Braintree at home - Saturday 26th March

[rebelbrewer]

8 hours ago, 3spirit said:

Now the dust has settled, I'll add my two pennies worth.

I thought Braintree was excellent yesterday, and from my point of view they played better than the Maidstone team that had visited us a few weeks ago ! However Slough have been weakened by players injuries, and squad players missing/and good squad players leaving the club. I think it is harsh to criticize the Slough team too much in yesterday's defeat, in the fact that our team had started so well and that we had lots of players playing who weren't 100% fit. There's no way Bakes and Unders would take off Aaron Kuhl in that match if he was properly fit. He has a hernia problem and they need to go careful with him. To me that was the right call. The Josh Jackman injury to me was the catalyst for the wheels to fall off our play. Him leaving the field of play so untimely,and being replaced by the young Joe Dandy was never going to be an easy transition. Tyler Goodrham was a big miss, too.

I thought Braintree's defence had an easy afternoon with Alfonso Tenconi and Imran Kayani but the fans forget they are both still young and learning the game. With Slough having no centre midfield inspiration/creative dynamo it played into Braintree's hands.

I was surprised our managers took off Kurtis Cumberbatch. He didn't look injured but he might be not be 100% either. I didn't think we got the best out of him but I'm not in the George Hunt fan club this week, as I thought he did plenty of running but was weak at times and flattered to deceive. I was flabberghasted he got Man Of The Match but finding anyone for that honour was like looking for a 4 leafed clover!

Slough's game plan went to pot after the initial bright start and I couldn't wait for the half time whistle to come soon enough. Even I wondered what miracle Bakes and Unders could achieve with such a depleted squad, and what they would/could say in their half time team talk.

  I would have taken off Imran Kayani in the second half,and used the coming back from injury [7 weeks out] Matt Lench up front latterly in the game,using his creative instincts but not getting him to do too much running, behind the front two of Ben Harris and Alfonso Tenconi. Ben Harris made a difference when he came on but the service to our strikers was woeful.

I saw potential in young Joe Dandy but his debut was a nightmare for him,as he had a torrid afternoon and found it hard to do anything right. He's going to need a lot of moulding but I'm not criticizing what he's about. We missed Sean Fraser yesterday.

Braintree deserved to win and I thought their goal scorer [Number 7] was their main man yesterday, he gave our centre of defence the run around. He was my Man Of The Match !

                 

Well it was my choice yesterday and I thought George was involved in pretty much anything we did of note going forward or in winning the ball back in midfield. As you say hard to find positives but I think what George does is overlooked. I also saw Joe's debut from the stand on the side he was playing in the second half and, apart from receiving a hospital pass for his first touch - hardly his fault - I thought he looked quite sound.

[Reading Rebel]

13 hours ago, CookhamRebel said:

With attendances dwindling it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that unless we starting getting dynamic and creative next seasons budget will reduce meaning we’ll have a lot of youngsters in the squad next season… It won’t get worse but inconsistency will stay until the club find other revenue streams, to do that you need to think outside the box and be proactive!

Hopefully our attendances are not dwindling and have settled to around the 600+ mark and will eventually be on an upward curve.

In an ideal world you're right in that if we want to continue to have a competitive playing budget we have to be 'dynamic and creative' and find other revenue streams by 'thinking outside the box' and being 'proactive'.

All good meaningful words but they need to be backed up with workable and affordable ideas.

 

[3spirit]

11 hours ago, rebelbrewer said:

Well it was my choice yesterday and I thought George was involved in pretty much anything we did of note going forward or in winning the ball back in midfield. As you say hard to find positives but I think what George does is overlooked. I also saw Joe's debut from the stand on the side he was playing in the second half and, apart from receiving a hospital pass for his first touch - hardly his fault - I thought he looked quite sound.

You have my sympathies,RebelBrewer,in trying to find a Slough Man Of The Match on Saturday !

