Friendlies

A pleasant afternoon at Larkhall. What a well run club. They had set up a marquee for refreshments and the field behind was commandeered for parking.

Enjoyable game to watch with a chance to see all the new signings in action. We look a more physical side, and dare I say it, more direct. James and Harley showed a good understanding and hopefully this will develop more. Cooke worked his socks off and Fletcher looks like a good acquisition.

Clarkey and Batten are injured but hopefully will be back before the season starts.

It was good to see Raynes having a kick about. Hopefully he can finallly start to progress.

We won 5-1. Larkhall put all their effort into the first half.

I thought we performed very well today.
It was hard for us to get the ball in the first half but we showed grit and determination. Every time they attacked they scored but I think that was down to unfamiliarity between the defence and goalie.
Second half when they brought in their second string players it was very even and often they had to resort to fouls when we had the ball. We kept plugging away and with better crossing, especially from corners, might have got a goal.
I should think Jerry is satisfied.

I only watched on the live stream, but was impressed by my first sight of Jordan Williams - he looked a good athlete in the wing back role. The front two worked very hard with little reward. It was a pity our set pieces - of which we had quite a few - were too imprecise, but that's something we can work on. The young keeper from Reading looks a good shot-stopper but he's quite short and struggled on crosses.

He's only short if your name is Martin Powell. His legs are longer than I am.

The other thing I wanted to say was that I think the painting if the poplar stand looks fantastic. Well done to everyone involved with the redecoration.

tovid wrote:He's only short if your name is Martin Powell. His legs are longer than I am.

(my only contribution to a thread on friendlies!)

Nice of the local constabulary to provide fans with a massed mounted display as we left though the Bath End gate. I assume they were positioned to check everyone was wearing their masks correctly!

No it was to protect the welsh fans.

tovid wrote:No it was to protect the welsh fans.

Really?  Take a look at this link:https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4227980830613975&set=gm.3019464778274988

The club has a real problem here and how they/we resolve it is never going to be easy.  All the good work done by the club to establish its family-friendly-and-part-of-the-community reputation is always going to be undone when things like the link above crop up (in this case, on the "Bath Born & Bred" Facebook page) and reflects what a sizeable portion of the population believe is still the way football is.  Last night's scenes at Wembley (when the morons without tickets tried to break in) only serves, alas, to re-enforce this perception.

There was no trouble at the ground. The entire Welsh contingent were kept in check by one female security operative. She told them to clear the aisle they cleared the aisle, told them to get off the wall they got off the wall. It was impressive. The bars were not open.
However this was the first time they had been let out of Wales and they were in holiday mood. Obviously some people behave differently to others when on holiday. It was pretty raucous in the Old Crown when I went past later.

Twerton Parker wrote:

tovid wrote:No it was to protect the welsh fans.

Really?  Take a look at this link:https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4227980830613975&set=gm.3019464778274988

The club has a real problem here and how they/we resolve it is never going to be easy.  All the good work done by the club to establish its family-friendly-and-part-of-the-community reputation is always going to be undone when things like the link above crop up (in this case, on the "Bath Born & Bred" Facebook page) and reflects what a sizeable portion of the population believe is still the way football is.  Last night's scenes at Wembley (when the morons without tickets tried to break in) only serves, alas, to re-enforce this perception.  

I joined that group to have a look and there will always be stirrers who look for ways to berate the club. Keep reminding myself that social media outpourings reflect a small minority of people and not the general consensus of the silent majority. It does gall, however, when you see Twerton residents slag off the club despite all the community work going on, and sometimes makes me think we should find another community

Time for another postcode supporters check?

I really enjoyed the atmosphere generated by Cardiff fans and was pleased there was sense of bigger match occasion for first game back at TP. Didn't see any problems inside the ground or out and met a few of them through the day. Unfortunately however perception becomes reality and this Facebook post does the club no favours, as laughable as its disappointing. Walked back into town after the match just behind the main body of Cardiff fans & horses and didn't see anything to note - people were walking past them with no problems and all seemed very controlled. Appears to be blown hugely out of proportion by a few people on social media who apply zero context to this and largely have no idea what they're talking about.

