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+----- Thread: Reservations about the Reserves (/showthread.php?tid=5373)
Reservations about the Reserves - Devongone - 12-05-2017
I know I'm always banging on about things the club should do in a mad, different way, but here I go again.
In the season our Junior Team played about 26 games. Our reserves played 15. The Junior games are age-limited, the reserves aren't that competitive either. Should we doing something better to give developing players more stretching competition?
Plymouth Argyle Reserves, for geographical reasons I suppose, have a reserve team in the SW Peninsula League. They play every Saturday and play in genuinely competitive matches. That's the model I think we ought to copy.
Currently our reserves play its smattering of games either Tuesday or Wednesday and that's it. The Juniors play some Saturdays, but by no means all. Only 18 players are needed with our first team. A club like ours could even play its current reserve games and compete in a Saturday League!
Such a team would be an opportunity for youngsters breaking through to play against men. It would give competitive football to those just outside the first 18. We could also offer perhaps a part-time contract to a few players who were potential developers from the non-league ...... and we could still play trialists in the odd Tuesday match ......... And it would also keep our coaches in touch with talent developing in local non-league clubs.
It just seems like our reserve team isn't a real team in a real league and that can't be good. Of course coaching and training improves players, but until you put things into the context of a game they don't matter. Just my opinion.