just back...

Enjoyed that!  We look to have assembled a really good squad of quality players. Sous and Grant up front are real quality with the ball at their feet. Fox Clifton Mcatee in midfield will control the game for us. Solid at the back against forwards from a much higher league. We played some good football on the deck causing Rotherham a lot of problems.

Looking very good for our season back in non league. Can't think of any team that we should be scared of. We have real quality throughout our team. We even finished the game with four youth team players, and they all looked good.

UTM

What formation did we play Mimma? Interested to see what plans Hurst has with LJL and Taylor out.

Grant was Quiet

Sousa Excellent, need a striker

Looked like 442. The two up front are not the biggest but could win the ball and keep it. Sousa will be a real crowd pleaser with his ball skills, so long as he gets protection from the refs

4-3-3 with Mcatee playing as a 10 rather than a 9.

Starting 11 looked solid , pretty fit and upto speed.
Grant probably the only one who looked a bit off the pace for my money.
Sousa looked dangerous, Macatee lively, Fox strong, calm combative.
The shape / set up left our left side a bit light so most of the play coming down the right. Sousa coming out on the losing side of a well worked 1 v 1.
Macca made some good saves to mark his testimonial ....
Second half we looked livelier with Macatee up top but then the constant subs ruined the game.
All in all good strong start but squad depth a worry for me looking at how many youth came on , Sears , Wright and Pearson aside we were weaker once changes made.
Scruffy goal while we were weakened blotted the Macca experience which was a shame.

Also a mention for the changes.

Pitch is immaculate,  no bobbling, ball run true. Sprinklers watering it at half time.

Real ale in the bar! Bateman on handpump, heaven.

The food on sale now looks appetising. From what I could see there is now a good selection of food. The pulled pork wraps are big with plenty of fillings.

The match day experience has moved up in my estimation

Isn’t it great to say ‘just back’?

I thought the fact that we had the better chances in the first hour said a lot. Sousa is obviously a crowd pleaser and I wouldn’t want to single anyone out as MoM but I’d say that Ben Fox is probably better than our level.

Did anyone score a goal?

Quoted from Teestogreen

Did anyone score a goal?

I doubt if that was unexpected, especially to PH but there’s not a lot he could have done today and I doubt that he sees the two casualties as the final answer either. Sounds like the approach play and defending were deserving of better results.

Always hard to judge on one friendly game but thought it was a good game and work out with the defenders looking strong particularly first half when Rotherham had a lot of possession. Didn’t see much of Crookes in an attacking sense but that was probably due to the quality of the opposition.

Evident that the absence of both LJL and Ryan Taylor left us short physicallyup front and the failure to capitalise on two great crosses from McAtee demonstrated the need for a striker. Although I thought Clifton did well, aside from the fluffed chance, I personally would like to see a left footed player on the left of midfield to give us better balance.

Decent attendance for Macca who made four excellent saves first half.

Lots of promise but a couple of quality players at striker and in midfield still needed to make us really optimistic that we will bounce straight back.

Well - from Mr McKeowns point of view - great result - best of luck to him - and especially for next season
UTM

First impressions were quite good. I thought Sousa and Fox were the two standouts, but all the other new guys looked decent as well. We really need a proper no.9 though as we looked a bit blunt in the final third, several good balls went in the box but there was no one anywhere near them. Think we need another centre mid as well, as I don't see much in the way of cover if any of Coke, Clifton or Fox get injured (I'm still not at all convinced by Spokes).

I was also suprised how big Efete is. I thought I'd read that he was quite small. Also wondered where Scannel was - didn't see him on the bench or in the stands with the others who weren't playing. Is he injured again?

Also, anyone know why Adlard was sat in the stands. Seems slightly odd that the other young striker (I forget his name but he scored against Clee Town last week) has jumped ahead of him in pecking order. Or maybe he's carrying a knock as well?

All in all, quite promising though and it was good to see us in the flesh again.

