[bluepooch]

The problem is these youngsters need to hit the ground running Dev which Rowley and to a certain extent Wakefield have done .Unfortunately we cannot afford the time to bed in the likes of German because this will simply be to the detriment of the team.
This is not to say we don't give him a chance but he needs to take whatever chances he gets and unfortunately so far he hasnt done that .

[Dancingwilldoit]

German scored again last night and it seems another youngster called Amantchi scored 2.
Blue the only chances German had were last season in a team that were up against the ropes with a management set up that hadn't got a clue what it was doing. Don't know about hit the ground running, if it was me I would have hit the ground and stayed there well out of the way.
If you are not going to give youth a chance, why have a youth set up? German scored in all the friendlies he played in, that's says something to me.

[Devongone]

I don't know how much more hitting the ground running you can be than Ricky. As Dancing says he scored every friendly, he scored all the time in the Juniors, he scored as soon as he got into the reserves. He didn't score straightaway in the few minutes of first team games he got, but he showed he was a real handful. My only problem with him was that he seemed to have been wound up (by the thug Morgan probably) to go out and commit fouls, which has never been his game.

We are allowed 7 subs. We must use them wisely and positively. A lot of Div 2 defenders are a little jaundiced, have seen better days and don't particularly like getting the run around. If they've spent 60 or 70 minutes chasing and battling with perhaps Ugwu, CO'G and Dennis the last thing they'll want is to see two of them replaced with Brewster and German eager to prove they should've started. Unfortunately I get the impression that GC is going to view two or three of his subs like last season as emergency measures only. Similarly if you started a German or a Brewster how disheartening would it be for the opposition to see that their replacement might be one of the most experienced and best forwards in the division .....

At one point in pre-season I was worried because it looked as though we were going to let the young lads just sink or swim in midfield. Now it seems we are bringing in some experience and the young players are ALL disappearing from the team. If the miracle were to happen and we were to go up, the best way would be to have a nucleus of young players capable of improving to the next level. Nobody does that off the pitch. They have to be part of a squad getting time as substitutes and starters. As I've already said Ricky German has done it at the lower levels we have in the club. If he's only going to get a game if Gozie breaks his leg then he really would be better off down at Plainmoor causing chaos in the Banarama wouldn't he?

By the way how is that almost every non-leaguer who everyone knows should be at a higher level goes to Peterborough? Everybody knew about Idris Kanu at Aldershot, everyone knew he had his troubles with the manager and had been on trial with bigger clubs ............ and yet it's Peterborough who come through and give him a contract ........

Mr Barrow looks a bit tough by the way. I wouldn't be giving him much chelp.

[bluepooch]

I understand what you are both saying and agree to an extent but I have been to most of the pre season friendlies and Wakefield has had a bigger impact than German has ever had in the numerous chances he has had .
Now I know its only pre season but I really like both Rowley and Wakefield and I think both will become regulars this season despite good competition in midfield ,unfortunately Ricky is 5th choice striker on merit for me at the moment but who's to say he wont be first choice at the end of the season ,he needs to take his chance when he gets it just like Rowley did .
I think we have good competition for places now with the possible exception of left back and am excited more for this season than I have been since we last went up.
The midfield competition of Reed ,Sinnott ,Mcourt ,Weir if he signs ,Wakefield, Rowley and Dolmio is as good as we have had for as long as i can remember years ,even under Cook we relied on Morsy and Ryan but no one challenged them .
I have backed us for promotion along with Middlesborough and Wigan in a treble ,Im that confident .

[Devongone]

Well, none out of three's not bad Pooch.

For a perceptive man you can, like me, say some dumb things sometimes my friend. "Numerous" chances Ricky's had that he hasn't seized? Has some new kind of inverse statistics been developed in a parallel universe? Scoring in all the friendlies you've played, what's that, being off sick? Someone like Matt who actually saw him play, immediately thinking, he's a first choice player ........... do we forget that?

How many games did it take the whole team even to score with CO'G in it who only has 14 years league experience behind him? Fitting in up front is MUCH harder than picking up a role in the middle of the park. You work your socks off like CO'G and everybody, including me, starts shaking their heads and saying he hasn't scored and we looked impotent in front of goal ....... huge wage ......... A boy 18 or 19, and not only have you got to do what you do as well as you've ever done it, you've got to match players with years of experience and worry about opponents too. It's hard, that's why centre forwards, if you can develop one, bring a club the big bucks. That's why I'm so keen we don't ruin him. He has the power to change our club. Realistically Joe or Charlie have to hit Dele Alli level to bring us in a few million and that's unlikely, but a big strong centre forward who puts a bit of fear into centre backs .... well he'd rate several million from even Championship clubs desperate for Sky. And if he's only good enough for us, how bad is that?

Anderlecht put their faith in a big, strong 16 year old, they even played him European competitions. Would any English club take that chance on a big, strong, 16 year old? But Romelu Lukaku became a man whilst he was still a boy because he got to play! That's the model to follow. Belgium hasn't got huge or fabulously rich clubs, but they can line up young potential international players against a country likes ours which throws in vast amounts of money and potential to no better result ........

