KSC against dover

[mikefleet]

who did Chris Eather come on for?

 

anyone know, i got the first sub but not the second and did we use a third?

[Hempstead Gaz]

Let us not be too disheartened. Looking at the bigger picture, it appears the PASE boys aquitted themselves very well against a full and quite experienced Dover side.

We must encourage these lads in competitions like this, how else are we going to uncover the stars of the future. Is very difficult to blood them in Conference teams, at present they would be outmuscled and outclassed, and their opportunites do seem to be limited.

We now have a massive glut of league fixtures. with a depleted squad, players suspended, injured and ill, it made complete sense to play the 11 that did last night. A win would have been a bonus, but at the end of the day we did take a lot of positives from the game, and the first team players that sat it out got a well deserved rest before Friday and Monday.

[Slartibartfast]

I think you are being very generous C.G.

 

What actually happened was we treated the competition, Dover and our own fans with no respect at all last night.

 

If we wanted to give some of the pase boys some experience, and I am totally in favour of that, then we would have played one or two of them in a side with nine or ten first team players. What we did last night was to give Jay and Matt some experience of playing in the pase team, which I don't think either of them really needed.

 

Last night we surrendered our only chance of winning anything and of finishing the season on a high note in order to have our players fresh for the biggest match of the season...Northwich Victoria away. Which although it is a big game for the Vics in their effort to avoid relegation as far as we are concerned it could make all the difference between finishing fourteenth or fifteenth this season. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Some very good points! My thoughts exactly. I would be very interested to hear from Liam what his reasoning was behind the team selection. It appears that as a club our attitude to the Kent Senior Cup has changed since we entered the Conference and that while we still enter it annually in reality we couldn't really care less how we do in it. Defeats to the likes of Erith & Belvedere and Dover in the last 3 seasons when we have fielded under strengh sides devalues our contribution to a competition which we were formerly proud to win. In this respect we are like Arsenal in the League Cup. Do we really want to carry on like this in future? kmj.

[American FLEET FAN No1]

I think the KSC needs a serious backer to up the prize money to get Clubs interested again.

[Big J R]

Can't stand KSC's chicken. It's that bl**dy secret recipy that gets me ! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bootyshake.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Quote:

Last night we surrendered our only chance of winning anything and of finishing the season on a high note in order to have our players fresh for the biggest match of the season...Northwich Victoria away. Which although it is a big game for the Vics in their effort to avoid relegation as far as we are concerned it could make all the difference between finishing fourteenth or fifteenth this season. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

So you'd rather reach the KSC final than beat Northwich. I rather have the three points.

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

Normally I agree with almost all of what old Slati says....BUT on this occasion I think he's got it wrong. We aren't safe yet. Yes I know its really unlikely we will get relegated, but remember Southport?

 

Liam has now looked at some fringe players in a competetive match situation and it looks like we didnt do too bad. Yes the KSC is important to us as we remember how we used to have a go at better clubs than us when we were winning it a few years back, but things change and I would happily settle for a fit squad playing out the rest of the season guaranteed to be in the Conference next year as opposed to beating Margit again in a Cup Final. Despite the fact that beating them always leaves a good feeling!

 

Thinking back to the Bishps Stortford game, there were one or two established first teamers who didn't perform under pressure, I reckon Liam is quite justified in using his whole squad to see how they cope, before splashing out on new players in the close season.

 

Also, how did Luke Moore play? Is he as good as the club seems to think he is? His sister was my daughters best friend when I lived at Pepper Hill and helooked a real talent even when he was a nipper!

[Guest]

 

I think some of you are being a bit harsh on Dover here, the average age of our team was bumped up by Hydie (42) and Matty C (28) the majority of the rest were under 20 and this is there 1st stab at 1st team football. These were the lads that were disgracefully discarded by previous regimes and now are starting to show real signs of promise.

I'd like to take this chance to truely wish GNEFC the very best for the future and a good push for the rest of the season.

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

Well said Matey! I think I speak on behalf of all G&NFC supporters in wishing you a successful end to the season. You really are far too good a side to get relegated!

[Slartibartfast]

Quote:

Andy Y. (G&NFC) said:
Normally I agree with almost all of what old Slati says....BUT on this occasion I think he's got it wrong. We aren't safe yet. Yes I know its really unlikely we will get relegated, but remember Southport?

Leigh are 28 points behind us with 8 games to play.

Farnborough are 17 points behind us with 8 games to play and have just lost most of their players because they can't afford to pay them, they have just lost 5 matches in a row, 4 of their remaining matches are against play-off contenders, they have only won 5 out of 34 matches all season but in order to catch us they need to win 6 of their last 8 matches while we get lose 9 matches in a row.

