Games Programme
At the end of Quarter One we are 16 games into our Games Programme which puts us above target in our projections. The quantity of games is a target set by the Performance Staff but we agree that the quality of games will determine the success of our Games Programme and to date we have played against some very high level opponents – Chelsea, Manchester City, Villarreal, Valencia, Liverpool etc
In Quarter Two we have fixtures against Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Southampton, Manchester City, Hamburg, Lech Poznan, Odense, Glasgow Rangers, and Brann organised to date which should provide a great experience for our players.
Griffin Park
The game against Liverpool at Griffin Park was the highest attendance the club has had for a youth game in many years and internally we have set the target of 1000 spectators at the Manchester United game. It might be a little cliché but the experience of playing at Griffin Park and in front of a crowd is invaluable for the development of our players and I hope you can attend the game on Saturday 5 November.
First Team Pathway
Justin Shaibu made his debut in the EFL Cup whilst Dom Kurasik, Emmanuel Onariase, Ilias Chatzitheodoridis, and Reece Cole have all been on the bench and around the First Team. A pathway is an ongoing process that requires constant communication and reviewing in order to be successful long-term. We’ve had success in Quarter One but we will continue to work on improving the collaboration between both squads to make the pathway as efficient as possible.
Summary
As stated in my introduction to the B Team, we are still in the ‘Start Up’ stage of this new setup which inevitably exposes you to areas that you never expected or predicted. It is important for us to be agile and to strategise constantly, with the support of all the Football Staff and Directors of Football. The players have played a massive role in the development of this structure by being open with us and allowing us to learn from their experiences within this new setup.
Flemming Pedersen is due to leave his position as Head Coach in January and I wish him good luck in his new role at FC Nordsjaelland. Kevin O’Connor is set to replace Flemming as Head Coach and in my opinion, no one deserves it more than Kevin, he’s worked very hard over the last few years to develop himself as a Coach, whether that be on club visits or doing his Coaching Badges with the FA. The Technical Staff and I look forward to working with him to develop our players and achieve our targets for Year One.
Now with some further foundations in place, we look forward to going into Quarter Two and testing ourselves against some of the biggest Football Clubs in the world.