Quoted from Teestogreen

Did anyone score a goal?

When did anyone scoring a goal ever win us 3 points?

Oh hang on...........

Enjoyed that £10 well spent. First half we looked bright, full of energy with a great tempo while “keeping us shape”.

Though it was a friendly let’s not lose sight that Rovrum where in the Championship last season and are closer to the start of their season. The game didn’t look like a friendly and we didn’t look non league.

Second half was a bit stop start and it looked like both sides ran out of a bit of steam the changes meant the match turned into abut if a run out in the last 5 mins.

What did I learn?

- Hurst has the players in good shape and the ones he’s brought in look physically up to it.

- We want to play it on the deck and the pitch really helped.

- As you’d expect no lack of work rate and effort and the overall movement was really encouraging.

- We need a striker and probably another attacker with a bit of versatility.

Overall we feel like we’re well on track from a prep point of view.

Away from a decent game it was so good to get back to BP and I’m pleased it was a really good turn out for Macca.

UTFM!!!!!

[quote=1122]Isn’t it great to say ‘just back’?

Oh it most certainly is……I’m sure that I’m just one of many who found being there, part of a crowd, watching a game in the flesh…we’ll just bloody wonderful

I was in such a good mood that I didn’t even shout at the lino…..

It might just be wishful thinking but the whole atmosphere in and around the ground post Fenty seemed to me to be so much more positive

All the best to The Fishy Team.
Keep us optimistic for next season - soon be here
UTM

Didn’t  expect anything less than negatives
Lol
UTM
The season has started 🤙

Considering it was a testimonial/friendly I thought Roverum took it very well seriously and were a tad "over competitive"!

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Enjoyed that £10 well spent. First half we looked bright, full of energy with a great tempo while “keeping us shape”.

Though it was a friendly let’s not lose sight that Rovrum where in the Championship last season and are closer to the start of their season. The game didn’t look like a friendly and we didn’t look non league.

Second half was a bit stop start and it looked like both sides ran out of a bit of steam the changes meant the match turned into abut if a run out in the last 5 mins.

What did I learn?

- Hurst has the players in good shape and the ones he’s brought in look physically up to it.

- We want to play it on the deck and the pitch really helped.

- As you’d expect no lack of work rate and effort and the overall movement was really encouraging.

- We need a striker and probably another attacker with a bit of versatility.

Overall we feel like we’re well on track from a prep point of view.

Away from a decent game it was so good to get back to BP and I’m pleased it was a really good turn out for Macca.

UTFM!!!!!

Decent summing up. Can't understand why it got 3 red crosses?

Quoted from chipsandgravy

Decent summing up. Can't understand why it got 3 red crosses?

Because the fentyistas are out in force on here tonight.... Wally's

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Because the fentyistas are out in force on here tonight.... Wally's

Nah it’s not that it’s probably a few of many posters over the years I’ve disagreed with and have found 5 minutes when they haven’t got their hands on their tails.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Nah it’s not that it’s probably a few of many posters over the years I’ve disagreed with and have found 5 minutes when they haven’t got their hands on their tails.

Or it’s just random toßers who get a stiffy by thinking they’re winding people up.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Or it’s just random toßers who get a stiffy by thinking they’re winding people up.

Indeed!

It’s what you say that’s important, not what the red crossers do.

I thought all of the new signings looked like they have something to offer us yesterday.

Efete gets forward well.
Longe-King is an imposing guy on who will have the measure of anyone in the air.
Crookes looks steady.
Fox looks like he’s too good to stick around if we don’t make it up this season.
Sousa is smart on the ball in tight spaces and reminds me a bit of Dembele.
Grant fairly solid. I’m confident there will be more to come from him.
McAtee looks like another fans favourite but needs a partner. More likely to create and do the donkey-work than score goals.

