Pre season friendlies

[AdamStag]

It’s all good, we beat Blackburn’s first team at the weekend.

think you’ll do well this season, i also think we might do, vale might be a shout too.

I’ll remember this post in march when we’re 18th and 19th haha

 

[valefan16]

We’ll do anything if it means Wildsmith doesn’t have to face any shots!

In all seriousness it sounded like a good run out and that starting team isn’t far off our strongest on paper bar Bannan and Windass. Also sounded like your keeper pulled off some top saves. Result not really important but it’s always nice to win. All the best for the season.

Was a good workout and very competitive which was good for the watching fans.

Good luck on your quest back to the Championship, decent noise from the away end and deserve better than L1 certainly.

 

[valefan16]

think you’ll do well this season, i also think we might do, vale might be a shout too.

I’ll remember this post in march when we’re 18th and 19th haha

Burnt last season… all three of us really with high expectations!

Interesting season ahead, you’d say us three have done good business and there’s sides like Stevenage, Barrow, Walsall and Harrogate who you wouldn’t have expected to do the business they have, add in the likes of Bristol Rovers, Northampton and maybe Swindon if they sort their squad out and money bags Salford and the likes of Tranmere and FGR and it’s a real open one to call, no one really stands out above the others on paper and doesn’t seem to many you look at and think they will definitely struggle… Scunny seem a mess and somewhat basket case and Hartlepool seem to be suffering from a late finish to their season… not sure what to expect from Sutton but yeah couldn’t really pick a top 7 out at this stage easily.

 

[valefan16]

Was wondering what was going on with that? Bizarre, not seen that happen before.

I do wonder if we are going to step up efforts for an extra attacking option in the next 10 days. The defensive errors can be worked on so no issues there but I think we are slightly light up top.

Good crowd tonight for a friendly too - 2708 with 539 from Wednesday so good stuff all round there.

We are short up front, we haven’t made any signings for weeks and still need a striker and winger really. Assume Amoo is injured again as not seen him for weeks?

Wilson, Proctor and Rodney isn’t enough, Rodney can be used a lot out wide and it’s not leaving much depth. Theo is obviously eating a wage with the youths so need to get him out quick.

No really rumours or links either, not sure who the trialist who didn’t get on today was? Not heard on the two we had a couple of weeks ago and the Doncaster left back that went to the training camp who’s highly rated.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Game of 2 halves at the technique (FYI Valefan ) this evening against Bradford.

Strange one really as it seems the first half was our 1st XI against their 2nd XI, and then the second half was complete vice versa…. And to be fair, it showed in both halves!

First half I thought we were very dominant, especially in midfield. That midfield trio of ours (Oyeleke, Khan and Clarke) wouldn’t look out of place in the league that’s for sure. 2nd half I was very impressed with Vernam and Angol for Bradford, a clear step up in quality in their 2nd half line up compared to their first. I’d have liked to have seen our first half XI go head to head with your 2nd half team, that would have been very competitive.

Good luck for the season City fans

 

[RLC]

0-0 draw for us at home to Sunderland tonight. Missing a proper number 9 but if we find one then we’ll be looking in good shape.

Yes, looking very solid and playing some decent football, but it is obvious where the problem lies. Hopefully there will be some movement in the next few days.

 

[Boz]

0-0 draw for us at home to Sunderland tonight. Missing a proper number 9 but if we find one then we’ll be looking in good shape.

Yes, looking very solid and playing some decent football, but it is obvious where the problem lies. Hopefully there will be some movement in the next few days.

Agree with you both. The hope was that we'd have got the forward in place for tonight's game, which was effectively our last pre-season game though playing Burnley's kids behind closed doors at the weekend.

 

[kieran_vale]

Game of 2 halves at the technique (FYI Valefan ) this evening against Bradford.

Strange one really as it seems the first half was our 1st XI against their 2nd XI, and then the second half was complete vice versa…. And to be fair, it showed in both halves!

