From what I saw last night, any team in L1 or L2 would benefit from taking last night's West Ham captain Marcus Brown on loan. Far superior technically and also got stuck in physically too. It's also worth noting that because this is international week, eight of their PL2 regulars were unavailable.
Defensively, West Ham were woeful and couldn't handle the physical side of the game. The GK was hopeless when the ball was in the air but made a few decent saves to keep the score respectable too.
@peterparrotface I'm sure Tone (as I call him) wouldn't want me to post too much about the evenings we've discussed youth development in the UK. West Ham has a great tradition of bringing the youth in the first team.
I'm sure he does a great job but he can't actually take them that far. First team chances are all the more limited and their development slows down with little real competitive action. I'm not that sure this competition fills that gap in any way.
@bluntphil - That really is unbelievable that 8 regulars were out due to it being international week - if the whole idea was to play upcoming young internationals in competitive matches, which clown arranged this round of games in international week? The whole sorry affair gets more and more farcical.
Enjoyed your commentary last night btw - sounded like their guy Brown is a genuine talent.
I suspect @peterparrotface, was having some obscure inside joke with someone about the supposed threat of trouble. It's the bloody Checkatrade cup!
Where has that 8 regulars being out come from? On a West Ham page, the only bemoaned absence i saw was some guy called Martinez, a £2m signing from Valencia.
I was intrigued in the right winger Kemp, as he looked about 12 and frail as anything. Apparently he was on Chelsea's books and is 16/17 and has a 3 year pro contract!
Surely he won't make it unless he puts a severe bit of muscle on.
@Right_in_the_Middle I whole heartedly agree. Not saying we treated the competition with contempt as we don't have that many players but GAs comments were similar to pre-season games. So two teams playing each other neither want to be there. The future of English football player development being well beaten by a 4th division reserve outfit.
@baxter said:
i went to the game last night and we played well but we discussed if any of the west ham youngsters would be good enough to play for us on loan and unfortunately nobody shone to say take him hes good pity really as this competition was to pit the youngsters up against seasoned pros as a development but what I saw no one stepped up to the plate
It was noticeable that Gaz made a point of shaking the hand of every WHU player as they came off the pitch, perhaps just in case any of them come up for s loan move down the line?
@Malone Their manager, Terry Westley, said after the game that there were eight unavailable due to international call ups. I don't think he was moaning though as he acknowledged that it gave a chance for others.
I notice Luton made 11 changes and the manager will pay any fines. They won so I wonder what will happen. Different rules for different teams and fixtures being put in an international week makes this competition so hard to love.
I've just been told as the big clubs were worried about suspensions and so on, red cards don't count towards any bans in this competition...not sure if that IS the case but if that's true perhaps the yellow cards won;t lead to disciplinaries or fines?.
Oh dear, I imagine the thought of their fragile younglings coming up against full blooded hairy-arsed lower league 'stars' might not prove so attractive after all.
It makes sense in one way that any suspensions will only be served in this cup.
But then you think, hang on, if a team are already eliminated but have to finish their fixtures, what's to stop someone producing an absolute scandal of a tackle as a freebie? Unless violent conduct counts differently? But otherwise, the "threat" that you might miss a game in this cup next year, if you're even in the lower leagues any more is hardly a deterrant.
Not quite certain why there is so much opposition to this cup. With no reserve team it gives us a chance to see some of the players who aren't getting a regular 1st team place and maybe impress. Hopefully the game won't cost too much more to stage than a pretty season friendly, so we may make a few quid out of them as well, with the carrot of a Wembley cup final. And generally when I've seen these games the football's been pretty good with teams actually trying to play rather than stifle the opposition. And it's always nice to be a part of a competition that we have a chance in - even if it is pretty sh*t.
@Croider said:
Why don't we enter the Berks + Bucks cup then? They would offer all the same advantages of match time for fringe players and a chance of glory
Good point well made. However, when we got knocked out in the semi on pens after extra time at Beaconsfield I believe Gaz felt there was little benefit to moral or teamwork, we'll probably have to wait for a post Gaz club to go again in the B&B.