Without a proper centre forward yesterday we had players run past McAtee. Hopefully we can coach Sousa a touch more composure when one on one with the keeper and he should get goals this season in that system. Hopefully we’ll get the recognised scorer we are searching for though and that could be the missing piece.
Pretty confident we are going to be a strong side this season who take some beating but we do need that goal threat.

Beast burgers were great also. Are they a regular thing this season does anyone know??

Is the fan zone accessible yet? Did anyone go yesterday? Where is it?

Screen on the upper is a nice touch.

Pitch looks the best it has in years.

Players looked happy and there seemed to be a togetherness. Feels like there is a real maturity amongst the squad now.

Lots of positives yesterday

Could not make it yesterday so I have just watched the game on the Youtube channel.

Plenty of positives, we do look to get it on the deck and keep it on the deck when we can, and don't forget Rotherham are further into their pre season than we are and were championship side last season, we competed well and we dd not look out of place at all. we kept us shape well as Hurst would say and we will be hard to beat this season which is what you expect from a Hurst side.

Waterfall looked solid alongside Longe-King who looks like he will be very solid in thhe national league.

Efete looks a decent player who likes to get forward, slightly concerned that he seems to stand off the oppisition wingers and give them  to much time to put the ball into the box but when he signed Doig did say there are things he needs to work on so maybe that is one of them. Meanwhile Crookes looks steady and reminds me of Gregor Robertson  which is not a bad thing.

Clifton, Coke and Fox battled well with the latter looking far too good for the national league. I did think Coke had a bit of an off day and gave the ball away quite a few times but we know from last season that he is more than capable.

Sousa is a crowd pleaser and he has all the tricks and flicks, whilst his end product is somewhat lacking but that is probabaly why he finds himself kicking around in non league. His corner kicks was not great yesterday so lets keep him off them.

squad depth obviously lacking but I am not overly concerned about that as I am sure more bodies will be coming through the door in due course and it is also worth remembering that in the national league we can make signings all through the season., we do need a number 9 signing that is for sure.

Quoted from Davec

Could not make it yesterday so I have just watched the game on the Youtube channel.

Plenty of positives, we do look to get it on the deck and keep it on the deck when we can, and don't forget Rotherham are further into their pre season than we are and were championship side last season, we competed well and we dd not look out of place at all. we kept us shape well as Hurst would say and we will be hard to beat this season which is what you expect from a Hurst side.

Waterfall looked solid alongside Longe-King who looks like he will be very solid in thhe national league.

Efete looks a decent player who likes to get forward, slightly concerned that he seems to stand off the oppisition wingers and give them  to much time to put the ball into the box but when he signed Doig did say there are things he needs to work on so maybe that is one of them. Meanwhile Crookes looks steady and reminds me of Gregor Robertson  which is not a bad thing.

Clifton, Coke and Fox battled well with the latter looking far too good for the national league. I did think Coke had a bit of an off day and gave the ball away quite a few times but we know from last season that he is more than capable.

Sousa is a crowd pleaser and he has all the tricks and flicks, whilst his end product is somewhat lacking but that is probabaly why he finds himself kicking around in non league. His corner kicks was not great yesterday so lets keep him off them.

squad depth obviously lacking but I am not overly concerned about that as I am sure more bodies will be coming through the door in due course and it is also worth remembering that in the national league we can make signings all through the season., we do need a number 9 signing that is for sure.

Pretty much how I see it. In the first part of the first half the had some joy on Efete’s side but as the game progressed I thought he adjusted well.

A little bit more to be added in attack for sure but I’m sure Paul Hurst is talking to people, maybe even a couple one with a bit of experience and an U23 from a bigger club maybe.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

First impressions were quite good. I thought Sousa and Fox were the two standouts, but all the other new guys looked decent as well. We really need a proper no.9 though as we looked a bit blunt in the final third, several good balls went in the box but there was no one anywhere near them. Think we need another centre mid as well, as I don't see much in the way of cover if any of Coke, Clifton or Fox get injured (I'm still not at all convinced by Spokes).

