" DJ's views on a Reserve Team . "

Dan, Ok the 2% must be right.

But I totally Disagree with them.

The other week, we had Bellamy, Chopra, Drinkwater and Oli, all out with injuries, some of which were long term. If you look at the players we had to come off the bench against Ipswich and Leicester, you should notice that we had very little in the way of quality, to bring on and make any sort of impact!

As well as the players missing with injuries, there weren't too many others left out of the squad, which then leaves us with only the Academy players to come in, who have their own training and league to play in as well! We would need to increase the size of our squad drastically in my opinion, to be able to fulfill a reserve league fixture list and with the current financial climate, I would prefer that DJ spent any money available to him in January, to bring in a couple of quality signings and not a lot of lesser players, merely to play reserve team football!

Personally, I don't think that playing reserve team games will change their level of ability, unless you are playing in a quality reserve league, which doesn't appear to be available to us, unless (when ) we reach the Premiership!

you took the words right out of my mouth, coudnt agree more

The other week, we had Bellamy, Chopra, Drinkwater and Oli, all out with injuries, some of which were long term. If you look at the players we had to come off the bench against Ipswich and Leicester, you should notice that we had very little in the way of quality, to bring on and make any sort of impact!

As well as the players missing with injuries, there weren't too many others left out of the squad, which then leaves us with only the Academy players to come in, who have their own training and league to play in as well! We would need to increase the size of our squad drastically in my opinion, to be able to fulfill a reserve league fixture list and with the current financial climate, I would prefer that DJ spent any money available to him in January, to bring in a couple of quality signings and not a lot of lesser players, merely to play reserve team football!

Personally, I don't think that playing reserve team games will change their level of ability, unless you are playing in a quality reserve league, which doesn't appear to be available to us, unless (when ) we reach the Premiership!

you took the words right out of my mouth, coudnt agree more

But its about keeping and getting players Fit, which we Fail to do

Hi Keith,

Well that Answers everything, If its a Requirement then it must be good for football clubs and not cause injuries to your own team.

How does that answer everything? The counter argument is, the regulatory bodies below the Premier League don't enforce a Reserve league because they don't believe its necessarily a good thing.

If we enter a reserve league, I believe we are pooled with the likes of Exeter, Bristol and Yeovil. If we want a friendly with these teams then we can get that arrange quite easily, as proved a few weeks back.

I saw a lot of Reserve Football during the beginning of DJ's reign and it was shit. They'd have been just as good playing a training match between themselves, it was that bad. There are two many matches in our main league to fanny about in a reserve league against lower league journeymen and youngsters, who often kicked lumps out of players and would mean they end up missing proper games.

There are benefits of a Reserve League and I agree with it in principle, but I would steer well clear until we are in the Premier League. At this stage I believe we would have access to more respected opponents, aswell as having a larger squad who could cope with it.

It does not matter if its Shit, it gets Our Squad Fit, 98% of Football League Clubs have a RESERVE TEAM, ARE THEY ALL WRONG ?

I don`t know how many Football League teams have a reserve team who play in a league , but it will be nowhere near 98% - I would doubt if the figure is even over 50%. Some don`t do it for the same reason as Dave Jones and some simply because they can`t afford a reserve team.

Keith even Bury,Rochdale and Oldham have

Dan, Ok the 2% must be right.

But I totally Disagree with them.

Where did I say the 2% were right?

Don't you have any opinion on;

- the fact last time we played in a league system, a number of players got injured?

- we have the ability to arrange friendlies whenever we want, so why does that need to change. If we wanted a friendly every week we could get a friendly every week. The fact is, we don't! We'd be made to play games that weren't appropriate.

- the fact that I've seen plenty of reserve league football and I compare it to training matches in terms of standard.. So why do we want to sign up for it.

- if it was so vital why isn't it forced like in the premier league?

PS, I'm going out now so don't anticipate an immediate response.

Its up to DJ , he has made the decision and it hasn't hindered us and there aren't stories of players getting injured apart from during games that often , so DJ is justified in his decision.

You are really scraping the barrel to find something negative to talk about here guys

See my previous post here:-

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22606&hilit=+reserve#p214473

The reasons I mentioned there were pretty much taken from an interview with Dave Jones on Cardiff City Player. I think the interview was around about the time of the reserve team game against Llanelli. These were the reasons he gave on camera then.

Another good Debate. Cheers Martyn