I have just found out this morning that we lost 5-3 last night because only 6 players turned up out of the squad of 9 named by Tony on the Forum.
Trev came on and played in the Second Half (wearing his glasses) and scored two of our goals, so presumably the opposition were beatable and we have now blown our chance of winning the 'Plate League' ?

I am not having a go at Tony here, as fair play to him for organising the 7-a-side team on his own in my absence and with Terry, Loveday and Barney not helping him (when they initially said they would), but this is exactly what happens if you just rely on the Forum.
Unfortunately, players who do not reply on here have to be texted or phoned by whoever is picking the squad, otherwise we are going to get situations like this. The hassle of doing that last Summer is one of the main reasons I am not running the 7-a-side League team this Summer.

The culprits last night were Danny Green, Joe Ansell and Warmers.
Joe is not on the internet and presumably doesn't have Tony's phone number, whereas Warmers was almost certainly waiting for somebody to text him.
I don't know what Danny Green was playing at, but if it was something to do with the row he had with Tem during the Second Half on Sunday (which I am just editing at the moment)...and Tem isn't playing this Sunday because Danny is playing, then that's just silly and it needs to be sorted out.
We have had players having punch-ups and verbals with their team-mates far worse than that before...myself being a culprit, and it has always ended amicably with everything forgotten about.

Wooly will be sitting at work absolutely furious when he reads this this morning, and quite rightly so. As it was a 9.00.p.m. kick-off, he was keen to play in the match, but as he cannot post on the Forum due to work Security measures, other (more unreliable) players get in first and are then confirmed as being in the squad.
This is why asking 'who is available ?' instead of picking a squad first is not the best way to do it (in my opinion).
There is no point in changing anything now for our remaining two games, but we need to have another re-think about how we organise the 7-a-side team for next Summer.

I will be too busy today to update the website until this evening, but hopefully all last night's 7-a-side details and the Clip Of The Week & You Tube highlights from the A.C. Enfield match will be online by then.
It depends how good the Test Match is.
(Sorry for all you lot who are stuck at work).

Lol,
Dan Green let me know he could not play t 7.30, i spoke with Tem and he said that Rob could play. No one was aware that Joe or Warmers would not turn up.

I think one of the biggest problems is that players do not put each others' mobile phone numbers in their own mobile 'contacts' list.

I sent a list out to everyone by e-mail last season of all club members e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers, but presumably most players only saved the details of people they socialise with off the pitch rather than people like myself, Trevor and Tony who are trying to pick the squads ?

It also doesn't help when club members continually change their mobile phone numbers, and that will happen more often as people get i-phones & blackberrys, etc.

I will e-mail out an updated list in the next couple of weeks...for what it's worth.

The problem is why did Dan Green or Loveday not text me so I knew that he was not coming. I assumed that Rob Jackson had replaced Dan Bates.

To be fair thats Trev my fault. I was on a works do and once TEm confirmed that Rob was replacing Dan i thought everything would be ok.

Lol and all,

I fully appreciate your point Lol but there are a couple of things that need to be sorted.

1st - Danny Green had to pull out at the last minute and he let us know. Unfortunate, but he did the best he could to inform everyone.

2nd - As Loveday said, he spoke to Tem who organised Rob J. to come, so far play to both of them for helping us out at the last minute. That still leaves 8 at 7:30 on the night of the match. An ideal squad number according to Trev, who has been telling me that 10 is too many, which is right, but it's to make sure we have enough.

3 - Although I appreciate the point about numbers and texting people, it has to be made clear that if you are not turning up, it is the responsibility of the player to let us know. I know Warmers hasn't been around for a bit, but he placed an entry on the forum and I therefore replied on the forum. For any player, it should not require a text or phonecall at 7:30 on Thursday night to make sure they are coming.

4 - In terms of confirmation, every player who was named in the squad, confirmed IN PERSON, that they would be playing (apart from Warmers).

