Bethnal

No urgency, idle threat throughout. Most look like they’re still in 2nd gear. Miller has early indications of a good signing, it other than that, this is a poor side we’ve got and will struggle.

Conversely - the CB who’s probably meant to be meeting first ball is totally absent and second to the ball. Agreed that Henriksson misjudged it but I think CBs should take ownership of a long throw that basically hits the middle of the box.

I believe it’s heavily coached into players that you don’t let it bounce. He didn’t seem to want to know about the throw and Henrikssen ended up going for it and beating him to it. As a centre back, unless it’s arriving somewhere unexpected you have to be first to it. To be fair to him, he’s far from the worst showing today but I’d rather have Wharton in there.

Could be a high point on this showing.

Ryan Hedges has lost the one yard of pace he previously had. And personally, I think McLoughlin has looked alright in the moments with low pressure but he’s entirely missing at set plays and the long throws. Doesn’t seem to like to win the first ball, which isn’t a good trait for a centre back.

Like Alebiosu’s application, but what is that weird step over technique about?

Fun game to take our minds off our situation for the season - join me in my game of “spot the foul throw.” Most are these days.

Yeah De Neve isn’t at the level.

De Neve looks like he’s either very nervous or miles off the level. Remains to be seen which one.

It’s the game before the season opener, so I’d have assumed this is the starting lineup to expect on Saturday. Even still, do we reckon De Neve will integrate with the way we play soon?

How does De Neve get a start ahead of Kargbo?

Scores don’t matter in pre-season, but looking abject does. We’ve a weak team if two absent starters drop us this far below the standard. Pasha no doubt chuckling his way to a second Aston Martin as a thank you bonus for saving the Raos more money, the scoundrel.

I like Tyjon and I hope he comes to great success for us and wherever he moves to next. He is not a viable replacement for Cantwell. We have looked much the poorer side so far. Nobody to knit play together in the middle. I happened to think De Neve isn’t much of a player, but I stand to be corrected and have never wanted to see anyone in blue and white do poorly. But I have the same kind of feeling about him as I did Telalovic. Seen little in the pre-season to convince otherwise. I think we’re three or four quality additions short of a mid-table squad.

You can see what everyone likes about Tyjon. Confident and intelligent. Young and a bit raw, but the talent is there. Wouldn’t mind him as backup for the 10 role at all. Montgomery doesn’t look like a kid anymore and Atcheson and Litherland look to have something about them as well.

I will say - I’m glad de Neve’s got a goal here as he’s otherwise looked like he has a lot of homework to do to get up to speed. Could be confidence or comfort, so the more it clicks for him the better. Would like to be seeing Kargbo second half as De Neve’s been out of position for tracking back successfully and doesn’t look like he fancies the press so much. We look fit but as everyone’s been saying, the extent of the press looks unsustainable.

I’ve always thought Portuguese sounds like a Spanish person speaking Russian, so you’re not alone.

Our previous head of consumer came into the club, initially as head of marketing. At 24. He had been a marketing manager at Bournemouth before that, having worked his way up from intern in 4 years. Immediately before his internship, he was working hospitality at a golf club. There will be hordes of applicants for the job. I’m genuinely considering applying myself (I’m not qualified) to see how stringent the process is.

Like everyone, I’m concerned/mortified thinking where the squad might be on 2nd September. But just like a car crash, the overwhelming feeling I’ve got is morbid curiosity. We have virtually no prize assets that can bring in significant cash, we very likely are living hand to mouth and we have a manager that stated he wanted most of the transfer business done by the first day of preseason. We have possibly the least-experienced staff (all the way through the club) we’ve ever had, to make it happen. Whatever we think is going to happen, I reckon what actually happens will be orders of magnitude more batshit.

Agreed, journalists finding a thread and pulling at it is exactly what we’ve needed.

I think physical toughness is a much more important attribute down here (general weakness in our squad for a long time now, as it happens) and there’s more emphasis on “protecting the players” in the top division. It basically nullifies his main weakness and turns it into a potentially exploitable benefit (being physically overwhelmed while shielding the ball to win free kicks in wide positions). He’s got a lot to learn and his pace without the ball is questionable but I can absolutely see him becoming a Premier League player.

A lot of people wrote Ayari off here and he’s made 32 appearances in the league this season Brighton. I think ACD has a lot of qualities that will serve him well at Premier League level, he’ll win a lot more fouls up there than he did with us and not be burdened with defensive work as much.

After the opener, the team looked like a dog that actually caught the car and didn’t know what to do with it. The only thing Cauley Woodrow is the answer to is a Luton pub quiz tiebreaker in about 15 years and yet he represented a sizeable part of the club’s earnestly-asserted “sizeable investment.” Dennis is a very modern footballer on a brief sojourn. He’ll be plying a trade of some form in the Middle Eastern novelty leagues before long. I actually like Kargbo’s application a lot but he’s very raw. Venkys Out Forever, no sleep ‘til Pune, Rudy gone soon, Suhail gone sooner.

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