WALSHE

[clarke is god]

been released along with mark burgess i have mixed views of the ben walshe release, but i think his fitness would let him down greatly! hes a top bloke! thanks for everything benjy! Haks signed a 1 year deal which is promising! do you think we have our 4 strikers for next season then

[TomDavisPonyTail]

For me, you've got to think who has struggled for consistently high performances in the Conference South....and Walshe fits the bill unfortunately. Whoever can't 'hack' it at this level "week in week out" has no chance at Conference level....

 

....for me Hann, Clarke, Davis, Lewis, Bastock have been consistently impressive, and deserve a chance to prove themselves in the CN.

 

Otherwise, I have concerns over players such as Ada and Hakim, who I'm not sure can do the business for next season, although LL obviously thinks Hakim can.....I also have concerns over others such as Marwa and Elphick who were unable to make an impression in the Conference....

 

....just trying to tell it like it is.

[frankie]

Cant Hack It! If i am correct since his return.

Games started P22 W17 D3 L2!

Five weeks ago , CL said Walshe gets better and better.

Clarkey said our return to form is since Walshe came back.

His fitness did let him down.

He is a quality player who reads the game well,doesn't waste balls, has a great left foot and played a big part in our promotion!

I wish him well

 

By the way conference is no big step up , we have just as good as player's, only full time team's will be against us!

 

Just telling the way it is.

[AFF]

I, too, wish Ben Walshe ggod luck for the future. It's sad to see him go as he is one of the most talented players that we have seen at our level of football, and a very nice guy, too.

 

I take the view generally that whatever I can see, Colin Lippiatt can see too. [i recognise that he can often see more than I can, but you know what I mean.] When Ben came back, he was 10 lbs overweight, and whatever diet sheet Jason Blair gave him, he ended the season 20 lbs overweight. Unless it was a medical condition like pregnancy, the guy needs to get a grip, get into shape, and he will do a fine job for someone.

 

For me, Paul Hakim is a very talented player indeed although the combination of him up front with Lee Clarke playing deeper is not as effective for us when it's Lee leading the line with Simon Martin behind.

 

I heard a whisper that we have also released Mark Burgess and Amos Foyewa. Good luck to those two from me, too.

 

In response to Frankie, I think that the age of our side will go some way to counter the superior fitness of many of the 'full-time' sides in the Conference. And Paul Bastock will, hopefully, win us as many points as he did this last season. A place in Europe within 5 seasons would be my minimum expectations. No pressure, Colin.

 

Barcelona at Clarence Park in the Champions League. Now there's a thought.

 

Bring 'em on.

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

I can only guess that Colin has a replacement in place

Mark Graham?

 

Helen will be devistated

[AFF]

Left foot required. EFMTFTV.

 

Not Helen. The replacement for Ben Walshe.

[cityman]

Whilst it's sad to hear of Bens departure realisticly I can't beleive that anyone would really be surprised.

 

He is a great bloke with a sweet left foot but his fitness and work rate were a challenge at Conf South level so IMO there was no way he would be able to step up a league.

 

As for Hakim, again IMO the guy is real quality and deserves his chance.

 

From what I have heard/read about Sozzo IF he works out for us then I think he could be a great signing as he's apparently very strong, holds the ball up well and also can score. With Clarke, Hakim, Martin and Sozzo I hope that we have a good mix of abilities.

 

We also have to face the facts that we simply won't be able to compete with the money that's being thrown around at the higher level so CL will have to sign players who fit into the wage structure he has, only time will tell if the players are good enough.

[cityman]

" .....I also have concerns over others such as Marwa and Elphick who were unable to make an impression in the Conference...."

 

To be fair to Elphick I don't think he was given much of an opportunity at Aldershot and Marwa was being played at Right back at D&R AFAIK.

[Nos]

I agree with you 100% about Hakim, Rob2. IMO, he could prove to be the best signing of all for next season.

[JKiF]

thirded

[Sensible]

Wouldn't agree that Hann has been consistently impressive all season. First half of the season he was absolutely superb, as good a player as I have seen at this level but since the Tamworth game, he was not the same player.

