Match Thread vs. Solihull Moors 14.08.21 [PSF]

[countygump]

Yes of course we played Basford United, Championship side Derby, Premier League side Leicester and Away at League One Luton! Not exactly the best preparation for a L2 campaign, chasing far superior footballers shadows around and conceding 4 goals apiece in front of your home supporters.

I wonder if those star studded teams were selected by then Chairman/Owner Alan Hardy. Would she got in some nice pre season gate receipts for sure but not good in terms of the footballing side of things.

Thankfully I didn't go to any of those games.

Hang on, why would it matter in terms of ''the footballing side of things'' if pre-season games have no bearing, no influence or are no indication of the season that follows? In a way I agree with you, pre-season results are no indication of what will happen during the season that follows. But I believe that performances can be an indicator.

[TSANHO]

Positives from today...

Roberts getting fitness and played well.

Rodders coming on and playing well

Eli Sam having his most effective game in a Notts shirt when he came on.

O’Brien coming on and (again) showing why he is so important to this team.

Great spirit from the team to get some kind of result and performance in the second half.

Fitness looks good

No injuries

We didn’t concede after going to 10 men, and looked pretty comfortable...did we go to 4 at the back?

Plenty of areas identified to improve upon for next week.

A good days work 👍

[cher1]

As I'm sure you know we've had pre seasons where we have impressed and beaten sides from higher divisions to then only go onto have very disappointing seasons. The correlation between the two is weak at best.

Who did we play in the pre season games in 2018?

Basford, Derby, Leicester and Luton. Lost 3 of the 4. Not sure why you couldn't look that up yourself?

[laddo]

When you are chasing shadows and being totally outplayed by a premiership side it's hard to know what performance the team actually put in other than running around lots and conceding 4 goals.

It probably told Nolan very little , same way winning by 4 or 5 against an inferior team 2/3 steps further down the footballing pyramid.

During all my years as a fan I've noted a weak correlation between the two, some pre seasons poor, and have a decent season, others we are impressive in non competitive fixtures but then end up in a relegation battle. I'm also sure there are examples of the other two combination where we are either good in both or more likely bad.

Because of the above I, like many, I don't put too much emphasis on the results/performances. I certainly wouldn't be getting too worked up or excited over a pre season. Each to their own obviously others clearly view PSFs very differently.

[nw6pie]

Yes of course we played Basford United, Championship side Derby, Premier League side Leicester and Away at League One Luton! Not exactly the best preparation for a L2 campaign, chasing far superior footballers shadows around and conceding 4 goals apiece in front of your home supporters.

I wonder if those star studded teams were selected by then Chairman/Owner Alan Hardy. Would she got in some nice pre season gate receipts for sure but not good in terms of the footballing side of things.

Thankfully I didn't go to any of those games.

On to more pressing matters. I wonder if this might be the second season in a row where we discard the formation we’ve worked on in pre-season and go for something else when the real action starts. Go for 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, otherwise the only way we get Cal and Ruben on the pitch together is with Ruben playing as the second striker. And if Cal is one of the three in midfield, the two other midfielders are going to have to do a hell of a lot of defensive work - and I’m not sure we’ve got a dominant ball-winning midfielder a la Neal Bishop.

We definitely need some blood and guts in that midfield, otherwise we’re going to be a soft touch against the Bromleys of this world again, which is rather a depressing thought.

Finally, if we want to improve this season, we really need to start the season well and not be playing catch-up by th3 end of September.

[nottsun]

Midfield is the issue. All similar light weight players that look good on the ball but don't affect the game

I was there today. Carlton. You are bang on. Mid field was boys against men. Difficult to judge our attacking threat, or defensive soundness, when the mid field produced nothing in either task. O'brien at least brought a bit of endevour.

[countygump]

[LaxtonLad]

When you are chasing shadows and being totally outplayed by a premiership side it's hard to know what performance the team actually put in other than running around lots and conceding 4 goals.

It probably told Nolan very little , same way winning by 4 or 5 against an inferior team 2/3 steps further down the footballing pyramid.

During all my years as a fan I've noted a weak correlation between the two, some pre seasons poor, and have a decent season, others we are impressive in non competitive fixtures but then end up in a relegation battle. I'm also sure there are examples of the other two combination where we are either good in both or more likely bad.

Because of the above I, like many, I don't put too much emphasis on the results/performances. I certainly wouldn't be getting too worked up or excited over a pre season. Each to their own obviously others clearly view PSFs very differently.

It's ridiculous playing pre-season games against teams two three leagues above or below you. You either learn nothing from getting hammered (Swansea?) or learn nothing from hammering another team (Carlton Town?) Ideally you ought to be playing clubs one league above or one below, playing teams in your own league gives them chance to assess your players and style so that's a no-no too.

[laddo]

Basford, Derby, Leicester and Luton. Lost 3 of the 4. Not sure why you couldn't look that up yourself?

Yeah as you will see above I found the information 14 mins earlier than your post thanks to the wonderful Wikipedia.

Originally I didn't know where to look for pre season friendly results.

In hindsight not the best choice of opponents other than Luton.

Cheers

[queenslandpie]

Coming back from 2-0 down and only playing against 10 men. Good to see that Ardley sides lack the bite and ability to finish the job they are well known for at this level.