Ian Pethick

Sure that the whole forum community will send their best wishes to Josh Otto. He suffered a double leg fracture in the friendly against Newquay the other night. Hope he makes a full recovery from this horrific injury.

Really good point. One for the forum's resident referees (we used to have a few on here) to answer.

Controversial thought, but maybe England's players just aren't as good as the hype would have us believe? Perhaps Southgate and his staff, after seeing them up close in training every day during get togethers, matches and tournaments, understood this. He has them occasionally (outside of tournaments anyway) and just doesn't have the time to fine tune systems and tactics that they do at club level. In the cold light of day, and with the dust having settled and the hangovers got over, his record of 2 finals, a semi final and a 1/4 final stands up to scrutiny (in my opinion anyway). Compare that to our great rivals,, the German national side, who managed 2 group stage eliminations, last 16 and 1/4 finals over the same period.

Are any of that Helston under 18 side that went to the first round proper of the FA Youth Cup in 2019/20, still with the club?

Has he been signed to replace either James Ward or Tom Annear (who were a rock solid pair last season), or as cover/competition? As he has depth and quality in all outfield positions now, the challenge for Andy Westgarth will be in keeping the players who aren't starting happy. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few fringe players departing in search of more playing time.

Couple of posts on this thread mention Street. All very subjective and a matter of opinion though, definitely not scientific. Will be very interesting revisiting these predictions next May.

Clear your heads and go again. Just got to see it as only 3 points dropped, plenty more to play for.

Very talented young player, but it's quite the jump from step 5 to step 2 football. Would a loan spell at a step 3 club(Parkway or Tiverton for example), be beneficial? Regarding City's current full backs, although Riley-Lowe is a superb player, on the occasions I saw them he did look awkward as a natural left footer at right back. Seemed to unbalance the side as he was always checking inside when in possession.

Would think so, squad still looks light on numbers to me. Any news on additions to John Askey's coaching staff? That was another area they looked light on last season, especially when you saw how many people other NLS sides had in the technical area and looking after pre match preparations (currently looks like it's only Askey, Stewart Yetton and the ever present Deba Sidhu).

Pretty good summary there I think. I'll add a little sub category to this thread, how far into the season will we go before Barnstaple and Bridgwater sack their managers? Both have highly ambitious, yet trigger happy, owners and chairs who probably think they're better at the job than the people they appoint.

Macca Brown has let it slip that Tylor Love-Holmes has joined Truro from Saltash. "Of course it’s not been perfect for us. Tylor has departed for Truro which is an incredible opportunity for him and one he thoroughly deserves a shot at. “We are all proud of his progress, he had an outstanding season last year and there was a lot of interest in him over the summer and I think Truro are probably the one side locally who would have lured him away and that’s the case. “He’s still only 19, has a brilliant attitude and is a cracking boy so it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if his move to Truro was a huge success and we wish him well.”

Looks like it's been a difficult summer at Bath City with Jordan Dyer, Dan Hayfield and now Cody Cooke joining Paul Wotton's new look Torquay. Is it case of the club reducing their playing budget and diverting money to ground improvements (read that they are hoping to build a new grandstand and social club, redevelop the changing rooms and install a 3G pitch)?

Yes, the squad lists don't tend to look up to date until the eve of the new league season though (same goes for Full Time and step 5/6 clubs). Many of them are also trying to keep their cards close to their chests regarding who is turning out for them in PSF's (trailists or otherwise), hence the reason a lot don't publish line ups, give updates during the game or put together match reports.

A 3-0 defeat never makes for good reading, but ultimately it depends on how much worth you attach to pre season results. New manager looking to implement a different style of play, and a few new players to integrate into the group (with a one or two inevitably missing friendlies as it's that time of the year) mean it will be a few games into the season proper before it will be possible to get an idea of where Parkway are. The signings of young Argyle keeper Zak Baker on loan and former Exeter City youngster Sam Joce add a bit extra in the way of numbers to the squad, no doubt there will be more additions as we head towards the season proper. Expect a few of these will be loan signings from league clubs once they have established what they can spare, or want to send out to develop.

I would go and see a doctor. 😁 Seriously though, 1st of August is when I would think there will be news of player incoming. 8 month contracts to see them through to the end of April (the NLS season).

3rd week in July, and a several pre season friendlies called off due to weather conditions and waterlogged pitches. Brings on a sense of trepidation about what's to come for season 2024/25.

A pair of wins and defeat now for Chris McPhee in pre season. Never really sure how much you can take from these results as they are basically training matches but i do like the lower key approach that is being taken by the club regarding these games. New manager in, so they'll be trialling potential new signings and new formations/tactics so difficult to judge the new era until we are a month of so into the proper stuff. Regarding the squad, Shane White did elude to a lack of numbers which I would think there is work on addressing. They have to be the right signings though, and ones which are going to improve the squad. Don't want to end up like last season where it looked like it was just "bodies" brought in to fill the squad. Would think that come August, when the league season starts, you will see McPhee and his assistant, Lee Peacock, utilising their connections and making loan additions.

Pretty quiet on the player front down at Mousehole, any comings and goings to report?

Would need agreement with visiting clubs but, in principal, why not? Seeing two matches in an afternoon might encourage more fans to travel as well.

An honest, decent and thoughtful man who dragged the national side out of the post Euro 2016/Sam Allardyce trough. The job (and the weight of expectation) ate Gareth Southgate in the end. The footballing public might one day accept that England have no right to win things (very little evidence through history to support this theory), despite what all the media and vested interests believe. They can all move onto their next sacrificial lamb now.

Hope they do well this season as Torpoint are a club I've always liked. Nice ground and nice people (I'm in danger of giving them the Buckland treatment).

Would add Street to the contenders list. New manager Ben Watson has taken several with him from Barnstaple. Ivybridge might surprise a few as well, Lance Bailey is very well connected on the Plymouth non league scene and I wouldn't be surprised if has a few step 4 players dual signed with them. At the other end, slightly worry about Torpoint. Ryan Richards' goals are going to take a lot of replacing.

These comments hit the nail square on the head. Seems to me that we're in an era where Cornish football, at the top end, has never been in a better shape, but the base of the pyramid is struggling like never before. We're seeing a slow drip of St Pirans clubs going to the wall, hope we don't see this spreading to the Peninsula League.

No doubt Stuart Henderson will be very buoyed up by this result (regardless of its status as a friendly), he does seem to keep uncovering gems each season. Not sure where he found 15 year old Harry French, but he sounds like a star in the making (gather he is having trials with pro clubs) and understand that he is also having a look at Okehampton striker Josh Coles.

Somebody I know came up with the theory that Truro won't sign any players until August; they don't want to be paying additional wages without any matchday income coming in. Sounds unlikely to me, but you never know.