Squad Update

[Mark44]

Good thing is that there are usually a few more Tuesday evening games early on in the season so we will have the opportunity to use 3 or 4 strikers on a rotational basis....the way I see it is it's up to them to cement an ongoing place in the top 2 in these games.

[3spirit]

15 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

'We need to see who's playing well in pre season games'  'Ryan Bird is likely to be a shoe in to start' 

If Ryan Bird doesn't perform in pre season surely he won't be a shoe in to start.

As you say, you need to earn a place in the team.

 

When I say 'shoe in',  I would think he will be under contract and probably will be one of our higher earners,so if he is, he is likely to play more often in the first eleven than not.

There does seem to be a swell of opinion from Maidenhead fans and the odd Dover fan that Ryan Bird's best days are behind him, so our managers will have to find out whether that is the case, and they won't find nothing out about him, if they don't play him !

Regardless of what those fans are saying, I think taking a gamble on Ryan Bird is worth it.

 

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

When I say 'shoe in',  I would think he will be under contract and probably will be one of our higher earners,so if he is, he is likely to play more often in the first eleven than not.

There does seem to be a swell of opinion from Maidenhead fans and the odd Dover fan that Ryan Bird's best days are behind him, so our managers will have to find out whether that is the case, and they won't find nothing out about him, if they don't play him !

Regardless of what those fans are saying, I think taking a gamble on Ryan Bird is worth it.

 

I'm sure other players are on contracts besides being on a contract and high earner shouldn't in any way mean that they get to start a game.

Hopefully those comments from M'head supporters should give Birdy all the incentive he needs to show them they are wrong.

[Reading Rebel]

5 hours ago, Mark44 said:

Good thing is that there are usually a few more Tuesday evening games early on in the season so we will have the opportunity to use 3 or 4 strikers on a rotational basis....the way I see it is it's up to them to cement an ongoing place in the top 2 in these games.

I think pre season is the time to cement an ongoing place in the team, not when the league programme starts.

[SloughFlyer]

The best bit about the addition of Ryan Bird for me is the variety we now have up front. With Harris, Bird, Amarty, Robert's and William's, rather than sorting pairs or partnerships, we should be able to taylor our striker force to either the "hot hands" or for the opposition to make the most impact.

[Curtis]

Or maybe our Managers intend following the lead of the Champions League winners and playing with three upfront ?

In which case we will likely put 5 forwards to very good use.

[Reading Rebel]

12 hours ago, SloughFlyer said:

The best bit about the addition of Ryan Bird for me is the variety we now have up front. With Harris, Bird, Amarty, Robert's and William's, rather than sorting pairs or partnerships, we should be able to taylor our striker force to either the "hot hands" or for the opposition to make the most impact.

I'm still an advocate of building an understanding through a strike partnership.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Reading Rebel

[3spirit]

12 hours ago, Curtis said:

Or maybe our Managers intend following the lead of the Champions League winners and playing with three upfront ?

In which case we will likely put 5 forwards to very good use.

4-3-3 is the one formation that Bakes and Unders don't seem to play. They have said they have played three forwards in the past but that meaning is usually two forwards and a winger coming off the wing to attack. They have also played a player like Manny Williams in the 'hole' behind the front two and they have condensed the midfield with a tight three but not to my knowledge have I seen them play an orthodox 4-3-3 with three out and out strikers up front.

This is not a criticism at all, as I think Bakes and Unders teams are superbly organised and they adapt their play to suit who the opposition is. To be fair, they have given us fans plenty of entertaiment over the years, and generally, they produce teams that are pro-active getting forward and are not dull to watch.

Last season was very much about containing the opposition,being hard to beat and being steady up front and I expect this season to be much of the same. It's a formula that is working and no one can deny Slough enjoyed a very good 'maiden' season in the Conference South.

Ironically, I would like to see in a few home matches against lesser opposition, a 3-5-2 which Steve Bateman so favoured, which is more of a 3-4-1-2, in that Josh Jackman and George Wells are wing backs , Guy Hollis plays as a right sided centre half, Sam Togwell is the middle centre half/sweeper/captain [Lee Togs could play this role,too] and Mark Nisbett is the left sided centre half. Centre midfield can be Lee Togwell and whoever[Billy, Dunny, Sean,Wazza,Lenchy] in the 'hole' behind the front two would be either Lenchy,Manny,Wazza,Dunny or Max and the front two can be a choice of any of our strikers.  Think this would a progression of sorts, as we grow as a team.      

Edited June 7, 2019 by 3spirit

[SloughFlyer]

This is the beauty of the squad the managers are putting together for me, in that they are giving themselves so many options and it makes us so adaptable that other teams will not be able to "get the book" on us. For me, this also shows the development of Neil and Jon as managers and the step up in league quality. Playing in Step 3/4 you can have a 4-4-2 system and stick to it, knowing your players are quality. If you stick to 1 system in this league, teams will find you out really quick. I think it's been a good summer so far and with hopefully some more squad additions, it will be a good season ahead.

