Harrogate Town (A)

@Fuzzy ......... I was one of those moaning about the lack of games.

'Partnerships' are forged and built by having game time. Similarly, the same can be said for improving tactical systems.
Allow me to put it in a more structured way - say over 9 friendlies ...........

3 games for Juniors / Dev squad against 6 / 7 tier opposition.
3 games for Dev / 1st team against 4 / 5 tier opposition.
3 games for Full 1st team squad against 1 / 2 tier 'select' opposition.

I would hope that in the above way, most of the 1st team would gain a minimum of 180 minutes game time (those fit for selection) over 6 games, without approaching 'burn out'.

 

Only when I’m bored O

 

I do see your point but re Posh

They may have, however I don’t recognise any of those who played except the sunshine kickabout in Portugal where a number of the more senior players did play for short periods. Bit like us v Sheffield?

 

*****Useful post*****

 

Not on the Harrogate pitch - slide tackles are possible on the latest artificial pitches although not many on Saturday as it was only a friendly.

No - ball holds up on the pitch. From what I saw there is a little less back spin on the ball.

Again - not on the pitch I saw on Saturday. No easily noticeable difference in bounce.

Yes - the old pitches were very hard on knees and ankles.

 

Sorry Rod .. what’s this for.

I picked it up via a T&A / Parker posting on Twitter the previous evening if my memory serves me right. That’s how I knew .

 

Having played on the new artificial pitches you can slide tackle, bounce is pretty similar. The only difference is more likely to get knee injuries as on a grass pitch divet gives way, whereas on astro you have more grip and stop quicker. You still have to look after the pitches ie water then etc. Compared to old astro like chalk and cheese. I'm really surprised football league doesn't allow them. Would save on training pitches and they can be rented out. Bit stubborn

 

https://www.shrewsburytown.com/matches/pre-season-fixtures/

Shrewsbury have gone for a higher calibre of opposition and played a good mix of first teamers throughout. No doubt they’ll be ready for the first game of the season. The match reports say they are playing good football.

Weren’t they managerless for a similar length of time as us, but managed to secure 2 championship and 1 premier league opposition.

 

They seem to have gone for a strong line up in their friendlies, it will be interesting to see what a start to the season they have.

 

Absolutely NOT.
The 'spin' depends upon the ability of the player, not the surface he plays upon.

 

Not sure about that Kev. The only noticeable absentees were Marriott, who played 60mins in their 2nd game of their tour and Maddison, who has yet to play any part.

In fact, if your read their match reports, all their new signings have played and most have played in more than a couple of games.

 

It can go the other way though. I went to the Newcastle friendly a year ago and it was a pretty pointless exercise. We set up completely different to how we started the season and Stuart himself admitted he didn't get much from it. We set up with five at the back and Shelvey passed our defence to pieces. I don't think we played five at the back again that season until Grayson arrived.

 

It got those playing that day fit as they did little except chase the ball for the 90+ minutes

 

Sounds like the development squad got plenty of fitness at Harrogate on Saturday!

 

https://www.harrogatetownafc.com/news-media/httv-town-7-bradford-city-2-highlights/ If anyone cares

 

Thanks for that. Town, good footballing side and everything came off for them.We had no cohesion what so ever and were chasing shadows.As an eleven representing City, it is very disheartening and as those who went have said, a travesty for the professionalism within our Club. This eleven, in any shape or form, are not worthy and I'm not sure if they ever will be.

 

But it wasn't pointless was it? McCall tried a formation with his first team squad, it didn't work. Better to try it in a pre season friendly than experiment in a league fixture. I would expect by now Collins has made up his mind on what his formation will be judging by the players brought in the last few weeks. I would also expect that barring injuries he should know what his first 11 will be, formation permitting. I'd presume these players will start, O'Donnell, Riley, O'Connor, Kilgallon, Akpan, Scannell, Payne, Wright. I would also expect McGowan and possibly Reeves to be on that list and Wyke if he is still here. Chicksen will start at left back.
The only other players who should be near a first team place is Robinson and Seedorf. I don't buy into Collins and his 'shirts still up for grabs' comment. The first team virtually picks itself, the only thing Collins has to decide is where they play.

 

McCall's words were "we played in a way we will never, ever play again" and that he was "pleased we've got it out the way" so I'd suggest he got very little out of it. That's not in defence of this pre-season. It seems to have been a bit patchy but there's no such thing as a flawless pre-season. That said, Parky's trips to Ireland always seemed to work well.

Agree with the rest of your post. The Harrogate performance hardly suggested that there was a clamour for a starting spot on August 4th. A lot depends on the system that Collins wants to adopt.

 

Watched the video and it was embarrassing,

Defending was abysmal
Midfield did not compete
City keeper was dreadful and unlikely to play 1st team
Patrick seemed to be playing for them till subbed,
Young Clare took his chances well and shows promise.

 

These issues sum up a lot of fans and clubs at the moment, stuck in the past and never played on a modern state of the art 3G pitch which are a million times better than the pitches of QPR and the likes in the 1990's. Technology has advanced so much and they are getting much closer to real grass. If these pitches were as dangerous as a lot of clubs make out then Harrogate would never have got promoted last year as they'd have all their players out with injury and the pitches wouldn't be allowed in the FA Cup, UEFA competitions and FIFA competitions. More and more clubs, non-league especially are looking at 3G pitches as they almost guarantee a match will be on and they can hire out the pitch all year round giving them a valuable income stream.