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Pre Season Match/Tour Thread


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Best thing about that for me was the M74. It reminded me why non competitive matches are woeful. Dumbarton is now pied on Saturday.

 

Can't believe they cashed in and charged £10, I only had a fiver in my pocket so had to go and find an ATM. Bunch of 2nd division arses.

 

Jamie took his goal well, but you can't tell anything about anyone from that, Law looks nippy, just didn't present enough for me. Lasley was looking extra dreamy now he has topped up the tan.

 

NB I hope Randolph isn't being rested because a new club have stipulated it.

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Tuppence worth:

 

Hollis coped well in goal, made a few impressive stops and had absolutely 0% chance for the goal, with completely static defending and a subsequent tidy finish.

 

Saunders and Hutchinson both put a decent shift in and looked comfortable.

 

Hammell and Hateley being the two that looked like they had just came back from their holidays and lack match practice clearly showed with these two.

 

Law had a few nice touches and sprayed a few tidy balls across to Humphrey - clearly likes the ball on the deck which is good to know. Looks fairly nippy - on a couple of occasions did shite out of it (like the Rotherham fans stated prior to his signing) - albeit benefit of the doubt that its only a pre-season match - but signs are there of this.

 

Murphy showed that he was easily the best player on the park, a few incisive runs and a fantastic curled effort for the goal. Strolled through the game.

 

Higdon - hard to tell - 0 service to the big guy (bar the corner of which he was unlucky to hit the post) put himself about, otherwise not much to report about.

 

Of the familiar subs who are likely to feature:

 

Forbes - sprayed the ball about, rarely mis-placed a pass, albeit Morton did give him an entire acre to orchestrate things from the middle of the park.

 

Pollock - looked the best player on the park in the 2nd half, ran at them and caused them problems, nice little dink to set up the winner as well. Impressive showing and hopefully more appearances this season, just not getting carried away after a friendly vs a tiring 1st Division side.

 

Honourable mention to Muir in goal, who made a few decent saves come the 2nd half as well and stood up well.

 

Not the worst friendly I have seen, and good to come out with a win, regardless.

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Perhaps contrary to Ladywell I quite enjoyed my evening.

 

Always going to be about the preparation for the league starting so to get a first look at the new guys, see some of the promising youngsters for the first team, see a few goals and top it off with a late winner adds up to a decent evening's entertainment for me.

 

First impression's of Law were pretty good. Started on the left but increasingly began to roam as the half wore on and looked lively across the park. I think in time Murphy/Law/Hammell interchanging down the left is going to a major creative force for us.

 

Second half it was Steven Lawless who caught my eye and he gave both of Morton's full-backs a hard time. Looked very tricky.

 

Assume as has been pointed already that Randy has had extra time given he was away until mid-June on international duty. Not sure why Jenno was absent though.

 

But aye, enjoyable wee game.

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Enjoyed the game tonight, for me it was one of the better pre-season friendlies I've been to. Yes there was rustiness as you would expect, but for our first game it wasn't too bad. I was particularly pleased with many of the youngsters who came on at half time. Winning the game was a real bonus as i thought we'd struggle with so many u-19s on the pitch. However guys like Halsman, Lawless, Smith and Carswell were very good indeed, and hopefully we'll see more of them at Dumbarton on Saturday.

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Have to agree with the above. One player that caught my eye tonight was Steven Lawless. He was causing bother up both wings and his year at Albion seems to have toughened him up at bit. Seen him a couple times last season and he got kicked to bits, but was quick up the wings and tricky when he cut in, much like tonight.

 

Hopefully the start of good things from young Lawless.

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I thought Lawless was being pushed about far too easily on the left, but coped better when switched flank. The only thing I would moan about tonight is the lack of communication for their second goal, Hollis shouted "Man On" as the ball was hitting the back of the net.

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Was nice to be back at the fitba.

 

Given it was the first game back there was always going to be an element of rustiness but most came through quite well and despitie it just being a run out it was pleasing to get the winner at the end too.

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1st half was a typical pre-season friendly, a wee bit rusty with some of them looking as if they were still on holiday, but a worth while run out.

The 2nd half was a better game in my eyes with some of the younger guys showing that they can be relied on when needed. Lawless was the main danger, looks as if his loan deal worked for him and hopefully Motherwell, Pollock had a reasonable game with some lovely touches and took his goal well and Carswell also got stuck in about them and was solid. So all in all a good night and also it was GREAT to be back supporting our team, canny wait for the season to start, only 3 more friendlies to go.

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Murphy strolled through and a great goal.

 

I thought Pollock and Lawless looked good tonight and we did play better in the second half with the youngsters on.

 

Plus:

 

Murphy - looked sharp

 

Law - nice touches and he can play a bit

 

Lawless - a handful for the full-backs

 

Pollock - nice play through the centre

 

Saunders - great defensive play and good overlaps with Humphrey

 

Minus:

 

Humphrey - a bit wasteful

 

Higdon - got no service, at all!

 

Hateley - he just can't play in centre midfield, gave the ball away and got disposessed too often

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first half wasn nothing

 

2nd half

 

page - aggresive, won a lot, bit dirty, good.

 

halsman - good touches. can't play spl left back.

 

carswell - showed his quality a couple of times especially at our 2nd goal. struggled playing wide and at right back.

 

pollock - good finish and alert will benefit from playing with better players

 

lawless - poor. couldnt get on the ball at all in the 1st 15 mins of the 2nd half. too wee

 

boab - looked sharp. good touch, movement, pace

 

smith - hard working, static

 

mckinnon - nae right foot

 

howarth - impressive. very good on the ball

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Playing devil's advocate here ! This is in relation to an U/19 squad somewhere in the SPL.

 

Take a look at the following scenario and see if it fits with the 'Pre Season training is the most important part of the season' mantra.

 

Season finishes approx mid May, coaching staff and players have up to 6 weeks to take a holiday.

 

Players to report back 28th June for pre season.

 

Players signed from U/17 squad have to report on 27th June.

 

Players signed from England told to report on 4th July.

 

One player allowed to take holiday up to the 4th July.

 

U/19s coach on holiday until 11th July.

 

Training left to Chief Scout.

 

This is by no means all that is going on, but is an indication of the state of readiness of an U/19 squad. Given the importance placed on this time of the season, is this a good model for clubs to follow or an indication of an ongoing shambles?

Edited by Noah Dosser
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What date would you like the foreign signings (English etc.) to join pre-season training when they can't sign on officially till the 1st July - added with the 2nd and 3rd being a weekend this year? There are teams right now that will have half their players missing when pre-season starts, there will be teams out there that will be lucky to have a half a dozen players when it comes time to start pre-season training.

 

It is common practice around the world for players to come back at certain times, and it isn't all at the same time.

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After reading the original post a few times, i think the op is unhappy that the under 19`s don`t start pre-season until after the 1st team start, but WHY should they :-

1. The ones that are asked to start later than the 1st team have no chance of making the 1st team that year. The manager will already know who is ready for the step-up.

2. Their league doesn`t start until about 3-4weeks after the 1st team.

3. The under 19`s are not the main back-up for the 1st team. Every SPL team has guys too old to play for the 19`s and are maybe needing a 6month - 1yr loan deal to get them prepared for the SPL, or like our club have 7-8 guys who are 20-21 and have had the experience of loans and are now more ready to play their part in the 1st team.

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