I thought George did ok but for me the outfield play once Josh Jackman had departed left a lot to be desired,so I would have given it to Jon North. No qualms with your decision, as fans we all see different aspects in players performances. I'm not expecting George Hunt to be a Darron Wilkinson type [a battling centre midfielder] but I was hoping he and Kurtis Cumberbatch would have been more dynamic breaking forward than they were. The opposition need to take some credit for that, though, as they stifled Slough's play and our team/managers could find no real answers as to how to get amongst them.

I thought when Aaron Kuhl made way, George needed to step up to the challenge but to me he didn't. Perhaps I'm expecting a bit too much from him,as this is only the 5th game I've seen him play,but going by the plaudits he's received I was expecting him to be an Ian Hazel/Adam Logie[mainly Wealdstone performances] type where he clearly isn't ie pushing forward,taking a player on and getting shots in. If anything I thought he, and Kurtis, ducked those responsibilities and faded from view as the game wore on in the second half. Kurtis being subbed.

I recognize that George Hunt still has time on his hands to become like that but he cannot stay this novice forever. When senior players leave the field of play,you need other players to head into the challenge, not shrink away. I thought George was among the better Slough players on Saturday[not saying a lot] but superIatives I cannot give him.   

Edited March 28, 2022 by 3spirit

[3spirit]

14 hours ago, Footyfan007 said:

Age is debatable if you're good enough you play IMHO, the younger players would have had a serious amount of coaching hours over their football education, practical, classroom, development and competitive matches of which some would have been taught by seasoned ex pros.  At some stage if you're good enough you have to make that jump whether is starting every game at senior level or coming on from the bench! but every minute you get you should be the best version of you.

Will the young players be inconsistent during a season - probably, confidence up and down - probably, do they make mistakes on purpose - no as does no one.  

I believe Neil and Jon are sending out the right message to younger players at Slough and that should bed well with recruiting younger quality players due to opportunities that Slough could provide, put this in place with a blend of senior players and it might just map out well as this season has, we have all been kept exited by the pushing for the play offs with a mix of youth and experienced players whilst Jon and Neil have had to manage senior players being injured and or moving on probably with one of the lower budgets in the league, that's a job well done in my book.

Yesterday I believe we had Alfonso 19, Eden 19, George 20, Imran 19, Joe 20 take the the keeper out of the equation and that's 50% of your outfield team 20 or under, the experience they will be gaining is Slough's gain for next season and further ahead.

 

From my point of view, the National South's quality has gone down in recent seasons, with Covid/budget cuts being the main cause. I don't view this current batch of players being better than we had 3/4 seasons ago, if anything we are weaker.

Our best investment,though, is in our managers !

How long Bakes and Unders are willing to stick around a poorly funded club, is for me the issue?

They are having to rebuild the team currently,as their mainstays from their Godalming days have now gone, and the better experienced players who have been acquired over the years ie Lenchy, Togs, Josh, Scotty, Ben, Sean are all getting older. Having lost stalwarts in Guy, Wazza and Nis,they will need to add quality experienced players to the mix next season. Youngsters can not provide all the answers.

Can our club afford them,though?

Edited March 28, 2022 by 3spirit

[3spirit]

16 hours ago, SloughFlyer said:

Ah 3spirit, not that I'm a young guy in any terms, but I think you'll find today's generation (and by default the best generation of Rebels fans) are totally lead by social media. It's how the Slough Jets did things 10-15 years ago and its even worse now. The club has to move with the times and use the tools available to us today.

In addition, if you go back and read my post, I wasn't suggesting making out we had signed Messi and Ronaldo, but headlines drive social traffic, which in turn drive physical traffic to the games. I'm not saying by any stretch that what I laid out would have worked, but clearly the 1 post covering everything had little to no effect to the attendance yesterday, so why not try something different?

Clearly, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is madness, so why not have a ago?