A lovely trip down the A37 and it augers well for Friday - UP THE CITY !

And a lovely trip UP the A37 with the Bridport Groundhoppers. Entertaining enough game on a nice pitch. Dunno who half our players were but they moved the ball around well at times. Of course these games are just fitness exercises but its always a pleasure to watch a game with no pressure.

Bring on Exeter!

Very entertaining game v Exeter. Real shame we couldn't hold it at 3-3 which is what the players deserved for their efforts. We actually got stronger and stronger as the game progressed with Tom Smith the stand out player and some very encouraging performances all over the park.
It is a pity Gerring is injured as he is surely going to be a lynchpin in the heart of defence but it was good to see Jack Batten make an appearance.
I have been particularly impressed by Lloyd James so far, despite his dodgy hair, as he seems to have gained an extra yard or more of pace and hopefully can be our midfield anchor in the coming season.

Yes enjoyed the game, we look decent going forward with the ever willing Fletcher, aerial presence of Cooke, and Smith back to the player we know. Like to see Omar in a more productive midfield role, his passing could be a key service to the front men.

Defence needs Clarkes organisation with Gerring and Batten, Jones and Ball I guess to be a solid unit. Harley and James seem a luxury together, Richards a little light, so work to be done there.

Agree with both but I am not sure about James and Harley. Got caught in both games I saw granted against sharp league opposition, but a bit sluggish for me. Next few games will show…..

Yes the league players ought to be quicker, and were.

I am glad that we are prepared to go a bit more direct. Last season we fannied around in possession too much. It was not only ineffective but boring.

Luton Roman wrote:

Twerton Parker wrote:

tovid wrote:No it was to protect the welsh fans.

Really?  Take a look at this link:https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4227980830613975&set=gm.3019464778274988

The club has a real problem here and how they/we resolve it is never going to be easy.  All the good work done by the club to establish its family-friendly-and-part-of-the-community reputation is always going to be undone when things like the link above crop up (in this case, on the "Bath Born & Bred" Facebook page) and reflects what a sizeable portion of the population believe is still the way football is.  Last night's scenes at Wembley (when the morons without tickets tried to break in) only serves, alas, to re-enforce this perception.  

I joined that group to have a look and there will always be stirrers who look for ways to berate the club. Keep reminding myself that social media outpourings reflect a small minority of people and not the general consensus of the silent majority. It does gall, however, when you see Twerton residents slag off the club despite all the community work going on, and sometimes makes me think we should find another community

Time for another postcode supporters check?

I assume all of the people unhappy with the football club moved in before 1932!

As for the 'community' I think the club wants to be part of it far more than it wants to be part of the club.

Looking forward to a pleasant trip to Twerton tomorrow. Hope the weather is better than the forecast. I was convinced that of all the pre-season friendlies we've had they were all home for us, wherever that might've been. There have been two aways though, which I can only vaguely remember going to one and that's because it was switched after the floods and Phil Weaver put together a programme at short notice.

We actually ran a supporters coach to one of the friendlies at your place, mainly to thank Colin Gardner the chairman. A few months previously he had very generously made a significant donation to help our club pay off an owner. Dear Colin couldn’t have made us more welcome and laid on refreshments. We were very sad when he passed away a few years ago.

Remember it well. Do you still run coaches? I know it's early days but we're struggling to get the numbers for a coach to Southport on the opening day, would expect much more interest to be fair.

Yes, we’ve managed to run a coach to just about all Saturday away matches for many years and the numbers were rising in the couple of seasons up to lockdown.

We haven’t advertised yesterday for our first trip to Tonbridge and it will be interesting to see the take up. I’m not sure that people are going to return to matches in previous numbers for some time.

Good luck to Gloucester this season - hopefully it won’t be long before we’re playing in the same league again.

Hopefully not in Conference North