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slay1373 wrote:No Craig either?

Apparantly picked up a foot injury against Exeter.

0-1 etherington

1-0 Stoke, not deserved particularly, and the bloke who got the final touch was miles offside.

Reasonable game and we are playing some really nice stuff.

Matt.

1-1, Bodin.

Great strike apparently.

my live score app says Downes og for their goal?

1-1 Full Time. Good result against a first choice Stoke side.

I know friendlies mean nothing but of the latest Devon friendlies:
Argyle 0 Birmingham 5
Exeter 2 Millwall 3
Torquay 1 Stoke 1

That was also a very stong Stoke side - likely to be very close to the one that kicks off their first match.

Draw your own conclusions but to say the Argyle fans are concerned is an understatement!

PSF's mean nothing but we have just held a team full of Prem stars to a draw. Very very pleased tonight. Well done Martin and the lads AND the fans who made it down there tonight.

austrianandygull wrote:PSF's mean nothing but we have just held a team full of Prem stars to a draw. Very very pleased tonight. Well done Martin and the lads AND the fans who made it down there tonight.

I know they don't mean much, but it's making it look like we could have a good season, some very good PSFs and Stoke was very impressive!

I meant in terms of the outcome ollie. The performances sound very encouraging indeed and yes, it looks like we could be in for a cracking season.

Excellent game. Crouch and Etherington were the standouts for Stoke, Bodin was the pick of our lot, fantastic finish too. Special mention to Thompson and Macklin, both looked very sharp.

One slight black mark of the Bench - sort the sound system out as its impossible to understand what's being said!

Went to see you again tonight (this is starting to get serious!) and whilst you can't infer too much from a friendly, you look very strong going forward and more than held your own against an admittedly pedestrian Stoke side. I reaffirm my view that you will be pushing towards the top - you have enough players that have something about them.

Shame that I shan't be in the away end on the 21st, but it will be a great encounter. Good luck up until then!

An excellent display, matching a physical Stoke side. Stoke played some nice stuff in the first half, Peter Crouch looked a constant threat and they looked half the side without him in the second half. Palacios and Whelan dominated the midfield for large periods against Morris and Lathrope, I thought we looked a lot better in the second half with Easton in there.

Second half, we really upped our game and played by far the nicer football,our younger players showed absolutely no fear against Premier League opposition and overall there are so many positives to take from tonight. You really wouldn't know which team played in which league.

Downes was outstanding, from the bench you can really hear the players more than pitch-level on the popside, Downes was commanding all game and alongside Saah, excellent again, look like they will form a formidable partnership. Oastler managed 90 minutes and cruised it, very assured,and equally adept when covering at left-back following the unfortunate injury to Tom Cruise in the second half.

Mansell looked so comfortable playing against premiership opposition,apart from one or two stray hollywood balls, he absolutely bossed it, and his set-piece delivery was dangerous too. Billy was a revelation in the attacking midfield role, a box of tricks and a constant menace, 70k well spent because he is too good for this division. His goal was top class, jinked inside a couple of Stoke lads before arrowing his strike like a bullet low into the corner from 20-odd yards. He should replace Eunan.

Because he is nigh-on undroppable, I really hope Bodin keeps on at his close friend Macklin to keep putting the effort in and making a place in the first team his own. Macklin didn't get the chance to stretch his legs against a full-back tonight, but his delivery from standing position was a constant threat, his control was very good and he oozes confidence, most important of all he is putting so much more effort in. On the opposite wing Danny put in a very good 70 minutes, he played within his limits and kept it simple instead of running down blind alleyways, some of his link up play was very good.

Upfront, Rene looks leaner, faster, stronger. He chased a couple of lost causes and gave Matt Upson a torrid time. If we can wrap him up in cotton wall and maximise his pitch-time then he should score 20 goals next season easily. His link-up continues to be a constant source of pressure too. A little cameo for Thomspon too, who, once again, played without fear and looks to be a really strong wild card option to have on the bench.

A rather nervy display from the triallist I thought, may be worth giving him another outing at WSM but as it stands I don't think he possesses anything that Mckenzie couldn't give us. In saying that we didn't look in too much danger during the time he spent on the pitch, but maybe due to luck rather than judgement.

Still looking for more from Poke (once again looked nervy and indecisive) Lathrope, Morris and Jarvis. Still back them all to come good. As it stands though my XI for Fleetwood has changed once again on tonight's performance.
Poke, Oastler, Downes, Saah, Nico, Mansell, Lathrope, Bodin, Macklin, Stevens, Howe.

Sat at the back of the Bench tonight and it offers an excellent view of the game. Noise from the pitch, the popside and the away end is very audible. Experience slightly ruined by a family of Danish Stoke fans who spent the entire 90 minutes worshipping Thomas Sorensen, and then lambasting his replacement Begovid (presumably for not being Thomas Sorenesen) they didn't seem too interested by anything else. Bizarre.

As I say the view is excellent and feet room is excellent, and i know how impressive it looks from the popside, it's the perfect stand for our ground. 2 quibbles though, you can not hear the P.A at all, and it took at least 10 minutes to empty the stand at full-time. An oversight I think that there is only one exit for the entire stand (one which is shared with the family stand) in times of high attendance it is going to be real problem.

See you all on the popside against Leicester, I think we are in excellent shape and I remain very confident about this season.

Didn't mention Yeoman, I think he looks a real prospect and should be given more pitch time this season, am unsure where his best position is just yet but he looks strong, calm, direct and confident. Unlucky not to score with an effort from 25 yards. Definitely worthy of a place in our squad.

The Danish aren't a family, they're here on a cultural exchange and go home tomorrow (and happen to be bloody nice people).

Disagree also about Morris, who was good tonight, had one of his better games for us. Special mention also for Danny, Macklin and Oastler who were all exceptionally good. JOastler will one day soon be heralded as the best right back in the division.
Others who did their jobs were Manse, Bodin and Saahsy.
The rest were just fine or not on for long enough to warrant mention. Its nice to see that we have such a deep squad now. Continue to play in that manner and we will certainly do incredibly well this season.
Make no mistake, Stoke were here to win this game and they weren't able to because we defended resolutely and played some excellent attacking football.

Saw Crouch after the game and he looked pretty tired, he knew he'd been in a game alright.

Matt.