Your realistic signings?

[bromleyboy1999]

Who would u like to see down the lane next season?
This would be my teams(? Means a new signing)

Julian(If we can get better great, if not Julian is fine with me)
? Swaine/?(cbs need competition) Holland Anderson
Ademola Prestedge ? Cook
Goldberg ?

We need to keep the spine and add quality in key areas, then we'll do fine!

[kev]

Ronaldo, Messi and Pele.

Let's enjoy the end of this season first eh?

brooommmmmmmmm!

[AlanPep]

Too soon, enjoy

[bromleyboy1999]

Sorry guys i like to plan early ? it's how I am.

[AlanPep]

Sober (now) reflection from me any you know what, I would keep what we have and worry about filling the gaps well have if we can't keep those on loan (Brad). Not sure where we are with Seb, Scannell etc but we'll need good cover everywhere. Great news is as I've said before, we have an extra week or two to get things sorted early

[Swaine's Ginger Cat]

I’m sure the management team will be sobering up & starting to plan next season. The advantage is that we can already offer Conf Prem football to any potential players from Conf South & the likes of Dartford & Welling if they don’t stay up. Though I suspect Ebbsfleet will be offering more than most Conf Prem sides anyway.

But before deciding who should & shouldn’t stay, we’re assuming that the management team are able to commit to national league football? And also the current players are also able to commit to possibly more & different training times & a Tuesday night game at Wrexham for example?

An interesting possibility is the 3G pitch rumour. If there’s any truth in it, that could be a big advantage in being able to play in the style that suits some of our players rather than the ball bobbling or sticking half the time.

[CB]

SGC - My firm understanding is that the 3G pitch is being laid next month.

[MottinghamRaven]

Apr 20, 2015 13:34:01 GMT CB said:

SGC - My firm understanding is that the 3G pitch is being laid next month.

Not sure how I feel about this - quite sad, as football should, in my opinion, always be played on grass. The smell when its damp etc etc.
But onwards and upwards I guess, and I can see why Conference National clubs, like ourselves ( ) and the leagues below are opting for it. Sensible option.

[col]

I heard the same thing at the Cray game yesterday. I hate 3G pitches, the game at Whyteleafe last July was a farce, but I am an old traditionalist and change marches on regardless.

[sue]

My understanding is that the work starts on the replacing grass with "plastic" 18th May.

[thechat]

The pitch at Maidstone when we travelled to watch Jack play for England C was 10 times better than the cheapo version seen Whyteleafe!

[simples]

Having played on the new 3G pitches at the club for the last couple of weeks with my fellow Ravens I can confirm that it's a truly excellent surface and has had no detrimental effects at all on my footballing ability - then again as they say 'you can't lose what you never had'! I know it's not your 'proper' grass of course, but it will definitely suit our style of play (that's the first team's, not us middle aged bunch) and will at least guarantee a consistent quality of surface every week for the whole season with no more unexpected bumps and bobbles.

[rich]

SGC makes a v good point re availability of players, distances to be travelled etc, you'd need an understanding boss. I guess it's easier for those who are self-employed, but as always in life, money comes into the equation and whether or not it's economically viable for some. I'd love to see the class of 2014/15 stay for the Conf Premier next season, they done us proud and seem like a great bunch but perhaps I'm a bit naiive .... I realise there may be comings and goings for various reasons. On another note I see Welling are taking it to the wire - I hope they stay up, as clapped out as their ground is I always kinda enjoy going there, plus of course it'd be a nice local away game as for the most part next term we'll be racking up the air miles so-to-speak

[mikeyh]

Heard that our 3g will be the latest & best avaliable so better than Maidstone which is fine from what ive been told .

[simples]

Taking players personal circumstances out of the equation for a minute and looking at it from a purely footballing point of view...

GK - we'll need a regular no.2 to push Jules next year so I wonder if that will be Seb. The coaching staff still have a lot of faith in his ability, he just needs to get his confidence back. I'm not so sure, so maybe we need to look at brining another experienced keeper to push Jules.

Defence - Sam Long looks like the answer at right back as long as he can get 100% fit, which would mean Ugo can be useful cover at RB & CB. He's got all the physical attributes needed, but I think another CB as cover, and to challenge the 2 legends at the back, preferably with a bit of pace about him, would be a priority. Joe hasn't been at his best this year but I've still got faith that he can do well at a level up, but we need to be looking at someone who can compete with him at LB to keep him on his toes.