I was also suprised how big Efete is. I thought I'd read that he was quite small. Also wondered where Scannel was - didn't see him on the bench or in the stands with the others who weren't playing. Is he injured again?

Also, anyone know why Adlard was sat in the stands. Seems slightly odd that the other young striker (I forget his name but he scored against Clee Town last week) has jumped ahead of him in pecking order. Or maybe he's carrying a knock as well?

All in all, quite promising though and it was good to see us in the flesh again.

Scannel was at home with his family for his brother's wedding.

I really enjoyed the game, and it was great o be back at BP.
1-0 seemed about right, and it didn't seem like there were 2 leagues difference between the two teams.

Quoted from wigworld

I really enjoyed the game, and it was great o be back at BP.
1-0 seemed about right, and it didn't seem like there were 2 leagues difference between the two teams.

I thought the least we deserved was a draw, yes they put us under pressure in the first half and a couple of good saves from McKeown but I thought they hardly troubled us in the second half and it was only very poor marking in defence after making quite a few changes that they finally scored.

Very, very encouraging.

Efete, Crookes, Longe-King and Pearson is going to be a very solid, dependable and reliable back four.  

I don't expect us to line up with a 3 like Clifton, Fox and Coke for many games at all but any combination of those two won't worry me one bit.  Fox really looks an addition and can see him as an absolute key player for us.  Got a bit of everything, including that bit of class that you rarely see at this level (especially on a player who's willing to put a shift in too).  I think the other midfield slot will be taken by one of McAtee or Scannell in a slightly more advanced role.  McAtee looked a little lost when he was trying to play the central striker role but once he dropped deeper he was a different animal.  With someone to play off, I think he could be a real asset for us.  

Out wide I thought Grant didn't have a great game, ball didn't run for him a few times and the pitch maybe held the ball up for him a few times (the pitch did look excellent but understandably maybe a little long to protect it ahead of the new campaign and not long after laying it).  On the other flank though Sousa was outstanding.  Dembele like low levels of gravity and first touch.  Definitely looks like someone capable of getting fans off their seats.

Trying to not get carried away as it is pre-season and we've all got excited over a few friendlies before and then fell flat on our faces.  But it looks incredibly encouraging.

We do lack a central (and fit) striker.  A fit Taylor or LJL would totally transform that side on Saturday.  Dare I say to the extent it would have been a comfortable victory.  It really was a quite noticeable void in the shape.  Wouldn't be surprised if someone else comes through the door in the next week to give us another option in that role.

Also, just to keep the realism check in place, we do lack a bit of depth.  After 65/70 minutes Hurst made wholesale changes, as is expected with pre-season games, and it really showed.  The vast majority of our changes were young lads which meant we lost all shape and control of the game. The aim is probably always two players for every position, which we're probably not quite there yet with.  But it is still a fair few weeks to go until the new season so I'm anything but concerned.

I've just watched the full match. Firstly it was a testimonial for Macca and the 400 Rotherham fans should be thanked for swelling the coffers by £4k +.

I thought the match itself was entertaining albeit we lost. Many chances for a goal were created, especially in the first half. On the whole, we equipped ourselves well and it gave the younger players a taste of the professional game.

My only concern is that of the officials who I thought were poor, obvious fouls not given, etc. A taste of things to come, I hope not.

On this show with some more application League 2 next season.

UM

Quoted from DB

I've just watched the full match. Firstly it was a testimonial for Macca and the 400 Rotherham fans should be thanked for swelling the coffers by £4k +.

I thought the match itself was entertaining albeit we lost. Many chances for a goal were created, especially in the first half. On the whole, we equipped ourselves well and it gave the younger players a taste of the professional game.

My only concern is that of the officials who I thought were poor, obvious fouls not given, etc. A taste of things to come, I hope not.

On this show with some more application League 2 next season.

UM

Aren't the officials for friendlies usually local referees? In amongst that you might get some decent ones but also ones that are more used to refereeing Grimsby Borough.