Pre-Season Friendlies

Our starting line up was as follows;

Lumley
Furlong
Hall
Barber
Manning
Ball
Amos
Scowen
Eze
Shodipo
Oteh


I would ignore the 3 -1 defeat because  this game was more about getting the players match fit.Austria Vienna had already played 3 friendlies prior to the game against us and were clearly much sharper.

It's always difficult to judge players after just one game and in some cases it was only half a game or less but whilst Lumley looked ok in the first half Kelly will be disappointed with his debut 2nd half performance.

If Warburton didn't already know then he would have seen with his own eyes just how lightweight our forward line is. We are desperate for a goal scorer and until we get one we will lack any real attacking options.

Our performance wasnt great and in the 2nd half we were very sloppy but I'm sure that we will play better.

Did anybody either travel out to Vienna for the game or watch a stream? I know tonight is about starting to get match sharpness back but were there many positives despite the result?

Just 3 weeks until the season starts so we are running out of time to sort things out. At first it was promising as we got a lot of early deals done but it's gone very quiet since which has to make you think if things have gone wrong with our other first choices?

Why would they sign 7 players very quickly then wait for weeks to sign the strikers everybody acknowledges we need? Especially now we have a little bit to reinvest from the Freeman deal.

Warburton certainly says all the right things and it was interesting to hear that club representatives had been watching 3 players who play in various positions. Only friendlies being played at the moment so I assume it would be old game footage but based on some of our previous signings it could mean a game of beach football from their holidays.

Moving forward, I'm looking forward to tonight's game against Borehamwood to see the formation and how sharp we are looking. Borehamwood have played 2 friendlies (3 - 3 with an Arsenal XI and a 3 - 1 win away to Hampton and Richmond) and should give us a good game. I expect us to start with a strong team before making several changes in the 2nd half but if we don't score at least 4 then it will be disappointing.

Not a big squad tonight - only 8 subs.

Also Grant Hall and Barbet line up at centre half together again with Leistner on the bench. I wonder if Warburton's style of football is a factor in that and obviously Hall is more cultured than Leistner? It would certainly be a big decision with Hall so unreliable with his fitness and Leistner one of our most consistent players last season.

1-1 after 15 minutes. Eze with a penalty before an instant equaliser.

Defence is bloody dodgy to say the least
Lightweight up front as we normally are
The number 10 for Borehamwood looks pretty good
Not exactly good stuff for pre season so far
Losing 2-1 right now too