Midfield - The flanks are definitely one of our strongest areas, with a fully fit PJD or Mo on the right, and Cookie with Louis as back up on the left, and don't forget Mitchell Pinnock who looks like a huge prospect (and can also play down the middle quite comfortably if required, according to the coaching team).
The central area concerns me a little bit, there's no lack of heart & commitment from Reece (my player of the year) and Ali, but there's definitely a lack of pace about them, so someone who can really cover the ground and support the front two would be right at the top of my list this summer. Danny of course will hopefully have a part to play as our ever reliable utility man and is the sort of person you can never write off.

Upfront -Brad and Slabs surely deserve a chance to start up top next season, with Mo able to fill in there if needed (for me he was far more effective as a central striker until Brad came back) but I think we need maybe a real quality target man with pace (sorry Ben May), who Brad or Mo can play off.

So really in my humble opinion there's not that many drastic changes required, more a case of 'suck it and see' and give this season's heroes a crack of the whip. I think there are some who will struggle at the next level, i.e. Ben, Callum, Paul Rodgers, Birch, so strength in depth could again be a problem, but they can hopefully address that during the course of the season if needed.

So really I think maybe 3-4 good signings will be enough to go into the season reasonably confident, as long as there are 4 teams worse than us next year that will do for me!

[mikeyh]

Fitness is key with any player ,dont think Ben has had luck with injuries but when he was good (Basingstoke & Ebbsfleet away games) he was very good ,worked hard hard & played a part in those wins .He is on a 2 year so should be about next season ,look at Slabber he was getting stick but once he got fit he did a great job . Agree would be nice if Sam Long was back .Lots of talking to be done with players soon i would imagine but if some are not with us next season they all played a part at some point & i thank them all .

[robinhood]

new strikers for starters, im afraid none we have at present are up to the next level, my big summer signing would be alan devonshire,

[goalsandstuff]

As great a manager Devonshire is I'm happy with Goldberg and I'm sure we're capable of a lower midtable finish. He might not always be the strongest tactician, but by and large his player recruitment has been excellent as he has fostered an great team spirit over the last couple of seasons. I'd imagine Devonshire will end up with Aldershot or somewhere with a higher budget than us in any case.

Pretty much agree with Simples assessment. If we can bring in 1 quality centre back, 1 centre mid and 1 decent striker (perhaps someone from Step 2 like Omar Bogle, Dave Tarpey, rather than some past it big wage Kedwell type!). Hopefully Seb will stay to keep some competition with Jules. The best signings in my eyes will just be keeping the current squad together. We have plenty of league/conference experience in our side and though sad to see the grass go the 3G pitch will hopefully give us a great chance of causing some memorable upsets at home.

[markc99]

I've never really been one of Mark Goldberg's most vehement supporters but surely he has deserved his chance to manage at this level If only for what he's achieved the last 2 years.

As for the squad, I'd agree that a couple of signings in some areas wouldn't go amiss but on the whole the players deserve their chance to show what they can do. We've seen in the past what effect wholesale changes to the squad have. A bad start next year where players are still gelling with each other and we could be as good as down by Christmas. I think the assessment on the strikers is a bit harsh. As Mike said, Slabber may not be the quickest but showed his quality in the final dozen games (11 goals I think?).


I'd agree with the assessment though that apart from the wings and Brad, we could do with a little more pace sometimes. But in defence of the options, I'd say you very rarely get a target man in non-league football with pace. If so they don't tend to stay in non-league for very long.

[AlanPep]

The Jamie Day piece has made me reflect back on this thread and whilst I'm the first to acknowledge that in higher leagues unless you buy once promoted you don't have much of a fighting chance, a fighting chance is exactly what I think we have with a settled squad and management team next season.

I've watched a fair bit of Conf Prem this year and have seen a few teams progress via Conf South over the years (Newport, KFC Norbiton, Welling, Dartmouth, Braintree, Salisbury, Eastleigh, Dover, Woking, Lewes, Eastbourne, Bath, Hayes etc etc), and I don't see too much to be concerned about and most promoted as champions have done ok.

I'm thinking (as far as I'm aware), we have in AJ and Seb 2 experienced keepers, in Sam L, Paul R, Joe A and Ugo more than decent full backs and cover, in Swainey, Jack, Callum and ABD we have class, experience and decent cover at the heart of the defence, in Danny, Reece, Ali and Scannell we have power, some pace, commitment and quality in the centre of the park, in Moses, Cookie, PJD and Les we have absolute pace, skill and ability on the flanks and with Scooby, Ben, hopefully Bradders and Adam B we have experience, a bit of bulk and some pace up front. Now this does assume all are fit, well prepared and firing on all cylinders, but there are also a few 'multi-taskers' in here if needed as we've all seen this season.

