checkatrade trophy

We have played 3 mattches and lost them all.  2-3 to Accrington Stanley ( league 2) and 1-4 to Wigan and Blackpool.  I wondered if anyone wanted a bit more than the sanitised versions that have appeared on the Clubs web site.

No 1 standout for me is young Armstrong has scored in all three games.  He's not pretty but he is effective and gutsy.  He ought to be performing at this level week in week out ?

We've got a goal back in the last two games to teams who are near the top of league one and then by over committing to attack have made it worse by losing a couple of goal to battle hardened pros.

A couple of goals have been lost to fast incoming attackers onto crosses that is even when the defence is set and into place.  Interesting .....

We've lost goals to strikes from outside the area.  Backing off encourages the attacker to shoot ? lack of a midfield sweeper in front of the defence?

others who caught the eye  George Miller been a total and utter nuisance to central defenders often a thankless task. Connor Molloy has good control and make Wigan work hard for theri paychecks.  He is young and therefore has time to develop.

Wing last night looked a real player.  I particularly liked the way he has his head up all the time.  H made the keeper work very hard on a couple of accasions and takes a decent free kick

I'll leave it there for now in case there is interest.  Ask and I'll try and respond

I’m all for this tournament give the young lads a real insight into what’s needed. Not sure the div 1teams get anything out of it though

yes bit lacking in info on these games. i think we seen the goals in one of them. but thats it. how was shotton?

we had a tough group mind, some really top teams for this comp. i think we did well on the whole.

Even the real top academies have struggled. It shows the real difference

yes bit lacking in info on these games. i think we seen the goals in one of them. but thats it. how was shotton?

 

we had a tough group mind, some really top teams for this comp. i think we did well on the whole.

Shotton looked ok but not a level above although at times he had a lot more time than others.

The opener for Blackpool went over him although he was the highest of our lads

It was a tough group but only losing to AS in the last couple of minutes was an indication of how well they played.  That was also the game where Miller, Wing and Tavernier were all off with the big lads

Even the real top academies have struggled. It shows the real difference

Whilst what you say is true and the record books will show we were thrashed 4-1 twice.  It would not be true to say they played badly and very few of the lads were completely off the "pace".  In truth they were surprisingly competative

I might add that the vast majority of the lads are capable of playing at league 2 level even now.  Whether they have the toughness physically and mentally is a different question

I remember one little lad getting well bounced by a full back against Bradford city reserves after having shot past him first time he got the ball.  The sympathy he got was zero - our captain told him to get up you are better than that - he certainly did not show it in the rest of the game.  It does not go down well with the guys playing for their mortgages

The top half dozen or so are competative at the top end of league 1 and maybe half of them would benefit from playing week in and week out at this level  and are capable of doing so

Even the real top academies have struggled. It shows the real difference

 

Whilst what you say is true and the record books will show we were thrashed 4-1 twice.  It would not be true to say they played badly and very few of the lads were completely off the "pace".  In truth they were surprisingly competative

Its great that they seem to have the ability. But that change up to playing adults is the big thing. I’ve played for sides where every yr 18 -19 yr olds turn up having been the best in their age group at u18. And almost all struggle and drop down to quite a poor level for a yr or two

Even the real top academies have struggled. It shows the real difference

 

Whilst what you say is true and the record books will show we were thrashed 4-1 twice.  It would not be true to say they played badly and very few of the lads were completely off the "pace".  In truth they were surprisingly competative

 

Its great that they seem to have the ability.  But that change up to playing adults is the big thing.  I’ve played for sides where every yr 18 -19 yr olds turn up having been the best in their age group at u18. And almost all struggle and drop down to quite a poor level for a yr or two

It was nice to see Marcus getting his first goal at the weekend.  He was definitely one of the better players in this group.  There may well be a few other who can step up now.  An interesting thought

I understand completely what you mean about not immediately stepping up.  They also seem to get injuries to accompany this change.  Tony McMahon was a particularly good example.  Harry chapman seems to cop for an injury every time he looks as though he's about to put a serious marker down