Billingham Synthonia V Darlington FC

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:08 pm

Looking forward to this one, should be a decent crowd, and a good test for us.
I am still a bit concerned about how MG will use Hatch and Brown, i know some will say at this stage its all about game time for the squad, but with just over 3 weeks to go, can we expect to see a prefered starting 11? I know Scott is not yet
available, but he should start at LB imo
-------------Bell-----------------
Brown----Hunter----White----Scott (Walker)
---------------Robinson---------------
------------Portas---Galbraith---------
---------------Thompson---------------
--------Purewal----Armstrong--------

super_les_mcjannet · Post by **super_les_mcjannet** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:04 pm

Wouldn't totally disagree with your team, however Robinson/Thompson suspended for the first game and Scott at the moment may not be 100% fit.

Mitchell is an obvious possibility to sign and has been playing in a 3 in midfield as well as wing.

Looking forward to saturday and I do believe we will be more prepared first game this season than we were last season.

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:01 pm

Prices seem fair enough.

Billingham Synthonia ‏@Synthonia 4m

Good Evening @TeessideHour ..We are at home to Darlington on Saturday. 3pm ko @Motif8ltd Stadium, Central Avenue £5/£2 entry #TeessideHour

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:05 am

Should be a good sunny day to watch the mighty Darlo so who"s making the trip?

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:14 am

Robinson is back.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/ ... arlington/

HarrytheQuaker · Post by **HarrytheQuaker** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:11 pm

poppyfield wrote:Robinson is back.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/ ... arlington/

Great must get there then he's back....Mouth is watering at that fact

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CrowdScoresMike · Post by **CrowdScoresMike** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:17 pm

Would anyone be interested in following the game via the CrowdScores app? I can always add the game if people want to share the score or follow the action.

Thanks,

Mike

Bogratsteve · Post by **Bogratsteve** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:01 pm

Tbh Mike it's pointless when twitter has the scores available

Bogratsteve · Post by **Bogratsteve** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:01 pm

@DarloTrust: Jameson, brown, J armstrong, white, hunter, Portas, Mitchell, Robinson, Thompson, hatch, armstrong

Sidarlo · Post by **Sidarlo** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:14 pm

1-0 down after pen

Quakerz · Post by **Quakerz** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:21 pm

Who is this J Armstrong? Anybody know anything about him, ie where he's been playing, age, position etc?

divas · Post by **divas** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:40 pm

Son of ex Sunderland player Gordon. Been at Sunderland & Hull. Midfielder but playing LB today

Bogratsteve · Post by **Bogratsteve** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:09 pm

2-0 now

HarrytheQuaker · Post by **HarrytheQuaker** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:32 pm

Sounds like we are playing hoof ball

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Bogratsteve · Post by **Bogratsteve** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:43 pm

2-1 Thommo pen

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:16 pm

Just got back, boy oh boy have we got some work to do before the season starts,out played in the first half, no point in singleing out indivdual players, because we were poor from 1 to 11. This was not what i expected. Stuggled to string a coulpe of passes together went back to hoofball, shocking.

Twintowers · Post by **Twintowers** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:18 pm

divas wrote:Son of ex Sunderland player Gordon. Been at Sunderland & Hull. Midfielder but playing LB today

Well he certainly ain't a left back!!!.Mind you there were a fair few below par today,Thommo was mainly anonymous and Armstrong was already on the beach.

HarrytheQuaker · Post by **HarrytheQuaker** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:19 pm

Sounds like a lot of work to do to get the right balance in the team and playing as a team

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theoriginalfatcat · Post by **theoriginalfatcat** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:22 pm

poppyfield wrote:boy oh boy have we got some work to do before the season starts

Fret not

You can't tell anything from friendlies - good or bad.

poppyfield · Post by **poppyfield** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:35 pm

theoriginalfatcat wrote:
poppyfield wrote:boy oh boy have we got some work to do before the season starts
Fret not You can't tell anything from friendlies - good or bad.

Sorry mate, our defence is struggeling, Brown is not a RB, and we only have stand in LB at the moment, we need Galbraith in the middle, and Scott is not fit yet. If you were at the match today you could tell MG was not impressed with what he saw today.

Chris darlo1883 · Post by **Chris darlo1883** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:37 pm

Simply not good enough pre season friendly or not we should be beating billingham to weak in midfield and didn't have much upfront!

HarrytheQuaker · Post by **HarrytheQuaker** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:03 pm

Chris darlo1883 wrote:Simply not good enough pre season friendly or not we should be beating billingham to weak in midfield and didn't have much upfront!

