Bath here on Tuesday

[Shepperton Supporter]

The point about going full time with younger players might be valid. We have already gone to a hybrid training system and this will continue.
About now there are several players with league clubs who have been informed they will not be retained. Think last season we did have trials for them and this might happen now.
Agree about Wishart, he has been our best left back, but for some reason , which you might have highlighted has dropped down the pecking order. Inman agree is still good, Greyer has been by far the best loan and has adequately covered for him. We might get some clarity on this situation soon.

[Josh2002]

If Jake Gray was not our captain he would have been dropped by now, been notably poor for a while. How Deadfield played the full game last night was beyond me, and taking Hunt off for Dunne was a baffling choice, when the latter is a massive liability for me. The constant chopping and changing of including players in the squad can’t be doing morale or confidence any good, as was mentioned before, why recall Whittingham just to not include him in the squad?

[Lord Elpus]

Got home at 1.15 to Cheshire from my annual visit.For the 3rd season in a row I didn't see us score a goal.As others have said why play 3 defenders out of position.Mel seems to keep changing the centre backs,but keeps playing Donaldson,Gray and Deadfield when we have hardly any goals all season that weren't from set pieces.I definitely didn't get the straight long balls all game aimed at Seymour.They were either headed clear,went out for a goal kick or to the goalie.If you are playing the long ball surely you should aim them at Bloomfield.I think Farnborough will finish above as they are on a great run at the moment.Didn't see either brother walking around.Have they disappeared since the results have gone poor?Anyone know if we are meant to be getting a plastic pitch or not in the summer?Finally didn't see Robbie Brownett there last night either

Regarding the whereabouts of Robbie Brownett I think he finds it more difficult to attend games now, slthough he does seem attend occasionally.

[Tony]

The younger player full time model is the one so successfully deployed this season at Eastbourne.

[Tony]

The cost of 3Gs has gone up massively from when we first looked at the possibility. I would argue there are better things to spend the money now on but does leave open the question of how the funding shortfall will be met. Shareholders would be the only answer I can think of.

I can understand this point. We are not in a position to see how the budget was constructed for this, but what was the breakdown between income and cost savings and thus the break even figure.

Before the takeover the club were looking to finance the 3G so the cost savings plus new hire income had to service the debt interest and repayments. But that was before the massive increase in borrowing costs so this would have made the project much more difficult to reach breakeven or indeed secure financing. The new owners were going to equity fund the 3G so debt costs no longer an issue but with construction costs inflating rapidly over the last year or so, the return on investment equation will be less attractive. This all assumes we can get the hours usage needed and no idea where that currently stands. If the 3G is still going ahead then it will need to start pretty quickly after the end of the season so we should hear something more definitive in the next few weeks.

[Mucky knees]

Does the club employ a scout to look for prospective players from other clubs?

MK

[Josh2002]

Thomas Garcia on his twitter lists himself as “Head of Recruitment/Special Projects”

[Mucky knees]

Yes and what's the name of the groundsman? The previous one was Richard Curtis...

MK

[Josh2002]

I thought you were talking about scouts, not groundsmen?

[TW10]

Copied from Tom Garvia’s linkedin page.,

I’m pleased to announce that Hampton & Richmond FC have concluded our annual showcase for released academy players to join our full time first team squad for the 24/25 season, I wanted to thank all respective parties for attending and showing your talent.

Parents/Agents/Consultants/Friends. It was a pleasure meeting those I did get to, when I had a quick minute spare. (apologies to those I didn’t get a chance to talk to) Thank you all for being easygoing during the day/afternoon as well as respectful of the rules,other players and staff who attended.


Over the next coming days/weeks, we will be reviewing the footage and analyzing the players to find which out of the 30+ players who attended, who we believe is most compatible with our project here as well as our environment/culture and we have to make sure the player (s) and all parties are comfortable with us furthering their development in their footballing careers in the near future.

Many thanks and looking forward to next years showcase

[EastTerracer]

If Jake Gray was not our captain he would have been dropped by now, been notably poor for a while. How Deadfield played the full game last night was beyond me, and taking Hunt off for Dunne was a baffling choice, when the latter is a massive liability for me.

I'm not a fan of Deadfield in any game let alone one we need to win. Loses possession far too often. I agree Jake Gray has not been at his best either.

I can only assume Hunt is not deemed able to play a full game whilst he returns from injury.

[Shepperton Supporter]

The post about trials seems to confirm they have taken place.
Tony’s point about Eastbourne is very valid, there are so many young players coming through the system at various ages and they are released. History tells us that some players are missed and return to a higher grade of football successfully. Jamie Vardy is an example.
Hopefully we might find one player from these trial that we can sign.

Ref Hunt, he missed much of last season when he was at Slough through injury, ended up being released.
As for Gray and Deadfield, they have been regular in our midfield over a number of years, if hopefully the midfield is upgraded in the summer then they might not be automatic first choice, if so, I would not play both together but would retain them in the squad.