Just kicking off. Alnwick; Osborne, Fox, Feely, Lennon; Jordan (c), Poyet, Munns, Harriott; Pigott, Sho-Silva Subs: Phillips, Barnes, Holmes-Dennis, Hippolyte, Gerard Alnwick is the only over-age player. Who is Hippolyte ?
The daughter of Ares, God of War. She wore a magical girdle that signified her authority as Queen of the Amazons.
Just got back from Sparrows Lane only to find the game was at the Valley. Just to add insult there were no trains back, so I've just cycled back to Forest Hill.
Ye gods - way to go, FHB - that's dedication! Fine win for the U18s today as well, in somewhat less than ideal conditions.
Myles Hippolyte is a left sided striker who used to be on Brentford's books. How we didn't win the game today I don't know. Ankergren had a great game in goal for Brighton. We hit the bar twice through Munns and Pigott. A good all round display from the lads.
Thanks Dick. How old is he? English? Nearly November and we haven't won an u21 league match yet. And with hardly having lost anyone this team should be a lot stronger (physically and in experience) than last year. Odd that our failing is in not scoring goals. With Euell in charge you would think that would be one thing he could help them with. Especially today with Pigott, Sho-Silva, Harriott and Munns starting. I though we would score five and maybe let in three. Actually, I am not too worried about not winning. The point of this team is not to win trophies. It is not even to play well as a team. But to produce individuals. It wouldn't matter if the team came bottom every year if it produced three players for the first team squad each season. While true, the problem with that theory is how do you measure progress? The best way is against other teams (otherwise it is all subjective), which is why Nathan Jones placed value on winning to boost his own CV. He was a great self-promoter. Even if we were winning every match I have no confidence in Euell staying in the job if we have a change of manager or of owner. I think he was a cheap in-house stopgap, and needs to learn coaching from the bottom up. In five years he might be as good as Jones.
Yes he is English and he looks about twenty. We had so many chances yesterday,it was just one of those days where the goalkeeper saved everything or we hit the woodwork. We should have had a goal when Ankergren clawed the ball out from behind the line from Pigott.Most of the players played well with Lennon and Feely looking solid in central defence. Poyet was everywhere, solid in the tackle and passing it simply but effectively. Bradley Jordan works hard but I can't seem him making it for us. Pigott had a poor first half but looked more himself in the second. Harriott does what he does, beats players then produces a poor cross or shot. If he had an end product he would be a world beater. I like Sho Silva he is fast and strong but unfortunately he is not a goalscorer.
There are actually only thirteen in the development squad, including Azeez who is out on loan. That makes sense because they can use 3 senior outfield players plus a senior keeper and there are always some of those badly needing a competitive game (such as Cook, Hughes, Green and Evina, and Smith and Pope too once back, unless loaned out again). They can and do also use the more precocious u18s like Holmes-Dennis (and soon Gomez). No point in keeping players on just to have a winning u21 team if you don't think they will make the next step up, so they are rightly ruthless about culling them. Osborne, Fox, Jordan, and the recently signed Daniel will need to start appearing on the first team bench or showing up well out on loan, or they might be the next to go to make space for next year's promotions from the u18s. I reckon the rest are safe for another season unless they backslide dramatically. To sustain a first team solely from your own products you would need to promote an average of three a year to the first team squad. We might achieve that this year with Cousins, Pigott and Harriott, but to do that year after year would be very difficult. With only thirteen in the squad it would mean three-quarters of them would have to make it into senior football. That doesn't happen at any club however well-run and selective about who joins.
