local players and outsiders

[townie]

well come on then lets have a good discussion about the above
as a town supporter i see it this way

if the local players are not good enough and over the last years town have only finished in the bottom half - the club needs new players from outside to take them up the league - at present town have a good side and if results go well on Saturday town could be sitting 3rd in the league - surely this position is what all town followers would want
i understand local players bring in more supporters but a club who is doing well in the top 3 should attract more local support we will see
if you only play local players to gain more supporters but not going up the league then you are running a social club for local players to play and have a drink but not progressing

i think you only have to look at st neots to see that the club has gone up the leagues and i don't think there is any players from st neots itself - so whats the difference ?

yes godmanchester may now have all the local lads but will they progress up if they only stick to local players ? - gates will improve but you are then just running a social club for local players if thats what the club wants fine but i feel huntingdon deserves better

the other point is that if Paul swannell was to leave at some time the players will go with him as at godmanchester but then as st neots have done you get another manager with good contacts in the game like paul swannell and carry on from there

last years huntingdon team was run by a manager who's son played and an assistant who's son also played - that is not good for any club if you want a fair team picked each week - iam not saying these players are not good enough but it puts great pressure on these lads in the eyes of the other players
town have a very good reserve manager in Ricky and all the players are huntingon based and are young and will get there chance in the 1st team in the next few years as have st neots in there reserves
but the 1st team is the team that will get the club up in the prem not the reserves so the 1st team needs to be players from far and wide as at st neots and potton

i have been watching town for over 15 years now and yes i agree the committee have taken a gamble but lets see what happens and judge them over the season

[Chris Benton]

I tend to agree with Townie in some respects.
Of course it would be great to have a team full of local players and do well in the league but its just not going to happen. But it doesnt have to mean that the gates go down and there is a very good example of this.
Lets take Wellingborough 2004- im not that familiar with their players but im prepared to stick my neck out and say that not many of their players are from Wellingborough. That said, they get huge gates at their games, considering the league which they play in!
It just goes to show that if there is a succesful side at Huntingdon, I think the gates will begin to reflect it. I for one will be making more than one trip to Jubilee Park this season.

[alceste]

townie, its easy to have a debate, if the club is to go somewhere, then the set up is brilliant, none of the players (except foreman and moran) stepped up to the challenge and stayed, town will do well because the board is ruthless. a team full of locals will only take you so far, long term this is excellent for town

[townie]

hi chris are you still playing at needingworth - good keeper in my eyes any chance of you ever coming back to town we need a good keeper in the ressies

[Chris Benton]

Townie- im sure I would know who you are but you may want to be anonymous- hi anyway.
Im not playing this season at the moment, work and university commitments have not allowed it and as it stands having the season off. I enjoyed my time at Huntingdon, and im sure that you are fully aware of the reasons for me leaving, and of course I would love to play there again some day.

[townie]

chris you are always welcome

[guest]

It was good to see that tom moran was signing for st neots last night, he went back to town and found out they are going nowhere, ( thats what he himself said) thats not swannells fault as its easy to see that his record of 5 victories in 27 attempts for march makes him the right man to take the club somewhere.
so far this season iv'e seen, town st ives goddy, st neots and somersham. st ives got about 6 locals, goddy 11, st neots 7, somersham 9, so swannells policy of not playing locals is helping all the local teams.
who will be the reserve manager? as i understand that ricky is holding it together for two more wekks.

[Chris Benton]

Feel free to shoot me down, but isn't it fair to say that despite all of the good things happening at St Neots off the field- the results are not going so well? What is the ambition of St Neots for this season? Is there not the possibility that the two teams could be playing against each other next season then? In one legue or the other. As i said, shoot me down if appropriate but im just an observer. Also, I need some clarity- what exactly do you constitute as a 'local' player?

[guest]

St neots are moving to a new ground next year, a club of st neots caliber will not struggle for long I'm sure st neots will be the talk of the county again come the end of the season.

[guest]

locals and outsiders? did you watch the game at the weekend. Billy Tumelty gave his all in that macth, best player on the pitch, and from what ive heard hes been one of the best players all year. anyone disagree?? even the goody players said he was a different class. He's the sort of player we want playing for town. Get of the new boys back and start supporting them.

[stivian]

we have 3 players that travel, one from bar hill, yaxley and peterborough. Other than that all local, including some hdon lads.
having said that, if we were top and playing good football, i wouldnt care if they all travelled from mongolia each week.

[alceste the terrible]

st ivian has nailed it, its about the club doing well, being ruthless is part of getting forward, i ve said it before and i will qustion it again, why did the huntingdon lads all dispband? why did they not stay and push new newcomers out? the answer is simple, they didnt like being challenged and they bttled it and went for the easy option of moving where their mates were, am i wrong? please discuss

[guest]

the old players new that the quality of the new ones would be high and where frightend to stay and fight for a plcae. Town where poor today. why did the team cahnge so much. where was the defnce from the last game?

[over the bridge]

alceste, you are completely wrong, the team disbanded because they believed that the chairman was wrong in getting rid of gary, to stay was to back the chairman, to go was to support gary

[player]

over the bridge is spot on, alceste u are wrong! the players didnt and still dont agree wot the chairman done last season, it wasnt a case of not fighting fot placed it was more of support