Sabadell v Gas match thread

Dont worry, j clarke and mansell 👍

Nah lets see if Peterborough have got anyone they don't want

Kivorover...we could panic like you, or pick James Clarke who you conveniently forgot.

Obviously it's a friendly so no biggie, but why make such an event of it, with all those fans going out and Wael and Steve Hamer, and then put out that team?

The manager doesn't pick the team to suit the fans in a friendly, a cup match or a league match.
in a friendly he picks the team that best suits the squad he's got at that stage of pre- season and takes injuries , fitness, trialists and lots of other things in to consideration.
Our supporters who understand this know that and being the football man Wael is he'll know that too.
The only important match we've got coming up in terms of result is Scunthorpe then closely followed by our other competitive games.

Lets not get precious or prickly; we have shipped 9 goals in two preseason games, granted DC has not been able to select his strongest side during preseason, but he has said he needs to add at least 3 "quality" players to the squad and he is correct. I would imagine he already regrets offering contracts to all of last terms squad, Puddy really !, plus others.

All these niggles and knocks are quite concerning, especially as its for many defenders.

I am also a little confused as to why DC has not started his best 11 (from those available) in any of the recent friendlies. Last night it looked like half the first team started on the pitch and the other half on the bench. I am a little worried and predicting another tough start but I trust DC.

Lee Brown played in the second half, why would he be more likely to break his leg if he started?

Although the starting 11 did OK as if Gaffney's offside goal had counted it would have been 1-1 at half time. Once again we lost our way once Lines & Gaffney were subbed. Plus missing Lockyer has to be a big loss at the back.

A tad concerning if I'm honest. We can't read too much in to pre-season games, that's true - I remember some very good pre-seasons followed by dismal and even disastrous league campaigns. That said, the results are a bit of a concern (against the pro sides); very few goals scored and a lot of goals shipped.

That said, we haven't really played our starting 11 much (at all?) yet and we are really suffering at the back due to injuries.

DC has said he wants to bring in another 3 quality players and, based on that, I don't think we should be worrying too much yet. But it is absolutely ESSENTIAL that he does that as we are clearly a little short on quality based on the step up to L1; the bottom half of L2 was pretty dire IMO, where as in L1 the whole league looks strong.

I would never fault DC on handing out contracts to last years squad as; 1) he promised he would and it's good to see that he's a man of his word and 2) they've earned it. That said, it is vital that some of those players get pushed back to the bench due to new players with more quality coming in.

IMO we desperately need:

1) A new CM - I'm not truly convinced Lines will chip in with enough goals or enough assists at this level. I know he's played at this level before (and indeed higher) but it's just a gut feeling. He wasn't first choice for much of last season, so IMO it seems DC must at least partially agree with this too. A new CM with the real quality required won't come cheap though - IMO this is Wael's first real test on the transfer front; we need to put our hands in our pocket IMO - maybe as much as £200-£250k!? Very much doubt that would happen, but that might be the sort of money we're talking in order to bring in someone of REAL quality

2) A new goalkeeper - not necessarily to replace Mildenhall, but certainly to properly push him; I personally don't believe Puddy is good enough for L1 football

3) A new left back - someone to provide genuine competition for Lee Brown should he pick up an injury/suspension/etc

- We might also need a new striker. However, seeing as we do have a fair few on our books already, maybe we wait to Christmas to address this. The benefit is that we may find we don't need one. The downside is that if we do need one, we'll end up having to pay a fortune! But if our club president truly does have a fair bit of wealth then this might not be a problem (especially if it was seen as an investment and we felt we could always recoup the money [or even make money] on him further down the line). There's also the argument that if buying one was to keep us in L1 then some of the costs would have been offset due to avoiding the drop to L2 which would have certainly seen a drop in income

- We could maybe do with a new winger - still fear we might be a little short of quality on the flanks

- Given the injuries at the back and Macca only getting older, I do wonder whether we could do with another CB as well - even if it were purely a short-term (3 month) loan whilst we get our current centre backs fit

All in all I'm not too worried as I have every confidence DC will bring in at least 3 new players and, based on (the vast majority) of his previous signings, I'm sure they will really improve us.

As long as we avoid relegation this coming season then that is the main thing IMO. As we can then clear out anyone who has failed to make the step up at the end of the season and then seriously look at bringing in players of real L1 quality; this season it was always going to be difficult due to everyone from last seasons (bar one) re-signing.

A mid-table finish would be an excellent achievement IMO and I would personally be very happy with that. Of course, this is subject to chance if DC suddenly goes out and spends a ton of money over the next few weeks (unlikely though, let's be fair!).

Anything more than that (playoffs/automatics etc) would be truly unbelievable and DC might be next England manager if things don't work out for Big Sam!

UTG!