Clifton

A couple of things I noticed yesterday and after watching the highlights:

1. When Rose went over to the Swindon fans after the penalty, Harry went over to pull him away and looks visibly annoyed.
2. Once the full time whistle went, he was the first over to the fans and you could tell how much it meant to him.

While I’m yet to be fully convinced by his footballing ability yet, this lad got an amazing mentality and is so mature for someone so young. Hopefully he is kept on and receives some better coaching than he’s recieved over the last 18 months. Keep working hard, Harry!

He did alright yesterday. He's one of our few midfielders who is prepared to drive forward with the ball and he's good at closing things down.jolle y coached him through the entire first half yesterday.he certainly offers an awful lot more than me berrett

Harry Clifton and Harry Cardwell both have potential, under some good coaching they could both become a mainstay.

Quoted from Skrill

Harry Clifton and Harry Cardwell both have potential, under some good coaching they could both become a mainstay.

Cardwell worked very hard yesterday and battled away. I am not convinced he is a natural striker, lacks a strikers instinct imo and I am not sure it is something you can coach

Quoted from Cloudy

Cardwell worked very hard yesterday and battled away. I am not convinced he is a natural striker, lacks a strikers instinct imo and I am not sure it is something you can coach

Probably bereft of any confidence like most of our striker.

Quoted from forza ivano

He did alright yesterday. He's one of our few midfielders who is prepared to drive forward with the ball and he's good at closing things down.jolle y coached him through the entire first half yesterday.he certainly offers an awful lot more than me berrett

He offers a massive workrate but when he eventually slots into his preferred position coupled with this experience he’s gaining I think the doubters will be convinced

I have noticed many times when he lays a ball off to another player he is indicating where to play it back to. Also, the way he won a corner yesterday was very clever - something I would expect a very experienced player could do. He does seem to have the passion and I can see him being a large part of the Town team for many years to come. Reminds me a lot of Dave Boylen.

Clifton looks a steady player to me and is more suited to our side as things stand than Dembele imo. I’m sure as he gains experience and strength he will move in to the centre as I’m not sure he has the delivery or trickery to make a decent career as a wide player but my knowledge of him is limited.

As for Cardwell, he runs his nuts off which is admirable and a lot of our mini run is down to him. He’s truly played his part. He has an awkward running style though and I’m not sure he’s the man to bring us the goals we’re gonna need in the future but that’s very harsh as at present we’re not a side that really threatens with the ball in the final third.

I don’t know either players status contract-wise but I would definitely want them both on board next season. For me they both deserve it.

Both Harry's should be re-signed for next season, I reckon they have good potential

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Both Harry's should be re-signed for next season, I reckon they have good potential

Isn't Cardwell under contract for next season?

Clifton is quite impressive for his age, an absolute no brainer to re-sign him. Has energy and can drive forward with the ball and has the ability to go past people (as seen last week) with the ball, something few central midfields hav at this level. Offers far far more than Berrett, slade is an utterly clueless buffoon.

Quoted from Cloudy

Isn't Cardwell under contract for next season?

Yes, got a 2 year deal.

Card well put a real shift in yesterday showed quite a good touch and I can see exactly why jolle y picked him for this away game but I stil! Stand by my view that he looks like the typically lower level conference striker,

Anyone think that Cardwell has lost half a yard of pace because he’s bulked up since the summer? Seemed much faster when we first signed him.

Certainly the lack of minutes, postponed reserve games and bench warming are also a factor. Worth noting that Harry played well in a September reserve game v Notts. County in September as lone front man against very experienced defenders. Clifton worked his socks off at full back and Hall Johnson was a pacey centre half. Only lost to the softest of penalty decisions.
Slade sat back in the sunshine chatting to some bloke/scout in the stand while Woods and other staff whispered from the sides.  Nolan, by contrast, bellowed encouragement, praise and dire warnings to his squad. Our lads walked off in silence heads down. If Wilko was there, I must have missed him. Difficult to see how any of the squad that day would feel valued for their efforts but we are now depending on some for our survival.

Another day, another season, another manager other than Slade and probably more of our players would be performing and improving as they are now who knows,  before Christmas we were well in the top half

Quoted from Garth

Another day, another season, another manager other than Slade and probably more of our players would be performing and improving as they are now who knows,  before Christmas we were well in the top half

I think more of the players are looking like they want a contract next season.

