Do we still want to be in the Trophy in February?

Quoted from 1739

It depends what our ambitions are. If we have ambitions of going for the title then we must do our best to get knocked out in the first round by playing the youth team.  We struggled last season and we have an even smaller squad this year. We played 10 games from the 1st of April to the 1st of May last season. I am begging you Mr Hurst, please don't go for the trophy.

But we were well away from auto promotion in April but still able to rest players for our last away game in the league so I dont think it made one iota of difference to our final position.

I've no worries about cheering on a "2nd XI" team to Wembley per se.
Many fringe players need game time anyway so I hope we progress.

However there's also potential fixture backlog/clashing to consider.
There was another thread that went into great detail about it all.
If I remember correctly, rounds 1 and 2 are etched into the calendar (no conflicts) anyway so no issues til round 3 ?

Quoted from The Yard Dog

NO
I think you are all missing the main issue here, which is the games take place on a Saturday and the further we progress the more league fixtures are postponed because the FA trophy takes priority over league games.
So if the fringe.youth players win, its another league game that has to be rearranged in the week.  Look at last year the other teams were less than helpful when agreeing a new date
So our starting 11 could sat in the stands on a Saturday watching the fringe players, when we should be playing a league game.
Also has financial impact, small gates on a Saturday for a FA Trophy, reduced attendances midweek for league games.

I assume by " fringe youth players " you mean 1st and 2nd year YT players. It could be good to " blood" some of these players but the downside is that if they come against a seasoned ex professional and get played of the park. This could put their development back months and even damage their confidence. It is a fine line between bringing a player on and exposing him to some of the extreme harsh realities of professional football.

Simple play some yt and players not near the first team..

If we get knocked out in round one then so be it.

Dont even think of playing first teamers imo.

Quoted from rancido

I assume by " fringe youth players " you mean 1st and 2nd year YT players. It could be good to " blood" some of these players but the downside is that if they come against a seasoned ex professional and get played of the park. This could put their development back months and even damage their confidence. It is a fine line between bringing a player on and exposing him to some of the extreme harsh realities of professional football.

Well it was generally said in the Lincs Trophy that some of the older professionals inclusion helped to bed in the youngsters.
Personally I thought it was too strong at the time (by risking injury) but can appreciate the logic.
I don't think we can go with 11 youth teamers in the Trophy anyway can we ?

In any case to your point, I think it depends how you look at it.
You could well be right but the counter argument is they'll have to get used to the tough realities of professional football anyway and could even benefit from a negative experience.
I guess you're probably right however, although they're gonna have to show resilience (if they want a future) at some point.

Here's the thing .............If you want Town to lose in the FAT then i wouldnt expect you to go to any of the FAT matches because that wouldnt make any sense . At a guess , if drawn at home , the crowd would be 1000 ? therefore a third of Towns loyal support want us to progress? If we get to the Semi  then i would guess at 4500? i think you know where this is going........................

Also the money gained however small is helping keep the club afloat

Quoted from fleabag1970

Also the money gained however small is helping keep the club afloat

A good point that maybe applies to the MP highlights thread too.

It will good to see what team Barnet put out on Saturday against Wycombe I'm sure Martin Allen will put a strong team out against Wycombe who are top of League 2, he will say go out and do a job on them.

I personally want to see us out of the FA Trophy don't think its going to happen but PH has shown he wants to go far in all trophies and its been a issue in the past but for me i would like to see what teams from Barnet all the way down to Torquay in 12th with two games in hand do in the FA Trophy and FA Cup because all teams are capable of at least play offs from 1st to 12th could go on a run that Mansfield or Luton have done.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Simple play some yt and players not near the first team..

If we get knocked out in round one then so be it.

Dont even think of playing first teamers imo.

Disagree. Gotta play the shop and let him take ever penalty and free kick around the box. Shoot on site policy for him......../


When is the draw btw??

I dread to think the reaction on here if the Shop was injured playing an FAT game.He should be kept under wraps for the league and FAC only.