Fitzhugh Fella Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 Does anyone know if any Reserve fixtures have been arranged. I only ask because I noticed Garrod was on the bench last Saturday and wondered if he had played in any games this season. Losing our place in the Premier Reserve League was a big blow, it is vital to have a competitive League for the players not able to get into the first team but who are on the fringe. These days with such big squads a lot of players are left high and dry on a Saturday. Just trying to take my mind off who is going to be our next messiah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrant Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 It's not a reserves side in the traditional sense anymore, it's a bona-fide "under-21s" team. IIRC, the idea was to arrange friendlies with other similar sides, but wouldn't expect them to be announced too far in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior Mullet Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 It's not a reserves side in the traditional sense anymore, it's a bona-fide "under-21s" team. IIRC, the idea was to arrange friendlies with other similar sides, but wouldn't expect them to be announced too far in advance. Yup, matches against some of the best young teams Europe has to offer it was hoped. Been awfully quiet so far though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRM Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 I wonder if these will even be reported on? There used to be quite a few who would go along to staplewood to watch the home games, it would be a shame that stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 (edited) Does anyone know if any Reserve fixtures have been arranged. I only ask because I noticed Garrod was on the bench last Saturday and wondered if he had played in any games this season. Losing our place in the Premier Reserve League was a big blow, it is vital to have a competitive League for the players not able to get into the first team but who are on the fringe. These days with such big squads a lot of players are left high and dry on a Saturday. Just trying to take my mind off who is going to be our next messiah! Don't know of any fixtures, but losing place in the Premier Reserve League is no big deal. There are at least 5 clubs (Spurs, Fulham, Birmingham, Blackpool and Stoke) who are not taking part this year because of the poor quality, and have gone the same way as us. Even Arsenal threatened to withdraw but were persuaded to stay in this season. Reserve team football is currently a total joke in this country, as it is just not competitive. It needs a radical shake-up, which I believe is on the cards. Also, I don't think many of our players are left high and dry on a Saturday, with the introduction of 7 Subs (really bad idea in my opinion), we are currently struggling to even name a full squad for a first team game (due to injuries and suspension). Most of our other players would be involved in the Academy, there can only be a couple of others who are not involved, Pulis comes to mind if he is still employed. My suspicion is that we will not see many fixtures announced for the development squad, but that does not mean that games will not take place during the season. Expect some behind closed doors games against the likes of Spurs and Fulham will take place as well as some games in Europe. Incidentally, just reading about Arsenal Reserves, they will be playing most reserve fixtures this season behind closed dorrs because spectators are not allowed in their home ground which this season is their training centre (Colney), but will play some fixtures at Barnet when the weather is favourable!! Just shows that playing reserve team football does not have any real competitive edge, and certainly does not prepare players for Premier league football other than giving them a run out to gain fitness. Edited 7 September, 2010 by VectisSaint Added the bit about Arsenal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 7 September, 2010 Author Share Posted 7 September, 2010 Don't know of any fixtures, but losing place in the Premier Reserve League is no big deal. There are at least 5 clubs (Spurs, Fulham, Birmingham, Blackpool and Stoke) who are not taking part this year because of the poor quality, and have gone the same way as us. Even Arsenal threatened to withdraw but were persuaded to stay in this season. Reserve team football is currently a total joke in this country, as it is just not competitive. It needs a radical shake-up, which I believe is on the cards. Also, I don't think many of our players are left high and dry on a Saturday, with the introduction of 7 Subs (really bad idea in my opinion), we are currently struggling to even name a full squad for a first team game (due to injuries and suspension). Most of our other players would be involved in the Academy, there can only be a couple of others who are not involved, Pulis comes to mind if he is still employed. My suspicion is that we will not see many fixtures announced for the development squad, but that does not mean that games will not take place during the season. Expect some behind closed doors games against the likes of Spurs and Fulham will take place as well as some games in Europe. Incidentally, just reading about Arsenal Reserves, they will be playing most reserve fixtures this season behind closed dorrs because spectators are not allowed in their home ground which this season is their training centre (Colney), but will play some fixtures at Barnet when the weather is favourable!! Just shows that playing reserve team football does not have any real competitive edge, and certainly does not prepare players for Premier league football other than giving them a run out to gain fitness. Thanks Vectis and others - gratifying to know that we are not the only team who does not have a coherent Reserves vision. I would pop along to the odd competitive Reserve fixture in days gone by and it is a shame that option is no longer with us. Perhaps the dream team of KK and Eddie Howe will change things around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy40 Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 It's quite sad that this has occured (not just to our club), as for quite a few of us a reserve game was the cheap and easy way to introduce our kids to football and Saints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ribbo Posted 7 September, 2010 Share Posted 7 September, 2010 Perhaps the dream team of KK and Eddie Howe will change things around. I predict more threads on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garryuk Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 A reserve team have a game against Watford today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 Losing our place in the Premier League reserves league isn't a big deal because it happened about 5 years ago. Though you could argue that Bale was the last player we produced of any note and he played his reserve matches in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 It's quite sad that this has occured (not just to our club), as for quite a few of us a reserve game was the cheap and easy way to introduce our kids to football and Saints You can still go and watch them. Contact the club to ask when the next home reserve game is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 Thanks Vectis and others - gratifying to know that we are not the only team who does not have a coherent Reserves vision. I would pop along to the odd competitive Reserve fixture in days gone by and it is a shame that option is no longer with us. Perhaps the dream team of KK and Eddie Howe will change things around. I think that is a bit unfair. I believe we do have a coherent 'development' vision for the future not an outdated view of 'reserves' as in the past. As other have said, and as the club said when they pulled out of the reserve league, the current system is just totally inadequate and the club is forced to look at other ways to develop younger players. Sadly, this just looks like another veiled NC snipe to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_saint Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 Saints played Watford today and won 3-0 The Saints contained a similarly youthful side with a handful of players with significant first-team experience. Doesn't give any details of the Saints team though http://www.watfordfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10400~2147912,00.html? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 They have played a few ''behind closed doors'' friendly's. tbh, as we're not in a league as such i doubt you'll hear too much of the results. So it'll seem like we never play... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 8 September, 2010 Share Posted 8 September, 2010 Saints played Watford today and won 3-0 Doesn't give any details of the Saints team though http://www.watfordfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10400~2147912,00.html? Interesting that Watford also have a ''development squad'' setup... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now