ALC Fox

Any word on whether we'll be entering a team into the National League Cup this season? It would be interesting to see how the next generation down from those stepping up in pre-season will fare against men's teams.

Don't know anything about him. I'm not too worried about him blocking anyone's progress. I imagine Woyo will leave and this allows Ali to try and find a loan move. I think it's clear that despite a lot of early promise, Ali isn't quite ready yet. Kristiansen will go and so Thomas and McFarlane can duke it out (hopefully McFarlane wins that battle). Aluko and Joseph as cover if the things get threadbare. Can't complain really.

RM said that it's not just about having depth but having different types of player to provide different problems in the same area of the pitch, for example not having two quick wingers who play on the same side but having a quick one and one who can come inside, to provide different solutions to different problems. Perhaps this Cullen signing is a bit like that. Different type of CF to Otchere, different type of AM to Alves or Chaplin. Also just because we might be signing this guy, doesn't mean they're not working on an out-and-out CF. Some deals are easier to do than others so one player could take a couple of weeks, another could take a couple of days.

Anyway, absolutely buzzing about the young lads. Hutchinson and Neale both so good for that third. And the pressing from the front generally. Amazing. Carr looks like a beast as well. Alves, Braybrooke. We feel like a different team with these boys in the side.

Faes was probably playing their goalscorer on anyway but my word what is Choudhury up to there?

I feel like the club should have done its due diligence on the playing surface before the first game. If they were misled, then it's on the venue.

Really, really early days. But he's got a deflection, a tap-in and a header. He's in the right places, is in good form and has a knack for scoring. I get the feeling he just wants goals and isn't out for a highlights reel. At this point he's surely first choice now. We're just over two weeks from that start of the season. That window to bring in someone more experienced before the first game is shrinking day by day but even if someone is brought in, they won't have much time to train with the squad, form relationships, etc. So it's his to lose at the moment and he's currently passing every test he's been given. For his development, having someone ahead of him may be better for him over the course of the entire season, just so there's not as much pressure on his young shoulders. But he looks good. I'm trying not to go over the top but I've got high hopes.

Both of them going to Man City makes me feel a bit sick tbh. In a different timeline, they will have been a big part of our rise back up the divisions. I thought it about Nyoni and Noubissie and I think the same about Monga and Motsi: I really do hope we keep tabs on them both and are ready to pounce if their situations look like they're not going to break through at Man City, just like we would any youngster at a huge club. If we're at a level that matches their ambitions, maybe we'll see one of them back here at some stage.

I tell you what but after the last four seasons I cannot emphasise how absolutely ready I am for an academy number 9 to come through and tear it up. A really great start for Kirsten and puts him in pole position for that starting berth at the beginning of the season. If we can't get a deal over the line for a more experienced option by the start of the season, he has a brilliant chance to stake a claim. I hope he takes it like he's taken his pre-season goals. I'm trying not to contribute to putting too much pressure on him but I'm excited.

Found this on the Cadiz website

I did wonder how they would line up. I presume Hutchinson and Evans could swap over if Martin wanted to have a look at that as well?

Alves has played centrally and on the right so far in pre-season I think? I'd imagine keeping both fresh so they can both remain effective would be vital to both having good seasons. The canny experience of Chaplin starting a game and then the fresh legs of Alves coming off the bench could unlock stubborn defences. And there's no reason why both couldn't start in the same game with Alves's versatility. I wouldn't be too worried by our squad make-up and Alves's potential number of appearances at this stage.

Thought he looked tidy in the National League Cup games last season as well. Manage these lads right and they could fly.

Otchere with a deflection and a tap-in in two games then? A great habit to have.

Amazing how the Adidas Originals training top is so much worse than the navy/yellow regular Adidas one

His dad Armand was decent on Championship Manager back in 01/02 when he was at Cambridge. Brings back some memories.

I quite like it tbh

12 months isn't bad. He instantly becomes the senior striker and takes the heat off our young players. He can help those said youngsters develop on the training pitch with those little movements to gain half a yard, find a bit of space or put the defender's weight onto their wrong foot. On the face of it, it looks a bit like the Ayew signing. But Ings has been a goalscorer and at this level should be decent, as well as helping our younger players like Otchere, Evans and Hutchinson along.

This time last year, yes, we're all in agreement that Cartwright will need to leave to further his career. The thing is, the transfer has come about 12 months down the line, he's had a good loan and done well, and we're now in the third tier. Yes we need money, but at the level we're at and the level he's at, it's not unreasonable to suggest he could've been given a chance to step into the squad, especially as we appear to be finding it difficult to make transfers again. The finances are well publicised, we do need to bring our costs down and it could easily be justified that Cartwright hasn't yet shown that he can be a key player in a team aiming for automatic promotion from League One. That's absolutely easy to argue. But by the same token, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he could have been a part of the picture here. And we all love an academy product coming through. He was just on that cusp, really, and we've decided to cash in, however big or small the fee is. I hope we negotiated a buyback clause as his level could easily rise as much as ours hopefully does in the next 12 months.

The beginning of the end for the hateful toad. He walks this by-election with hardly anybody else standing. Then he gets his comeuppance.

I think this World Cup has generally been great football-wise. The interference of Trump regarding Balogun's red card, the consistent mistreatment of the Iranian team, the Somali ref not being allowed into the States, etc. is what I hate. In domestic football, what I hate VAR, PSR, hedge fund vulture capitalist ownerships, multi-club ownerships, sportswashing, inflated sponsorships, crypto gambling, endless litigation, points deductions, stubborn owners running clubs into the ground, etc. The football itself is fine. Without the vast torrents of effluent that we're forced to read and watch that isn't actually the game that's played on the pitch, I think most of us would also be more tolerant of poor or indifferent performances and be more patient as managers build and establish their teams. It's the circus around the game that's the real problem, imo.

100% Thinking about the way we beat Croatia and DR Congo as well. They have resilience in spades this lot.

It's very unfortunate that possibly our strongest crop of youngsters is arriving at a time when the first team is at its lowest ebb in the club's history. The pure profit element means that we'll sell both the ones we think aren't ready (Cartwright, although I personally wanted to see him given a chance) and the very best (Monga). There will be interest in others, like Nelson, Page, Motsi etc. but hopefully our current level can help us finally integrate a few of these lads (Page, Braybrooke, Alves, Hutchinson, Otchere, Aluko, Gray, Ali, Motsi), send a few out on loan (maybe some of the above to join Briggs, and maybe the likes of Carr and Neale) to see how they develop and if they're likely to make our first team one day. Unfortunately the academy is part of the 'business' and selling players who come through is as integral to its continuation as it is producing players for the first team. But we have a chance to do both this season.

No gold ✅ Unique pattern connected with the city ✅ Actually looks nice ✅ Thick Adidas stripes ❌ League One ❌ FVCKIN BC. B4ST4RD GAME ❌

You only have to look at how Emma Hayes analyses a game of football after 22 minutes and how she communicates that across with intelligence, never resorts to cliches, never belittles her audience and comes across as very insightful, to know that she'd be a success in the men's game. She's got the knowledge and the delivery. With proper backing she'd do very well in my opinion.