[spireitematt]

Video didn't work but here's the link to watch the Vanarama Highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR4AuFv-_ZI

A lot of 3G pitches in this league.

[Dancingwilldoit]

If the 3k season ticket is correct then it is incredible. If we get 5k for a Tuesday night match against Aldershot in the middle of the holiday season that's just outstanding. Just shows what a bit of straight talking and positivity can do.

Rowley played the full 90 against Alfreton and did very little. He needs to bulk up a bit because so many times he was just brushed off the ball. Like Dev, am not sure where he will get game time and experience maybe Matlock or somewhere similar

[spireitematt]

Apparently Salford City have given us 1300 tickets but there away end can hold 1500.

[Devongone]

Re Rowley - seems to me if you grow taller, but do not bulk out then you are likely to be relatively weaker on the ball. I think that little growth spurt may have as much to do with his "progress" as his injury.

This is the whole pity of our lack of a reserve side. What he needs is regular football plus a lot of time in the gym and a diet to suit. Rugby teams successfully bulk up youngsters - quite often without using illegal substances. Maybe we should send him to train with Rotherham's rugby team, or Sale, or Leicester ........... What to do with him is a difficult one, because we have to remember he was promising enough a year ago for Premier League sides to be taking a look - there's something there, so what we don't want is him drifting out of the picture like Ricky German.

Looking at Leagues One and Two I couldn't escape the conclusion that they now contain too many clubs which couldn't currently justify themselves in terms of community interest and support. And that's the real point about Salford. If the investment creates a club which captures its community's interest I don't care whether it is buying its promotions. If the club looks moribund beyond that external investment then the EFL would be better if the promoted sides were clubs like Wrexham, Leyton Orient, Aldershot or ourselves who do have physical support and interest within their communities. Leagues can benefit from the odd Eibar or an Hoffenheim, but if that kind of club begins to proliferate and finance has very little to do with support that seems unhealthy for the game to me, don't know what you think.

The EFL won't allow in clubs with a 3G pitch. What about stipulating only clubs with an average home crowd of 2,000 could take up a promotion place .........?

[bluepooch]

That last point is a good one ,it would stop these rich benefactors using these little clubs as playthings.Or here's a novel idea ,why dont they stipulate clubs have to generate the income themselves through gate receipts, merchandise etc instead of being given handouts from rich men and tv companies.That way the clubs with the bigger following, the true measurement of the size of a club in my opinion,will have a better chance.Ive brought this up before but Bournemouth for example, should not be able to attract better players than Sheffield Wednesday purely on financial grounds.
Dev, whats your thoughts on Ricky and his failure to progress ,do you blame the club or himself ?

[Devongone]

Well as regards Ricky - the individual always has to take responsibility because despite a totally unhelpful system people can overcome every hurdle and succeed. But that means you only get those who have both talent and enough ego and drive not to really need other people to help them succeed ...... and if you threw them in the Queen's Park lake they'd probably come out dribbling a football. But they're the rarest of diamonds.

You have to recognise that certainly at our sort of club it is vanishingly unlikely we come up with a player who has all the talent, the skills, the vision, all the drive, is perfectly behaved, never gives up etc. They'll have weaknesses and I'm sure Ricky did, but he went from captaining the juniors and being the mainspring of that team to someone being farmed out in lower leagues. I can't believe all that was down to him alone ........ especially when we see other instances every season of players, who almost make it with us, but then we cast them aside. MAKING players should be our job. He had the raw material. WE had that. His brother Antonio's a nearly-made-it-pro' now playing in India, used to play for St Albans City ......... so Ricky knew the score. But we're the ones with the experience, he's the kid. Football fails young players all the time - look at the failure rate, if that were a normal academic course would anyone sign up?

Gary Caldwell chose to push Joe Rowley forward but refused to offer Ricky a minute in the worst team in our history. Was it random select? I suspect that at some point rightly or wrongly Ricky decided he was never going to get a proper chance. If he'd have been my lad I'd have said, show them what a bunch of idiots they are. Train harder than anyone, stay out on your own at the end, if they run up hill, you find a mountain, just keep doing more till they either kick you out for being a pain in the arse or put you in that team. I think he needed someone to believe in him, because he was short of self-belief.

[spireitematt]

Well as regards Ricky - the individual always has to take responsibility because despite a totally unhelpful system people can overcome every hurdle and succeed. But that means you only get those who have both talent and enough ego and  drive not to really need other people to help them succeed ...... and if you threw them in the Queen's Park lake they'd probably come out dribbling a football. But they're the rarest of diamonds.

You have to recognise that certainly at our sort of club it is vanishingly unlikely we come up with a player who has all the talent, the skills, the vision, all the drive, is perfectly behaved, never gives up etc. They'll have weaknesses and I'm sure Ricky did, but he went from captaining the juniors and being the mainspring of that team to someone being farmed out in lower leagues. I can't believe all that was down to him alone ........ especially when we see other instances every season of players, who almost make it with us, but then we cast them aside. MAKING players should be our job. He had the raw material. WE had that. His brother Antonio's a nearly-made-it-pro' now playing in India, used to play for St Albans City ......... so Ricky knew the score. But we're the ones with the experience, he's the kid. Football fails young players all the time - look at the failure rate, if that were a normal academic course would anyone sign up?

Gary Caldwell chose to push Joe Rowley forward but refused to offer Ricky a minute in the worst team in our history. Was it random select? I suspect that at some point rightly or wrongly Ricky decided he was never going to get a proper chance. If he'd have been my lad I'd have said, show them what a bunch of idiots they are. Train harder than anyone, stay out on your own at the end, if they run up hill, you find a mountain, just keep doing more till they either kick you out for being a pain in the arse or put you in that team. I think he needed someone to believe in him, because he was short of self-belief.

Ricky German signed for Hendon the other day.

[Devongone]

Yes, too low down the pyramid, but players do come back from there ........ but teams still find it hard to take a chance on a Jacob-Hazel type, despite his thirty five goals and a team of the season accolade. Maybe Ricky's physique will get him noticed.

But it would be easy for us to let Joe Rowley drift out of the door too. How's he goin' to be feelin', first team to no-team this early in his career. I hope MA is having a fatherly word with him.