I accept I am out of touch with the young generation,SloughFlyer, and my knowledge of social media is limited. I might look an old git but I'm still young at heart and open minded enough to take on board your suggestions about how the club improves it's charm to attract more fans through it's turnstiles,though.?

The trouble is it is easy to say what the club should do,when you are not doing it !

The club and their volunteers can only do so much, and from my perspective I'm grateful for all they do. I will always try to help if I can but of late, my age seems to have caught up with me, and as you say SF,I'm not up with the times [and nor do I want to be, in some of the horrors I see ! ]. Aptly playing in the background is Perry Como's song 'For The Good Times'.

If Slough Town Football Club held a fans forum in which young and old fans[ and those inbetween] were invited, perhaps a great brainstorming session could evolve to help the club move forward in this regard [but even then, fans don't always turn up]. 

Stuntman Mark,on this forum is the man to ask about these sorts of things, as he took on the thankless role of trying to raise the club's profile, and so he must have an insight into what works and what doesn't.

I just don't accept that the club should use underhand,sneaky tactics on social media to gain a few extra fans, for what is likely to be one game.      

Edited March 28, 2022 by 3spirit

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

I accept I am out of touch with the young generation,SloughFlyer, and my knowledge of social media is limited. I might look an old git but I'm still young at heart and open minded enough to take on board your suggestions about how the club improves it's charm to attract more fans through it's turnstiles,though.?

The trouble is it is easy to say what the club should do,when you are not doing it !

The club and their volunteers can only do so much, and from my perspective I'm grateful for all they do. I will always try to help if I can but of late, my age seems to have caught up with me, and as you say SF,I'm not up with the times [and nor do I want to be, in some of the horrors I see ! ]. Aptly playing in the background is Perry Como's song 'For The Good Times'.

If Slough Town Football Club held a fans forum in which young and old fans[ and those inbetween] were invited, perhaps a great brainstorming session could evolve to help the club move forward in this regard [but even then, fans don't always turn up]. 

Stuntman Mark,on this forum is the man to ask about these sorts of things, as he took on the thankless role of trying to raise the club's profile, and so he must have an insight into what works and what doesn't.

I just don't accept that the club should use underhand,sneaky tactics on social media to gain a few extra fans, for what is likely to be one game.      

I'm not sure you would call it 'underhand, sneaky tactics'.

Yes, they wouldn't have been major signings or even named signings that most people would recognize but I'm sure they wouldn't have been advertised as such.

It would just have been another way to raise awareness in an attempt to increase attendances. 

Every little bit helps as they say.

[Reading Rebel]

I've always maintained that George Hunt is a young player with a lot of ability.

I stand to be corrected but as far as I'm aware it's his first season in senior men's football following his bad injury sustained whilst being part of the Bournemouth academy.

George has undoubted ability which imo he shows in flashes during games but needs to get more involved and make his presence felt more during a game, whether it's going forward or defending.

I don't think physicality is his game but given time I'm sure he will toughen up when it comes to fending off players or putting in meaningful challenges.

I really don't think we should be making any comparison with George and Aaron Kuhl.

Aaron is 6 years older and has had loads of experience having been playing in senior men's football for a few years now.

I'm sure with a full season under his belt George will only get better and all aspects of his game will improve for the experience.

 

 

 

 

   

Edited March 28, 2022 by Reading Rebel

[Footyfan007]

7 hours ago, 3spirit said:

From my point of view, the National South's quality has gone down in recent seasons, with Covid/budget cuts being the main cause. I don't view this current batch of players being better than we had 3/4 seasons ago, if anything we are weaker.

Our best investment,though, is in our managers !

How long Bakes and Unders are willing to stick around a poorly funded club, is for me the issue?

They are having to rebuild the team currently,as their mainstays from their Godalming days have now gone, and the better experienced players who have been acquired over the years ie Lenchy, Togs, Josh, Scotty, Ben, Sean are all getting older. Having lost stalwarts in Guy, Wazza and Nis,they will need to add quality experienced players to the mix next season. Youngsters can not provide all the answers.

