Will be interesting given several ex-players of the opponents, Healy, Porter, maybe Parkinson? Keen to see how we fair against a side that have plenty of money behind them and are used to winning every week at home.
According to Loui Faz's interview, they agreed a deal with Grant Smith and then he's pulled out last minute. Shame, as looking at what he's done in the last year, he would have been a good signing.
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Welling United FC. Banging on the walls of Woking dressing rooms since 1963..
A decent performance last night with lots of chances created. Could have been several more goals at both ends, especially last 15 of first half when we must have had at least three decent near one-on-ones with their keeper who saved all three.
Annoying about Barney. Why are we agreeing to play a friendly on a pitch that injured two of our players last season in the FA Cup where we then complained about the surface? and then another last night. Didn't look great watching him leave on crutches but hopefully just precautionary and he'll be ready for the first league game.
KSA almost certainly needs a small keyhole op on ankle he said so is likely to be a few weeks away. Waiting on MRI scan to confirm.
Keeper situation isn't Loui's fault, but I assume what was offered wasn't deemed good enough, and it is a worry not to have a settled number one - keeper is a key position and there have been keeper mistakes in all three games so far. It looked from the other end of the ground last night that the keeper was fouled in the build up to their second/winning goal, but Polo and I were a good 100 yards away. Either way, a permanent number one asap is a priority.
Agree on the foul on the keeper. Also Vidal hacked down after running rings through the midfield - at the players get used to the standard of refereeing!
Was amazed at how Vidal hit those free kicks, sure he'll be scoring a few this year.
Why are we agreeing to play a friendly on a pitch that injured two of our players last season in the FA Cup where we then complained about the surface? and then another last night.
Bingo!
Rather annoying that 3 away friendlies involve: a postponed match on a non-prepared, outsourced council pitch and 2 artificial surfaces. Utter madness. Why don't we just ring Bellmarsh's Governor and see if we can get a game against the inmates XI.
Can we be a bit more savvy when planning friendlies in future please?
I'm not saying we should have Barca on speed-dial, and Charlton's a given obviously, but league-wise we should be looking to pit our wits against the likes of Dagenham, Orient and Crawley who would surely provide a more ideal test. On the flip side, we should travel to ambitious South East clubs, preferably with a reputation for providing excellent surfaces and (dare I say it) establish new, different and better relationships above and below the National League, perhaps (off the top of my head) South Park, Horsham, Wingate and Finchley, Dulwich Hamlet, Whitstable, etc.
One of the most enjoyable friendlies I ever saw was Welling beat a strong Northampton Town team on a Friday night at PVR many moons ago.
Annoying about Barney. Why are we agreeing to play a friendly on a pitch that injured two of our players last season in the FA Cup where we then complained about the surface? and then another last night.
And what do we play on on Saturday...
Why are we playing 40% of our friendlies on a surface we are very unlikely to encounter during the season?
I'm not saying we should have Barca on speed-dial, and Charlton's a given obviously, but league-wise we should be looking to pit our wits against the likes of Dagenham, Orient and Crawley who would surely provide a more ideal test. On the flip side, we should travel to ambitious South East clubs, preferably with a reputation for providing excellent surfaces and (dare I say it) establish new, different and better relationships above and below the National League, perhaps (off the top of my head) South Park, Horsham, Wingate and Finchley, Dulwich Hamlet, Whitstable, etc.
Beckenham's pitch looked decent a few years ago. I thought Dulwich might feature after the signing of Vidal.
Annoying about Barney. Why are we agreeing to play a friendly on a pitch that injured two of our players last season in the FA Cup where we then complained about the surface? and then another last night.
And what do we play on on Saturday...
Why are we playing 40% of our friendlies on a surface we are very unlikely to encounter during the season?
Don't forget that Ben Jefford also picked up an injury in the corresponding friendly last season and was out for a few weeks!
He played 2 games but didn't displace Henly after that and henly didn't exactly set the bar high. Think we need an experienced keeper or at very least another keeper to compete for the starting berth.
I see MM as an ideal reliable backup in the vein of JT. Someone you can rely on to play a couple of games if the number one is injured, suspended or out of form. I can't see him though playing 40 games a season and playing at the standard of Butcher or Mott have in the past.
With Porter now possibly solving the striker problem, getting in that goalkeeper needs to be top priority.
Agree with all of Kevin's comments. Am concerned about the keeper situation as was a big issue last season but plenty of keepers out there, should give Lee Robinson ex of Rangers a call as he hasn't signed with anyone and he looked okay when I saw him in some games last season. Cannot understand playing friendlies on 3g pitches, they are not fit for purpose and should not be allowed.
There's been nothing wrong with the performances of Michael McEntegart. Was excellent when brought in at the end of last season and was surprised when Henley played last game. One thing he doesn't lack in general terms is experience (was around the Club when his brother played!). I had thought the management team were planning to make him this season's first choice.
Did we not have Bassele and Buchel on loan from Bournemouth. The maximum you can loan from one club was two. I think we decided to take another outfield player on loan from them and return Buchel and then about a week later, somewhat ridiculously, fired Bassele out the door.
We missed out on Preston Edwards from Ebbsfleet who would have been a great signing. We should look at bringing Craig Holloway back who in my opinion was an excellent goalkeeper for us.
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh When the Wingssssss
He indeed did play for us and at the end of the season was telling people he wouldn't be back because he could earn more in the Ryman league.
3 weeks ago i bet they were still out of our price range. Ebbsfleet and Greenwich Borough have very big budgets. Not sure about Holloway now but i would have taken Preston Edwards for sure
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Welling United FC. Banging on the walls of Woking dressing rooms since 1963..
