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Post by davef on Jul 21, 2019 9:59:18 GMT
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Post by VCLXI on Jul 21, 2019 12:04:13 GMT
Great news. See, there was never anything to worry about people!
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trev
1st team skipper
In Matt We Trust
Posts: 2,477
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Post by trev on Jul 21, 2019 12:32:13 GMT
Encouraging news about the new signings, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, whether or not we have anything to worry about remains to be seen. This is a question which can only be answered during the course of a competitive season. In the meantime, I look forward to the remaining friendlies for an opportunity to see our new signings in action.
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Post by garethl on Jul 21, 2019 14:10:08 GMT
Agree Trev. A lot of unproven young players (and manager) for this level. High risk but hopefully we’ll find 2/3 stars from the group. We can only support and hope the manager proves capable of putting a good side together. We do have a reasonable core and we have to hope we are lucky with the fitness of these senior players.
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Post by mca on Jul 22, 2019 5:58:48 GMT
Agreed. It's obvious good that we have the numbers to compete, and all we can do it give our support and see what happens. A massive overhaul is always a risk(see Fulham last season) but circumstances have sent us down that road. I am excited for the season to start now, instead of worried as I was a few weeks back, but I don't have a clue how we're gonna get on this season. I predict anywhere from 5th-20th
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Post by davep on Jul 22, 2019 6:42:56 GMT
I seem to recall Matt saying that he wanted a squad of 23. This included Jamie Butler as first choice keeper and a young keeper as cover. We don't appear to have signed the latter as yet - although it is apparent who we are looking at.
We also don't appear to have signed a left back as yet - although we have Jude Mason - and others who could play there. It's my understanding that Milsom who has featured there in some of the friendlies is actually a midfield player. However, Lakhamy, the Senegalese lad who came on at the weekend, described as a 'winger' in the match report, is a left back (who likes to get forward).
Two more signings would take the squad up to 24 (including Wayne Brown and Tommy Wright). I guess that once Matt has decided on his first team, a number will be loaned out to get some game time (and to reduce the wage bill).
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Post by Andy K on Jul 22, 2019 8:59:36 GMT
I remember a couple of seasons ago, Macclesfield did a huge overhaul of their squad (I think it was in the region of 12-13 players) and at the start of the season there were predictions of at best mid table obscurity and at worst relegation. I think we all know what happened there.
Predictions can do your head in if you've convinced yourself they are going to happen!
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Post by maw on Jul 22, 2019 10:10:40 GMT
It is going to be a tough task to knit together the old and the new in such a short period, but there are three friendlies left.
On the surface, this looks like panic buying, but we don't know the strategies behind every new signing.
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kpinwp
1st team Player
Posts: 1,173
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Post by kpinwp on Jul 22, 2019 10:47:01 GMT
Looking at the results in the back end of last season, one could argue that keeping the old squad together would have been fairly risky. It wasn't especially functional.
I wouldn't say that late buying is always the same as panic buying. But I'd agree with everyone else, here, that it's very hard to guess how we'll get on once the new season starts.
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Post by pinewalker on Jul 22, 2019 10:59:07 GMT
Agreed. It's obvious good that we have the numbers to compete, and all we can do it give our support and see what happens. A massive overhaul is always a risk(see Fulham last season) but circumstances have sent us down that road. I am excited for the season to start now, instead of worried as I was a few weeks back, but I don't have a clue how we're gonna get on this season. I predict anywhere from 5th-20th As an Aston Villa fan as well as U's fan, I am fascinated - watching two team overhauls this Summer. Of course there is £100M difference but there are similarities in the approach. Both managers have avoided any talk of survival being their first target. Matt has said he expects to adopt 2 different styles, with the more attacking set up at home. Smith has promised to attack in all games - doing a Bournemouth I call that - and he will need a better keeper than he has if he wants to finish above midway.
Fulham panic-bought in the final week, which was their undoing - they got defenders who either could not cope or did not care. I see much more of a plan about what positions need to be filled at GGL and VP. The unknown is always whether players you have watched - doing the job you want at their last club - can do it for you with different colleagues. The risk that they can't increases when they are stepping up to a higher standard, which is true of the newcomers at both clubs.
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,189
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Post by markf on Jul 22, 2019 13:14:53 GMT
"Panic buying". I doubt we paid for any of these guys, except maybe to agents.
People were moaning on here about the lack of transfer activity and now we do sign players it is panic buying. Jeez.
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Post by davethegrave on Jul 22, 2019 19:04:47 GMT
I remember a couple of seasons ago, Macclesfield did a huge overhaul of their squad (I think it was in the region of 12-13 players) and at the start of the season there were predictions of at best mid table obscurity and at worst relegation. I think we all know what happened there. Predictions can do your head in if you've convinced yourself they are going to happen! What happened there?
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trev
1st team skipper
In Matt We Trust
Posts: 2,477
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Post by trev on Jul 22, 2019 19:40:45 GMT
I remember a couple of seasons ago, Macclesfield did a huge overhaul of their squad (I think it was in the region of 12-13 players) and at the start of the season there were predictions of at best mid table obscurity and at worst relegation. I think we all know what happened there. Predictions can do your head in if you've convinced yourself they are going to happen! What happened there? What do you think happened? They went on to form a Macc Lads tribute band. Coming to a Boom Boom Club near you...
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Post by baboonfish on Jul 23, 2019 0:44:26 GMT
A far, far better example would be Dover from the same season (17/18), absolutely everybody expected them to struggle after the vast majority of their squad shipped out in the close season (a few to us) , but they had a very decent campaign. Maccs were a side that came together later in the season, the side we beat 2-1 at ggl in an early Tuesday stormer were a lightweight side who would have been midtable if not for significant strengthening during the season. To be fair they were the best of a bad bunch , almost winning the league by default and extraordinarily lucky to stay in L2 last year. The conference is a far, far more challenging place than it was two seasons ago and avoiding relegation would represent a huge accomplishment for MG and his new look squad.
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Post by localboy86 on Jul 23, 2019 10:02:25 GMT
I seem to recall Matt saying that he wanted a squad of 23. This included Jamie Butler as first choice keeper and a young keeper as cover. We don't appear to have signed the latter as yet - although it is apparent who we are looking at. We also don't appear to have signed a left back as yet - although we have Jude Mason - and others who could play there. It's my understanding that Milsom who has featured there in some of the friendlies is actually a midfield player. However, Lakhamy, the Senegalese lad who came on at the weekend, described as a 'winger' in the match report, is a left back (who likes to get forward). Two more signings would take the squad up to 24 (including Wayne Brown and Tommy Wright). I guess that once Matt has decided on his first team, a number will be loaned out to get some game time (and to reduce the wage bill). The squad is pretty much there, a deputy keeper is all that’s needed now, I understand we’ve unofficially signed a left-back but we have to wait until a contractual issue has been resolved at his previous club. I think we can expect a couple of players to be sent out on loan to gain experience like you say.
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