the space. Think there's a lot more to come and looks a good signing !

Eagle - 6 Largely anonomous. Like Coulson I really think he needs to play more centrally to pose a goal threat.  

Spencer 7.5 - Target man in the air as you would expect. Signs he's more than a just big lump and his ball control and pace were better than I expected.

Mulready 7 - Some nice touches and worked hard to hold the ball up sometimes without success. Looks a shade lightweight. Not a chance of him winning anythign in the air. Didn't see any shots to judge him on. Needs to step up to find a 1st team place !

McKeown 6.5 - Like Arthur, I didn't see either goalkeeper really make a save but slightly disappointed he didn't save Rotherhams 3rd because I could see the backflick coming and thought he should have anticipated it better. Too early to judge though !

Silk 7 - Not blaming him hust hardly saw him involved at all.

Pearson 7.5 - Committed and good in the air as you'd expect. Maybe unfair but maybe didn't look quite as commanding as Garner was to me. Definite threat at set pieces and will score his fair share. Quite slow and struggles to get back after attacking set pieces so we need to be aware of that.

Thanoj 7 - Worked hard enough and some nice little passes but not overly involved in the thick of the action. Will improve with time.

Artus 7 - Some will say he had a poor game because of misplaced passes but I like this kid !
Played a lovely ball to Hearn with the outside of his foot and whilst his passing went astray, he was showing the right idea of trying to move the ball into space. Showed some nice bits of individual skill too. Blew hot and cold but has the potential to do well IMO. Set pieces reasonable.

Hearn 8 - Not the "battering ram" I was expecting but has pace, is tricky(ish), decnt in the air and able to hold the ball up. Signs first touch needs working on but we are only in the 1st pre-season game !
Before he hit the post that led to Duffy's follow up goal, you could see the first thing on his mind was to cut inside and try to score. I like it !
So much hype over him not quite the force I thought he;d be but not that far off !
No doubt this guy WILL score goals, but whether it will be hatfuls is another question.

Duffy 8.5(MOM) - The class act for me today. Forget the goal(though it wasn't a tap in) his touch looks very polished and won almost everything in the air often goign to player !
That said he wasn't up against Rotherhams 1st choice centre back pairing but if he plays like that every week we will have a solid, reliable piece in the jigsaw on which to expand on. Now wondering if it could be worth playing 2 target men up front... !?

Makofo 8 - Dodgy start but grew as the game went on. His touch can look awful but the ball has a habit of sticking to his foot so like the player, I think his skills and threat is underestimated(alwats said so).
Played the right passes at the right times. Certainly has the potential to cause defences problems, though you just wonder if he's gonna deliver. Time will tell but he's certainly the "different option" Woods talked about.
No lack of effort in the tackiling department or in the air and overall, answered his critics well today.
  
Conclusion:

Ths most pleasing thing about today was the amount of commitment on show. Never seen so many tackles being made and most of the time we won them. And that's not just the defenders that's every player on the pitch.
Good workrates and attitudes all round though we did seem to go stale for brief periods.
I got the impression we need to work just as hard WITH the ball as we did without it and hope they can instill this into the players. Lack of movement at throw ins was a bit disappointing.

Plenty to like and very early days but didn't come away from Blundell Park as positive as I hoped even though it looks like Scott and Hurst have already planted a very good ethos of hard work and commitment into the side(well done !)  
Just wonder if we're a touch short of "quality" but right now I'm a lot more concerned about the effectiveness of the wide players and left back cover.
Anyway, it's very early days and Rotherham were a very good side(though the scoreline doesn't quite tell the whole story as we had a goal disallowed, hit the bar and had a few goalmouth scrambles) but we will need to step up in terms of team balance and gameplan in the coming weeks.

I'm not rushing to the bookies just yet but all in all, a good day.

UTM.

Another good post 80's.

Quoted from 1600

1st half.

................Arthur
Marshall.....Garner....I'Anson.....Wood
Coulson.....Church....Disley.....Eagle
...........Spencer....Mulready

2nd half.
..................McKeown
Silk........Garner.....Pearson....Wood/Marshall
........Church....Thanoj....Artus
Hearn.............Duffy..........Makofo

Player ratings

Arthur 7 - Decent kicking, Like McKoewn rarely gave it short. Not sure what to report.

