Matt Stevens recalled by Peterborough

[Curtis]

A tough blow for us, but hardly surprising considering the problems we caused League One defenders yesterday.

A big thank you to him for his massive contribution this season, and best wishes for the future, I hope he goes on to become at least a Championship level player.

[Irishadrian]

I'm sure Neil/Jon will have covered this eventuality Its their forward thinking that has contributed so much to recent seasons success

[Irishadrian]

Very nice tribute on Matty's twitterfeed to the management teammates and supporters who made his time with the Rebels so memorable!

[Irishadrian]

Item on the Posh forum by their manager saying the Slough management kept every promise they made regarding Matty's further development He's well pleased with the outcome and he will probably get 1st team time over a very busy Xmas/New Year period!

[kirk]

18 minutes ago, Irishadrian said:

Item on the Posh forum by their manager saying the Slough management kept every promise they made regarding Matty's further development He's well pleased with the outcome and he will probably get 1st team time over a very busy Xmas/New Year period!

lets hope we can find some one equally as good,otherwise we will be fighting relegation,as other goals have dried up somewhat. 

one

[GlenSTFC]

And that comment is why the vast majority of real fans detest you... well done ?

[Irishadrian]

We certainly don't have to worry about relegation so long as injuries don't arise We've the second best defence in the league and average exactly 1 goal conceded per game However I'd be surprised if another loanee from a higher level isn't being arranged Now our website has been updated the 3 players shown as forwards have managed 4 league goals between them all season Dobby and Matty have contributed 11 out of 20 league goals  so the need is obvious imo

[epicrebel]

38 minutes ago, Irishadrian said:

We certainly don't have to worry about relegation so long as injuries don't arise We've the second best defence in the league and average exactly 1 goal conceded per game However I'd be surprised if another loanee from a higher level isn't being arranged Now our website has been updated the 3 players shown as forwards have managed 4 league goals between them all season Dobby and Matty have contributed 11 out of 20 league goals  so the need is obvious imo

They only got 4 because Matty was on the pitch,  8 of his goal were in 3 games 5 from lower teams chalfont & bristol,

BUT yes still would have Matty playing with us still.

[RebelVilla]

Bakes and Unders will have been well aware that this could happen at any time and I'm sure that they will have planned for this eventuality. All we have to do is to be patient. 

[GlenSTFC]

Just hope Floody is fit for Saturday otherwise we’re down to 2 strikers! Although not overly unexpected I still think our managers expected to keep Matt until his loan period expired. So although they’re always on the lookout to get the right player and personality takes time so maybe we’ll have to be a little patient...

[Neil Baker]

Just so you know we will not rush into anything, yes we have been keeping tabs on the situation, however we were fully expecting to keep Matty until January, with a potential for extension, so came as a bit of a surprise this morning when we got the call from Barry Fry.

Decent players at this level do not grow on trees, and we will not just bring anyone in because we no longer have Matty, one downside to an FA Cup run is players then think we will just throw loads of money at it, and request silly money, I can assure you we will not do this, as it is not how the club is run.

So yes we might need to be patient for the time being, and will have to hope that the 3 that we have can deliver in the short term, and we will be discussing our plans with them on Thursday.

This does not stop us from making enquiries (which we have been doing) but one thing we pride ourselves on Is not having a huge turnover of players and is one of the reasons our lads are so together, so anyone coming into the squad has to be the right fit, that has not changed in our entire time in management, and won’t change now.

We are still in a great position in the league with games in hand over everybody, and with an excellent defensive record we have a platform to build on.

COYR

[Stan]

Matty is an absolute top player. We were very lucky  to have him. Gutted he has gone but his performances recently have made it inevitable. If posh treat him well all well and good if not he will be back here in a heartbeat because we are now a special al club! Even for a pro . 

[Curtis]

Hi Neil,

It has been great having Matt with us, but the timing of his recall creates an enormous dilemma in my opinion.

In the six week period between this Saturday and mid January we have 10 league matches (six at home & four away), and these will determine whether we are in a position to make a challenge for a play-off place or decide to settle for consolidating in this league (like we did in our first two seasons in the Southern Premier).

To be in a position to make a challenge I would think we probably need to win six of those ten matches, and with only the three strikers I’m not convinced we will have the goal scoring power to achieve that (especially if we pick up an injury or suspension).

And that is where I see your ‘enormous dilemma’ being to either move hastily to find an additional quality striker (which I know is contrary to your management style) or accept this as a consolidation season.

Personally I hope that there are professional clubs that have seen what a fantastic club we have and will have been impressed with our quality in the Gillingham match that will see we are an excellent development opportunity for an under 23, along the lines of the Adebayo lad we had from Fulham a couple of seasons ago.

[Mark44]

12 hours ago, Neil Baker said:

Just so you know we will not rush into anything, yes we have been keeping tabs on the situation, however we were fully expecting to keep Matty until January, with a potential for extension, so came as a bit of a surprise this morning when we got the call from Barry Fry.

