Christ on a bike.......we are signing non-league players.
So much for the significant investment !
I repeat my statement from the time of the takeover and quote Mr J. Rotten........
"Ever feel you've been cheated ?"
But what do you know about him?
Colin Powell was about this age when he signed for us from non-league. He went on to play about 350 games and become a club legend. Others, on the other hand, didn't. We just don't know, but FFS give the lad a break.
I'm hoping there's a big difference between this guy and the average 25 year old who's not played league football. Loughborough is THE premier sporting university in the country and it's also got a very decent academic reputation too since it's one of the old fashioned universities (Seb Coe went there). So chances are he'll have had plenty of time to train while he was there so the step up to full time pro won't be as daunting as it is for some non-league players. If his degree was in Sports Science then even better.
Imagine he will not start as first choice but could be worth a gamble, Powell has obviously watched him play enough to decide he does have at least the potential to play at this level, despite our recent poor record with signing players from non league, every season there are a fair few who make the step up and excel or at least do a job (Austin, Lee Novak to name two), maybe it is our turn to unearth a gem.
Yep from Stevenage. He was 250k though, not free. Definitely worth a punt, plenty of non-league players make the step up. We've just been pretty terrible at picking the right ones over the last few years.
Born in Zimbabwe, raised in Bromley. Educated at Bishop Challoner school like so many fine figures of society. Can't believe he's signed for us, would never have predicted that! Hope he does well.
He was a couple of years above me at school, his sister was in my year, it's a tiny school and both my parents were teachers there so everyone knows me! Haven't run into him in a couple of years, but will send him a facebook message to say good luck. Bit of a dream for him, went to uni with football as an after thought and now he's signed for Charlton.
Bromley Addicks should defintley sponsor him next season, would be a nice touch. His family still live round the corner in Ravensbourne.
We shouldn't expect too much from him straight away, but hope it's a signing that works out.
Hmm including the guy who's been tweeting about joining us thats 3 non league signings, Ok they may not be for the team but they are back up , squad players. When the first team get injured/suspended who do we rely on ? Shhhhh...... was that the sound of a barrel being scraped ?
Hmm including the guy who's been tweeting about joining us thats 3 non league signings, Ok they may not be for the team but they are back up , squad players. When the first team get injured/suspended who do we rely on ? Shhhhh...... was that the sound of a barrel being scraped ?
How about we wait and see what transpires over the next 3 months?
Many have made a successful jump from non league football. Admitedly most are under 25, Austin, Morison for example. A good recent example of an older player making it is Andrew Drury, 27, moved from Luton (he scored 2 against us in the cup) and has gone to Ipswich. Paul Jewell lives up to his name as an unearther of good players. We will see more and more ambitious players move into the higher divisions from small clubs. The pyramid structure has partly negated the old notion of 'us and them'. The conference is full with sides who are as good as if not better than many division 2 sides. Stevenage, Cheltenham for example. I wish Pritchard all the best and if he doesnt make it at least he wont have been a 'waste of money'. As to his university education. Loughborough is a famous sports /PE college. Perhaps this was his discipline and degree speciality. In any case, the cleverer the better.
Christ on a bike.......we are signing non-league players.
So much for the significant investment !
I repeat my statement from the time of the takeover and quote Mr J. Rotten........
"Ever feel you've been cheated ?"
But what do you know about him?
Colin Powell was about this age when he signed for us from non-league. He went on to play about 350 games and become a club legend. Others, on the other hand, didn't. We just don't know, but FFS give the lad a break.
My point exactly !
Colin Powell was 30+ years ago.....and the legendary Stuart Fleetwood was only a few years ago.
Nothing to do with pritchard himself, but this is not the news of signings that many were expecting.
Think I'm right in saying that Tony Cascarino was picked up by Gillingham from Crockenhill in non-league...cost was a set of tracksuits.....I know coz an old (late) best mate of mine was the chairman of Crockenhill at the time......so this lad could turn out to be the real deal you never know....need to give him a chance in my opinion.
Comments
Good luck to the lad, other clubs find non-league gems, maybe it's our turn.
Will Bradley Pritchard turn out to be the new Dorian Smith?
Hope it works out though
Christ on a bike.......we are signing non-league players.
So much for the significant investment !
I repeat my statement from the time of the takeover and quote Mr J. Rotten........
"Ever feel you've been cheated ?"
We've taken a punt, given him a late chance.
Come on Brad, show us what your made of.
'I'm looking at playing in front of thousands of people with high expectations'
Well I think we can infer from that that he's a regular reader of this forum.
Colin Powell was about this age when he signed for us from non-league. He went on to play about 350 games and become a club legend. Others, on the other hand, didn't. We just don't know, but FFS give the lad a break.
I'm hoping there's a big difference between this guy and the average 25 year old who's not played league football. Loughborough is THE premier sporting university in the country and it's also got a very decent academic reputation too since it's one of the old fashioned universities (Seb Coe went there). So chances are he'll have had plenty of time to train while he was there so the step up to full time pro won't be as daunting as it is for some non-league players. If his degree was in Sports Science then even better.
Somewhat disgruntled that yet again, we are hunting in the lower leagues - keep doing that and you end up playing in them.
Imagine he will not start as first choice but could be worth a gamble, Powell has obviously watched him play enough to decide he does have at least the potential to play at this level, despite our recent poor record with signing players from non league, every season there are a fair few who make the step up and excel or at least do a job (Austin, Lee Novak to name two), maybe it is our turn to unearth a gem.
Hope he's good, surely that he's 25 and still being signed by Powell means he's got real talent or am I just being optimistic?
My point exactly !
Colin Powell was 30+ years ago.....and the legendary Stuart Fleetwood was only a few years ago.
Nothing to do with pritchard himself, but this is not the news of signings that many were expecting.
Good test of St Christopher's ability to spot new talent. He gave this guy a trial and a reserve game so its not just on a scouts (or agents) tip off.
We will know within a few games whther he is the next Scot Parker or another (admittedly cheaper) McOxo.
More importantly, we will know within a few games if St Christopher really is the chosen one.