Forest Green Rovers v Bristol City - Friendly Matchday Thread

[ExiledAjax]

4 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Szmodics was very industrious throughout and his goal was really impressive, running onto a long headed clearance from Webster, holding off the defender and coolly slotting it under the keeper. 

I know I'm not the first to say this to you...but you're getting me excited.

[Monkeh]

7 hours ago, bengalcub said:

O'dowda bottled every 50/50 tonight and hardly got of the floor to compete for a header, defo scared he might jeopardise his move if he picks up a knock......

You can’t of seen him play much, he’s done that ever since he’s been here

[Guest]

Comments about getting balls into box from wide too often. When teams defend in numbers, it is very hard to create chances through the middle.

[Major Isewater]

8 hours ago, dave36 said:

Time will tell, he was touted as the future until his illness was discovered

 

I think it was felt that although SM is an excellent finisher there wasn’t enough to his all round game to see him make his mark at our level.

As an aside I remember Asa Hartford, à top midfielder at the time , being diagnosed with a coronary problem.

 On his proposed move from West Brom to Man City a reporter described him as a 

«  whole hearted player «  . 

I know I shouldn’t have laughed but ...

[Major Isewater]

Talking of Jet lag ;

I came home from Montreal on Sunday night and have just got my sleep pattern back so , although I’m not a pampered athlete traveling in first class , it could be a reason from any sluggishness.

 

[frenchred]

Only a pre season friendly so no great worries but I still fail to see how we are any stronger than last season ?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I think it was felt that although SM is an excellent finisher there wasn’t enough to his all round game to see him make his mark at our level.

As an aside I remember Asa Hartford, à top midfielder at the time , being diagnosed with a coronary problem.

 On his proposed move from West Brom to Man City a reporter described him as a 

«  whole hearted player «  . 

I know I shouldn’t have laughed but ...

McCoulsky does look like a goal machine, an absolute natural in the box, quick and scores a lot of headers too. Problem with him is he did not seem to ever develop any other parts of this game.

He is 22, and would be behind Semenyo and Janneh who are both 19. We also have others coming through too. At some point we have to make a decision, and I expect McCoulsky wanted to move on anyway as there was no way he would get any opportunities for us anytime soon.

If he succeeds and one day gets sold for a million or 2 then we make a nice profit. It would be surprising if he ever made it to top level championship, lower prem quality, which is what we want from any young player we bring through.

[Robbored]

21 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Only a pre season friendly so no great worries but I still fail to see how we are any stronger than last season ?

None of us have seen City play a fixture that really matters - the Championship so to comment that we’re not any stronger than season is premature to say the least.

[swanker]

8 hours ago, INB Red said:

Was scared to take anyone on until the last 20 or so. Maybe he heard the stick he was getting for repeatedly turning and passing backwards

He plays like that most game! Most overrated player at Ashton Gate. 

[Rudolf Hucker]

Something which did make me laugh last night from my seat in the ‘home’ stand, behind the dugouts. Ten minutes into the first half, a family of FGR supporters arrived late and to get to their seats, walked along the touch line and through both technical areas. LJ was standing at the front of his when he sensed movement behind him and turned to see these people walk past. The look on his face was a picture! He smiled and shrugged but it was an incident that could only occur on a compact rural ground. Could never imagine it happening at Anfield!

[Johnny Musicworks]

A few random observations from last night.

Playing without a target man made it very easy for the opposition. It seemed a strange decision.

Janneh is our Eddie. Looked very useful, needs games and might stay with us if we fail to get our targets.

We need a back up left back.

Sammie is very keen but will blow hot and cold as he adjusts to this level.

Eliasson was our standout player (as noted by the Scousers sat behind me)

Without Pack our defence is more vulnerable.

Our midfield had plenty of the ball but lacked creativity. 

Walsh ! The jury is still out. 

Was the singing section still on holiday ?

[Bar BS3]

2 hours ago, frenchred said:

Only a pre season friendly so no great worries but I still fail to see how we are any stronger than last season ?

But last season, we were relying heavily on loan players. 

We certainly a great deal stronger than we were at the end of last season, after loan players returned to their clubs! 

I think we’ve upgraded our GK options. We’ve signed 2 top quality championship defenders. Lost one. Kept Webster, so far..!

