A win and a good proportion of the under 23 sides getting beaten. Good day all round.
How many changes to the starting 11 on Saturday? My money is on 4.
Wonder how much this has cost us financially. Doubt the gate was big enough to cover Northampton's own staff costs, electric etc. let alone pass anything on to us. We have travelling costs, plus I assume win bonuses for the players.
I believe we get a few thousand in prize money for winning tonight. I think it was the prize money that seduced so many clubs into voting for the changes. Silly competition, but a good win!
I would love to see a midfield of Freeman - McGinn - Rowe - Harriman be given an opportunity to shine on Saturday. All young players who are hungry for the ball to their feet and can pick a pass (I'm assuming that's the case for Freeman!) Wood in as left back and Jombati restored to the right. Southwell and Hayes up front. Three points guaranteed.
As mentioned by other posters it is a step forward to be advised of the extent of players injuries but worrying that most of them seem to be relatively long term.. If we get many more, what happens if we can't get 11 fit players on the pitch. Would it be grounds for postponement of the match?
A good win tonight in a competition I will not attend. As with many fans I disagree with the inclusion of the so called Premier League U23 sides. I firmly believe this is the start of the long term plan to include these sides in the football league. Tonight 3 U23 sides won, 2 drew & 9 lost. I suspect the U23 sides will perform better in the next round now they realise the standard required. The only Premier side to win were Everton, supposing the final is Everton v another northern side, Wembley attendance under 10,000.
@Fit2drop -I think they are "category 1 Premier League (or Championship) academy/under-21 sides" rather than "under 23s". Still - boycotted accordingly.
Isolated comments from the NTFC forum www.thehotelend.co.uk:
"completely outplayed by a bigger,stronger,more mobile and more skilful team"
"these are league 1 players getting pi55ed on by a team who are currently 19th in league 2....and who are not playing their full first team either.."
"the league 2 side walked all over us, a team we did the double over last season"
"I have to say it, Wycombe are most un-Wycombe like! Playing good football and not being physical!"
Not sure what this result means in the grand scheme of things, whether we were genuinely good or just that the Cobblers couldn't be arsed to turn up, but I guess all we can do is to see whether we can turn it on when it matters, in the league.
It does seem odd that the academy teams are now being billed as "Under 23" when the competition rules posted on the Football League website clearly state "Each Invited Club must ensure that in each Match at least 6 of the starting eleven players named on the Team Sheet are players who were aged under 21 as at the 30th June in the year in which the Season concerned commenced" and all of the intial news releases and communications from the league and clubs also indicated Under 21. I guess the premiership/championship clubs must have insisted on a change prior to accepting their invitations to take part.
There has, as far as I am aware, been no public press release concerning the switch from Under 21 to Under 23, so I suspect the premier and football leagues were hoping nobody would notice. An Under 23 team is, after all, a lot closer to a Premiership/Championship "B Team" than an Under 21 team would be. Conspiracy theorists (myself among them) may suspect that this was the intention all along.
Next summer the bullsh*t statements that, "They are only Under 21 sides so no, no, no, this is 100% definitely not a first step towards Premiership B Teams playing in the Football League", will be replaced with, "The feasibility of Premiership B Teams playing in the Football League has been proven by the fact that Premiership B Teams have already successfully taken part in the Checkatrade Trophy".
Comments
Loud booing from Northampton fans as Gareth takes to the pitch.
85: here's his moment. Gareth Ainsworth replaces Dayle Southwell. 21 years between them. 0-2 #NTHvWYC
You wanna play more often Gaz
Would you believe it "GOAL to Thompson - and an assist from Ainsworth! 0-3 #NTHvWYC"
90+4: incredible. Ainsworth holds it up, spots the pass of Thompson, lays it in his path, & the striker did the rest. 0-3! #NTHvWYC
Alas we are passing and providing better quality service. Well done lads.
A win and a good proportion of the under 23 sides getting beaten. Good day all round.
How many changes to the starting 11 on Saturday? My money is on 4.
Well done all. Let's carry this on to Saturday.
Finally a sensible post
Wonder how much this has cost us financially. Doubt the gate was big enough to cover Northampton's own staff costs, electric etc. let alone pass anything on to us. We have travelling costs, plus I assume win bonuses for the players.
Hopefully we didn't have a lot of bookings again.
