Well, it was nice to be back at Huish Park in the sun to watch a game of football. You can't beat live football. Even a fairly gentle pre-season friendly is, I think, preferable to any amount of televised World Cup games, HD or no HD. And better still, no vuvuzelas.
As for the match, Swansea were worthy winners. They had more of the ball, as you would expect from a side playing in a higher division, and looked more of a threat in front of goal, even if David Cotteril's 5th minute solo effort was their only reward. For the Glovers the interest came from seeing the new players for the first time and as far as they were concerned the verdict was, so far so good. Andy Williams, Luke Ayling, Paul Huntington and, later on, Ed Upson all showed up well and did enough to show they're going to be useful assets to the squad this season.
We lined up as follows (4-4-2):
1. Ben Roberts: 6/10 - Shot stopping good, kicking bad, shouting at the rest of the team excellent.
2. Craig Alcock (Captain): 6/10 - Had his hands full coping with Dave Cotteril but managed pretty well most of the time. Didn't get forward as much as he would doubtless have liked.
3. Nathan Smith: 6/10 - Had a real battle with opposite number Nathan Dyer and came out honours even. Delighted to see him back for the season.
4. Stefan Stam: 5/10 - Looked a bit short of pace at times but otherwise solid enough, apart from the time both he and partner Huntington were turned inside out by Cotteril for Swansea's goal.
5. Paul Huntington: 6/10 - Decent debut after a slightly dodgy start. Looked good in the air and the odd foray out from the back with the ball at his feet was almost Caulker-esque, dare I say it. Promising.
6. Jean-Paul Kalala: 6/10 - Typical JP performance. Glad he's back for the season.
7. Andy Williams: 7/10 - Started his YTFC career on the right wing and provided a whole series of dangerous crosses that the front men should have done more with. Says he wants to play up front, but if he carries on like this it will be difficult to take him off the flank. Encouraging.
8. Luke Ayling: 6/10 - My first real look at Luke and I liked what I saw. Kept the ball well, always available for the pass and always looking to release the front men. Seemed to have plenty of time on the ball, which, they say, is the sign of a good player.
9. Sam Williams: 4/10 - Not the best game I've seen Sam play. Looked off the pace and missed a couple of good scoring opportunities. Early days yet, we know he's better than this.
10. Dean Bowditch: 5/10 - Enthusiastic performance, by which I mean he ran around a lot and got into some good positions, but without ever looking like scoring. More to come.
11. Andy Welsh: 5/10 - Quiet game. Provided one or two decent crosses but on the whole struggled to get involved.
Subs: Richard Martin (46 mins for Ben Roberts): 8/10 - Easily the best 45 minutes I've seen him play. Made a couple of excellent saves, kicking was good and commanded his box. Surprising!
Adam Virgo (46 mins for Stefan Stam): 6/10 - Calm and classy. Would only enhance the squad, if we have the budget to sign him.
Ed Upson (70 mins): 7/10: Easily the pick of the outfield subs on 70 minutes. Combative, quick and a great range of passing. I'd like to see more of him next time.
Lloyd Matthews, Craig Calver, Nathan Jones, Danny Hutchins, Sam Hewson, Billy Knott, Kevin Lacroix and an unnamed Trialist (all introduced on 70 mins): No mark for any of these players, none of them really stood out so better luck next time. If there is a next time for some of them.
Here we go again then, off on the merry-go-round of another new season. What was encouraging about yesterday was that all 11 of the starting XI are contracted to the club next season, which makes a nice change; though of course we mustn't forget that we still don't really have a goalkeeper, either a first choice or a back-up. What wasn't so encouraging was that - Andy Williams crosses aside - we didn't create a whole lot in front of goal, and those chances we did make weren't taken. Still, Luke Freeman, injured yesterday, is still to come, and it's early days yet.
Showing posts with label Craig Calver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craig Calver. Show all posts
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Friday, 16 July 2010
Magic Daps gets his cake and eats it
Pre-season training has been going on for around two weeks now, and while there's been no real news regarding definite signings we do have some interesting possible signings to run the rule over at tomorrow's first home friendly against Swansea City.
The main points of interest come at centre-half, where 2 trialists have been training with the Glovers. They are former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, as mentioned last week; and former Leeds and Stockport centre-half Paul Huntington. Virgo's pedigree as a solid, reliable performer is well established, but Huntington is perhaps less well-known. Well, he's less well-known by me at any rate, in fact I'd never heard of him before now. He's potentially a very interesting acquisition however. He's 6'3", 22 years old and began his career at Newcastle, making 16 Premiership appearances for the Geordies at a comparatively young age before being transferred to Elland Road. Injury decimated his time at Leeds however and he eventually ended up at Stockport, where he played most of last season, making 26 appearances for the Hatters. He's clearly got potential, but equally clearly could be regarded as being injury-prone - in other words he sounds the ideal player for us. Young, hungry, and presumably looking to use us as a stepping-stone to get back to the higher levels of the game; but a bit risky for the bigger clubs in the division to be taking a chance with. Last term we managed to go the entire season with only 3 central defenders in the squad - Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes and Stefan Stam. This season we could potentially do the same with Stam, Virgo and Huntington; plus a loan signing if and when required.
But we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Skivo's budget may not allow him to sign both Huntington and Virgo, time will tell. There are other trialists at the club in other positions. As far as can be told keepers Matt Glennon and Richard Martin are still with us and this week we were informed we have a 19-year-old striker on trial, Craig Calver from AFC Sudbury, a former Southend youth player. There are still more trialists around apparently, but the club have done a good job in keeping their identities secret, at least until tomorrow.