First half I thought we were very dominant, especially in midfield. That midfield trio of ours (Oyeleke, Khan and Clarke) wouldn’t look out of place in the league that’s for sure. 2nd half I was very impressed with Vernam and Angol for Bradford, a clear step up in quality in their 2nd half line up compared to their first. I’d have liked to have seen our first half XI go head to head with your 2nd half team, that would have been very competitive.

Good luck for the season City fans

Duly noted on the stadium name.

Be nice to come up against Manny again. Truth is there should be no way he’s a conference player as he is far too good but as mentioned at the time you signed him he’s just made of glass. Be a good test though, I daresay we will at least start with the team that will open up against Northampton.

 

[AR27]

Game of 2 halves at the technique (FYI Valefan ) this evening against Bradford.

Strange one really as it seems the first half was our 1st XI against their 2nd XI, and then the second half was complete vice versa…. And to be fair, it showed in both halves!

First half I thought we were very dominant, especially in midfield. That midfield trio of ours (Oyeleke, Khan and Clarke) wouldn’t look out of place in the league that’s for sure. 2nd half I was very impressed with Vernam and Angol for Bradford, a clear step up in quality in their 2nd half line up compared to their first. I’d have liked to have seen our first half XI go head to head with your 2nd half team, that would have been very competitive.

Good luck for the season City fans

Totally agree with your midfield comment, was very impressed with Oyeleke and Khan in particular.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Duly noted on the stadium name.

Be nice to come up against Manny again. Truth is there should be no way he’s a conference player as he is far too good but as mentioned at the time you signed him he’s just made of glass. Be a good test though, I daresay we will at least start with the team that will open up against Northampton.

Yeah you’d certainly imagine that you’ll approach the game as if it’s a league game with it being just one week before your season starts, whereas for us we’ll still have 3 more weeks left to go until ours kicks off!! For that reason we’ll probably approach it in a similar vein to tonight’s game, with lots of changes throughout and possibly even a few trialists involved.

On Manny, he’s stayed fit throughout his whole time with us so far since signing from you guys, and he’s gone from strength to strength. I’ve got real high hopes for him for next year with a full pre season under his belt. Looking forward to the game on Saturday !

 

[AdamStag]

Yeah you’d certainly imagine that you’ll approach the game as if it’s a league game with it being just one week before your season starts, whereas for us we’ll still have 3 more weeks left to go until ours kicks off!! For that reason we’ll probably approach it in a similar vein to tonight’s game, with lots of changes throughout and possibly even a few trialists involved.

On Manny, he’s stayed fit throughout his whole time with us so far since signing from you guys, and he’s gone from strength to strength. I’ve got real high hopes for him for next year with a full pre season under his belt. Looking forward to the game on Saturday !

Looks like you’ve some decent players this season and the conference will be tough for sure, whoever makes it out this season will have earned it.

I guess with successive fixtures against bradford , port vale and grimsby it’ll give you the chance to see what they can do before reality bites against aldershot, wealdstone and kings lynn.

I think there’s a good 5/6 sides who’ll think they’ve a genuine chance of promotion

 

[Andy Proctor]

I have been saying for the last 2 or 3 weeks that we are short upfront there's no where near enough goals in that vale squad to be anywhere near the top 7. We barely create many chances either for the strikers. I also find it baffling that people are happy with that they are seeing when good vale teams of the past have had good wingers and this system we are playing doesn't offer up much width. Also the fact we don't score many and concede daft goals and gave away plenty of chances to shef wed last night due to poor defending is a worry. We have a tall side aswell yet struggled to defend corners. U hope this is just serving up all the rubbish in the friendlies but if you asked me where I thought vale would finish it would be midtable at best. I dont think shef wed will do much in league one either as they looked shaky at the back if you high press them then they give the ball away.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

So that's us, Tranmere, Port Vale, Bradford and Hartlepool all after that elusive striker - anyone else?

Looking like a desperate battle for Tshimanga on deadline day then!