Two years ago Delial Brewster was the young forward Everton were looking to. Now we've got him. There's obviously potential there. So when its 1-1 and tight against Accrington Stanley I don't want to see GC or whoever, sit on his hands and finally risk a clownish 87th minute substitution. If Rowley's on the bench, get him on the field when he can make a difference, same for Ricky and Delial. By making a difference to the game you make a difference to the individual too. So what if it occasionally goes wrong, sitting there and doing nothing often goes wrong too. Changing your team in the last two minutes quite often fckus the team up too, so do it early. AND once Charlie, Joe and Ricky are doing it on the field, others start coming through ..... and those who thought their careers might stall like Dimaio and Brewster and maybe Bradley Barry and Binnom-Williams too - they start to believe in themselves too.

But if you create an atmosphere where a young centre-back gets hooked after 23 minutes, or a guy who scores 11 goals in under 3 weeks still doesn't get a sniff of the failingmost first team in the country........ then none of that happens. I don't care if we get promotion. I'd rather we stay up and have, by the end of the season, proper players in Rowley, Wakefield, German, Maguire, Brewster and Dimaio and big clubs are represented in the stands ........ and Jay Smith, Ofoegbu, Brownell, Parkin and a couple of the current crop are thinking, "couple of departures and that's big chances for me!" That's the way we move forward and the only legal way to finance ourselves. I don't think we can sell many tickets for a Pooch streak!

[bluepooch]

Getting pulled after 23 minutes can work either way ,it can be a wake up call and make the lad more determined to succeed or totally xxxx up his confidence .Ive no doubt GC will have had lots of chats with him and we will see which way he goes.
Being called Perceptive and dumb in the same sentence is new for me and it has made me have mixed emotions Dev .German's scoring record may be impressive but it isnt against the league teams but Im sure his time will come ,it has to.
Weir signing is another piece in the jigsaw of promotion.

My starting team would be as follows;
3-5-2
Anyon(simply because Lee aint match fit)

Wiseman
Evatt
Hird

Barry
Sinnott
Weir
Reed
Donohue

Dennis
O Grady

Subs;

Mcginn
Lee
Mccourt
Wakefield
Ugwu
Brewster
Maguire.

The most striking thing about this line up is how strong the bench is with no place for German,Dimaio ,Mitchell and not including Rowley and Binnom Williams.

By the way Dev,who so you think will win those respective leagues ?

[Devongone]

MY biggest argument with that team would actually be that if Tommy Lee is not fit enough to be first choice he isn't fit enough to be on the bench.

I think yours may well be the side we start with and I think it is a loser. Several times last season we fielded a back three, it failed for lack of pace. You've given us our three oldest players there. I don't know how much pace Grimsby have, but if I were them I'd pick young, fit, fast boys against that.

If we're going the wing back route it is going to be Barry and Donohue. Centre midfield looks totally reliant on Lou Reed.

Worker and a goalscorer sounds okay up front, but there's no one behind them creating them much. There's no pace in the team, it lacks physical strength, the defence is old and slow and the keeper's ideally designed for the bench, bet he's even got a fat arse.

Hird and Evatt won't work long-term, so if Maguire isn't good enough now, we're headed into the loans market again.

I'd start Ugwu and CO'G together with Dennis in behind. I reckon that would trouble any defence in our division. And I'd have to find space for Mitchell because he's faster. Not even listing him as sub is just daft in my opinion. And yeah the forwards would know from the start that two of them were likely to come off for Brewster and German. I don't think there is any chance of that happening. But I'd be playing a back four and there's no hope of that either.

Forgot, you asked who I thought would win the leagues. Well Middlesbrough have broken the bank for Assombalonga. He used to play every game before he got to Forest. Since then in three seasons he hasn't appeared in over half of their games. Boro couldn't score last season - if Brett picks up another injury they'll be spending at Christmas. I'd go for Fulham or Wednesday and the rivalry between Villa and Birmingham with big-name managers puts them in the running in a pretty winnable looking division.

Wigan? It's taken Cookie two seasons twice to build a league-winning side. If he runs true to form then he's out of the running. I think Blackburn, Charlton, Rotherham and Bradford are better bets.

Us? No way. Luton, Mansfield, Forest Green, Coventry, Accrington will be way better than us.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Less than 24 hours to go. Looking forward to a game of football and hope to god that's what we get. Whatever the team they will have my support and respect as long as I see some commitment.
IMO Caldwell should have been long gone but he isn't. He has put a decent squad together but is it good enough? 1 or 2 injuries will possibly determine where we finish.
Cant see us in the top 3. Hope I am wrong and if he takes us up I will gladly eat my own words and streak naked down Blues street. After last season I just hope we get something to cheer about.

[bluepooch]

The Mitchell thing is a tough one ,he isnt a defender and we are going to need the wide men to track back in a 352.I was impressed with Mcginn against Donny and almost put him in .
This season cannot possibly worse than last season ,which must go down in my top 3 worst seasons in 30 years .
I havent felt this bullish since Paul Cook took over and Dev was saying it wouldnt work .I talked of a revolution and in a way it was like that .
Im getting a similar feeling to that i felt at the start of the 2013/14 season which Cook brought together the likes of Roberts Ryan Morsy etc .
I just hope Im not feeling deflated tomorrow at 5.Keep calm keep calm ...