Exeter City vs Reading - EFL Trophy - match day thread. 7pm kick off

[Grecian Max]

Love the fact that we have more comments for the Reading Matchday Thread than for Cheltenham last Saturday. Does that mean EFL Trophy matches are more important to us?

Run of the mill slightly dull 1-0 v losing 9-0 is extraordinary in any circumstance

I'm slightly surprised by those who want to brush this off completely - whilst the trophy means very little to most, somehow 1,500 City fan still paid money to watch that last night. And what were they watching? Reading's similarly aged side beat our academy boys, plus some first teamers by nine goals...

For a club reliant on player development and selling on - arguably fully reliant - this should set some alarm bells ringing in terms of future planning. With the transfer strategy being focussed on what we can achieve mainly within this season and a good coach likely to move elsewhere within the next year of so - there are some potential red flags from last night.

 

[Radio Free Skaro]

Thought we shaded the first half...

 

[Grecian Max]

Kids plus
Fitzwater - first competitive game of the season.
Watts - second competitive game of the season.
Taylor - first start in 18 months.
Scott - coming back from injury.

Lost 9 goals at home to an equally inexperienced (average age I believe was lower than ours) side though?

Reading are currently going through the mill and have to use a lot of their academy lads, clearly quite some step up from ours

 

[Billy The Fish]

You need to watch this just to confirm that we were really that bad

Goal No6 should be up there amongst the worst ever conceded.

 

[iscalad]

Martin Weiler said:
But at least we aren’t Scunthorpe. This is some statement:

Official Statement from Club Chairman David Hilton
Firstly I would like to start by thanking so many of you for the support I have received over the last week. It has helped me considerably and contributed to me making some very difficult decisions.

www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk

That's an interesting read...

That's an understatement. Wow.

 

[DawlishBouy]

Lost 9 goals at home to an equally inexperienced (average age I believe was lower than ours) side though?

Reading are currently going through the mill and have to use a lot of their academy lads, clearly quite some step up from ours

See my post 387 for the match up of ages. Reading’s young players were by and large 2 years older than City’s young players. They also play competitive under 21’s football. Our fringe players have had a couple of friendlies. Having a 32 year old reserve keeper playing somewhat skews the average. And as already pointed out City’s older outfield players have played hardly any football recently due to being injured or free agents. It was a hard watch and embarrassing but will ultimately count for nothing.

 

[Red The Paper (2)]

Run of the mill slightly dull 1-0 v losing 9-0 is extraordinary in any circumstance

I'm slightly surprised by those who want to brush this off completely - whilst the trophy means very little to most, somehow 1,500 City fan still paid money to watch that last night. And what were they watching? Reading's similarly aged side beat our academy boys, plus some first teamers by nine goals...

For a club reliant on player development and selling on - arguably fully reliant - this should set some alarm bells ringing in terms of future planning. With the transfer strategy being focussed on what we can achieve mainly within this season and a good coach likely to move elsewhere within the next year of so - there are some potential red flags from last night.

100% agree with Max. We owe a duty to our fans and our players to compete in every match. Poor team selection maybe, poor planning definitely. A 9 nil defeat in any competition, will certainly have an impact on player confidence (for those that took part in this shambles) and fan confidence in the manager and backroom staff who failed to prepare properly for a football match. This may be a one off freak result, although I am not convinced

I personally think we have had a surprisingly easy start to the season and have played some really poor sides who lacked real attacking threat. Hopefully we can learn and this will be a kick up the backside needed to go into our test against Oxford, although as Max has pointed out there are some highly visible red flags from last nights sh^^ show

 

[Devon Red]

Run of the mill slightly dull 1-0 v losing 9-0 is extraordinary in any circumstance

I'm slightly surprised by those who want to brush this off completely - whilst the trophy means very little to most, somehow 1,500 City fan still paid money to watch that last night. And what were they watching? Reading's similarly aged side beat our academy boys, plus some first teamers by nine goals...

For a club reliant on player development and selling on - arguably fully reliant - this should set some alarm bells ringing in terms of future planning. With the transfer strategy being focussed on what we can achieve mainly within this season and a good coach likely to move elsewhere within the next year of so - there are some potential red flags from last night.

All it shows is that Reading's academy lads are far better than ours - it won't affect our season but I totally understand the concerns around where the next academy sales are going to come from if this latest crop aren't up to it, I share those concerns.

I know you're a big believer in the club/trust evolving and seeking external investment and I couldn't agree with you more on that. Last night does show how vulnerable our source of income is.

 

[iscalad]

Exeter 1 - 6 Chesterfld - Match Report & Highlights (skysports.com)

We seemed to OK that season.

 

[Jason H]

I'd hate to get on a downer about youngsters being thrust into first team action (even if in a nothing competition against a similarly youthful oppo), but what struck me most was the lack of quality amongst the youngsters. It's all well and good having big game nerves, but it's another to basically forget the fundamentals of the game, such as:

If you're the team in red and you have the ball, try passing it to that other bloke in red who is in space. He's on your team and may appreciate receiving the ball at his feet (not three yards behind him);
If you're the team in red and another bloke in red near you has the ball, try to move into space to give him an option of giving you the ball. Hiding behind a bloke in a different coloured shirt makes it more difficult for the bloke in red to give you the ball;
If you have a throw in midway inside the opposition's half, try to find a bloke in red somewhere in the opposition's half - you might then create an attacking move. Don't throw it thirty yards backwards behind the last defender;
If the opposition have the ball, try marking an opponent and moving with the flow of the game. That way it makes it more difficult for the opposition to score.

Our senior players looked OK - aside from his knowledge of the offside law Scott looked pretty good. Jules was sold one by Fitzwater jumping out of the way of the ball for his OG but otherwise looked good. Taylor did his best in midfield. Of the youngsters, it's clear why JR has leapt ahead of some of his young colleagues in the pecking order.

On the other hand I was looking forward to seeing Beardmore play, only for him to have an absolute doomer. Watts was deservedly withdrawn at HT. I'll leave aside criticism of the others individually as they're for the most part nowhere near the first team.