Marshall 8 - First time I've seen a player subbest then come back on again !
Seems to have a good all round game and thought he was one of the best players 1st half.
Positionally got caught a little when pushing out of defence but probably deserves a 1 year contract on this showing.
Like Wood, didn't look 100% comfortable on the left side.

Garner 8 - Hungry, competent, continues to grow from last season. Committed himself for the 2nd goal but also tackled well with a 1 on 1, good in the air and doesn't detract from a confident performance. Think he's captain material after he skippered England C.

I'Anson 7 - Unorthodox but effective enough. Still learning his trade and did nothign wrong except for 1 giveaway. Good attitude, keen as mustard.

Wood 7 - Once again exposed at times left side. Lack of pace looks accentuated when playing this side.
Now once again convinced we need a back up left back for Ridley.
Sprayed a fantastic ball 1st half but equally a lot of blind hoofs. Not his best ever game but can't complain.

Coulson 5.5 - A few nice touches but looked slightly out of sorts today and unconvincing right side.
As I've said before, like Eagle I don't think he's a wide player and think we need to seriously consider ditching the wide men and going 3-5-2(with attacking wingbacks/midfielders) unless we get proper wingers in.

Church 7.5 - Impressed with his attitude and workrate. Good off the ball running and closing down. Some passes went astray but was vocal and you couldn't fault his effort. Get the feeling he may need to improve the technical side of his game. Started to look tired 2nd half, but not suprising given the effort ! Greedy free kick blazed over the bar ! Will do well I think.

Disley - 8 Mr Composure has obvious ability and looks to have a touch of class. Didn't set the world on fire, just played it sensibly into the space. Think there's a lot more to come and looks a good signing !

Eagle - 6 Largely anonomous. Like Coulson I really think he needs to play more centrally to pose a goal threat.  

Spencer 7.5 - Target man in the air as you would expect. Signs he's more than a just big lump and his ball control and pace were better than I expected.

Mulready 7 - Some nice touches and worked hard to hold the ball up sometimes without success. Looks a shade lightweight. Not a chance of him winning anythign in the air. Didn't see any shots to judge him on. Needs to step up to find a 1st team place !

McKeown 6.5 - Like Arthur, I didn't see either goalkeeper really make a save but slightly disappointed he didn't save Rotherhams 3rd because I could see the backflick coming and thought he should have anticipated it better. Too early to judge though !

Silk 7 - Not blaming him hust hardly saw him involved at all.

Pearson 7.5 - Committed and good in the air as you'd expect. Maybe unfair but maybe didn't look quite as commanding as Garner was to me. Definite threat at set pieces and will score his fair share. Quite slow and struggles to get back after attacking set pieces so we need to be aware of that.

Thanoj 7 - Worked hard enough and some nice little passes but not overly involved in the thick of the action. Will improve with time.

Artus 7 - Some will say he had a poor game because of misplaced passes but I like this kid !
Played a lovely ball to Hearn with the outside of his foot and whilst his passing went astray, he was showing the right idea of trying to move the ball into space. Showed some nice bits of individual skill too. Blew hot and cold but has the potential to do well IMO. Set pieces reasonable.

Hearn 8 - Not the "battering ram" I was expecting but has pace, is tricky(ish), decnt in the air and able to hold the ball up. Signs first touch needs working on but we are only in the 1st pre-season game !
Before he hit the post that led to Duffy's follow up goal, you could see the first thing on his mind was to cut inside and try to score. I like it !
So much hype over him not quite the force I thought he;d be but not that far off !
No doubt this guy WILL score goals, but whether it will be hatfuls is another question.

Duffy 8.5(MOM) - The class act for me today. Forget the goal(though it wasn't a tap in) his touch looks very polished and won almost everything in the air often goign to player !
That said he wasn't up against Rotherhams 1st choice centre back pairing but if he plays like that every week we will have a solid, reliable piece in the jigsaw on which to expand on. Now wondering if it could be worth playing 2 target men up front... !?

