Last few years I don't think we have looked fit enough or ready enough to hit the ground running..is it poor preparation or lack of a reasonable standard of pre season friendly opposition?
Last summer's pre season was a shambles Hopefully this year the club will concentrate on a pre season in the UK against some decent - and reliable - opposition worth fans making the effort to go along and watch
Yes I agree storts...no disrespect but playing a Devon village side then away to a Preston or Wigan won't help!
That is one thing I think I am sure about...JFH will have the team much fitter in August than any of the last few managers. He has got the team a lot fitter in the second half of the season ...and so we stopped giving away wins in the last few minutes, and started winning matches in the last quarter. We will also have a younger fitter squad too. The future is bright
I am sure that JFH will have a fitter team. But after this summers' clear out we will have new players on board and the issue will be no doubt to blend the players into a team with competitive game time. For example, if today we were to predict the starting eleven, what would be the score for correct names? Six? Seven? Eight? Or will it be higher? Thus, there is a lot of work for Jimmy to do this summer, but they have certainly leapt out of the stables with announcing the departures. I think we will field a "work in progress" team for the first match and it will be no doubt difficult to predict the result. The future is certainly exciting ...and I sincerely hope it will be bright!
I would like to see a few matches against decent L1 opposition, with maybe a Championship level game or two, either at LR or somewhere else in the UK or Scandie We can't have another Verona All Stars cock up A club like ours doesn't need long distance overseas tours to drum up marketing interest, and if there are to be a lot of new faces it will presumably be easier to integrate them into a domestically based pre season It's going to be a fascinating few months ahead of a renewed assault on the Championship. I'm going to reserve judgement on our chances until our recruitment is completed, but will always have that (often unwarranted and misplaced!) believe that we can push on Let's hope for some progress off the field too. The new training facility must move forwards, and I guessing that decisions will have to be made very soon about the content of the OOC development
Yes storts...remember that memorable 'friendly' with the scum in our league one days!... super Carl connolly n leeeroy griffiths
No booze?? Or just an early marketing opportunity?? Interesting choice of fixture - might get a few more fans along for a pre season than normal
More to do with kit suppliers as Watford are also with Dryworld, will be a stiff test if they play their best side but at least we will be given a thorough test...
Devon is indeed a beautiful place cors..I've just brought a cottage in branscombe...lovely peaceful village!
