BFTG Stevenage

[NewCorkSeth]

What kind of player is Vickers? I havent been able to watch any games.

small, fast, excellent dribbler, always looking to turn and run through defenders.

Along with the rest of the team being fast and always looking to turn defenders, I can see a lot more red cards against us this season

And hes playing as an actual Striker? Like in a support role? Just seems wild that he made this step up and everyone is impressed.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Where the reading fans chanting U.S.A. at one point?

How come?

[Millsy]

Only 2-0 against Stevenage with 10 men? Just kidding you can only play what's in front of you and that sounds like it was a comprehensive win. Well done to the boys and well done to Selles. Not least for having the balls to be the first manager in forever to realise Holmes+Tmac have been the centre of total shit for several seasons.

Well done Selles keep it up. Noone is bigger than Reading FC.

But he lost every game in preseason and the first two league games so he must be shit right?

You going to own your shit or pretend it never happened.

The Ian Royal method.

Ian being childish shocker. He’s probably deflecting attention from his staunch defence of the ‘mighty’ Holmes + Tmac partnership over the years, which brought us down.

But it’s true I ripped the piss out of P6L6. Then he went and got a 4-0 result against a superior champ side. Not league game but can’t be ignored, that was awesome. Yes even Taxi got a 4-0 result iirc but tbf Selles deserves more time and support for now.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

What kind of player is Vickers? I havent been able to watch any games.

small, fast, excellent dribbler, always looking to turn and run through defenders.

Along with the rest of the team being fast and always looking to turn defenders, I can see a lot more red cards against us this season

And hes playing as an actual Striker? Like in a support role? Just seems wild that he made this step up and everyone is impressed.

Yeah proper big man, small man strike partnership

Mad that he's stepped up from the <18s straight into the first and looks comfortable

[SCIAG]

Where the reading fans chanting U.S.A. at one point?

How come?

Tyler Bindon is a US youth international.

[NewCorkSeth]

small, fast, excellent dribbler, always looking to turn and run through defenders.

Along with the rest of the team being fast and always looking to turn defenders, I can see a lot more red cards against us this season

And hes playing as an actual Striker? Like in a support role? Just seems wild that he made this step up and everyone is impressed.

Yeah proper big man, small man strike partnership

Mad that he's stepped up from the <18s straight into the first and looks comfortable

Saw someone say he wasnt even a regular for either of our youth teams for most of last season?

[leon]

Only 2-0 against Stevenage with 10 men? Just kidding you can only play what's in front of you and that sounds like it was a comprehensive win. Well done to the boys and well done to Selles. Not least for having the balls to be the first manager in forever to realise Holmes+Tmac have been the centre of total shit for several seasons.

Well done Selles keep it up. Noone is bigger than Reading FC.

But he lost every game in preseason and the first two league games so he must be shit right?

You going to own your shit or pretend it never happened.

The Ian Royal method.

Whilst resorting to petty vindictive attacks? No!

[Loafer]

But he lost every game in preseason and the first two league games so he must be shit right?

You going to own your shit or pretend it never happened.

The Ian Royal method.

Whilst resorting to petty vindictive attacks? No!

Ian: bowen is in charge I'm never ever watching another game again and boycotting the club

Also ian: keeps going to games and doesn't admit he said it

"Own your shit"

[Chameleon]

If we get that Hutchinson for the rest of the year we'll be in a very good place. Having him and Button as old heads to calm down the kids who all have a massive clanger in them (expected given their experience) will be important.

Credit goes to Bowen being allowed to implement a plan. While Selles is doing decently so far recruiting a manager whose philosophy is in lockstep with the junior teams pre-existing style of play is the only reason we're in this position.

Elliott and Mukairu look like a pair of very sharp signings based off yesterday.

[Royals and Racers]

And hes playing as an actual Striker? Like in a support role? Just seems wild that he made this step up and everyone is impressed.