One signing we do know of is the return of midfield enforcer JP Kalala, subject to a medical. I know some people regard JP as a kind of anti-footballer, a poor man's Van Bommel if you will, but I'm not one of them. His passing and general distribution is better than he's given credit for and his ball-winning abilities and defensive know-how will be needed in a squad that so far seems to consist of mainly kids, flair players and Andy Welsh. In an ideal world we would all play like Barcelona, but in League One that just ain't going to happen and you need an enforcer like Kalala at times. I'm happy he's back, even if he is a pain in the arse.
One player we now won't be signing is Lee Trundle, who's taken his magic daps to The Gnoll in preference to Huish Park. The where? I hear you ask. The Gnoll is the home of Welsh Premier League side Neath, who offered the former Swansea favourite a 3-year £2500 a week deal to become the WPL's highest paid player. Trundle no doubt bit their chairman's arm off, as well as his other arm, legs and head, as well as finishing off the sandwiches in his packed lunch. I would have loved a fit and motivated Lee Trundle to have signed for us at one point, but that point was some years ago now. Skivo might (and presumably does) disagree, but I can't help feeling we've dodged a bullet on this one.
Stop press! News just coming in over the ether - Paul Huntington has signed a 2 year deal with the club and JP Kalala a 1 year deal. Good news!
Last week's behind closed doors games ended in a 3-3 draw at Wycombe and a 1-0 loss at Stevenage, not that anyone's counting. Anyhow, it's off to Huish Park tomorrow for the first friendly of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing our new signings play, in particular Andy Williams, Luke Freeman, Ed Upson and now Paul Huntington. It will also be nice to see Shaun MacDonald back at Huish Park, albeit playing for someone else.
Just read: Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony by John Scalzi. Super SF trilogy set in a hostile universe where mankind has reached the stars only to find hundreds of other intelligent species doing their level best to wipe each other out. But in the end the biggest threat to man comes from within... Think Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but with a sense of humour and added balls. Recommended.
The main points of interest come at centre-half, where 2 trialists have been training with the Glovers. They are former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, as mentioned last week; and former Leeds and Stockport centre-half Paul Huntington. Virgo's pedigree as a solid, reliable performer is well established, but Huntington is perhaps less well-known. Well, he's less well-known by me at any rate, in fact I'd never heard of him before now. He's potentially a very interesting acquisition however. He's 6'3", 22 years old and began his career at Newcastle, making 16 Premiership appearances for the Geordies at a comparatively young age before being transferred to Elland Road. Injury decimated his time at Leeds however and he eventually ended up at Stockport, where he played most of last season, making 26 appearances for the Hatters. He's clearly got potential, but equally clearly could be regarded as being injury-prone - in other words he sounds the ideal player for us. Young, hungry, and presumably looking to use us as a stepping-stone to get back to the higher levels of the game; but a bit risky for the bigger clubs in the division to be taking a chance with. Last term we managed to go the entire season with only 3 central defenders in the squad - Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes and Stefan Stam. This season we could potentially do the same with Stam, Virgo and Huntington; plus a loan signing if and when required.
But we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Skivo's budget may not allow him to sign both Huntington and Virgo, time will tell. There are other trialists at the club in other positions. As far as can be told keepers Matt Glennon and Richard Martin are still with us and this week we were informed we have a 19-year-old striker on trial, Craig Calver from AFC Sudbury, a former Southend youth player. There are still more trialists around apparently, but the club have done a good job in keeping their identities secret, at least until tomorrow.
One signing we do know of is the return of midfield enforcer JP Kalala, subject to a medical. I know some people regard JP as a kind of anti-footballer, a poor man's Van Bommel if you will, but I'm not one of them. His passing and general distribution is better than he's given credit for and his ball-winning abilities and defensive know-how will be needed in a squad that so far seems to consist of mainly kids, flair players and Andy Welsh. In an ideal world we would all play like Barcelona, but in League One that just ain't going to happen and you need an enforcer like Kalala at times. I'm happy he's back, even if he is a pain in the arse.
One player we now won't be signing is Lee Trundle, who's taken his magic daps to The Gnoll in preference to Huish Park. The where? I hear you ask. The Gnoll is the home of Welsh Premier League side Neath, who offered the former Swansea favourite a 3-year £2500 a week deal to become the WPL's highest paid player. Trundle no doubt bit their chairman's arm off, as well as his other arm, legs and head, as well as finishing off the sandwiches in his packed lunch. I would have loved a fit and motivated Lee Trundle to have signed for us at one point, but that point was some years ago now. Skivo might (and presumably does) disagree, but I can't help feeling we've dodged a bullet on this one.
Stop press! News just coming in over the ether - Paul Huntington has signed a 2 year deal with the club and JP Kalala a 1 year deal. Good news!
Last week's behind closed doors games ended in a 3-3 draw at Wycombe and a 1-0 loss at Stevenage, not that anyone's counting. Anyhow, it's off to Huish Park tomorrow for the first friendly of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing our new signings play, in particular Andy Williams, Luke Freeman, Ed Upson and now Paul Huntington. It will also be nice to see Shaun MacDonald back at Huish Park, albeit playing for someone else.
Just read: Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony by John Scalzi. Super SF trilogy set in a hostile universe where mankind has reached the stars only to find hundreds of other intelligent species doing their level best to wipe each other out. But in the end the biggest threat to man comes from within... Think Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but with a sense of humour and added balls. Recommended.
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