Stranded Seems to be the BBCB way of handling these games - Dellor sounded like he was on the phone for both the Exeter and Swindon games.
morganb It was good to have a current Women's player involved on co-comms - Charlie (Estcourt we deduced as missed her introduction) - and she got quite involved with the discussion about urine samples, best overseas team jolly you've ever been on and playing for Wales.
CountryRoyal I thought their keeper was one of our ex youngsters, not too long ago too. Surprised I didn’t see it mentioned but I could have just missed it.
SutekhRoyals and Racers We have qualified for the next stage with the final group match v Arsenal U 21 still to be played.
Next round is W/C 4th December- group winner plays at home runner up away. Round is still regionalised. A draw or win against Arsenal will see us top the group.
The competition remains regionalised until, obviously, the final itself.
Arsenal U21s won 5-0 at Exeter last night.
SnowballSutekhRoyals and Racers We have qualified for the next stage with the final group match v Arsenal U 21 still to be played.
Next round is W/C 4th December- group winner plays at home runner up away. Round is still regionalised. A draw or win against Arsenal will see us top the group.
The competition remains regionalised until, obviously, the final itself.
Arsenal U21s won 5-0 at Exeter last night.
and Exeter put out a much stronger side
HoundCountryRoyal I thought their keeper was one of our ex youngsters, not too long ago too. Surprised I didn’t see it mentioned but I could have just missed it.
Yeah only just got round to watching the highlights. Lewis Ward isn’t it? Thought he might make a decent career a few years back and he made some good saves, but think he’s very much back up nowadays isn’t he?
Zammo Cracking night, tbf. Bit of an edge in town and inside and outside the ground. Completely dominant performance. Team came over and got cheers, not boos. Rushesha, Vickers and NGW were all ace
NathStPaulSnowballSutekh
The competition remains regionalised until, obviously, the final itself.
Arsenal U21s won 5-0 at Exeter last night.
and Exeter put out a much stronger side
Not really.
SnowballNathStPaulSnowball
and Exeter put out a much stronger side
Not really.
The upcoming international break allowed Gary Caldwell to pick a stronger side than anticipated, with five starters from Saturday's game with Barnsley named in the XI. Shaun MacDonald made his City debut in goal, while four under-18s - Max Edgecombe, Tom Dean, Santino Ohanaka and Alfie Cunningham were named on the bench - while young pro Ed James also returned from his loan spell at Weston-super-Mare to go straight into the starting line up.
From the Exeter FC website
skipper I think our 2nd string vs the Arsenal u21s is going to be a belter!
Do we know who we get in the next round, or is it drawn?
StrandedClyde1998Snowflake Royal Category 1 Academy lads with some senior players mixed in smashing L1/2 youth teams shocker.
Someone suggested we've got ~20 outfield players of fairly similar ability - that ability is clearly above youth level of most L1/L2 sides, but might be below the level of an average L1 first team (albeit with a young squad that should quickly improve throughout the season). Which would be why we're able to perform well in cup competitions, but aren't doing well in the league so far.
I think the quality of most of our players is mid/lowe mid L1 but we haven't played them in the right combination/formation as yet.
MillsyStrandedClyde1998 Someone suggested we've got ~20 outfield players of fairly similar ability - that ability is clearly above youth level of most L1/L2 sides, but might be below the level of an average L1 first team (albeit with a young squad that should quickly improve throughout the season). Which would be why we're able to perform well in cup competitions, but aren't doing well in the league so far.
I think the quality of most of our players is mid/lowe mid L1 but we haven't played them in the right combination/formation as yet.
Yeah, so I'll pose another possibility, just thinking out loudly.
Our boys smash every cup oppoistion including Millwall who are champ, so it's clearly not just about opposition level.
There's somehting either mental with the players or the way they approach these games that is totally different.
Perhaps league games are videod and scouted to death and it really is a battle of tactics and systems. Whereas cup games are more expermental perhaps for all, not as much tactical analysis, more fluid, more a case of trying new players and asking them to give it a go.
Perhaps SeLLLLes can motivate players well, which works well in cup games, but up against shrewd proper managers who really do their homework for a league game, it all falls apart as seLLLes sticks to his tried and failed telephone number formations which oppositions pick apart.
Just an idea.
tidus_mi272 busClyde1998 Can't say I saw much trouble myself last night - worst was a group of Swindon fans who'd ripped a seat out of a train going from Reading to Green Park. Police seemed to be on all the carriages except that one.
In terms of the football: it was disappointing to see CBC get injured in the warm up - although he wouldn't've had a very busy night.