 

Not sure if he was low on confidence or if he was carrying an injury. Hopefully CL will get the best out of him again next season.

[JKiF]

agreed

 

( 2posts in a row) c'mon someone make it a hat-trick!

[Hatboy]

Walshe supposedly didn't cut it in the conference with Gravesend (Lightweight!) was the quote.

 

And Matty probably hit his goalscorer target.

[Davymac55]

Now maybe I'm wrong( and going by my bookies account I am more than I'm right) but The Saints used in excess of 40 players in the first team during the course of last season. Now, by my reckoning we had out the best team we had available, at broadhall way, injuries and bans considered. Well if they wre good enough to get us into the Conference proper are they not good enough to at least start the season off, in view of the previously stated fact that we used x to the power 10 players last time and if they aint good enough we'll find out PDQ anyway? OK so Walshe wasn't fully fit at the end but he did play his part did he not? Are we getting in players who aint the cast offs of others or are we getting in the Chelsea 2nd team? I don't know. The main road to survival in the VConference seems to be going full-time. We aint. So why make out that players who got us there in the first place aint good enough? [****!!****] me ! We'd all have been well happy with making the play-offs at the start of the season so actually getting into the Big Boys League is a bonus and we'll probably struggle no matter who we have unless we are a full-time team.So lets enjoy the real;ity of being there without getting into a fantasyland where Walshe isn't fit enough for us. He helped us get there when he played and at the VERY LEAST deserved a game with us next season. On a different note the outcome of my polls on who we want to play first game and the facilities at Broadhall on the day are as follows; first game-Weymouth, facilities , crap.

[Rob_the_Saint]

No place for sentiments now were in the BB League, Davy. Walshey did a great job for us and all his fans are grateful but we must move on if we're to survive. Sweet left foot it may have been but he wasn't getting any fitter or slimmer towards the end of the season and visibly wilted towards the end of games that I saw.

 

Give CL credit where it is due; he knows the Conference scene inside out and knows what it requires to survive. He will have had a long hard look at the present squad and worked out where to strengthen and who quite frankly won't be up to it.

[TomDavisPonyTail]

Good post Rob.

[cityman]

Davy...sorry but your post is nonsense.

 

I liked walshe but was surprised he played week in week out at times...I pesume that it was too late to get anyoneelse in.

 

The conference is a BIG step up, CL has to make extremely tough decisions.

[cityman]

..also forgot to say, just because we are not going full time does not mean that we should'nt try our very best to stay up and IMO that means bringing in some new players to strengthen what we already have.

 

However with the small amount of money available this means having to let some go , and why would you keep a player who quite clearly (IMO) was struggling with the pace of Conf South ?

[eve]

i think the team who got us there deserve the chance to start in the big boys league.Davis,Clarke,Bastock,Hann,Marwa and Seeby are all terrific players,Adas shaping up too.they may all be part time but they give 100 per cent week in week out.

im sorry to see Walshie go and wish him luck.

[TomDavisPonyTail]

Quote:

Davymac55 said:
Well if they wre good enough to get us into the Conference proper are they not good enough to at least start the season off.

So lets enjoy the real;ity of being there without getting into a fantasyland where Walshe isn't fit enough for us. He helped us get there when he played and at the VERY LEAST deserved a game with us next season.

Sorry to ruin the speech, but I do not agree with this.
It is clear that some of our squad are not Conference Standard. As Rob the Saint previously said, LL knows the Conference, or 'Big Boys League' inside out, and he knows what he wants/needs. This is not Ben Walshe or any other players he has/will choose to throw out the back door.

Ok, he may have played a part in getting us there, but there was no way he could have handled a step up. You've got to be cruel to be kind in football. Kind being Walshe 'deserving' to play in the Conference. Cruel is another way of being 'Realistic'.

Indeed, I do want to enjoy the reality of being there, but it is foolish do give in to Relegation before the season even starts! All of us (except you, perhaps, Davymac) wants to consolidate a place in the Conference. This will only happen by 're-shuffling' the squad that is suitable. If we didn't, we would be in for a depressing Sunderland-esque (who barely modified their squad for Premiership football) style relegation before Christmas.

Once again, telling it like it is.