 

[Agombar stool]

So that's us, Tranmere, Port Vale, Bradford and Hartlepool all after that elusive striker - anyone else?

Looking like a desperate battle for Tshimanga on deadline day then!

We probably need at least 2/3. We only have a kid up front so far.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Our forward line is Mark Cullen, Olumola and youngster Joe Grey. We need someone with a bit of height and strength, someone like err nah I'll not give Jared another hard on. He's been through enough y-fronts as it is already.

I'd like Grey out on loan so another two forwards for me. Tshimanga involves spending money so rule us out of that please.

 

[hellogregory]

Hartlepool’s preseason results do look utterly dreadful. But we all know preseason results mean absolutely fuck all. I’ve seen us have a set of great preseason results then start the season with defeat after defeat after defeat and so on…

 

[Andy Proctor]

Pre season results don't mean much really ours have been mainly defeats. We got Chesterfield Saturday a ground we never win at so wouldn't be surprised if we lost that aswell. Im just not a fan of playing this 532 formation or 352 I just don't like wing backs I'd prefer play out and out wingers. If we do sign another striker I can only see it being a young lad on loan similar to us having will swann last season for abit from forest. No big name or decent striker is going come vale sit on the bench as devante rodney and James Wilson are likely to start most games and Proctor who doesn't score many will probably be used to hold the ball up do flick ons play the target man role.

 

[IanPVFC]

Bit of an overreaction from some regarding our performance last night, against a clearly much more talented side. Defensively overall I thought we were solid and dealt with most, the goal could have been better but again look at the opposition. Personally I think that back 3 who started last night (Smith, Johnson, Martin) will be strong at our level. The midfield 3 look potentially to be as good as any, Walker looks a beast, Conlon will look to play in an advanced role where he is clearly more talented, Pett is always going to look for the ball. As mentioned the weak point is potentially up top, but I doubt Wilson, Rodney etc. will come across a centre half pairing with the combination of height and pace as last night.

I'm quietly confident we'll have an ok season, I will caveat that with I'm not going to properly judge this squad until at least 10 games in.

 

[The Terminator]

I watched a young Orient XI draw 1-1 away at Dulwich Hamlet. 4 of our young pros combined with our youth team started.

We’ve used a lot of our youngsters in this pre season, I’m expecting 2-3 of them to be regularly in our matchday squads come the end of the season, we have some good talent coming through.

 

[White Army]

So that's us, Tranmere, Port Vale, Bradford and Hartlepool all after that elusive striker - anyone else?

Looking like a desperate battle for Tshimanga on deadline day then!

Our resident ITK's were suggesting a season long loan for Marc Mcnulty was done and set to be announced. However this was a few days ago now, and the lack of an announcement is causing a few meltdowns.

 

[Bottega Don]

So that's us, Tranmere, Port Vale, Bradford and Hartlepool all after that elusive striker - anyone else?

Looking like a desperate battle for Tshimanga on deadline day then!

Us too but we're missing an entire team of FL quality.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Sutton lost 3-1 away at Dartford tonight. Not very encouraging

If it makes you feel a little better Jared we did miss a lot of chances. Let’s see what we do in our last pre season game where we are likely to field our first team.

 

[valefan16]

I have been saying for the last 2 or 3 weeks that we are short upfront there's no where near enough goals in that vale squad to be anywhere near the top 7. We barely create many chances either for the strikers. I also find it baffling that people are happy with that they are seeing when good vale teams of the past have had good wingers and this system we are playing doesn't offer up much width. Also the fact we don't score many and concede daft goals and gave away plenty of chances to shef wed last night due to poor defending is a worry. We have a tall side aswell yet struggled to defend corners. U hope this is just serving up all the rubbish in the friendlies but if you asked me where I thought vale would finish it would be midtable at best. I dont think shef wed will do much in league one either as they looked shaky at the back if you high press them then they give the ball away.

We've lost twice against a top Championship outfit in Forest and a side relegated from it last season so cant be too worried about results against them two surely?