Top work from the lads tonight. Roll on Saturday.
I believe we get a few thousand in prize money for winning tonight. I think it was the prize money that seduced so many clubs into voting for the changes. Silly competition, but a good win!
O'Nien and Bean out for 'several weeks' GA has said post-match. Muller out until new year, Weston & PCH for 4 weeks, JJ for 10-12 weeks
Team for Luton?
Blackman, Harriman, Pierre, Stewart, Sido, Thompson, Rowe, Bloomfield, Freeman, Southwell, Hayes
Subs - Richardson, De Havilland, McGinn, Wood, Akinfenwa, GA?
I understand it's £10,000 per win and £5,000 per draw during the Group Stage.
Asking a lot of Harriman
@DJWYC14 massively out of order!!!
Take your mockery like a man!
Sorry edited @eric_plant
What is wood like at left back?
Interesting that following Saturday we do seem to have had a change of heart regarding injury news. A good positive step
I would love to see a midfield of Freeman - McGinn - Rowe - Harriman be given an opportunity to shine on Saturday. All young players who are hungry for the ball to their feet and can pick a pass (I'm assuming that's the case for Freeman!) Wood in as left back and Jombati restored to the right. Southwell and Hayes up front. Three points guaranteed.
He played there regularly a few seasons ago.
He's not the same player now though. Hasn't been for a while
Surely match time is important to help mould a team and to evaluate individual players irrespective of what competition it is?
As mentioned by other posters it is a step forward to be advised of the extent of players injuries but worrying that most of them seem to be relatively long term.. If we get many more, what happens if we can't get 11 fit players on the pitch. Would it be grounds for postponement of the match?
Perhaps Dev can shed some light on the rules?
McGinn isn't young is he?
A good win tonight in a competition I will not attend. As with many fans I disagree with the inclusion of the so called Premier League U23 sides. I firmly believe this is the start of the long term plan to include these sides in the football league. Tonight 3 U23 sides won, 2 drew & 9 lost. I suspect the U23 sides will perform better in the next round now they realise the standard required. The only Premier side to win were Everton, supposing the final is Everton v another northern side, Wembley attendance under 10,000.
@Fit2drop - If by some miracle we got to Wembley in this competition would you still not attend?
@Fit2drop -I think they are "category 1 Premier League (or Championship) academy/under-21 sides" rather than "under 23s". Still - boycotted accordingly.
The game is played as long as you have 7 or 8 players available can't remember which it is.
Isolated comments from the NTFC forum www.thehotelend.co.uk:
"completely outplayed by a bigger,stronger,more mobile and more skilful team"
"these are league 1 players getting pi55ed on by a team who are currently 19th in league 2....and who are not playing their full first team either.."
"the league 2 side walked all over us, a team we did the double over last season"
"I have to say it, Wycombe are most un-Wycombe like! Playing good football and not being physical!"
Not sure what this result means in the grand scheme of things, whether we were genuinely good or just that the Cobblers couldn't be arsed to turn up, but I guess all we can do is to see whether we can turn it on when it matters, in the league.
It does seem odd that the academy teams are now being billed as "Under 23" when the competition rules posted on the Football League website clearly state "Each Invited Club must ensure that in each Match at least 6 of the starting eleven players named on the Team Sheet are players who were aged under 21 as at the 30th June in the year in which the Season concerned commenced" and all of the intial news releases and communications from the league and clubs also indicated Under 21. I guess the premiership/championship clubs must have insisted on a change prior to accepting their invitations to take part.
There has, as far as I am aware, been no public press release concerning the switch from Under 21 to Under 23, so I suspect the premier and football leagues were hoping nobody would notice. An Under 23 team is, after all, a lot closer to a Premiership/Championship "B Team" than an Under 21 team would be. Conspiracy theorists (myself among them) may suspect that this was the intention all along.
Next summer the bullsh*t statements that, "They are only Under 21 sides so no, no, no, this is 100% definitely not a first step towards Premiership B Teams playing in the Football League", will be replaced with, "The feasibility of Premiership B Teams playing in the Football League has been proven by the fact that Premiership B Teams have already successfully taken part in the Checkatrade Trophy".
Interesting to note how badly these "under 23" teams did last night..just 5 wins for these teams, and 10 defeats
Not that much of a shock though surely? We've had these types of players in on loan and they are very hit or miss in terms of match day performance.