Can our club afford them,

George can cope physically his stats this season would show that ?

[SloughFlyer]

6 hours ago, 3spirit said:

I accept I am out of touch with the young generation,SloughFlyer, and my knowledge of social media is limited. I might look an old git but I'm still young at heart and open minded enough to take on board your suggestions about how the club improves it's charm to attract more fans through it's turnstiles,though.?

The trouble is it is easy to say what the club should do,when you are not doing it !

The club and their volunteers can only do so much, and from my perspective I'm grateful for all they do. I will always try to help if I can but of late, my age seems to have caught up with me, and as you say SF,I'm not up with the times [and nor do I want to be, in some of the horrors I see ! ]. Aptly playing in the background is Perry Como's song 'For The Good Times'.

If Slough Town Football Club held a fans forum in which young and old fans[ and those inbetween] were invited, perhaps a great brainstorming session could evolve to help the club move forward in this regard [but even then, fans don't always turn up]. 

Stuntman Mark,on this forum is the man to ask about these sorts of things, as he took on the thankless role of trying to raise the club's profile, and so he must have an insight into what works and what doesn't.

I just don't accept that the club should use underhand,sneaky tactics on social media to gain a few extra fans, for what is likely to be one game.      

Couldn't agree more on the volunteers 3spirit, I think (and did say previously on this very thread) they do a great job.

I think its that vision of the way social media is seen by the older generation and the younger one (I sit somewhere in the middle at 42 in April). You see those types of posts as misleading and "sneaky" where as the younger geneneration of social media users would be far more accepting and attracted to the headlines etc.

As I said before, in no way would I have suggested making out like we have signed Messi and Ronaldo, just trying something different that wouldn't have cost any more and MAY have generated some extra interest.

1 game or otherwise, the noise coming from the club is 1 extra person paying on the gate would be excellent.

Unfortunately, I agree with the fans forum / brainstorming idea. No doubt it would be the same old faces (those dedicated to the club through and through) and it is unfair to expect people to give even more time to the club.

I dont think there is any easy solution to the attendance/financial issues for the club and it is all clearly driven by ££££. The reasoning behind my post on the announcements actually had nothing to do with the actual announcement themselves, it was more further commentary from me as to why, when you compare us with someone like Dorking, we as a club are worlds away from playoffs or promotion. This is through no fault at all of the people that volunteer or anyone at the club. We have to cut our cloth accordingly and I think those helping the club currently are doing just that to the best of their ability.

[Reading Rebel]

8 hours ago, 3spirit said:

From my point of view, the National South's quality has gone down in recent seasons, with Covid/budget cuts being the main cause. I don't view this current batch of players being better than we had 3/4 seasons ago, if anything we are weaker.

Our best investment,though, is in our managers !

How long Bakes and Unders are willing to stick around a poorly funded club, is for me the issue?

They are having to rebuild the team currently,as their mainstays from their Godalming days have now gone, and the better experienced players who have been acquired over the years ie Lenchy, Togs, Josh, Scotty, Ben, Sean are all getting older. Having lost stalwarts in Guy, Wazza and Nis,they will need to add quality experienced players to the mix next season. Youngsters can not provide all the answers.

Can our club afford them,though?

I think it's a bit of a split on the quality of the National South compared to other seasons.

I would say those teams in the top half are stronger than in previous seasons and teams in the bottom half are weaker due to covid spending cuts.

 

 

 

[Sir Rebel1965]

If the club uses social media, the massage needs to be accurate.

 

The Twitter post for the U23 has the date of tonight’s game as "Tuesday 28th March" - today is Tuesday 29th March – who checks this stuff?

 

How many looked at the date and turned up yesterday?

It about credibility, and when you see such basic mistakes it makes the club look tin pot.

[3spirit]

13 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

I think it's a bit of a split on the quality of the National South compared to other seasons.

I would say those teams in the top half are stronger than in previous seasons and teams in the bottom half are weaker due to covid spending cuts.

