We were discussing on this forum the value of pre-season friendlies, I was rigid in my belief that winning games however meaningless at the time developed good habits within the dressing room . Last season our bad habits were planted early , with a poor pre-season , yet remarkably we had a good start in the league until !!!! The inter-toto is the best thing that the club have done for years in terms of preparation in my opinion , in other friendlies if teams are losing to say inferior oppossition the manager will throw on a flotilla of subs which derives the game of any pattern , it also takes away the amount of time required to develop systems, merge with your fellow players, all in my eyes to save a manager face , I am slightly disapointed that after reading Toon have squad of 40 players Bobby did not alter the team at the edges apart from Lee, can Caldwell play alongside Dabs?, I know what Wozza can do, lets give Griff a run out, Goalkeepers are prime example , Apart from that , no complaints from this happy bunny , money is coming into the club , Robert is a good player, sell Dyer for 20mill , buy David Fernadez for 1 mill , get Cort/Shearer fit, you never know , the back door brigade may be in business , the motto for the team , Application brings rewards/

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Answers

Altogether People, 1.2.3. N.E.W.C.A.S.S.E.L.L.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

tHIS IS BUGGING ME - Every Argentinian player I read about, hear about know about, they have all played for Boca Juniors !!!!!!!!!!true

Swift, You never told us about David Fernandez , you will be replaced as our man in Spain by Tre our Ozzie Ace Spotter of young Talent or should that be Gav ! Brought over last year from Spain by Archibald signed by Livingstone , 19 ex Barca?, see what you can find Swift

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

I worry about you, buff...

...is that optimism i detect in your voice....? ;)

total agreement - best pre-season prep for years. After witnessing the shambles that was Reading in 99 this is a HUGE step forward. Playing with purpose and belief can only instill the kind of habit you want: a winning one. And hopefully everyone at the club will have learnt the mistakes of last year: failing to strengthen the squad DURING the season and keep things fresh, keep players on their toes, keep things positive.

I'm trying my best to keep my blind faith in check and play things down but it's important to give credit where it's due as much as it is to criticise and this [could be] a great step in the right direction...

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Haway Min. The best player ever to don the black and white played in the Reading 99 match. One Ruud Gullit. It was worth the traffic fiasco and the 2-2 result just to see him play the second half. And to laugh at Des Hamilton's positional play in the centre of midfield.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

You may an excellent point, Buff. I still think there must be value in more standard preseason prep, but apparently our bunch don't respond well to it. They don't take it seriously enough and needed competitive matches to convince them to raise there game. If winning really does become a habit, this could be a decent season. Arrgh....now I"m getting all optimistic again.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Good optimism folks..... the only way that you will find out that this has been a good pre-season is circa. November to February......

as always....

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

sorry about that buff, it won't happen again. That Rivaldio's a canny player mind :-)

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

Roly, as with all the mackems who aren't bothered about the intertoto yet seem to have plenty to say about it, you're trawling out the old wait 'til November routine. What you and your red and white mates seem to be forgetting is that we're doing well in this competition despite most of our first team being absent (Shearer, Dyer, Acuna, O'Brien, Lee, Cort and now Robert), these boys can hardly be burning themselves out if they're not playing. Congratulations on your successful West Country tour by the way - you seem invincible, maybe you've found your level.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

DSS... I think you'll find that that is my first ever (possibly second) posting on the interwobbob..... personally I hope you win it and personally if you have great success in the UEFA and acheive all that makes you happy....whilst as a mackem it would grind and grate a bit there are more important things in life to get steamed up about....

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

Makem Wishes Mags Luck - Shock Exclusive! Pics!

Is that Pestilence or Famine riding round the corner?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

i dont know what came over me there.... i rescind it all..... just trying to lull you into a false sense of security.....

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

Despite our two main strikers out, and a key midfielder a provider of goals out, we have managed to score 11 goals in 4 games against international opposition, with 7 different players getting on the score sheet. There's room for improvement and we would be stupid to assume at this stage that everything was perfect, but to me the above indicates a healthy team balance. If I were the opposition I would be very concerned about our obvious ability to score, and from any area. Not easy to defend against, although for me there's been a lot of reliance on Solano and the interplay around him. Robert and Dyer in the wings means that there's not a real concern medium term, but I expect Troyes to single him out.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

i reckon some defenders will want to stand on Roberts dexturous left foot when he plays. Petit anyone?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

Buff, I remember you expressing concerns about our pre-season when Gullit was still here and, as it turned out, you were dead right.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

The horror that was pre-season two years ago when we toured Livingston, Dundee United and Celtic and lost poorly to them all still haunts me.

Last night was essentially just a pre-season friendly with a big plus if we won it. It was the best pre-season friendly performance I've ever seen. The best part was that we looked sharper than last week, and we've still two weeks to go to the season start. Only Robert Lee looked totally knackered but that's to be expected.

I'm not sure what can be learned from the Intertoto though as next year we'll be be in the Champions League and won't have the option of being in it ?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

AND

Sunderland have had two Premiership seasons where they'be been top 3 (ish) at Xmas and finished 7th, clearly bad pre-season caused that :0)

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001

ooooooohhhh hark at her....

ouch oofff

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001