Yeah proper big man, small man strike partnership

Mad that he's stepped up from the <18s straight into the first and looks comfortable

Saw someone say he wasnt even a regular for either of our youth teams for most of last season?

Not sure anyone said that. He played 25 matches for the U18’s and scored 5 goals and he also played just the 6 games for the U21’s.

[SCIAG]

My actual thoughts…

- Abbey and Bindon are breaths of fresh air, especially Abbey. He’s quick, graceful, and bold with the ball at his feet. The Toms don’t have quite the same grace but they’ve also lost the youthful exuberance and willingness to try ambitious passes and carries after years of being worn down by the Championship. Hopefully a period in League One will help.

- Not entirely sure what to make of Savage. No complaints but I’m not sure whether I should get carried away.

- Vickers is great.

- Ehibhationham has really worked on his movement inside the box and predatory instincts. That was the main weakness in his game so I see him having a really successful season. Hope he gets up to Joao levels.

[Schmeichel the dog]

Just a fantastic performance across the board. What a difference coming away from a game full of pride and positivity. Special mentions for Button, Abbey, Mbengue, Vickers and Kelvin E but I have to highlight Tyler Bindon who was my man of the match. Such an impressive performance for someone so young. We should be excited by this young squad but we will have more difficult games than this and the season is a long one. There will be ups and downs given their age and experience and I hope people don’t hype them up only to knock them down when things get tough. But so far so good. Credit to the manager who is displaying passion and belief. Ending on a negative I cannot believe that the burrito stall behind the east stand is not there this season!!!!

[South Coast Royal]

A very enjoyable afternoon in the sun, a rare win and people walking away from the game with smiles on their faces.
Difficult to fully evaluate the performance with Stevenage playing with 10 men for over 80 minutes and Button making two goal-bound saves fairly early in the game.

An excellent cameo from Elliot, just as the one from Vickers was in the first game, so let's hope he stays free from injuries which appear to have held him back in his career.

One afterthought-maybe relegation will not prove to be as disastrous in the longer term as first feared.
If we had stayed up these youngsters who, because of the finance, may well have played and would therefore been assessed as potential Championship players.
As it is they can now be assessed as League 1 players with potential that a fair number have already shown that they possess.

[Orion1871]

It's nice in August, the sun is out (mostly) and the pitches are good.

Agree with the hope that people don't get on their backs because their will be tough times as the season goes on.

[Snowball]

It's nice in August, the sun is out (mostly) and the pitches are good.

Agree with the hope that people don't get on their backs as the season goes on because their will be tough times as the season goes on.

I'm impressed by the kids, and will be, even if they ship
a couple of fives.

I'm VERY impressed by Selles and his team.

I'm very impressed by Bowen and his team.

Provided we avoid any more points deductions (big IF) I fully
expect us, even now, to be top 8 at worst, probably in the PO's.

If we stay down this year, I would expect autos next year.

The one fly in the ointment (well a lot of flies)

is that the big clubs will be all over us very soon, if not already

Both yesterday's CBs, Ehib, Vickers, Savage (for starters)
look like future stars.

It's all very well to say "Pin them down to long-term contracts"
but, presumably, that involves a pay-rise.

Do we have wriggle-room for that?

[Clyde1998]

It's nice in August, the sun is out (mostly) and the pitches are good.

Agree with the hope that people don't get on their backs as the season goes on because their will be tough times as the season goes on.

I'm impressed by the kids, and will be, even if they ship a couple of fives.

I'm VERY impressed by Selles and his team.

I'm very impressed by Bowen and his team.

Provided we avoid any more points deductions (big IF) I fully expect us, even now, to be top 8 at worst, probably in the PO's.

If we stay down this year, I would expect autos next year.

The one fly in the ointment (well a lot of flies)

is that the big clubs will be all over us very soon, if not already

Both yesterday's CBs, Ehib, Vickers, Savage (for starters) look like future stars.

It's all very well to say "Pin them down to long-term contracts" but, presumably, that involves a pay-rise.