Comments
From what I saw last night, any team in L1 or L2 would benefit from taking last night's West Ham captain Marcus Brown on loan. Far superior technically and also got stuck in physically too. It's also worth noting that because this is international week, eight of their PL2 regulars were unavailable.
Defensively, West Ham were woeful and couldn't handle the physical side of the game. The GK was hopeless when the ball was in the air but made a few decent saves to keep the score respectable too.
An odd but entertaining game.
@peterparrotface I'm sure Tone (as I call him) wouldn't want me to post too much about the evenings we've discussed youth development in the UK. West Ham has a great tradition of bringing the youth in the first team.
I'm sure he does a great job but he can't actually take them that far. First team chances are all the more limited and their development slows down with little real competitive action. I'm not that sure this competition fills that gap in any way.
@sandsexile pleased to hear everyone was safe and no OAPs were bottled.
@bluntphil - That really is unbelievable that 8 regulars were out due to it being international week - if the whole idea was to play upcoming young internationals in competitive matches, which clown arranged this round of games in international week? The whole sorry affair gets more and more farcical.
Enjoyed your commentary last night btw - sounded like their guy Brown is a genuine talent.
I suspect @peterparrotface, was having some obscure inside joke with someone about the supposed threat of trouble. It's the bloody Checkatrade cup!
Where has that 8 regulars being out come from? On a West Ham page, the only bemoaned absence i saw was some guy called Martinez, a £2m signing from Valencia.
I was intrigued in the right winger Kemp, as he looked about 12 and frail as anything. Apparently he was on Chelsea's books and is 16/17 and has a 3 year pro contract!
Surely he won't make it unless he puts a severe bit of muscle on.
@Right_in_the_Middle I whole heartedly agree. Not saying we treated the competition with contempt as we don't have that many players but GAs comments were similar to pre-season games. So two teams playing each other neither want to be there. The future of English football player development being well beaten by a 4th division reserve outfit.
It was noticeable that Gaz made a point of shaking the hand of every WHU player as they came off the pitch, perhaps just in case any of them come up for s loan move down the line?
That's good management. Easy enough to do but not everyone would think of it
We've all seen Green Street, so with that insider knowledge me and my own stayed at home safe with slippers on and wooly tartan thong for comfort
@Malone Their manager, Terry Westley, said after the game that there were eight unavailable due to international call ups. I don't think he was moaning though as he acknowledged that it gave a chance for others.
I notice Luton made 11 changes and the manager will pay any fines. They won so I wonder what will happen. Different rules for different teams and fixtures being put in an international week makes this competition so hard to love.
I've just been told as the big clubs were worried about suspensions and so on, red cards don't count towards any bans in this competition...not sure if that IS the case but if that's true perhaps the yellow cards won;t lead to disciplinaries or fines?.
Red & yellow cards in this competition don't count towards league suspensions.
That certainly explains the tackles being put in last night!
Oh dear, I imagine the thought of their fragile younglings coming up against full blooded hairy-arsed lower league 'stars' might not prove so attractive after all.
It makes sense in one way that any suspensions will only be served in this cup.
But then you think, hang on, if a team are already eliminated but have to finish their fixtures, what's to stop someone producing an absolute scandal of a tackle as a freebie? Unless violent conduct counts differently? But otherwise, the "threat" that you might miss a game in this cup next year, if you're even in the lower leagues any more is hardly a deterrant.
Great goal from Freeman.
Not quite certain why there is so much opposition to this cup. With no reserve team it gives us a chance to see some of the players who aren't getting a regular 1st team place and maybe impress. Hopefully the game won't cost too much more to stage than a pretty season friendly, so we may make a few quid out of them as well, with the carrot of a Wembley cup final. And generally when I've seen these games the football's been pretty good with teams actually trying to play rather than stifle the opposition. And it's always nice to be a part of a competition that we have a chance in - even if it is pretty sh*t.
Why don't we enter the Berks + Bucks cup then? They would offer all the same advantages of match time for fringe players and a chance of glory
Good point well made. However, when we got knocked out in the semi on pens after extra time at Beaconsfield I believe Gaz felt there was little benefit to moral or teamwork, we'll probably have to wait for a post Gaz club to go again in the B&B.