Makofo 8 - Dodgy start but grew as the game went on. His touch can look awful but the ball has a habit of sticking to his foot so like the player, I think his skills and threat is underestimated(alwats said so).
Played the right passes at the right times. Certainly has the potential to cause defences problems, though you just wonder if he's gonna deliver. Time will tell but he's certainly the "different option" Woods talked about.
No lack of effort in the tackiling department or in the air and overall, answered his critics well today.
  
Conclusion:

Ths most pleasing thing about today was the amount of commitment on show. Never seen so many tackles being made and most of the time we won them. And that's not just the defenders that's every player on the pitch.
Good workrates and attitudes all round though we did seem to go stale for brief periods.
I got the impression we need to work just as hard WITH the ball as we did without it and hope they can instill this into the players. Lack of movement at throw ins was a bit disappointing.

Plenty to like and very early days but didn't come away from Blundell Park as positive as I hoped even though it looks like Scott and Hurst have already planted a very good ethos of hard work and commitment into the side(well done !)  
Just wonder if we're a touch short of "quality" but right now I'm a lot more concerned about the effectiveness of the wide players and left back cover.
Anyway, it's very early days and Rotherham were a very good side(though the scoreline doesn't quite tell the whole story as we had a goal disallowed, hit the bar and had a few goalmouth scrambles) but we will need to step up in terms of team balance and gameplan in the coming weeks.

I'm not rushing to the bookies just yet but all in all, a good day.

UTM.

Enjoyed reading that 80s, good post. Filled in the picture nicely for us lousy stayaways!

Thank you 80sglory - a very comprehensive summary and lots of positive signs, after the disappointment of losing Connell this week.

Church stood out for me with his ability to get up and down with ease and he likes to get stuck in he is vocal as well .......

If we sign a back up left mid and a winger or two as well as a worthy replacement for Connell, then I'll be happy .

An ok game today, not one were you thought we would storm the league after it, but not disappointing either, a decentish first pre season game against a better team

Arthur -  played the full 90 mins, not at fault for any goal, though shouldn't be beaten at his near post for the second. Rushed out his area well, even if like last season a few kicks were wayward, but defence had the confidence to pass it back to him under pressure.

Marshall - First half did ok at right back, was better going foward than defensively, and overlapped well with coulson, second goal came from his side. Second half when he rejoined, was largely ineffective at left back, and was at fault for third goal due to being out of position, mainly because he looked tired towards the end. Unsure whether hes worth a contract, may be ok as right back cover, but then so his wood, so would prefer we got left back cover in.

Garner - played the full 90 mins and carried on where he left off last season, very solid, and didn't really do anything wrong, probably be first choice for me.

I'Anson -1st half  again played well with Garner, solid the odd wayward pass nothing to worry about. Impressed how quickly he gets back from attacking corners, a couple of times Rotherham were counter attacking from the corner and I'Anson got back very quick to deal with them.

Wood -  about 65mins Similar to last season, runs all over, aggressive, had a few complications with Rotherham players, ok, but not convinced hes a left back, could do with keeping him as right back/cover.

Eagle - First half - Similar to last season, run about plenty but nothing special, the odd pass that went to nobody.

Disley - First half - Very impressed, did very well as the holding midfielder, kept the ball well and every pass went to a town player.

Church - full 90 mins, had a good game, ran for the full 90 mins full of effort which is good considering he was part time last season and only just come back, the odd pass that was wayward but no complaints so far.

Coulson - First half - disappointing as we no he is better than that, hopefully just not fit enough yet. Having said that our best opportunties in the first half came from him.

Spencer - Big guy, won all his headers most went to somebody, you could see he wasn't as fit as the others due to his illness, but a much better Duffy, would like to see him and Hearn at the head of a 4-4-2.

Mulready - Very disappointing, obviously the bosses arn't fully convinced on him yet with only a 6 month contract, but as hes small and lightweight he needs pace to be his strength which he hasn't got. Reminded me of an Andy Taylor without the pace. Not going to be good enough am afraid.

Pearson - Second half, didn't do anything wrong apart from his long balls were similar to Watt last season in that they didn't go to anyone. Defensively sound though, and very good at attacking set pieces, caused no end of problems at corners and hit the bar late on.

