Taunton Town vs Exeter City friendly match day thread. 7.45pm ko

[Rosencrantz]

how did the young players perform?

None were outstanding but none looked out of place. I always think it can be difficult for them sometimes playing in these games with more senior players not necessarily playing at full pace all the time. Particularly in the first half when it was a bit slow going.

I mentioned Billington above who looks a technically good player who works hard and gets his foot in when needed.

Harrison King looks like a player who gets through a lot of hard work and has a good engine on him. Similar to Harry Kite in many ways. Prefer him in midfield.

Pedro Borges has got an easy way of moving and showed some nice touches playing the most advanced of the central midfield three. It will be interesting if he is seen as a "10" or "8" kind of midfielder. Technically he looks good. Drifted a bit in and out of the game.

Alfie Clark was playing out of position as centre forward and looked like a winger playing there. Again not great service in the first half when he played. He has decent pace, looks to be developing physically to add power. Wants to run at defenders. Very left footed.

Aamir Daniels showed good energy and supported Key and Caprice well down the right. Couldn't quite get in the covering tackle for their goal but did a good recovery tackle not soon after. Possibly needs to stay on his feet more at times as I don't think many are going to run away from him with the ball.

 

[Arthur Davey]

Great free kick by Timmy. Top bins.

Certainly was; lovely watching it from behind the goal

 

[IndoMike]

Thanks Bridgy for the informative updates about the match and the booze.
Good to hear the youngsters played well, although we have to put that into perspective : world of difference between Taunton and Lg 1 teams.
Think it will always be a worry about Sam Stubbs and Nombe : we really need cover for them of a quality approaching their standard. It is a big challenge for Matt and the recruitment team to get that sorted.

 

[Hants_red]

Great free kick by Timmy. Top bins.

Indeed

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1545528416467931139

 

[Hants_red]

Matt Taylor's

 

[SaintJames]

My take on last night after time to reflect.Firstly Taunton friendly club the ground needs a bit of work if they are to get promoted again again for sure but they would have made a tidy sum from the 900 odd in the ground. We could learn some tips on catering with a rather nice coffee truck and Burrito Bus (very reasonable prices) serving the masses. I thought £12 slightly on the steep side for a psf given that is their league prices but maybe im being a tight wad
Onto the game itself the first half team was a mixed bag. Sparksy I felt delivered a number of telling crosses that needed a goalscorer to tuck away as MJ and the U18 lad never threatened. Biggest plusses for me I thought Harry had his most composed game to date (aside from the goal which Matt alluded to himself) and Pondy who looked and played like someone older than his 18 years won everything in the air this time and barring one misplaced pass looked like he has the making of a young Rio Ferdinand. The other big plus for me was Pedro Borges who again looked as if he has been around the first team much longer than he has with a composed display in the midfield alongside Archie who was steady. Pedro kept the passing simple keeping possession with several neat touches, good ball control and has a good engine. He was more impressive than Harry but Harry gets the benefit of the doubt after such a long lay off. Kitey will need a full pre season and a bit before he is in contention I fancy? On the downside I thought Josh Key was wasteful on several occasions but perhaps was missing his old mucker Sweens behind him? Harrison King did really well in his time on the pitch.
Second half team I expected to put Taunton to the sword but had little fluidity and clearly missed Nombe big time. A front two of Coley and Jervani didnt work and didnt play to the strengths of either. Nelson was a mixed bag with some good surging runs and other misplaced passes but he is still a work in progress. Amir Daniels apart from having the wrong boots making him slip regularly looks a player who has real potential. Standout player for me was Caprice who I fear will miss out on a starting berth at Lincoln as we will need to put Key in the shop window. At the back Grounds is an excellent player to have on the pitch never getting flustered. Chiek powerful and dominant in the air but his distribution was either too ponderous wasting runs from Caprice by holding onto the ball too long or far too often going long when a simple ball into feet was required. Thw other standout was Tim who as well as his two goals looked the player he is silky. Finally MJ something is amiss I know he isnt a forward but he looked quite down at times. I wonder if Matt is changing the captaincy this season affecting him.

 

[Agent Andy]

Think Lee , king , Amir , Pedro , Billington and Clarke have all showed up well in these games , like Taylor said they can go back to the 18s with their heads held high . Considering they are only second year scholars, they’ve proved their worth and the futures very bright

 

[Memphis09]

Think Lee , king , Amir , Pedro , Billington and Clarke have all showed up well in these games , like Taylor said they can go back to the 18s with their heads held high . Considering they are only second year scholars, they’ve proved their worth and the futures very bright

Defiantly a really good group of youngsters there

 

[AmberRed]

My take on last night after time to reflect.Firstly Taunton friendly club the ground needs a bit of work if they are to get promoted again again for sure but they would have made a tidy sum from the 900 odd in the ground. We could learn some tips on catering with a rather nice coffee truck and Burrito Bus (very reasonable prices) serving the masses. I thought £12 slightly on the steep side for a psf given that is their league prices but maybe im being a tight wad
Onto the game itself the first half team was a mixed bag. Sparksy I felt delivered a number of telling crosses that needed a goalscorer to tuck away as MJ and the U18 lad never threatened. Biggest plusses for me I thought Harry had his most composed game to date (aside from the goal which Matt alluded to himself) and Pondy who looked and played like someone older than his 18 years won everything in the air this time and barring one misplaced pass looked like he has the making of a young Rio Ferdinand. The other big plus for me was Pedro Borges who again looked as if he has been around the first team much longer than he has with a composed display in the midfield alongside Archie who was steady. Pedro kept the passing simple keeping possession with several neat touches, good ball control and has a good engine. He was more impressive than Harry but Harry gets the benefit of the doubt after such a long lay off. Kitey will need a full pre season and a bit before he is in contention I fancy? On the downside I thought Josh Key was wasteful on several occasions but perhaps was missing his old mucker Sweens behind him? Harrison King did really well in his time on the pitch.
Second half team I expected to put Taunton to the sword but had little fluidity and clearly missed Nombe big time. A front two of Coley and Jervani didnt work and didnt play to the strengths of either. Nelson was a mixed bag with some good surging runs and other misplaced passes but he is still a work in progress. Amir Daniels apart from having the wrong boots making him slip regularly looks a player who has real potential. Standout player for me was Caprice who I fear will miss out on a starting berth at Lincoln as we will need to put Key in the shop window. At the back Grounds is an excellent player to have on the pitch never getting flustered. Chiek powerful and dominant in the air but his distribution was either too ponderous wasting runs from Caprice by holding onto the ball too long or far too often going long when a simple ball into feet was required. Thw other standout was Tim who as well as his two goals looked the player he is silky. Finally MJ something is amiss I know he isnt a forward but he looked quite down at times. I wonder if Matt is changing the captaincy this season affecting him.

Agree with this, think Caprice has really come to light over the last year, he always looks threatening when he's got the ball. Lee just needs a run of games, he is 2 years younger than Buse who is thought highly of by both Bristol City and Taunton, but think Harry is just as good, if not better! There's a clip of the goal on Tauntons twitter and I'm not sure where our defence was! Diabetes and Hartridge are good solid defenders and seem to work well together, put Stubbs in with them when he's back and it's a decent back line! Great free kick from Dieng and good passing for our goal, but other than that a pretty normal PSF.

 

[Suzi & The Banned Cheese]

Think it will always be a worry about Sam Stubbs and Nombe : we really need cover for them of a quality approaching their standard. It is a big challenge for Matt and the recruitment team to get that sorted.

This is the single most important question/dilemma that Matt Taylor has at the moment and could be the difference between being comfortable and struggling in L1