5 - Wooley will not be 'absolutely furious' and second of all Lol, how do you know he was 'keen to play in this match'? How come nobody posted or text either me, Loveday, Terry, Barney, to let us know. I know that Wooley can ONLY do 9pm kick offs, but we need to know whether players are keen and available. It states that 'anybody else interested in playing should let us know', we can't make it any clearer.

6 - Picking a squad before hand is not the way to do it. Plain and simple. I know peoples opinions differ but if you pick a squad, we invariable get drop outs and other people have to be contacted to see if they can play, with less notice. By speaking to people in the flesh on Sunday, you bypass the necessity to post an initial squad and get a list of players who can and cannot make it. I knew on Sunday that Scott, Kizza (even though he seemed to have forgotten), Cokell, Daley, Conor and Loveday couldn't play. If 7 people say in the flesh that they are going to be there and 2 others, namely Paul D and Danny Bates, tell Trev they are going to be there, that is a squad of 9.

7 - Also, in terms of naming a squad, it wouldn't have been any different, as we have used 7-a-side, especially this year, to view new players in the form of Danny Bates, Danny Smith, Paul Duffy, Joe Ansell & Rob J. The fact that 2 of our regulars in defence i.e. Loveday and Terry Moore have been out injured all summer and the fact that Barney has been unable to make many Thursday's this year, means that we have been short at the back. Wooley, as said, can only make 9pm's therefore if Warmers posts saying I can play then I put him in, if someone would have at least let me know about Wooley, he would have been straight in. He and Paul D at the back would have been the only 2 defenders we have left who can play.
Availability is the way to pick a squad. Isn't that the way 11-a-side is working..........

Lol I had to pull out for personal reasons last night, I didnt have Tonys number so I let Loveday know asap who orgainised a replacment.

What are you chatting about with regards to Tem???
You start problems out of nothing, I shouted at him cause he didnt move for a pass. That was it, if you picked up on everytime someone shouts at a mistake or fuc* up then we might as well have a royal rumble!

To suggest I didn't play last night because Tem may have been there is Gay, as is him not playing Sunday.

Still quite funny!

I agree, but unfortunately that has been the case with numerous Rovers players since the advent of e-mails, mobile phones and the Forum. I think it's because they are used to playing for other clubs where the Manager texts all his players every Saturday morning to find out if they are playing or not.
Also, there will always be a handful of players who are in a position where they can only get on the internet once a day for about 5 minutes...or don't know how to use it at all.

Wooly e-mailed me yesterday afternoon and I forwarded it on to Trev. At that stage, we had 9 players. He said he was upset at not being considered when he has told you, Loveday and Terry to count him in for all 9.00.p.m. kick-offs, and that he no longer wants to play 7-a-side because of that.
I don't know why Wooly (and numerous other players) keep texting and e-mailing me regarding their availability for 7-a-side when I have told everyone that I am not involved this year...and then expect me to tell you by text or on the Forum when I am massively busy with work.

I prefer the 'naming of players in a squad on a Monday' way of doing things, but to be honest, we are always going to have problems with last-minute drop-outs whatever way we pick the squads.
We have been lucky in that respect this Summer so far...up until last night. Apart from Joe Ansell (twice now), the ex-London Ajax players have been more reliable than half the players we were using last Summer.

It was a bit more than that I'm afraid, and certain players have complained to Trev about it.
It will be mentioned in the Video Notes if necessary, but all it needs is for you to apologise to Tem next time you see him. It's nothing serious, but it will just keep the team spirit up.

If you missed last night's game for other reasons and Tem is missing Sunday's game for other reasons, then that's good to hear.

To be fair to Tem he has not complained about the incident. However, a number of other players have complained which I think shows a good team spirit in the club.

I agree with Laurence that an apology to Tem should be an end to the matter.

So what this means is that anybody who was not there on Sunday to inform you of their availability in person is placed down the pecking order for being named in the 7-a-side squad for the following Thursday night's match.

Surely that's unfair on several players who (like Wooly) had legitimate reasons for missing Sunday's match but are generally available for 7-a-side the following Thursday depending on the kick-off time ?

That's why I prefer to initially name names for a squad for 7-a-side based on the regular 7-a-side players being named first, then others fill in when the regulars cannot play.