Whether this is a slight on Slade or on the players who didnt produce earlier I cannot be certain.

If some of the players are actually buying into Jolleys methods then they may be able to improve longer term OR as I originally thought you bin all we can and start again???

Clifton is a smashing lad.
He played in midfield with my son for the District under the guidance of Mike Brolly and in the Scunny league at U14, U15 and U16 level. They had a great understanding of each others game just like Cunnington and Cockerill.
A great central midfield player Harry could create lots of goals for a striker with the same mindset.

Quoted from Cloudy

I think more of the players are looking like they want a contract next season.

Whether this is a slight on Slade or on the players who didnt produce earlier I cannot be certain.

If some of the players are actually buying into Jolleys methods then they may be able to improve longer term OR as I originally thought you bin all we can and start again???

i think we will be looking at a lot of fresh faces. i've now seen 4 of the games under jolley and i still haven't seen much sign of ability, just a lot better organisation, hard work and attitude. none of the forwards look like scoring, none of the midfielders are very creative and the defenders are generally old timers. i think rose has improved greatly, clifton is the best of the rest.summerfield and mckeown have maintained their previous levels. davies and collins have been great but whether they would last another season has to be debateable. i remain to be convinced by cardwell but he could be put into the category of fox, mills and rhj who are definitely 'works in progress'. i think we may well see vernham come back which would be a big plus. the rest i wouldn't be unhappy to see leave en masse

It is disappointing that Clifton has had to wait until he is 19 for a bit of a run in the first team. I am pleased for the lad. He will have ups and downs but he could have been having those last year when it didn't matter so much. The lad has energy and a bit of a football brain and he should have been out there a lot sooner. Admittedly it is always a risk to play kids. Hurst would never do it unless he had a squad full of broken legs and while Slade seemed interested in the youth set up he was still reluctant to try the likes of Clifton even when the winless run was getting ridiculous.

But last year he was out on loan, which probably benefited him more than the odd 5 minute appearance at the end of a game?

Quoted from Abdul19

But last year he was out on loan, which probably benefited him more than the odd 5 minute appearance at the end of a game?

I know he was.

But he could have been recalled from loan and he could have had a lot more than 5 minutes. That’s the point I’m making. He has spent too long sitting on the bench or out on loan because managers are reluctant to see what young lads can do in a first team run. He may turn out to be no good or he may be brilliant but we ought to have found out several months ago at least.

This is especially true given the state of our midfield for most of this season, he could not have done much worse could he?

He could only have been recalled in the transfer window though, and Bignot signed Clements and Osborne in that time (and pointlessly, that bloke from Birmingham who played about 13 seconds), so I doubt he would've played much. And we still had a sniff of the playoffs until quite late in the season, so there weren't that many games that "didn't matter so much".

Obviously this season is a different story, I agree. How Berrett has racked up 29 league starts this season I doubt even god knows.

Perhaps Clifton wasn't ready last season? He's making progress in the first team now and is only 19, so i don't see what the issue is.

Quoted from ginnywings

Perhaps Clifton wasn't ready last season? He's making progress in the first team now and is only 19, so i don't see what the issue is.

You have just stated the issue in a nutshell.

Who says he wasn’t ready? A manager who was not prepared to give him a chance. He is making progress now when we are fighting for our league lives at the end of the season? Why wasn’t he here making progress before and just possibly we might be in a better position?  I doubt if Harry C would have saved us single handed but it gets me annoyed when managers would rather pay good money to sign dross or journeymen and send kids out on loan to “toughen up”.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

You have just stated the issue in a nutshell.

Who says he wasn’t ready? A manager who was not prepared to give him a chance. He is making progress now when we are fighting for our league lives at the end of the season? Why wasn’t he here making progress before and just possibly we might be in a better position?  I doubt if Harry C would have saved us single handed but it gets me annoyed when managers would rather pay good money to sign dross or journeymen and send kids out on loan to “toughen up”.

No one as far as i know, which i why i said "perhaps he wasn't ready". I'm sure the people who get paid to make these decisions are in a better position to judge than we are.

Quoted from ginnywings

No one as far as i know, which i why i said "perhaps he wasn't ready". I'm sure the people who get paid to make these decisions are in a better position to judge than we are.

Even Russell Slade?