26/27 Squad

[Edge]

final one tonight

1874 Northwich are thrilled to announce the signing of right sided defender Joe Blake!

Joe, only 18 with bags of potential, joins 1874 after leaving Preston North End in the summer. He spent last season with a spell at Longridge Town in the NWC Premier Division on loan.

 

[Tez]

Good to have Ellis and Mike back two very good signings, hopefully Lucas and Ebou settle in well and can help us in what is going to be a difficult season

But, what if it isn’t quite as difficult as we thought It’s not going to be easy I’ll concede that, but maybe, just maybe, Rory has assembled a squad with enough about them to stay above (okay maybe that will still be hovering) the drop zone Just a thought

 

[Edge]

And also

The club would also like to announce the signing of striker David Ndene and right-sided player Kaylan Wilkinson!

Both are joining Winsford United on dual-registration

 

[Badger]

Squad looks healthy, competition for places is always a good thing. I counted 24 players have signed up for the season ahead, plus the two lads who are dual registered with Winsford, making it 26 (Wow)! It will be very interesting to see who Rory considers, as his strongest XI.

 

[Nicki]

I doubt we’ll keep them all happy but a few look to be youngsters and may be providing a bit of squad cover. We seem to have plenty of defensive options which hasn’t always been the case. Looking forward to seeing the first 16.

 

[richard webb]

David Ndene must have played against us last year as I remember wondering how to pronounce his name (I can't remember).

 

[Badger]

Good to have Ellis and Mike back two very good signings, hopefully Lucas and Ebou settle in well and can help us in what is going to be a difficult season

A tad negative, its a fresh start, I along with others feel that there's a real buzz about the camp. We have been extremely proactive in the transfer market and not lazy like the previous regime. Apparently training is light years ahead of last season, we're certainly taking it seriously, the future is bright

 

[Ben]

I think it’s a bit negative also.

Yes, we have a virtually new squad and it’s an unknown to a degree. However, Rory looks like he has brought in some good players and the performance particularly in the second half against Whitchurch was great to watch. Certainly more football on the ground than we saw under Chris and we seem fitter and more professional.

We know this league is a big step up but I feel preparations have been a light year above the relegation season last time so we should be more competitive. I remember us getting thumped in a pre-season match against Wythenshawe and you knew it was going to be bad even then. I don’t get the same feel this time.

 

[Nicki]

David Ndene must have played against us last year as I remember wondering how to pronounce his name (I can't remember).

Didn’t he - or possibly his brother - play for us briefly a few seasons ago?

 

[Edge]

Didn’t he - or possibly his brother - play for us briefly a few seasons ago?

He did. 3 appearances in 24/25
Then I think he & his brother turned out for Uttoxeter against us in the MFL cup. Possible on dual reg with Congleton at the time

 

[Badger]

I think it’s a bit negative also.

Yes, we have a virtually new squad and it’s an unknown to a degree. However, Rory looks like he has brought in some good players and the performance particularly in the second half against Whitchurch was great to watch. Certainly more football on the ground than we saw under Chris and we seem fitter and more professional.

We know this league is a big step up but I feel preparations have been a light year above the relegation season last time so we should be more competitive. I remember us getting thumped in a pre-season match against Wythenshawe and you knew it was going to be bad even then. I don’t get the same feel this time.

I also recall us getting absolutely pumped at Airbus

 

[josh89]

But, what if it isn’t quite as difficult as we thought It’s not going to be easy I’ll concede that, but maybe, just maybe, Rory has assembled a squad with enough about them to stay above (okay maybe that will still be hovering) the drop zone Just a thought

I hope he has but whenever you're constantly rebuilding a squad it's not realistic to expect that squad to click straight away, it's especially difficult when you're going into a higher league with a new squad Vs having the bulk of the squad that you had the year before that is settled

 

[josh89]

A tad negative, its a fresh start, I along with others feel that there's a real buzz about the camp. We have been extremely proactive in the transfer market and not lazy like the previous regime. Apparently training is light years ahead of last season, we're certainly taking it seriously, the future is bright

Realism isn't being negative, I'm glad that you and others are optimistic but I'm just not on that train myself yet, as always though I'm very happy to be proved wrong and I'll be behind the team as always this season

 

[Stephen Allen-Gurr]

Have you seen much of the pre season Josh?? From what I have seen we have got the core of a decent team.

 

[josh89]

Have you seen much of the pre season Josh?? From what I have seen we have got the core of a decent team.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to see anything in pre season apart from bits posted online, I hope your right but pre season and when the season starts are two very different things, let's see where we are at the half way point

 

[Ben]

I hope he has but whenever you're constantly rebuilding a squad it's not realistic to expect that squad to click straight away, it's especially difficult when you're going into a higher league with a new squad Vs having the bulk of the squad that you had the year before that is settled

Let’s say Chris and the squad stayed, we would still be going into a new season with a largely unproven team at this level that didn’t exactly set the world on fire during a fair chunk of the campaign and only finished 4th in the Midlands League with the play-offs looking unlikely at times.

So maybe just maybe Rory coming in and the rebuild could prove to be a blessing. Certainly from what I’ve seen during pre-season (which I know is different to competitive football) there is reason for encouragement.

Let’s not write our chances off before the season has even started and will take a good 10-15 games to make a fair judgement.

 

[josh89]

Let’s say Chris and the squad stayed, we would still be going into a new season with a largely unproven team at this level that didn’t exactly set the world on fire during a fair chunk of the campaign and only finished 4th in the Midlands League with the play-offs looking unlikely at times.

So maybe just maybe Rory coming in and the rebuild could prove to be a blessing. Certainly from what I’ve seen during pre-season (which I know is different to competitive football) there is reason for encouragement.

Let’s not write our chances off before the season has even started and will take a good 10-15 games to make a fair judgement.

I would still rather go into the season with a more settled squad that knows each other than having to keep doing a rebuild that has a 50/50 chance of working, I really hope it does work but I'm just not as convinced as others seem to be, really hoping to be proved wrong though and I'll be behind the team as usual

 

[Nicki]

The reality is - you can’t be proved right or wrong as we’ll never know how an alternative squad would’ve done. You could compare with how VM do but then they only have some of our old squad and they may not all see out the season there. Our old squad is just as much an unknown at step 4 as the current one is… though I think I could say with more certainty at this moment in time that the old squad would’ve struggled. There is a competitive season’s worth of evidence to suggest that was the case. Going to need a few games of the new season before we can assess the new squad but, as said, we can only do that in absolute terms. Comparing it to a non-existent alternative scenario has no meaning.

 

[Ben]

Chris Broad has left. His third club this summer now.

 

[Tez]

Disappointing, but if he feels it offers him a better opportunity then the club shouldn’t stand in his way, and indeed it looks like we haven’t,
Perhaps Rory might elaborate more this evening