Lets be honest now apart from giving some players a run out before the season starts does the result really matter.Apart from 2 maybe 3 of those who played last night it was no where near the starting 11 come saturday.3 of the players have been at Oakwell less than a week we had a good selection of our young lads on the pitch and on the bench.And as for RNL playing left wing back I can't see a problem,there maybe games we'll play 3-5 2 and its a good chance for the player and management to see if he can slip into that role. For those who think pre season results are the be all and end all I see Huddersfield won there first pre season game after losing at Guiseley,Emley and Crewe.
Taken in isolation I don't think pre-season results are important at all. Set in the context of a thread bare squad that doesn't appear to have enough strength or experience to survive in the Championship then alarm bells are ringing. We won't have to wait long to see anyway because if we're as poor as I'm concerned that we are then we'll be in the bottom three after the first ten games.
After watching 3 friendlies the the alarm bells should be smashing into Hills ears Friendly games or not its groundhog day all over again, Hill has known since December we are absolute terrible at the back and have zero threat or creativity in the final third. With only several days before we kick a ball in anger he still hasn't got any experienced defenders in, (maybe Sonko at last ?) and instead we are overloaded in the midfield department. Mido getting injured is a huge blow but it was obvious the bloke was 6-8 weeks behind the first team and would have been fit enough to start until September at the earliest anyway. So that leaves Craig Davies on his lonesome and the service and support that bloke gets is a joke. The goalkeeper does not look good enough at all and the defence needs strengthening. I cannot believe he didn't make signing 2 experienced defenders with championship experience his number 1 priority, instead he fannies about with trial players and freebies in the positions that we are covered already. The very first money he should have spent should have been on 2 big hairy arsed defenders with championship experience, instead it looks like he will go with the likes of Wiseman and Goldbourne, they were w*nk last season and guess what they will be w*nk again. Our defence is good for at least a give away goal every week. Doncaster away, Sonko did not ever get a single minute on the pitch, he sat on the bench playing hangman ????? why ???? that was a perfect opportunity to give the bloke 90 minutes and see if he was ok for us. 2 experienced defenders and another experienced centre forward is an absolute must before the season starts or Hill will be on his bike after 8 games becuase that team is a long way from being championship standard as it stands and the good will Hill has had from the fans even after watching some of that dross second half of last season won't last. I really fear for us unless we strengthen at the back, and with Luke Steele being injured for the first few weeks that is another huge worry. Groundhog day all over again, and Hill needs to sort it now, instead of shopping for trial and released players who nobody else wants.
Re: After watching 3 friendlies the the alarm bells should be smashing into Hills ear I don't see Mido's injury as a blow, he wouldn't have pulled a shirt on until Xmas anyway, another striker should have been brought in as well as him.
Re: After watching 3 friendlies the the alarm bells should be smashing into Hills ear It's a blow as he has that on top of being overweight and acclimatising- it's going to prolong any impact
I agree Gordon - but don't worry Hill says Dagnall been sh*t hot in training !!! Hope Hill prooves us all wrong - centre forward and 2 defenders needed asap, looking forward to going to Rochdale and we'll see how really good they are !!
Re: I agree Gordon - but don't worry Hill says Dagnall been sh*t hot in training !!! That won't give us a clue, Boro will be the test for us.
Re: After watching 3 friendlies the the alarm bells should be smashing into Hills ear Lets be fair about last night's game that's not far off reserve team squad except maybe Dawson hassell and cwkwa
Re: I agree Gordon - but don't worry Hill says Dagnall been sh*t hot in training !!! Even if we were to sign Sonko and 10 other defenders, Hill has quite clearly nailed his colours to the mast in terms of making McNulty captain so he is a certain starter. Everyone on here knows that Wiseman has some pictures of Hill in a compromising position or something along those lines as why else would he be selected for every game regardless of performance so he is a certain starter. That leaves 2 other defensive berths.
Re: I agree Gordon - but don't worry Hill says Dagnall been sh*t hot in training !!! Hassell was last years captain, that's that theory down the pan.
HT is right, Hassell was club captain not 1st team captain. Not entirely sure I know what the difference is but it's right.
Yes, Pep does not appear to think there is a problem with the defence when it is clearly gash both collectively and individually.
Lost out on Greer and looking at offering Sonko a "short term deal". Still not doing much about the full backs though, and while not a defender as such we could still do with a midfielder who can tackle.
So he is looking to sign a centre half then? Is that one of your facts Rates Stones by the sounds of it. And I'd expect Golbourne to be better this year. If Wiseman isn't any better either then that's something he's got to handle.
PS - I reckon we do need another central midfielder to push Perkins/Digby. The D man is the first name on the team sheet.