I have seen three of the four pre season games apart from the Orient debacle. We have to remember this is an entirely new squad. Most clubs keep at 7 or 8 of their squad from the previous campaign...we kept none! That is not a criticism but a fact. It's going to take a couple of months before we see what this group can do, some of them will make the step up and some won't. Pre season is as much about who is not up to it as much as it is about those that can make the step up. If that means more adjustments to the squad then so be it.
I am concerned about us defensively so far and my main concern is that we don't appear to be learning from our mistakes. We look like a very small team physically and I fear we will get bullied in some games...
That's why we all need some patience. Let's stop the bleeding of recent seasons, get behind the management team and the players and stick with them if things aren't perfect at the start of the season,
Up the Wings!
-- Edited by Wingnut 2 on Wednesday 23rd of July 2025 10:27:33 AM
Wish we had a like button as well said Gavin. I feel they will gel but I dont expect a miracle to happen overnight. Remember back just over a decade when we were rubbish pre season then went on to set a NLS record and won the league.
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We also need to accept that some of the players will not be identified as not good enough. Therefore there is going to be some player movement. That doesn't mean that it will be a revolving door policy as, with a whole new squad, there will be 'hits' and 'misses' as David Jacobs might have said.
Patience is a virtue for sure, but at face value the manager has a gargantuan task on his hands. Even at elite level i.e. Premier League, if one looks at the success rates of novice managers its incredibly low, and that risk is heightened if the club's off pitch affairs aren't stable. I took a particular interest in the stat when Arteta was appointed Arsenal manager (as that is my league team) and was shocked (or maybe not) when I saw the quick fall out rate of the youngest managers appointed at that level......there were very few managers who made it beyond a year, some failing much sooner. That isn't being doom and gloom, its a mere statement of fact. Even in Arteta's case many would argue that closed stadiums during COVID, and 800m in investment since, saved his skin when Arsenal were sat 15th in the PL at one stage in lockdown
Lee Martin has inherited a situation where not one single player from last year has been retained - for any manager that is a task of enormous proportions. Whilst I wouldn't hold a candle to many from last season there were players like Reece Lovett and a couple of others who would have been beneficial to keep. I appreciate because of relegation that hasn't been possible - so again I say it not as a criticism of anyone, but he has inherited a set of circumstances that make the job probably the hardest it has been for any Welling manager certainly in my memory of watching the club which goes back to the late 80s.
My fear for him is whether he will get the time and patience given the circumstances. With all due respect to be starting with 4 trialists, and bringing trialists F and G off the bench, a fortnight or less from the start of the season isn't ideal at all. I think we will start the season in a very tough place and its a case of how low will it be allowed to go. I mention the elite level Arteta comparison because owners of the club now might say it was worth all the flak coming their way to stick with the manager when they were 15th (and even now there are doubters). It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the team in the relegation places or hovvering just above them in early weeks. Again - not doom and gloom - I'm a very evidenced based person and from what I see and have observed with young novice managers in the past, let alone in these circumstances, I think people need to strap themselves in for a bumpy ride
The Jamie Day comparisons which have been used understandably by those with glass half full are ok to a point, but for every one of him there are dozens of other examples who fell by the wayside (close to home look no further than Jody Brown or Loui Faz) and I would also say that the Welling of the early 10s was a much more settled ship than it is today
I wish the bloke all the very best I really do because this is a mammoth task. Personally I felt the circumstances surrounding the club might have warranted an experienced Isthmian League manager being given an opportunity, but also appreciate everyone has to start their career somewhere and I can only hope he's more Day, and less Brown !
I can't really do pre-season btw - never really have done. Just watching trialists and multiple changes made without any competitive edge just isn't a spectacle to me. I totally understand why it has to be done and is a necessary evil in football, but as a spectator I don't enjoy it. Hope to be there at Cheshunt when the real stuff starts
-- Edited by Treacle on Tuesday 29th of July 2025 12:43:09 PM