Silk - Didn't really have anything to do so can't comment too much, need to see more of him.

Thanoj - Ran around alot but when had the ball lacked the experience to do anything, nothing more than a squad player based on Artus, Disley and Church being better.

Artus - Similar to disley in that you could see he's ex league had more quality about him than Church, and played a few good passes. Would like to see a Church, Disley, Artus middle three.

Makofo - Worked and tried hard bless him, still lacks any control, if he can work on his ball skills he might have something about him with his pace, but at the moment not good enough for a promotion chasing team.

Duffy - Much better than last season in that he worked very hard, closed down defenders alot and won a few headers, not as good as Spencer but looked better than last season. Even he couldn't miss his goal

Hearn - Looks a handful, unlucky not to score when he hit the post for Duffy to score. Looks quick and strong, reminded me of Reddy when balls came over the top to him.

First half we played 4-4-2 looked better for us attacking wise, but Mulready not good enough for us to do anything with. Best attacks came from the wings. Second half we played 4-3-3 which turned into 4-5-1 when defending. Problem with this was when we won the ball back Duffy was up on his own and we lacked the attacking outlet, until later in the game when Hearn didn't go back to far right and stayed left with Artus knocking some good balls over the top for him to run onto. Would like to see this system with Spencer, Hearn, Coulson as the front three and Disley, Church and Artus in the middle, might work well with them.

Pleased with the effort, like I said we closed down all the time, and restricted Rotherham to the three chances which unfortunately they scored from, until the last 10 mins when the game opened up more. Attacking wise we seem to be lacking right now.

On today we need a proper left back to cover Ridley, and one or two more strikers to replace Connell, and something better than Duffy/Mulready. Prehaps more wing option if were going to go 4-4-2.

Sorry to put a damper on it but I came away from today's game feeling GRUMPY.
Have high hopes, but disappointed with what I saw.
Hope I'm proved wrong.
Sure, I saw more energy in the midfield and the centre defence (all of them) looked solid.
It's the last third of the pitch that we lacked it.
So look forward to a few 0-0 1-0's (hopefully at home, Pearson header from a corner)?
Here's hoping we can spend some or all of Alan,s money on a JACK IN THE BOX!!

on seeing todays performance I've definitely changed my opinion on the starting 11, and formation. I was very impressed with Artus, although I couldn't see him being very effective in a 2 man midfield as he was pretty poor defensively. Spencer, when he's fit will be decent. He looked a bit overweight and struggled to run (which is a little worrying!) but thought Hearn looked a bit of a handful and had an eye for goal. Duffy did well when he came on but as for the poster who said Makofo excited the crowd, I think I'd describe him as entertaining the crowd (for the wrong reasons). I took my Mrs to the game today (as a treat!) and she certainly found Makofo quite entertaining as a neutral. Disley looks class and exactly what we need in the middle of the park, also think he'd be a great captain. Pearson, Brilliant in the air but less than convincing on the floor. Silk, Steady but isn't that all we need from a right back? Church looked like he's more than capable of stepping up. Technically perhaps not the best, but compared to leary he was Kaka. Broke up the play well, worked very hard and played the simple ball to the more talented members of the team.

So, judging by that, and the fact that Connell's gone I'd probably go with:

                                                                                   Arthur

                                     Silk                  Kempson                     Garner/Pearson                Ridley

                                                                                  Church

                                                            Disley                            Artus


                                           Coulson                                                   Hearn

                                                                     Spencer/Duffy              

Quoted from barralass

Sorry to put a damper on it but I came away from today's game feeling GRUMPY.
Have high hopes, but disappointed with what I saw.
Hope I'm proved wrong.
Sure, I saw more energy in the midfield and the centre defence (all of them) looked solid.
It's the last third of the pitch that we lacked it.
So look forward to a few 0-0 1-0's (hopefully at home, Pearson header from a corner)?
Here's hoping we can spend some or all of Alan,s money on a JACK IN THE BOX!!

You must be crazy to read so much into a first work out 4 weeks before the season starts. No work has been done on shape or formation. Today was about additional fitness.

