Billingham Synthonia V Darlington FC

[Sidarlo]

if we start with four in midfield i would like to see us start with
Mitchell Portas Scott/Galbraith Thompson

[tdk1]

I'd rather get Galbraith back at left back, to be honest.

[super_les_mcjannet]

I didn't think we had enough players who could take a player on and create today, all a bit safe really at times.

Brown can play right back and would have no issue with him being used there however he wouldn't be the best right back in the division, he did actually play right back when he broke into Blyth Spartans team years ago I believe.

James Armstrong filled in at left back today but it's certainly not his position and probably hard on the lad if he is trying to grab a contract with us.

Mitchell is an excellent signing, if he keeps his curent hard working attitude he will improve even further as he grows/develops. Portas will work hard for us this season and will be another excellent signing.

Hatch and G.Armstong probably shouldn't be played up front together, both do a very similar job and neither really is looking to get beyond the defence in the way Amar/Fisher/Dowson all would. Nothing wrong with either player, just the style of play doesn't work together.

The game was probably made for Hopson to play more of a role today, everytime we play Billingham Synthonia they are a better footballing team than us and Hopson would have been allowed to play football.

All in all from what I have seen for now, we will be better than how we finished last season, however I am not 100% convinced it will be enough to win the league. Pre-season won't decide this, but the first month or so will give us an indicator of where we will be.

[HarrytheQuaker]

I honestly think we will struggle to finish top 6 this season, mayb the pressure to do well after missing out last season...!!!!!!!!


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[JPearson97]

I honestly think we will struggle to finish top 6 this season, mayb the pressure to do well after missing out last season...!!!!!!!!


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Don't be daft, we finished 2nd last season with no midfield , not saying we'll win the league but struggle to finish top 6? Not for me.

[AndyPark]

Pre-season has been dreadful so far!

[Darlogramps]

You can't read anything into pre-season friendlies. Last year's pre-season was worse and we didn't do too badly in the season.

[Comfortably_numb]

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.

Dead right mate. Martin needs to stop trying to play our best individual players out go position. Your analogy about Kevan Smith is spot on.

It's almost a British mentality - choose your best 11 players and fit them into the first 11. As opposed to choose your best 11 team players.

We sign Hatch to play up front - in this league - or don't bother. Gary Brown is our Kevan Smith at centre back. Galbraith is a quality LB. if we're lacking in midfield then sort that rather than asking players to cover consistently etc

[charlie]

Seriously? It's pre season?!!! Get a grip!

[Bogratsteve]

To be fair Charlie we need to be hitting the ground at full pelt and firing on all cylinders this year to get the title, last year we spluttered and that cost us dearly.

The lads are only voicing concerns that many of us have over player placement etc

But regardless I expect us to be playoff contenders

[AIDO]

I expect us to be playoff contenders

....... ...... this squad of players, as it stands, is better than at this stage last year. Thank goodness the management team are going for the championship. Playoff talk at this stage is ridiculous!

[Bogratsteve]

Sorry should have said at least there, we will be challenging for the title hopefully but I can see this season been as competitive as last season or even harder.

With only 1 auto promotion place available it's perfectly reasonable to say were expected to be playoff contenders so no need for an over dramatic reaction to that.

[charlie]

I can remember the same kind of panic last year and we came second just trying to keep things in perspective yes we need to improve but some of the comments in this thread ....!!

[lo36789]

I think people are putting a bit too much weight behind pre-season impact last year. We lost out on the title because Curzon Ashton only lost 2(?) matches before they were crowned as champs.

They were very good and deserved to go up. We finished comfortably in 2nd place, the reason we didn't get promoted was because we didn't turn up against Ramsbottom in the playoffs it is a strenuous link to pre-season from there!

We dropped stupid points at the start, middle and end of last season.

[Fibonacci0112358]

I honestly think we will struggle to finish top 6 this season, mayb the pressure to do well after missing out last season...!!!!!!!!


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Absolute rubbish!!!!

[Fibonacci0112358]

I expect us to be playoff contenders

....... ...... this squad of players, as it stands, is better than at this stage last year. Thank goodness the management team are going for the championship. Playoff talk at this stage is ridiculous!

Thank goodness the management team don't read this forum for team advice!

[Chris darlo1883]

Jameson: hunter brown white Galbraith:Mitchell Thompson portas Scott: dowson Amar

[CrowdScoresMike]

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

Hi BS,

You're not the only fan that feels the official twitter feed is more than enough when it comes to match coverage. A number of people have told us that the system in place is good enough and in-depth enough for them in regards to the updates they want and how quickly they want them.

We're hoping that our app is a more data-focussed way of sharing lower and non-league scores. Not only can you discuss the game with people at the games via the app if you're out and about and can't access a desktop but you can also request and relay different information straight from the game.

This season should see us introduce card and sub reporting buttons which will give you a more informative guide to how the game is going.

We know that not everyone wants more information, some might even want less! But we would like to offer the platform if there are people that want to see their scores alongside the Prem and La Liga without having to trawl through Twitter feeds.

Thanks for the feedback and the response, we are always learning and adapting.

Mike

[joejaques]

Does this mean the Shoutcast broadcasts are being knocked on the head? I sincerely hope not, I have loved them. Not everybody in the world is on Twitbook.

[Bogratsteve]

Does this mean the Shoutcast broadcasts are being knocked on the head? I sincerely hope not, I have loved them. Not everybody in the world is on Twitbook.

Not at all its a completely different thing