We need to work hard and not take for granted we will win

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Twintowers · Post by **Twintowers** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:43 pm

HarrytheQuaker wrote:
Chris darlo1883 wrote:Simply not good enough pre season friendly or not we should be beating billingham to weak in midfield and didn't have much upfront!
We need to work hard and take for granted we will win

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That doesn't make sense

JPearson97 · Post by **JPearson97** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:16 pm

A few interesting comments, certainly this game will have given Gray a bit of thought.

Always going to be a little difficult missing Walker, Scott, Galbraith, Fisher, Purewal and Dowson but again, I know Gray's hand was forced in this game but I'd like to see Brown positioned in his natural position alongside Hunter. We're probably a full-back short as well so hopefully Weldon can prove himself.

In midfield if we're going to go 4-4-2 then playing Robinson is a no no. You need two box to box, mobile players for it to work effectively. Robinson is much, much better in the holding role as proved last season. We really need to be looking at another midfielder, maybe Armstrong is the one we need or possibly Gell. However excellent news regarding Mitchell, we've got two excellent wingers and a lot more balance than last season.

Up top, think we've been missing the cleverness that Dowson and Fisher offer recently. Armstrong sounds like a typical number 9 and we all know what Hatch is like so I think it'll encourage hoof-ball too often.

All in all a poor result and still a little makeshift but I think we're in a better position than this time last season, remember we lost to Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Whitby, Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Darlington RA then drew Durham yet still finished 2nd. This pre-season has offered a little more optimism than last and we still have 3 games to go.

quakerste · Post by **quakerste** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:20 pm

I would have White alongside Hunter rather than Brown all day long.

Chris darlo1883 · Post by **Chris darlo1883** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:26 pm

Don't understand can you read it wasn't good enough and we were poor upfront that ok? Or shal I say it again or and also seem weak in midfield??

tdk1 · Post by **tdk1** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:41 pm

Wasn't there today and haven't seen us in pre-season thanks to a combination of reasons, but...

It's time to stop trying to stick square pegs into round holes. It really knackered us last season, and we need to stop it. As it stands, the line-up for me has to be:
Jameson
Walker, Hunter, White, Galbraith
Mitchell, Portas, Scott/Armstrong/Robinson, Thompson
Hatch, Dowson

With Armstrong, Purewal, Scott/Armstrong/Robinson/Hopson, Brown,Fisher and Bell fighting for the five bench spots.

Brown is either good enough to be a centre half at this level, or he isn't. I like him a lot as a captain and as a representative for the club, and I liked him a lot in the NL, but I don't want him in midfield or at full back. You wouldn't have played Kevan Smith there, would you?

Hatch is a striker. He's the best striker of his type in the division, by a million,billion miles. We have three centre halves. Hatch is a striker.

Thompson should be good enough to play off the wing, and if we have Mitchell, Hatch, and Dowson causing problems elsewhere on the pitch, the double marking problem ought only to free up our other strong players. If our defence is good enough then we shouldn't have to worry about committing that kind of calibre of player forward to unlock 'park the bus' type teams.

I really hope Gray has learnt the lessons of last season, he's an absolute hero for what he has achieved here already and finishing second was by no means a disgrace, but the fallibility of a very capable squad was laid bare on several occasions against better teams. Playing Brown out of position in the play-offs was one thing I thought was a misjudgement, and I don't understand why Walker's here if we're not going to show faith in him. All the players in the squad should be able to play in their proper positions against the best teams, rather than trying to cram in experienced heads in places they don't fit.

Bogratsteve · Post by **Bogratsteve** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:51 pm

Walker is on Hols for 2 weeks from today.

I do agree on playing players in their natural position.

Sidarlo · Post by **Sidarlo** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:58 pm

Agree with the majority of the posts above, wasn't at the game today so can't comment on it, but i hope Gray has learnt the lesson's of last season.

He has done great things over the last two seasons, however you always need to be looking to improve and hopefully he will move away from playing people out of position.

Brown, J.Robinson and Hatch are the main three.

I know some fans like Robinson in midfield but it handcuffs us a lot as he can't do much going forward.

tdk1 · Post by **tdk1** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:04 pm

I'd agree with that on Robinson. I think Portas sounds quite exciting, a proper box to box midfielder who's proven at the level above who could FINALLY help solve our centre midfield conundrum. I'm happy to have one player a bit deeper, but I'd like to see the Leon Scott that went on a bit of a goalscoring spree in the middle of his first season return. Get two players who understand each other properly and they then gain the confidence to start making those runs into the box.

Darlo Uncovered