We  MAY have an awful season or we MAY be champions. Wherever we finish wont be decided by what we saw at BP today

I don't post too often but i had to say that Chris is spot on.

Pre-season has been all fitness work up to now.

Early signs are good, nothing to get over excited about.

The work ethic, commitment, effort and also flashes of ability from all of the players means overall it was a good day.

Plus new players on the way to add to the great bunch we already have !

80,s Glory, do you need specs or me?
You put in a good post match post but from where I was sitting Kenny Arthur was GK for the full 90 minutes, so where did you get McKeown from, unless you were looking at Rotherham's 2nd half goalie?

Quoted from cod.gtfc

Mulready - Very disappointing, obviously the bosses arn't fully convinced on him yet with only a 6 month contract, but as hes small and lightweight he needs pace to be his strength which he hasn't got. Reminded me of an Andy Taylor without the pace. Not going to be good enough am afraid.


On today we need a proper left back to cover Ridley, and one or two more strikers to replace Connell, and something better than Duffy/Mulready. Prehaps more wing option if were going to go 4-4-2.

You're not really writing off Mulready after 45 minutes of our first friendly are you? A bit harsh. His first ever start in a senior match as well. I do think he struggled but I wouldn't write him off.

Agree we definitely need left back cover though.

Quoted from barralass

80,s Glory, do you need specs or me?
You put in a good post match post but from where I was sitting Kenny Arthur was GK for the full 90 minutes, so where did you get McKeown from, unless you were looking at Rotherham's 2nd half goalie?

You were too busy feeling Grumpy!

Quoted from Tommy

You're not really writing off Mulready after 45 minutes of our first friendly are you? A bit harsh. His first ever start in a senior match as well. I do think he struggled but I wouldn't write him off.

Agree we definitely need left back cover though.

you can tell a players style, the bosses can't be that convinced either seen as he only got 6 months. He's small and lightweight so he needs to be quick but he isn't.

I'm not feeling grumpy anymore!
Having read everyone's posts, there's a sense of optimism in the air.
I remember coming away from our pre-season win over Sheff Weds last year thinking we would walk the league and look how that turned out.
I wonder if we were a little hasty in getting rid of Ademeno though?

Quoted from Tommy

You're not really writing off Mulready after 45 minutes of our first friendly are you? A bit harsh. His first ever start in a senior match as well. I do think he struggled but I wouldn't write him off.

Agree we definitely need left back cover though.

I thought Mulready started at Wimbledon last season.

Quoted from cod.gtfc

you can tell a players style, the bosses can't be that convinced either seen as he only got 6 months. He's small and lightweight so he needs to be quick but he isn't.

He is small but he is also pretty quick.

Give the kid a chance. I am sure he isnt seen as a starter and IF we sign another striker and keep Duffy and Makofo his chances are going to be slight but his record at Youth level dictates H&S were right to give him a chance.

Perhaps a period on loan and regular games will benefit Sam. Not sure what sort of player he is. He will not win headers, does not take players on and beat them, struggles to hold the ball up. So I guess he is more in the goal poacher mould. Really don't know

C'mon, let's give the kid a chance! Mulready probably isn't ready for the first team yet, but if he's anything he's a goalscorer - and they're not so easy to find.

If you're not going to check out a youngster who's scored plenty and regularly at youth level, why bother with a youth setup at all?

IF he's a goal poacher type we might be able to play him successfully, given the graft we can expect from the rest of the team. For now, let's just wish him well.

I wish him well.

I do wish him well, but I don't see him being good enough for us, my opinion am sorry but just because he's young dosn't mean I should sympathise we don't have that luxery. He might prove me wrong but at he moment I doubt it.

Oh i'm sure if he scores a couple in pre season people will see him as the second coming of Jesus and whatever else. Some seem too eager to get excited by youth players. The youth games and reserves games are different to the first team and even if they did well in those doesn't mean it'll translate to the first team. Look at Andy Taylor. Scored loads for the reserves and people were calling for him to play in the first team and when he did he was crap.

Out of interest does anyone remember how many Al scored in pre-season? Just wondering if the signs were there early on.