Decent players at this level do not grow on trees, and we will not just bring anyone in because we no longer have Matty, one downside to an FA Cup run is players then think we will just throw loads of money at it, and request silly money, I can assure you we will not do this, as it is not how the club is run.

So yes we might need to be patient for the time being, and will have to hope that the 3 that we have can deliver in the short term, and we will be discussing our plans with them on Thursday.

This does not stop us from making enquiries (which we have been doing) but one thing we pride ourselves on Is not having a huge turnover of players and is one of the reasons our lads are so together, so anyone coming into the squad has to be the right fit, that has not changed in our entire time in management, and won’t change now.

We are still in a great position in the league with games in hand over everybody, and with an excellent defensive record we have a platform to build on.

COYR

 

An excellent summary of the situation and the plans....great to challenge the three we have to step up (scoring wise) and great we will not rush into anything and spend money stupidly. All about the long term game and continuous improvement.

[rebelbrewer]

16 hours ago, Neil Baker said:

Just so you know we will not rush into anything, yes we have been keeping tabs on the situation, however we were fully expecting to keep Matty until January, with a potential for extension, so came as a bit of a surprise this morning when we got the call from Barry Fry.

Decent players at this level do not grow on trees, and we will not just bring anyone in because we no longer have Matty, one downside to an FA Cup run is players then think we will just throw loads of money at it, and request silly money, I can assure you we will not do this, as it is not how the club is run.

So yes we might need to be patient for the time being, and will have to hope that the 3 that we have can deliver in the short term, and we will be discussing our plans with them on Thursday.

 This does not stop us from making enquiries (which we have been doing) but one thing we pride ourselves on Is not having a huge turnover of players and is one of the reasons our lads are so together, so anyone coming into the squad has to be the right fit, that has not changed in our entire time in management, and won’t change now.

We are still in a great position in the league with games in hand over everybody, and with an excellent defensive record we have a platform to build on.

COYR

Thanks Neil - good to know.

Roughly this time last year we had a "striker crisis" with Matt Lench playing CF for the Hitchin FA Trophy game as I recall - season didn't end too badly!

[GlenSTFC]

I think by now we should all have faith and trust in our management to make the right judgements, there’s not exactly been many minuses! I’d personally rather we wait a month for the right striker/personality than bring in someone today who may disrupt others and/or not really contribute in the way we all want.

[Reading Rebel]

Ben Harris Came off injured against WSM and Floody against Gillingham.

Lets hope they're both fully fit by the weekend.

[Neil Baker]

Ben trained fully on the Thursday after, and don’t expect any issues for Floody.

[3spirit]

23 hours ago, Curtis said:

Hi Neil,

It has been great having Matt with us, but the timing of his recall creates an enormous dilemma in my opinion.

In the six week period between this Saturday and mid January we have 10 league matches (six at home & four away), and these will determine whether we are in a position to make a challenge for a play-off place or decide to settle for consolidating in this league (like we did in our first two seasons in the Southern Premier).

To be in a position to make a challenge I would think we probably need to win six of those ten matches, and with only the three strikers I’m not convinced we will have the goal scoring power to achieve that (especially if we pick up an injury or suspension).

And that is where I see your ‘enormous dilemma’ being to either move hastily to find an additional quality striker (which I know is contrary to your management style) or accept this as a consolidation season.

Personally I hope that there are professional clubs that have seen what a fantastic club we have and will have been impressed with our quality in the Gillingham match that will see we are an excellent development opportunity for an under 23, along the lines of the Adebayo lad we had from Fulham a couple of seasons ago.

The loan signings of young unproven players from league clubs aren't all great successes, though,are they? Matt Stevens was different case because he had proved himself to be a useful striker at Kettering, before ever getting picked up by Peterborough.

While I don't think we need to rush in a striker for the next couple of games, I disagree with GlenSTFC that we should wait a month. I think it would be better to bring in a striker for the Xmas/early New Year games and so would be looking for him to play some part in the East Thurrock game, before we face Wealdstone on Boxing Day.

While I recognise that as Neil says ' good strikers don't grow on trees', I disagree that there aren't a few around that we could entice. Off the top of my head, I can think of two in the Conference South that may be interested in a move to Slough and three in the next level down, two proven and one raw, up and coming talent who you could take a chance on. So if I can think of a few, I'm sure Bakes and Unders are well aware of some.

While I accept you don't want to upset the apple cart by bringing in someone that isn't the right fit for the squad, I think you also have to balance that out, with the idea that players get too comfortable in their positions, and thus get complacent and are look for an easy ride into the team.

[GlenSTFC]

Matt was at Peterborough when he was loaned to Kettering.

Obviously if the right striker is available now then of course sign him up, I said wait a month instead of bringing someone in for the sake of it.