Stu Holden to get Xmas game time!

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:I think Vela has the potential to be a cracker

Why? When have you seen him?

When he played for us.

wanderlust wrote:

When he played for us.

What, all 20 minutes?

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

When he played for us.

What, all 20 minutes?

Vela has great technique, energy and a good pass. You can see that from 5 minutes of watching him.

I agree if he can get fit and be coached properly he'll be a very good player Im sure of that.

bwfc1874 wrote:

Vela has great technique, energy and a good pass. You can see that from 5 minutes of watching him.

I agree if he can get fit and be coached properly he'll be a very good player Im sure of that.

I hope you're right. But seeing as Coyle wasn't prepared to blood him even when we had injuries I'd be surprised if he made it.

Coyle's judgement doesn't count for much! I'm hopeful for him, good technique is rare to see but Vela had it, and the confidence to get on the ball.

I was surprised about the story that Liverpool has bid for Vela, we rejected a £1million bid.

He must have something if one of the big clubs we're interested in him.

Long way to go but the potential is there and he's definitely worth hanging on to. Difficult to say which of the other U21s and U18s are worth keeping as so few actually get a shot in the first team. Irritates me when we have players on the books for several years who never get a chance - don't get the point of keeping them.

We could put the entire U21s team out on loan, not have to pay their wages and see how they get on at somebody else's expense.

wanderlust wrote:

We could put the entire U21s team out on loan, not have to pay their wages and see how they get on at somebody else's expense.

Who would take them? Most of them would probably be average in the Blue Square Premier. All but 2 of our U21s are pretty much lost causes, just have to wait for the U18s team to mature.

wanderlust wrote:Long way to go but the potential is there and he's definitely worth hanging on to. Difficult to say which of the other U21s and U18s are worth keeping as so few actually get a shot in the first team. Irritates me when we have players on the books for several years who never get a chance - don't get the point of keeping them.

We could put the entire U21s team out on loan, not have to pay their wages and see how they get on at somebody else's expense.

issue with that is if they turn out to be decent... the 'big' clubs will start sniffing.

you put them in the public eye too long and risk losing them.

I think all youth games should be played behind closed doors to keep the scouts away...

Reebok_Rebel wrote:

issue with that is if they turn out to be decent... the 'big' clubs will start sniffing.

you put them in the public eye too long and risk losing them.

I think all youth games should be played behind closed doors to keep the scouts away...

The big clubs don't just sign every single player that looks half decent.

We will know our own decent prospects far before any scout will have seen enough of him to judge, and by then we will have them on contract.

If they want them they will have to pay.

Freedman to give Holden a run out over Xmas!

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Freedman revealed Holden was pencilled in to play some part in that reserve clash but will now have to figure in an in-house match instead.

The manager said: “He was in the plans to play a little bit of the game, so it will have been a disappointment to Stuart but these challenges are quite small in comparison with some he’s faced.

“He has trained very, very well but just needs a couple of games at the moment.

“We’re looking to do something in-house over the Christmas period to get him into a game situation and get that confidence up.

“He’s certainly very fit and raring to go.”

Freedman has been impressed with Holden’s fitness levels after more than a year out with a knee injury – his second lengthy spell sidelined.

But he knows it would be folly to throw him back into the first-team picture without getting minutes under his belt.

The Scot added: “His fitness is not a problem at all – it’s up there with the rest of the first team.

“That tells me the medical staff have done a great job on him.

“He just needs that confidence in a game situation.

“He has looked really good in training and I’m delighted with him but he needs games.”

“There’s nothing I’m putting on it as far as a timeframe; When he’s been out that long, there is no point.

“If you have got a torn hamstring, like Matt Mills, then it’s easier to do.

“But with something like this, it’s about when he feels right.

“He has been back with the lads for the last two or three weeks now and now it’s just a case of keeping track week by week.

“David (Wheater) is a bit behind. He hasn’t been well the last few days and his knee has swollen up a little bit, which means he could be well into February by the time he gets going.”

Great news, Dougie has said Holden came through 70 minutes in a behind closed doors game, and felt no reaction, he has plans to arrange a couple more and hopes to have Holden in first team action mid to late January.

If things go according to plan Holden could actually get back in the squad by the end of the month. There really is no point rushing things but his return could coincide with that of Mark Davies.

With the prospect of Holden coming back it underlines the need to focus on sorting out our defence and forget the fanciful talk about shuffling strikers for the time being. We can score goals at this level - as long as the midfield hasn't got to worry about shielding the back four all the time. We have a decent enough midfield now and a solid back four would free them up to wreak havoc in this league.

I think it could be a little too late for even the play-offs by the time stuey and mavies are back.

I have no faith in the rest of our squad to pull through and keep us within touching distance.

Our time will come next year, unfortunately..

If our time comes next year we'll have done well. Despite some decent moments we're still a long way from having a team that deserves another crack at the prem. Lots of work to be done before we can start thinking about that IMO.

Boggersbelief wrote:

Our time will come next year, unfortunately..

It's next year tomorrow!

wanderlust wrote:We have a decent enough midfield now and a solid back four would free them up to wreak havoc in this league.

Ha ha.

wanderlust wrote:If our time comes next year we'll have done well. Despite some decent moments we're still a long way from having a team that deserves another crack at the prem. Lots of work to be done before we can start thinking about that IMO.

I agree, if by some miracle we got up this year we'd probably just get hammered every week this side aren't ready to go up there's too much shit in there who won't help us.

bwfc1874 wrote:

wanderlust wrote:If our time comes next year we'll have done well. Despite some decent moments we're still a long way from having a team that deserves another crack at the prem. Lots of work to be done before we can start thinking about that IMO.

I agree, if by some miracle we got up this year we'd probably just get hammered every week this side aren't ready to go up there's too much shit in there who won't help us.

Financially it is a no brainer though - even if we didn't get a single point!

We would get a minimum of about £50 million Sky money just for being there, plus a fresh lot of parachute payments.

Just hypothetical anyway with the players we have at the moment.