 

 

 

I don't agree. Even the top sides are weaker versions of past seasons [pre Covid].

[SloughFlyer]

2 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

If the club uses social media, the massage needs to be accurate.

 

The Twitter post for the U23 has the date of tonight’s game as "Tuesday 28th March" - today is Tuesday 29th March – who checks this stuff?

 

How many looked at the date and turned up yesterday?

It about credibility, and when you see such basic mistakes it makes the club look tin pot.

If the club is offering "massages" 1965, I suspect we may get a different type of fan??

[3spirit]

Just now, Sir Rebel1965 said:

If the club uses social media, the massage needs to be accurate.

 

The Twitter post for the U23 has the date of tonight’s game as "Tuesday 28th March" - today is Tuesday 29th March – who checks this stuff?

 

How many looked at the date and turned up yesterday?

It about credibility, and when you see such basic mistakes it makes the club look tin pot.

The massage needs to be accurate?   I could do with an accurate one of those ! ha ha ha!  Benny Hill style !

[3spirit]

19 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

I'm not sure you would call it 'underhand, sneaky tactics'.

Yes, they wouldn't have been major signings or even named signings that most people would recognize but I'm sure they wouldn't have been advertised as such.

It would just have been another way to raise awareness in an attempt to increase attendances. 

Every little bit helps as they say.

Just trying to make a point. How would you have phrased it then, RR?

[3spirit]

19 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

I've always maintained that George Hunt is a young player with a lot of ability.

I stand to be corrected but as far as I'm aware it's his first season in senior men's football following his bad injury sustained whilst being part of the Bournemouth academy.

George has undoubted ability which imo he shows in flashes during games but needs to get more involved and make his presence felt more during a game, whether it's going forward or defending.

I don't think physicality is his game but given time I'm sure he will toughen up when it comes to fending off players or putting in meaningful challenges.

I really don't think we should be making any comparison with George and Aaron Kuhl.

Aaron is 6 years older and has had loads of experience having been playing in senior men's football for a few years now.

I'm sure with a full season under his belt George will only get better and all aspects of his game will improve for the experience.

 

 

 

 

   

I wasn't comparing Aaron to George. I was just saying that when an important central midfielder goes off,the others in midfield have to step up  and for me George did alright but didn't excel in my opinion.

[3spirit]

15 hours ago, Footyfan007 said:

George can cope physically his stats this season would show that ?

Look I'm not slagging George's whole game off.

I can plainly see that in Slough's current squad he deserves to be in it. I tend towards who played well and who didn't do much in individual games, and against Braintree on Saturday I thought George was ok but nothing special.

He's a young player who has had bad injuries, so I understand his reticence to not make strong hard tackles. I wouldn't pressurize him too much on this. Marking wise he does well and does have energy around the field. For me it's about his confidence to drive forward and take the ball into the heart of the opposition's defence and take a defender on, either to get a shot away or to lay the ball off to set up other Slough attackers. George and Kurtis didn't do enough in this regard but I do credit Braintree,too, as they had Slough sussed.

[Reading Rebel]

39 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I don't agree. Even the top sides are weaker versions of past seasons [pre Covid].

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

I think teams like Dorking, Maidstone, Dartford, Eastbourne and even little Hungerford look stronger than pre covid.

[Sir Rebel1965]

2 hours ago, SloughFlyer said:

If the club is offering "massages" 1965, I suspect we may get a different type of fan??

Bloody smell cheek

[Shredding Green]

4 hours ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

If the club uses social media, the massage needs to be accurate.

 

The Twitter post for the U23 has the date of tonight’s game as "Tuesday 28th March" - today is Tuesday 29th March – who checks this stuff?

 

How many looked at the date and turned up yesterday?

It about credibility, and when you see such basic mistakes it makes the club look tin pot.

Was "the massage" "the message"? I note that it needs to be accurate Sir Rebel1965!!!???