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Post by Dan on Jul 26, 2023 12:59:36 GMT
Pre-season player recruitment and friendly matches are all we have to go by. It hasn't been an encouraging look from the outside. The Folkestone outing does offer a chink of light. Maybe it is working well enough from the inside out ? Whatever, a couple of wins and all the pre-season doubts will disappear as though they never happened. A couple of losses and - - -. No don't lets go there.
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Post by nws on Jul 26, 2023 13:09:32 GMT
Pre-season player recruitment and friendly matches are all we have to go by. It hasn't been an encouraging look from the outside. The Folkestone outing does offer a chink of light. Maybe it is working well enough from the inside out ? Whatever, a couple of wins and all the pre-season doubts will disappear as though they never happened. A couple of losses and - - -. No don't lets go there. Shush Dan, you'll persuade me into the PANIC camp🤣🤣
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Post by nws on Jul 26, 2023 13:11:32 GMT
Don't know his full name but his first name is Connor. Other people with greater knowledge of players might be able to come up with a surname but he certainly stood out for me. Wouldn't be disappointed if we signed him (or the trialist who played up front) Is this the midfielder, with the low socks and enough energy to run around all night? If so, he's really stood out to me. We've had him a fair while on 'trial' now - surely he's already signed?? I don't think I've ever heard of someone playing 5 games and the decision still not being made on his future. Any ideas who the striker was and if he was a new trialist? I thought he was lightweight and knocked off the ball too easily. As the space opened up he showed nice link play and good energy
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Post by pigbag on Jul 26, 2023 13:28:24 GMT
We did not play our best strike combo. I am waiting to see Levi and Sol play together. With Sol creating chances for Levi or Levi occupying the defences giving Sol space, I can see we have the players to score goals.
The worry is still with finding a top keeper. Harley and the trialist hardly had a shot to save all match so it was difficult to learn anything. The trialist did not look any bigger than Harley. Perhaps Saturday will tell us more.
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Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 26, 2023 13:32:15 GMT
Dead right Deadly. Let's hope the club does well. Nothing wrong with wanting the best for the Stones. National League or bust ! The National League be damned. Until you're rich through one of / a combination of a) a cash rich owner, b) someone from Hollywood making your club into a circus, c) getting 8,000+ in each week as an ex-league club or d) a team much higher up the pyramid renting your pitch for their youth / women's teams, you aren't doing anything in the National League other than likely getting relegated. It's no longer a league where some plucky side can get their act together and through unity alone go up. Pay up or shut up in the National now, and we'll be well off being competitive for a long while yet, even if the rumoured Manchett takeover happens. Give me mild competitiveness in the NS rather than complete mediocrity in the NL.
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Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 26, 2023 13:33:19 GMT
We did not play our best strike combo. I am waiting to see Levi and Sol play together. With Sol creating chances for Levi or Levi occupying the defences giving Sol space, I can see we have the players to score goals. The worry is still with finding a top keeper. Harley and the trialist hardly had a shot to save all match so it was difficult to learn anything. The trialist did not look any bigger than Harley. Perhaps Saturday will tell us more. Did we play 4-4-2 in the first half? The line-up suggested we did but I wasn't there. I wonder why the big keeper at Bromley wasn't signed up? Appeared to be the best of the bunch and looked about 9ft tall.
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Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 26, 2023 13:34:00 GMT
Is this the midfielder, with the low socks and enough energy to run around all night? If so, he's really stood out to me. We've had him a fair while on 'trial' now - surely he's already signed?? I don't think I've ever heard of someone playing 5 games and the decision still not being made on his future. Any ideas who the striker was and if he was a new trialist? I thought he was lightweight and knocked off the ball too easily. As the space opened up he showed nice link play and good energy He looks very talented on and off the ball. Hopefully if he signs he can pack on 4 stone of muscle under George's guidance!