We need a fourth striker for depth certainly but should have goals, Rodney you'd hope will push on from a great start with us, Wilson is capable but more importantly our midfield is full of goals, Pett and Conlon are goalscoring midfielders.

My main worry isn't goals based on friendlies against sides better than we will face week in week out down here but the lack of depth, Rodney we often use wide for his raw pace and goal threat from range and Wilson isn't with the greatest injury record.

Interestingly Tshimanga is one our fans have been angling after us going in for.

Our friendlies have been odd this year, a couple of local sides, then straight into Forest, then a 10 day gap before Wednesday then Chesterfield so no real build up in quality of opposition and only 2 in the 19/20 days before the opening game.

 

[kieran_vale]

As far as I’m aware Tshimanga is under contract at Boreham Wood so not sure we would spend what they would want.

People need to remember this is virtually a new team and it’s going to take time for it to come together. I’m fully expecting a very bumpy start to the season.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Hartlepool’s preseason results do look utterly dreadful. But we all know preseason results mean absolutely fuck all. I’ve seen us have a set of great preseason results then start the season with defeat after defeat after defeat and so on…

Challinor gave an interview after our defeat to Blyth & openly admitted the team is nowhere near good enough to start the season.
We have two forwards, Fela,who played for you lot & a crocked 17 year old.
Virtually no staff at the ground,multiple appeals for volenteers to help out,no info regarding picking up your ST or how many we’ve sold.
I was hoping for a comfortable finish this seaso,but it’s looking like 3rd
bottom would be a major achievement.

 

[Chris FGR]

Lost 2-1 at home to Swansea. Stevens with a late pen, played pretty well look a bit short of goal scorers though.

 

[Andy Proctor]

We've lost twice against a top Championship outfit in Forest and a side relegated from it last season so cant be too worried about results against them two surely?

We need a fourth striker for depth certainly but should have goals, Rodney you'd hope will push on from a great start with us, Wilson is capable but more importantly our midfield is full of goals, Pett and Conlon are goalscoring midfielders.

My main worry isn't goals based on friendlies against sides better than we will face week in week out down here but the lack of depth, Rodney we often use wide for his raw pace and goal threat from range and Wilson isn't with the greatest injury record.

Interestingly Tshimanga is one our fans have been angling after us going in for.

Our friendlies have been odd this year, a couple of local sides, then straight into Forest, then a 10 day gap before Wednesday then Chesterfield so no real build up in quality of opposition and only 2 in the 19/20 days before the opening game.

Pett isn't a goalscorer. Most of our squad have been brought in based on what they have the potential to do not what they have a proven record of doing. The only players that will excite me next season are Pett and conlon the rest of them are just players nobody else wants. I wouldnt back rodney or Wilson to score many next season as they won't get the service. We also won't keep many clean sheets as what vale side does apart from the 1954 iron curtain side. The signing of Ben garrity baffles me I have no idea what he brings to the squad. Signing Jamie Proctor a non scoring forward, we have enough non scoring players in our squad without having a striker that doesn't score. We arnt any better than midtable. I wouldnt be surprised if we're in the bottom 6 after the first month of the season aswell.

 

[shoddycollins]

You all had the scuffed Nathan Thomas, we got the elite version that was sold for £300,000.

They were the ones who scuffed him

 

[shoddycollins]

West Grinstead is about 30 miles away so technically Crawley, Horsham and about 100,000 other people could be living in Grinstead.

The place is actually famous as the home of the Guinea Pig club. Where WW2 pilots received pioneering plastic surgery after being burned.

Casey

More so the home town of Right Said Fred!

 

[shoddycollins]

I remember that, not that it was an excuse, but he didn’t leave mansfield on good terms either.

Again he was annoying as he obviously had talent, sadly he was a complete cock at the same time. Potential wasted there

Would definitely have him back here. Don't know what his previous clubs were doing to him but he always grafted here. One of his biggest issues was having to come off after 80 minutes every other game because he'd run himself into the ground.