From the off, it had the air of comfortable night about it. It was really a question of making sure we scored before Swindon got any sort of momentum. Knibbs was given far too much time in the box to fire a deflected effort home after NGW's cross had bounced off a Swindon defender.
It was always a question of how many we could get after that point. NGW's cross for Knibbs, in first half stoppage time, was impressively turned into the top corner.
The third came when Mukairu's heavy touch led to a loose ball, with the winger getting ahead of the sliding defender - an obvious penalty. Knibbs confidently rolled home for his hat-trick. The game became players going through the motions at that point, with the exception of a Swindon fan who decided to jump around in front of Y25/Y26 - so he won't be attending any games in the near future.
We had to wait until stoppage time for the final two goals. Vickers' free-kick was saved onto the post, with the ball rebounding to Mukairu who had the simplest of tasks heading home for four. The fifth quickly followed: Wing's cross found Dean who was completely unmarked at the back post. Another simple header.
One clearly noticeable difference from our recent matches was the pressing from the front. We may have not been playing against the strongest side we'll face this season (understatement), but we did force Swindon into a lot of errors through this pressure. Throughout the game we could've scored ten - including three good chances in stoppage time which we didn't score. On a general point, there did seem to be a bit of an issue of players not knowing where others would be, leading to some stray passes - especially when the game had some intensity to it.
Players
- Button - Can't really say anything about his performance as he didn't have to do anything.
- Yiadom - Looked positive going forward, including the shot that was saved early on.
- NGW - Two assists, looked good going forward. Did have a few slack passes, especially in the first half. Hopefully he'll be regularly involved in the first team from now on.
- Holmes - A quiet night for Holmes, but did everything required of him. Hopefully the injury was nothing more serious than cramp.
- Mola - Again a quiet night for the other CB. Did seem a bit more comfortable at CB than LB, but, due to the context of the game, I don't think we can draw much from that.
- Craig - Controlled the midfield well, before going off with what appeared to be cramp. Can't be too much longer before he's regularly involved in league matches.
- Rushesha - Ditto Craig - although survived the ninety minutes.
- Knibbs - Hat-trick; can't remember him doing a huge amount other than the goals. Taken off early with his job done.
- Mukairu - Got a goal and won a penalty. First touch does seem a bit heavy at times.
- Vickers - Caused Swindon problems; could've had a goal himself. Continues his good start to the season.
- Wareham - Looked very lively and had a number of chances to score. Still looks raw, but certainly has something about him. Wouldn't be surprised if he turns up in a league game at some point this season.
- Azeez - The ball didn't really fall for him to do much after coming on. Game a largely dead by the time he got onto the pitch though.
- Dean - Got a goal, but as with the other defenders wasn't challenged defensively.
- Norcott - Good to see him come on, even if he didn't need to do anything. May suddenly be our number two keeper now CBC and Pereira are injured.
- Stickland - Good that he's clearly back from his injury and performing well at U21 level. First time he's feature in a first team game since the start of 2021 (IIRC).
- Wing - Assisted Dean's goal. Good ten minute run out for him.
That described the game better than anything Dim Tim managed last night
I don't like that they just chat about inane stuff when the match is happening, think we even scored a goal that he had a couple seconds to interrupt the chatter to describe the break into the area and resultant goal.
If the game has stopped, sure, have your chat but mid-game, describe what's happening.
Snowflake RoyalMillsyStranded
I think the quality of most of our players is mid/lowe mid L1 but we haven't played them in the right combination/formation as yet.
Yeah, so I'll pose another possibility, just thinking out loudly.
Our boys smash every cup oppoistion including Millwall who are champ, so it's clearly not just about opposition level.
There's somehting either mental with the players or the way they approach these games that is totally different.
Perhaps league games are videod and scouted to death and it really is a battle of tactics and systems. Whereas cup games are more expermental perhaps for all, not as much tactical analysis, more fluid, more a case of trying new players and asking them to give it a go.
Perhaps SeLLLLes can motivate players well, which works well in cup games, but up against shrewd proper managers who really do their homework for a league game, it all falls apart as seLLLes sticks to his tried and failed telephone number formations which oppositions pick apart.
Just an idea.
I think Exeter and Swindon's youth teams being far inferior is more likely.
In those games we were quicker, stronger and more skillful. They couldn't tracks us, mark us or close us. Which is why so many of our goals came from players in acres of space.
Football is a piece of piss if your opposition is seriously inferior in almost every category. If they're bigger, stronger, tougher, meaner and more organised, it's pretty hard even if you're more skillful.
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