Forest Green Rovers are 15 points behind us with 8 games to play, they haven't won a match since boxing day, they have Barnet plus 3 play-off contenders still to play, they have only won 5 out of 34 matches all season but in order to catch us they need to average 2 points a game from their last 8 matches while we lose 9 matches in a row.

If we win our last 9 matches on the bounce, which we won't, we would not get a play-off position.
If we lose our last 9 matches on the bounce, which we won't, we would not be caught by the bottom three teams.

We will finish either 14th, 15th or 16th.

[Harry J Allstars]

Quote:

Slartibartfast said:

Quote:

Andy Y. (G&NFC) said:
Normally I agree with almost all of what old Slati says....BUT on this occasion I think he's got it wrong. We aren't safe yet. Yes I know its really unlikely we will get relegated, but remember Southport?

Leigh are 28 points behind us with 8 games to play.

Farnborough are 17 points behind us with 8 games to play and have just lost most of their players because they can't afford to pay them, they have just lost 5 matches in a row, 4 of their remaining matches are against play-off contenders, they have only won 5 out of 34 matches all season but in order to catch us they need to win 6 of their last 8 matches while we get lose 9 matches in a row.

Forest Green Rovers are 15 points behind us with 8 games to play, they haven't won a match since boxing day, they have Barnet plus 3 play-off contenders still to play, they have only won 5 out of 34 matches all season but in order to catch us they need to average 2 points a game from their last 8 matches while we lose 9 matches in a row.

If we win our last 9 matches on the bounce, which we won't, we would not get a play-off position.
If we lose our last 9 matches on the bounce, which we won't, we would not be caught by the bottom three teams.

We will finish either 14th, 15th or 16th.

I fail to see your point Slarti.

[Slartibartfast]

Harry, there is more chance of me winning the lottery tonight than there is of us getting relegated this season.

[Harry J Allstars]

Quote:

Slartibartfast said:
Harry, there is more chance of me winning the lottery tonight than there is of us getting relegated this season.

I should have put a smiley after my previous thread. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Did anyone of our supporters on this board actually go last night? It would be nice to get the view of a Fleet supporter who was there.

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

My point is that I would sooner us win a few games with a fit(ish) that gives Liam an idea of who he should be retaining for next season, rather than risking injuries to key players who may or may not have contracts up for renewal at the end of the season.

 

While I personally would love to see us taking the KSC seriously, we have a tiny squad which needs to be used carefully. The PACE players could well be our future and I'm glad that they have been given a chance in competitive conditions.

 

Its an unusual situation and normally I would be as critical as you Slarti, but I think that it made good sense not to do anything too risky at the moment. The squad is tired, injured and suffering from suspensions and (I believe)illness. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that we have had PACE players on the bench several times this season.

 

In my opinion I thought it was a sensible thing to do.

[David Holden]

At the moment we have 14 fit players for Friday.

 

It would have been sheer madness to risk getting anymore injuries

[Stu M]

I see Slarti's point about silverware and understand his frustration that, safe as we are (and we are safe, whatever anyone says), we couldn't field a stronger team. But at the same time, I can't drum up the same enthusiasm about the KSC. Even if it is our only chance to win anything, to me it's a competition that's fine if you're in the final, and one that means absolutely jack sh!t if you're not.

 

The fact that the final is now midweek and, as Dave says above, that the FA don't even consider it a first-team game in terms of suspensions, means that the majority of fans (a) don't give a damn and ( aren't likely to turn up in their hundreds even if we fielded a stronger squad.

 

I just can't get THAT upset about it. We've bigger fish to fry, and I think it makes little difference to our season how well we do in this competition that is well past its sell-by-date.

[jc]

Quote:

Stu M said: We've bigger fish to fry

Like what? Admittedly, I'd be wary of feeling totally safe from relegation until it was a mathematical impossibility, but I see no reason why at least some first-teamers couldn't have played in both the Dover and Northwich matches. The fact is that the team was understrength in the extreme, with the only true first-teamers involved those who are not available against Northwich anyway.

People complain about how the KSC is pretty worthless now, but it's things like our team selection on Tuesday that serve to create this impression. I'm not saying that it's a massive competition, but it would have been nice to win something this year, and it needn't have been at the expense of the Northwich match either.

[Stu M]

I agree with you in as much as I feel we should have played some more first-teamers - certainly the likes of Pinnock, Deane, etc.

 

But I don't feel the same sense of outrage in the aftermath of bowing out of the competition, that's all. For me, the season effectively ended against Bishop's Stortford, and a KSC Final - while 'nice to have' - isn't something I'm going to regret for any longer than until the next league game.