I posted on another thread:
" IMO a lack of a regular reserve team has been a false economy - and cost us dear in many ways this season."
I know it had been a difficult winter with pitches taking heavy punishment from the weather, so otherwise there may have been more occasional reserve friendlies.
But with Leon McKenzie's fitness issues for example and no doubt many others not getting the chance to gain full match fitness before being expected to play a 1st team role - plus out of form and bench players not getting 90 minute run-outs, has having no regular competitive reserve football been a false economy?
Jonjo, Solly, Waggy, Llera and the reserve keeper for example, desperately need to be playing regularly to keep them sharp.
In the "immortal words of Nolly: Discuss".
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There are problems with the reserve leagues, they're quite small so games aren't regularly played, in fact they brought in cups to help with that. A lot of u18 games were called off earlier in the year as well, can imagine a few reserve games would have been as well. Still, we'd have got more games than reserve friendlies.
The money to play at Ebbsfleet or wherever would have also had to come from somewhere.
It may well have helped, but a signicant amount? Very hard to say. I'd have liked them to have kept it, and we know Parky wanted them to, but the board hoped we could get by with friendlies, and if we win the playoffs we'd have done that.
Hence I didn't really comment.
I did acknowledge that it had been a bad winter for pitches - but that aside, many players in the squad are just not getting regular competitive football yet expected to perform in the 1st team when called upon.
How can they be at their best in a vital 1st team role when lacking full match-fitness?
However it could perhaps be seen that it has cost a couple of the players a better chance at a pro deal, is it Pell or Bellamy that is at Hastings and people here have commented we may regret releasing him (in the pro deal thread there were some comment relating to how one of their releases could be a mistake). Maybe with a reserve league, our coaches would have seen him against a better standard of oppositon on a more regular basis.
I went to a reserve game last season when we played Brighton, they had a lot of younger players there. Also went to Lewes but it was called off. I'd say the reserve league probably has a very mixed standard, depending on how the fixtures fit in with first team games. At least with friendlies, you can pick and choose who you play, so the club know the sort of quality to expect.
Bit too simplistic for me that reply.....and I am surprised by Richard Murray.
Without going overold ground here, how much did we waste on players like JFH, Rommadahl, and many others, Gibbs,etc,etc and the numerous loanees that were not cheap!. I will leave it there because it is easy to make easy remarks after the event! eh Richard. I understand that you wanted JFH personally! or so the myth machine goes........
That all aside, the future of Charlton is in the young players, and the more exposure that they have will in my opinion be the determining factor of how Charlton improve as a team, and squad.
You either believe in young players, that can be developed, or you do not!. No magic formula, but I think we have some good young players, wether they develop is of course a gamble but regular football at a competitve level is better than any amount of training, and how does a young player show he is capable of playing at a higher level than playing in matches, albeit freindly, or reserve games.
Obviously my opinion is different to that of the Chairman's, and the bottom line is he holds the purse strings......
I think we've suffered for having no ressies this year
More than £100k I fancy between the 3 of them.
In the Premiership we had Peter Varney and Nigel Capelin. Why do / did we need 3 Chief Exec types in division 3?
Never mind that, how much is a certain non playing French right back earning?
That as well!