Added options in Sammie & Rowe, plus the likes of Semenyo have that little bit more experience than last season. 

Of course we’d still like 1 or 2 more players, as long as we can get the right ones. 

So far, it’s been a very good summer. IF we keep those we want too and add the right couple of new faces, then it will have been superb. 

[OldlandReddies]

Think Palace starters will be as you were v FG but swap JD for COD, Paterson for Sammie, Pack for Walsh and Fam for Rowe.

[BRISTOL86]

Couldn’t understand why we started off playing like we had a 6ft5 striker on the pitch. Made it far too easy for a L2 side to deal with us!

Brownhill the stand out for me for the right reasons and O’Dowda for the wrong ones.

Thought Hunt was good bringing the ball out and Szmodics looks a real talent. If

Eliasson could use his other foot he could go a long way in the game. 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Johnny Musicworks said:

A few random observations from last night.

Playing without a target man made it very easy for the opposition. It seemed a strange decision.

Janneh is our Eddie. Looked very useful, needs games and might stay with us if we fail to get our targets.

We need a back up left back.

Sammie is very keen but will blow hot and cold as he adjusts to this level.

Eliasson was our standout player (as noted by the Scousers sat behind me)

Without Pack our defence is more vulnerable.

Our midfield had plenty of the ball but lacked creativity. 

Walsh ! The jury is still out. 

Was the singing section still on holiday ?

Lots of stuff read last night on here and Twitter about how fluid our players were in terms of positions.

Szmodics said he was too fluid in his post-match interview.

So perhaps our patterns of play disrupted by players being in the wrong places.  Sometimes can get ill-disciplined against lesser (on paper) teams....and perhaps good to 1) see it in pre-season 2) put it right in final 20 and 3) take learnings into Palace and beyond.  One for LJ to cross-reference throughout the season if we slip into the trap again.

Beyond fitness, it’s what pre-season is about.

[JackofromSanJavier]

2 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Something which did make me laugh last night from my seat in the ‘home’ stand, behind the dugouts. Ten minutes into the first half, a family of FGR supporters arrived late and to get to their seats, walked along the touch line and through both technical areas. LJ was standing at the front of his when he sensed movement behind him and turned to see these people walk past. The look on his face was a picture! He smiled and shrugged but it was an incident that could only occur on a compact rural ground. Could never imagine it happening at Anfield!

You are Dale Vince and I claim my five pounds.

[Unan]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Talking of Jet lag ;

I came home from Montreal on Sunday night and have just got my sleep pattern back so , although I’m not a pampered athlete traveling in first class , it could be a reason from any sluggishness.

 

They say roughly every hour time difference is how many days it takes to acclimatise 

[winsaw]

Walsh looked like he had not progressed as much as I had hoped, think if he plays this season it's going to have to be in a 3 with Pack and Brownhill doing the hard work letting him just play the ball and create, sadly still looks like he will be bullied out of things far to easily, 

[Rudolf Hucker]

27 minutes ago, JackofromSanJavier said:

You are Dale Vince and I claim my five pounds.

I’ve got a bacon sandwich in my hand which says I’m not!

[Johnny Musicworks]

27 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Lots of stuff read last night on here and Twitter about how fluid our players were in terms of positions.

Szmodics said he was too fluid in his post-match interview.

So perhaps our patterns of play disrupted by players being in the wrong places.  Sometimes can get ill-disciplined against lesser (on paper) teams....and perhaps good to 1) see it in pre-season 2) put it right in final 20 and 3) take learnings into Palace and beyond.  One for LJ to cross-reference throughout the season if we slip into the trap again.

Beyond fitness, it’s what pre-season is about.

Yes especially first half it was hard to work out who was playing where with the wingers in particular constantly switching and going central. It looked as if they’d been told to go out and do their own thing but perhaps the fluidity is part of a bigger plan for the season. We do have some adaptable players for sure and without a target man possibly the idea was to make them think about alternatives. Is this the new plan B ?

 

[OldlandReddies]

10 minutes ago, winsaw said:

Walsh looked like he had not progressed as much as I had hoped, think if he plays this season it's going to have to be in a 3 with Pack and Brownhill doing the hard work letting him just play the ball and create, sadly still looks like he will be bullied out of things far to easily, 

Sadly he's simply not good enough at this level. Drop down to L1 would be perfect for him.