No, it does not mean that Lol and once again, well done for jumping to conclusions and adding fuel to the fire.

If you recall, the players that have been playing regularly every week are those who were asked and committed to 7 a side this week.

It has been made clear that if other players want to play and let us know, then other people who have played a number of times will be asked to drop out. As stipulated before, we will operate a rotation system as we use 7-a-side as a fitness exercise for the new season.

The way it has been arranged over the summer has been working perfectly up until this point, with 9 or 10 players turning up every week. That's what we want, commitment, not struggling to organise a side at the last minute because the people who were named in the squad initially never had any intention of playing.

If you are unaware the blame lies with those who do not turn up!

It's no good naming squads lol, it doesn't work as well as this. As was seen with the numerous times last season when 5 or 6 turned up and you had to play.

The idea behind naming squads is to have a balance in the side, but as everyone seems to be blissfully unaware, out of our 4 main defenders, 2 are injured, 1 can only make it sporadically and Barney has told us he cannot make it this season, he has enough commitments.

This last comment confuses the hell out of me Lol,

"That's why I prefer to initially name names for a squad for 7-a-side based on the regular 7-a-side players being named first, then others fill in when the regulars cannot play"

This is exactly what happened this week! What are you on about.

Just to make it clear Lol, you think its best to contact people by phone for the 7 a side league? This is because of lack of access people have to the internet? Think you may know what i'm getting at??????????

By the way Tony etc sounds like you have done a good job so far

Have a laugh...

My fault.

Didn't read the bit that said 'If 7 people say in the flesh that they are going to be there and 2 others, namely Paul D and Danny Bates, tell Trev they are going to be there, that is a squad of 9.'

It's because I am trying to watch the cricket at the same time as reading all this.

As long as the players are happy with the system you are using, that's fine by me.

If players don't put reasons why they are not playing, then people will jump to conclusions...like Jacko has been doing with Conor !

Tem do you want a card and some flowers!!! Its frustration lol, thats part of football. This is a wind up right!!!

Hasn't Trev already answered that ?

How the fuck did I and 'homo' Conor get invloved in this??????

Now that is a wind-up.

Wooly e-mailed me yesterday afternoon and I forwarded it on to Trev. At that stage, we had 9 players. He said he was upset at not being considered when he has told you, Loveday and Terry to count him in for all 9.00.p.m. kick-offs, and that he no longer wants to play 7-a-side because of that.


2 words for this, GROW UP. senior player? ha.

Laurence has been too busy watching cricket and posting other replies to put my match report on the Latest News Page.

I had expected lots of comments about the performance of the second half substitute.

My report:

Tony King had named a strong squad of 9 on the Forum but only 6 arrived for the kick off against Edmonton Athletic. Danny Green and Joe Ansell had confirmed last Sunday but did not turn up. Andrew Warmerdam put a message that he was available but presumably did not see Tony’s reply that he was in the squad. At least Kizza sent a text that he could not play even though he was not named in the squad. The frustrating thing was that other players were available who had not been named in the squad. Colin Bester had come to watch but was injured and we were frustrated watching the first half as our 6 players worked hard against opponents with a full squad and three subs. The game started badly when Jacko let a long shot through his arms and legs after just 2 minutes. Two further goals saw us 3-0 down at half time although we had played quite well and created some decent chances mainly on the break. As no-one else had arrived I decided to come out of retirement and play up front to help out the team. My first touch was to take the kick off passing to Danny Smith who rifled in a shot which was parried by the keeper and remarkably I volleyed in the rebound with my second touch. We then had an excellent spell but could not pull another one back before Edmonton Athletic scored twice more midway through the second half. However, we did not give up and with 6 minutes to go I scored my second goal with a deft touch from Danny Hagan’s pass. Danny Smith scored another after a great solo run so although we lost 5-3 we actually won the second half 3-2. As usual there was an excellent team spirit among the lads who played and I presume great respect for their manager who limped off with groin and hamstring injuries!

Correct, especially the cricket bit !

Probably won't update the website until Sunday evening now.