Now, will all be with us next season? who knows, for all the very good reasons in above posts including work commitments, pay etc etc BUT if and only if we started with this squad for the pre-season friendlies I certainly wouldn't be too unhappy, and add into the mix that they've played together, know each other, will know OUR new 3/4G pitch and WON together, then 2015/16 is but a short Cricket season away

Might I be a using my rose tinted glasses to type this, yes maybe . . . but I'd take our squad right now over whoever comes up with us from Vanarama North and South via the play-offs.

[kev]

Apr 20, 2015 16:19:14 GMT col said:

I heard the same thing at the Cray game yesterday. I hate 3G pitches, the game at Whyteleafe last July was a farce, but I am an old traditionalist and change marches on regardless.

Pretty much all the games over here are played on 4G pitches - and having watched games at least half a dozen different 4G grounds I have to say there appears no difference whatsoever to playing on grass than on these new well maintained surfaces. The benefits far outweigh any reservations. Games simply don't get postponed, and passing football throughout the year as the pitches never get heavy.

[markc99]

Something to remember for next year is that we are now restricted by the Transfer Window for contracted players.

So there may not be the same kind of turnover of players as there has been previously.

[tapintommy]

I think we a few players in every position just so we have depth because 46 games + games and a squad of less than 18/19 is a recipe for disaster.

Gk- Julian needs some backup and depending on sebs situation . I think grays athletics keeper Conor gough looked good and would be quite cheap I presume

Defence - long-swaine-Holland-Anderson is a solid back 4 but we need a second back 4 for cover udoji-mcnaughton-cb-lb maybe Dean Inman from Hayes looked good and a lb who has played at a high level

Midfield - pjd/Ademola-Reece/Danny/Ali-cook/Dennis
I think all we need is again a expierenced midfielder to help the rest of them

Forwards- slabber and Ben may would be good cover but I'm not sure if they could perform week in week out at that level. I'm sure we will try to bring Bradley back and personally I think Jamie white would be a good signing although he was at sutton and farnbourough he was one of the reasons sailsbury went up and with the right team around him he could do well

[crouchm]

Dean Inman from Hayes was outstanding both times I saw him this season. Great footballer.

[col]

Tom Bolarinwa from Cray, a quality player with pace, touch and an eye for goal. Easily up the the higher level.

[pjw]

It seems the decision to replace the pitch will be purely a financial one, our pitch this year at times was dreadful but them any pitch would be with the amount of games played on it. There is a lot of misconceptions about these pitches, Kev above says that he has seen half a dozen games on 4g pitches, but they do not even exist yet, 3g is the newest version, Whytleafe's is a 3g as is Maidstone but people think Maidstone's is a 4g, its not. This is an article on the net "4G Grass Football Pitch Sports Surface Synthetic Turf Carpet is a great marketing tool. At present there is no such thing as a 4G 4th generation sports surface even though the website is flooded with 4G synthetic turf then this actually is from old designs offering non infill products back in the 80s so some could argue it is actually a 1g system. It is a marketing way of saying one company’s product is more advanced than another, with no proof or difference in performance or concept." I personally like grass but for half the season we played on cut up mud, to me its simple you either just let the first team play on grass and lose the money other teams play or you have to get a pitch that can take the punishment and go for a 3g.
With regards to players a lot of the team will have a hard choice to make, can they afford or commit to the extra time the premier league will take.

[Vic]

Have to agree with Col. Tom is an exciting prospect. If he isn't snapped up by a club playing at a higher level I'll be very surprised. He could end up following Tom Warrilow to his next club.

[Faster Than Snakes]

Apr 22, 2015 13:36:13 GMT tapintommy said:

Midfield - Ademola-Reece/Danny/Ali-cook/Dennis
I think all we need is again a expierenced midfielder to help the rest of them

What no PJD?

[will]

I see Palace have just released a handful of players from their development team, including Kyle Da Silva and Ghassimu Sow who have both been in the first team squad in the past couple of years. Both are good enough for the football league, but you never know, we've proven ourselves in recent times to be a good place for players with potential to make it into the pro game

[tapintommy]

Apr 22, 2015 22:18:10 GMT Faster Than Snakes said:

Apr 22, 2015 13:36:13 GMT tapintommy said:

Midfield - Ademola-Reece/Danny/Ali-cook/Dennis
I think all we need is again a expierenced midfielder to help the rest of them

What no PJD?

Have changed it