[Wrongagain]

13 hours ago, Kingswoodactor said:

FFS so what?? He scored a couple against us in a meaningless friendly. Decent little player but it’s hardly bloody ‘shameful’ when he’s not exactly scoring 20 + a season in League 2. Trust our club 100% when it comes to making the right decisions on our youngsters. 

Ok only a friendly, how often did any member of last seasons first team score twice in a game?

i could be wrong but I’m fairly sure he would still be a robin if he had not developed a heart problem.

[JBFC II]

23 minutes ago, dave36 said:

Ok only a friendly, how often did any member of last seasons first team score twice in a game?

i could be wrong but I’m fairly sure he would still be a robin if he had not developed a heart problem.

Got to disagree.

Hes a good poacher and knows where the net is but his all round game isn’t on the same level as semenyo and janneh. Add to that the fact he is 22 and probably not going to develop a huge amount, letting him go was the right decision football wise and I’d imagine his heart problem had little if anything to do with it

[Monkeh]

26 minutes ago, dave36 said:

Ok only a friendly, how often did any member of last seasons first team score twice in a game?

i could be wrong but I’m fairly sure he would still be a robin if he had not developed a heart problem.

He wouldn’t as he isn’t championship standard,

out of interest how many goals and starts did he get last season? And to answer that for you,

he scored 4 in 22 at league one level with southend 

[ChippenhamRed]

4 hours ago, Robbored said:

None of us have seen City play a fixture that really matters - the Championship so to comment that we’re not any stronger than season is premature to say the least.

I would suggest @frenchred is (pretty obviously) talking primarily in terms of personnel, and he has a point.  Szmodics is the only addition that looks likely to be in the starting 11 who wasn't here last year.  Kalas and Dasilva are very obviously great signings, but they don't improve us compared to last season, they keep us the same.  Is Szmodics alone enough to turn a team that finished 8th into one that finishes in the play offs?  He's clearly promising, but that's very doubtful.  For me we are still a striker and a central midfielder away from substantial improvement on last year.

[Davefevs]

18/19 Season:

League One: 0 starts / 15 subs

League Two: 3 / 10

Cups inc POs: 5 / 1

So 8 starts in total.

[cidered abroad]

16 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I would suggest @frenchred is (pretty obviously) talking primarily in terms of personnel, and he has a point.  Szmodics is the only addition that looks likely to be in the starting 11 who wasn't here last year.  Kalas and Dasilva are very obviously great signings, but they don't improve us compared to last season, they keep us the same.  Is Szmodics alone enough to turn a team that finished 8th into one that finishes in the play offs?  He's clearly promising, but that's very doubtful.  For me we are still a striker and a central midfielder away from substantial improvement on last year.

Bentley? I believe this is a smart bit of recruitment and completes the defensive part of "The Spine".

Now a quality midfield general and a second goal scoring striker alongside Diedhiou will be needed to complete "The Spine"

[Robin1988]

1 hour ago, dave36 said:

Ok only a friendly, how often did any member of last seasons first team score twice in a game?

i could be wrong but I’m fairly sure he would still be a robin if he had not developed a heart problem.

Help me out, Dave, I’ve had a memory lapse. How many times did McCoulsky score when he was on loan to a League 1 club last season?

[Nogbad the Bad]

1 hour ago, OldlandReddies said:

Sadly he's simply not good enough at this level. Drop down to L1 would be perfect for him.

We saw against Stoke that Walsh is far too good for L1.

Whether he's good enough consistently to be a regular in the Championship is an unknown, but an extended run in a position and system that suits his creative game would be interesting because the innate talent is definitely there.

I think he'll make his mark over the next couple of years at this level, be it with us or someone else, and should he drop down to L1 we'd better have a good sell on because he'd be outstanding imo. and wouldn't be there for long.

 

[Monkeh]

40 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

We saw against Stoke that Walsh is far too good for L1.

Whether he's good enough consistently to be a regular in the Championship is an unknown, but an extended run in a position and system that suits his creative game would be interesting because the innate talent is definitely there.

I think he'll make his mark over the next couple of years at this level, be it with us or someone else, and should he drop down to L1 we'd better have a good sell on because he'd be outstanding imo. and wouldn't be there for long.

 

I like walsh and I think given a run he will be good, his injury record however is suspect