Quoted from Kris2

Oh i'm sure if he scores a couple in pre season people will see him as the second coming of Jesus and whatever else. Some seem too eager to get excited by youth players. The youth games and reserves games are different to the first team and even if they did well in those doesn't mean it'll translate to the first team. Look at Andy Taylor. Scored loads for the reserves and people were calling for him to play in the first team and when he did he was crap.

true true, Mulready reminds me of Taylor just without the pace

Mulready didn't do much yesterday but then his isn't really too much to blame for that. Eagle and Coulson weren't at the races so the forwards had no support and we provided little threat. One thing I noticed is that Mulready needs to be able to shield the ball a lot better as he was too easily dispossessed at times. This could be a tricky thing for a small player to learn but hopefully he'll be able to add this to his game.

I think he will need to take any chances which come his way as I expect he'll only get 15 minutes here and there as a sub towards the end of games.

Quoted from cod.gtfc

Mulready - Very disappointing, obviously the bosses arn't fully convinced on him yet with only a 6 month contract, but as hes small and lightweight he needs pace to be his strength which he hasn't got. Reminded me of an Andy Taylor without the pace. Not going to be good enough am afraid.

.

Out of interest, how many times have you seen him play?

Quoted from BIGChris

Out of interest, how many times have you seen him play?

the same as you probably, Youth/reserve games don't count, he's playing with real men now.

Quoted from cod.gtfc

I do wish him well, but I don't see him being good enough for us, my opinion am sorry but just because he's young dosn't mean I should sympathise we don't have that luxery. He might prove me wrong but at he moment I doubt it.

I said the same thing about Wilkinson many years ago, I remarked he would never be a successful footballer as long as I`d got a hole in my r`ss, what do we know

I was quite impressed yesterday, i think a few things need to be played around with but the base of the squad is there. My 1 real worry after watching yesterday (yes it will improve with better fitness) was being really open to counter attacks, on numberous occasions rotherham had players cueing up in the box. Other than that i thought it wasnt too bad at all.

Quoted from bradzmilne

I was quite impressed yesterday, i think a few things need to be played around with but the base of the squad is there. My 1 real worry after watching yesterday (yes it will improve with better fitness) was being really open to counter attacks, on numberous occasions rotherham had players cueing up in the box. Other than that i thought it wasnt too bad at all.

That was what was positive about I'Anson, after attacking at corners, Rotherham broke away on the counter and I'Anson would sprint back and help to break up the attack. With players working harder, hopefully fitter and closing down more, we should be less susceptible to counter attacks.

Quoted from cod.gtfc

That was what was positive about I'Anson, after attacking at corners, Rotherham broke away on the counter and I'Anson would sprint back and help to break up the attack. With players working harder, hopefully fitter and closing down more, we should be less susceptible to counter attacks.

yeah in truth i'anson did that well, a header he won in their box comes to mind where he sprinted all the way back a won the header from the resulting goalkeeper kick up field

I found yesterday very disorientating, especially with them not having names on their shirts - too many new faces for anything to register very much with me.

I did chuckle a bit when Duffy scored though - and Serge was probably the one who stood out most for me.... quite ironic, really.

Oh yes, and heaven and all the saints preserve us .... Tom Newey's hair (or lack of).  

P S I thought I'Anson was quite impressive.

Quoted from marinette

I found yesterday very disorientating, especially with them not having names on their shirts - too many new faces for anything to register very much with me.

I have that problem all year round Marinette with me eyes not being so good. That's what I like about players like Peacock who you couldn't miss!

Quoted from barralass

80,s Glory, do you need specs or me?
You put in a good post match post but from where I was sitting Kenny Arthur was GK for the full 90 minutes, so where did you get McKeown from, unless you were looking at Rotherham's 2nd half goalie?

Yeah I admitted I got it wrong, did you miss my post ?
I thought it might have been Arthur - doesn't help when you're sat right on the left side of the upper findus.

Quoted from upthestripes

Out of interest does anyone remember how many Al scored in pre-season? Just wondering if the signs were there early on.

Not sure but the signs of quality definitely were there.
As I remember it he got top marks most pre-season games.