[GlenSTFC]

I don’t think we’d sign more than 1 other and there’s no guarantee with that either. On paper the 2 who have signed will make us stronger, I’d still like to see a creative/scoring midfielder but I’m sure we’ll see some trialists during pre-season who’ll have the opportunity to impress.

[Reading Rebel]

16 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

This is the beauty of the squad the managers are putting together for me, in that they are giving themselves so many options and it makes us so adaptable that other teams will not be able to "get the book" on us. For me, this also shows the development of Neil and Jon as managers and the step up in league quality. Playing in Step 3/4 you can have a 4-4-2 system and stick to it, knowing your players are quality. If you stick to 1 system in this league, teams will find you out really quick. I think it's been a good summer so far and with hopefully some more squad additions, it will be a good season ahead.

At the moment we have a squad of 17 players.

I think we can accommodate one more but I really can't see us starting the season with more than 18 players.

 

[Reeeebbbbeeeelllllls]

On 06/06/2019 at 16:43, 3spirit said:

When I say 'shoe in',  I would think he will be under contract and probably will be one of our higher earners,so if he is, he is likely to play more often in the first eleven than not.

There does seem to be a swell of opinion from Maidenhead fans and the odd Dover fan that Ryan Bird's best days are behind him, so our managers will have to find out whether that is the case, and they won't find nothing out about him, if they don't play him !

Regardless of what those fans are saying, I think taking a gamble on Ryan Bird is worth it.

 

Apparently Sam Togwells day’s were behind him when he signed last year...if bird is half the player this season that Sam was last season then it’ll be a helluva signing...

[sdelaney]

3 hours ago, Craig lejeune said:

Apparently Sam Togwells day’s were behind him when he signed last year...if bird is half the player this season that Sam was last season then it’ll be a helluva signing...

Wasn't. the same said about Nis as well.

[Reeeebbbbeeeelllllls]

9 minutes ago, sdelane said:

Wasn't. the same said about Nis as well.

Exactly! He ain’t been to shabby either has he...

[Reading Rebel]

Can't remember anyone saying that Sam and Nis were past there best. 

 

[SloughFlyer]

16 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

At the moment we have a squad of 17 players.

I think we can accommodate one more but I really can't see us starting the season with more than 18 players.

 

I'd like to see 2/3 younger players like Dan Robert's signed on dual reg, allowing development  of the players and a larger support squad. Over the past couple of seasons we have had games where we have only had 4 subs etc, and as we develop and grow as a team, I hope we can look to extend the squad by growing younger players as well as the established ones.

[3spirit]

27 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

I'd like to see 2/3 younger players like Dan Robert's signed on dual reg, allowing development  of the players and a larger support squad. Over the past couple of seasons we have had games where we have only had 4 subs etc, and as we develop and grow as a team, I hope we can look to extend the squad by growing younger players as well as the established ones.

Suppose it's down to keeping to a tight budget that we don't run with more than 17-18 players. I thought last season was their best one [under the guidance of Bakes and Unders], in terms of the depth of quality on the subs bench. In the vast majority of matches we had 5 decent subs. That hasn't always been the case.

 I agree, SloughFlyer, that it would be good to have a few younger players on the fringes of our squad to develop them but at the moment, in only our second season in the National South I think it is probably wiser to conserve the budget and not over complicate the job Neil and Jon are doing just yet. Let's get settled in this division first.

I do, however, think that we should think ahead by recruiting one young player a season for pre season games, minor cup games and the odd sub league appearance, like we did last season to a degree with Dan Roberts,and then as you say,SF, he could be dual reg or loaned out to another team.

If I was looking to recruit a young player to our ranks this season I would be looking for either a young centre midfielder or an understudy left back/wing back for George Wells. To me it would be a cheap way of adding to the existing squad and even if the young player isn't up to the challenge the following season,with the experience he's getting he might be ready to come back to us in a few seasons after learning his trade at different levels. Nothing ventured, nothing gained in my book.

[SloughFlyer]

Agree with that 3spirit. I also assume that the young goalie (15 I think hence not signing last season) will be signed when he is able to be as an understudy to Jack. What a great opportunity to learn from both Jack and Trent for him as well.

I agree with a younger full back and I'd possibly look at a younger centre back, again to learn from all that experience we have in our back line.

Budget is of course important and also keeping all the quality we have in the squad content with game time etc. Neil and Jon have proven right time after time with the squads and teams they have put together so it will be interesting to see what the squad looks like following pre-season.

[3spirit]

Just wondering, are our players back training this week, or is it next week?

Anyone?

[Jon Underwood]

Our first session is Tuesday next week.

I am planning to do an interview to come out tomorrow evening which will provide everyone with an update on squad, pre-season preparations etc.