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Post by Nick on Jul 26, 2023 14:02:22 GMT
Dead right Deadly. Let's hope the club does well. Nothing wrong with wanting the best for the Stones. National League or bust ! The National League be damned. Until you're rich through one of / a combination of a) a cash rich owner, b) someone from Hollywood making your club into a circus, c) getting 8,000+ in each week as an ex-league club or d) a team much higher up the pyramid renting your pitch for their youth / women's teams, you aren't doing anything in the National League other than likely getting relegated. It's no longer a league where some plucky side can get their act together and through unity alone go up. Pay up or shut up in the National now, and we'll be well off being competitive for a long while yet, even if the rumoured Manchett takeover happens. Give me mild competitiveness in the NS rather than complete mediocrity in the NL. From what I understand the Manchett deal is dead in the water and has a zero chance of being revived.
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Post by pinkpanther on Jul 26, 2023 14:09:27 GMT
Folkestone must be among the favourites for at least a playoff finish, so not a huge difference in level. Some people would rather belittle the opposition than give The Stones any credit. I've been tracking all the player movements for the Isthmian Premier Division on a spreadsheet and I'll be surprised if Folkestone are anywhere near the play-offs. They've regained centre forward Dave Smith, who went to Bromley last summer and failed to establish himself there, but have lost other good players without signing notable replacements. They finished below halfway last season and several other clubs (notably Billericay, Hornchurch and Cray Wanderers) look to be chucking a fair bit of money at a promotion challenge. For what it's worth, the only bookies odds I've seen (Bet 365) have Folkestone at 80-1 to be champions with only Haringey, Wingate & Finchley and Kingstonian at longer odds. Maybe it's a stronger division than it used to be, and not as far below National South in quality as it was a few years ago?
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Post by regentstone on Jul 26, 2023 14:54:04 GMT
We did not play our best strike combo. I am waiting to see Levi and Sol play together. With Sol creating chances for Levi or Levi occupying the defences giving Sol space, I can see we have the players to score goals. The worry is still with finding a top keeper. Harley and the trialist hardly had a shot to save all match so it was difficult to learn anything. The trialist did not look any bigger than Harley. Perhaps Saturday will tell us more. The trialist keeper who i believe may be from the U23's didn't get on as Harley played whole 90 mins
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Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 26, 2023 15:00:03 GMT
Folkestone must be among the favourites for at least a playoff finish, so not a huge difference in level. Some people would rather belittle the opposition than give The Stones any credit. I've been tracking all the player movements for the Isthmian Premier Division on a spreadsheet and I'll be surprised if Folkestone are anywhere near the play-offs. They've regained centre forward Dave Smith, who went to Bromley last summer and failed to establish himself there, but have lost other good players without signing notable replacements. They finished below halfway last season and several other clubs (notably Billericay, Hornchurch and Cray Wanderers) look to be chucking a fair bit of money at a promotion challenge. For what it's worth, the only bookies odds I've seen (Bet 365) have Folkestone at 80-1 to be champions with only Haringey, Wingate & Finchley and Kingstonian at longer odds. Maybe it's a stronger division than it used to be, and not as far below National South in quality as it was a few years ago? Any thoughts on DH making a return to the NS straight away? You seem to have made some decent signings!
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Post by Rob on Jul 26, 2023 15:05:44 GMT
Tbh i was a bit surprised to hear daveu rating Folkestone so much. They have gone backwards fron a couple of seasons ago. They will be lucky to achieve much hetter than mid table imo
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Post by daveu on Jul 26, 2023 15:09:56 GMT
Tbh i was a bit surprised to hear daveu rating Folkestone so much. They have gone backwards fron a couple of seasons ago. They will be lucky to achieve much hetter than mid table imo The point is still valid though that some people would rather talk down the opposition than give The Stones any credit. They’re still only a division below us so 3-0 is a respectable score. But that’s ok, if people still want to believe we are crap they’re perfectly free to do so.
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Post by Benny on Jul 26, 2023 15:38:35 GMT
If it was a trophy game we would be happy enough with a 3-0 win over a team at a lower level.
As for the National League, with Torquay and Yeovil being relegated, NLS is probably similar to what the Conference used to be like in the old days.
For now we’re at a suitable level until someone builds a couple of new stands.
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Post by nws on Jul 26, 2023 17:02:53 GMT
Tbh i was a bit surprised to hear daveu rating Folkestone so much. They have gone backwards fron a couple of seasons ago. They will be lucky to achieve much hetter than mid table imo I hope you ain't disrespecting the U'Ster!
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