Do we have wriggle-room for that?

A number of these young players certainly need to be given contracts the ensure we've got them for the next couple of seasons (at least) and any bigger club who comes in will have to negotiate with us to sign them. Perhaps a few of the transfer listed players going would free up the funds to allow us to do that.

I've been saying we'll be at least mid-table since it's been clear it wasn't going to be a 100% youth team this season, so far our results have reflected that. We will need to get points against sides who'll likely also be in that sort of position come May though and so far we've only played Peterborough of the top sides (on paper). Port Vale's win at Charlton yesterday maybe suggests our defeat there wasn't as bad as some were making out (the result specifically, as opposed to the second half performance); Cheltenham and Stevenage will likely be towards the bottom end of the division.

I'm cautious to suggest we're going to be in the play-offs and promotion picture based on two wins over Cheltenham and Stevenage with the current squad (especially once excluding the transfer listed players), even if the team looks a lot better and more united now. If we can get at least seven points before playing Bolton in mid-September, then we can realistically start to consider ourselves in that sphere.

[under the tin]

I'm just loving the general direction of travel of the club.
It seems like almost for decades now we've been recruiting established pro's for biggish fees on largish wages, who have flaws in their game, or are injury-prone, and someone at the club has at last clicked on that this approach has not worked.

Now we are supplementing the products of our own academy with the bright lights from the academies of clubs much higher up the football food chain, where these lads are realistic enough to know that they are a long way down the first team pecking order.
These young players know they will make mistakes, will sometimes get bullied, but they accept that is all part of their football journey, but are joining a club where they will be playing alongside others of a similar age, so they get the chance to be first teamers together playing in a decent stadium, and excellent training facilities.

What the club get in return is a sustainable payroll, and motivated individuals, wishing to improve their game, thereby building up their resale value if they realise their full potential. The club already know, and we as fans have to accept that if these players turn out to be "that" good, they will be pursued by the bigger football fish. All the club has to do is be diligent in regards to player contracts and trigger clauses, and we have set up a solid future revenue stream. Furthermore, were one or more of the players to get a "big move". this can only help in our future recruitment of this type.

What we fans get is enthusiastic aspirational motivated talented triers wearing the shirt.
We've had far too much of the other kind of stuff over the last few years.

Tyler reminds me of Alan Hansen. Nelson is fab. Elliot looked good. Kelvin is growing into his role so well. Vickers gets you off your seat.
Busby babes? No.
Bowen's brood.

This is tomorrow calling. (copyright Bryan Ferry)

[Royal Ginger]

Pumping the breaks on my optimism a little because of the very early red card. Love the three points and beating what’s in front of us but I don’t feel like I can really get a flavour for how good they actually are from that.

[Jackson Corner]

Not getting excited red card made a huge difference even with ten men the keeper had to make two excellent saves to keep us in it. Having said that at times there were moments of brilliance followed by moments of careless football, but you will get that with young players. Overall an enjoyable day out and a win but could have done without the delays I’ve never seen so many players go down.

[Chameleon]

The one fly in the ointment (well a lot of flies) is that the big clubs will be all over us very soon, if not already
Both yesterday's CBs, Ehib, Vickers, Savage (for starters) look like future stars.

It's all very well to say "Pin them down to long-term contracts" but, presumably, that involves a pay-rise.

Do we have wriggle-room for that?

The one upside is that young careers are fragile, and a lot of them came through the ranks together. If they have a half decent agent they'll be told that it's better to stick in a team whose system you fit and set-up you know well. PL clubs usually don't go in for players based off L1 performances, so the choice between a team that look like one of the favourites to go up in 2024/25 vs a lower Champ team isn't as obvious as the massive PL pay rise and exposure vs Champ.

The key is year by year progress, as long as the club is going up sticking with is a decent idea. Stagnation is the issue because the players clearly good enough don't think they can progress at the club, so you don't hold onto a talented batch of youth for long enough to make progress.