Post by From The Office on Jul 30, 2010 11:16:56 GMT
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The ‘Boro’ will be doing a double header on Saturday (31st) in relation to fielding two sides. The ‘Boro’ visit West Didsbury & Chorlton and Ramsbttom United from the Vodkat league. The West Didsbury & Chorlton game will kick off at 3.00pm with a 3.00pm kick off also at Ramsbottom.
Director of Football Gerry Luczka explained, “We want to give players an extended run rather than just 20 minutes or so and it allows the players to get a full 90 minutes ‘under their belts’ , we have worked really hard in training and we feel it will benefit them all to play 90 minutes. Other than that we would have a bench of eight or nine with some lads we want to look at and it would have meant a lot of changes which we don’t want to do. We have split the sides up and added to them with some players we want to have a look at.”
The ‘Boro’ will be playing only their 2nd pre-season game and have just three remaining pre-season games left to play - Loughborough (A) / Manchester City (H) / Ashton United (A) - in a unique short pre-season of games and Luczka is happy with the way pre-season is progressing, “Training has been excellent and we have given the players lots of concentrated quality running and ball work in shorter sessions as well as giving them further time off, which may seem strange but we feel we will be prepared and ready for the start of the season.”
West Didsbury and Chorlton will be playing their 5th pre-season game having lost to Clitheroe (3-0) Maine Road (2-1 ) St Helens ( 1-0) and Rossendale United ( 3-1), “They have arranged some very good competitive games and I am sure they will have benefited from them so far both in terms of fitness and team organisation and Andy ( Nelson) will have taken a lot of information from the games, it will be a good test for us which we are looking forward to.”
Missing from the games (see below) will be Ben Wharton, Steve Howson, Chris Makin, Gary Sampson and Griff Jones (who has started pre-season training) and Luczka said, “Missing the quality of those five players shows we have some strength at the moment.”
Ramsbottom United will be hoping to be in the hunt for promotion this season and this will be their 7th pre-season outing and so far they have been in impressive form winning 5 from their opening 6 friendly games; Prestatyn ( 2-0) Ashton Athletic (3-1 ) Oldham Boro (6-1) Elton Vale (9-0) Buckley Town (2-0) Bury X1 (1-2). They have played a mixture of opposition and have returned with some excellent results indicating they will be up with the front runners this season, “Bernard and ‘Jhono’ have assembled a good squad and I am sure they will be very happy so far with their pre-season preparations, it will be a competitive game and another good test for us.” said Director of Football Gerry Luczka
The ‘Boro’ were dealt a blow leading up to the start of the new season with news that last seasons’ top goalscorer Ben Wharton and the player who took all last seasons’ awards Steve Howson will miss the beginning of the season. Defender Howson damaged his knee at work during the summer break and has had x-rays and a scan to determine what the problem is. It did show he had fractured a bone in his knee and despite resting it has not improved and he is awaiting the results from further tests, “Depending on the results, which will obviously determine the recovery time, it looks like ‘Howsey’ will certainly miss the opening games of the season. He played such an influential part in our run last season so losing him is a big blow.” said Luczka. Last season’s leading goalscorer Ben Wharton also looks likely to miss the early part of the season, Wharton damaged his knee running during the close season and having returned from holiday it has not responded and he has been to see a consultant after having x-rays, “Again as with ‘Howsey’ we will have to wait for the results. We were looking forward to Ben developing further this season and this has been a blow to us and of course Ben, he was the top goalscorer for us last season, We will have to nurture and support both lads as they work towards their fitness.” said Luczka. Both players will need to be replaced at the start of a busy opening to the season including the FA competitions and Luczka said, “We will see the results and prognosis first and then make a decision as to what we do next, we still have four weeks to the opening game of the season and a lot can happen in that time.”
Also missing is Gary Sampson who is moving house and Chris Makin who damaged his lower back in the masters tournament playing for Sunderland. Although he has resumed training Griff Jones will also be missing as he takes his time trying to gain fitness after a long illness.
The ‘Boro’ will be doing a double header on Saturday (31st) in relation to fielding two sides. The ‘Boro’ visit West Didsbury & Chorlton and Ramsbttom United from the Vodkat league. The West Didsbury & Chorlton game will kick off at 3.00pm with a 3.00pm kick off also at Ramsbottom.
Director of Football Gerry Luczka explained, “We want to give players an extended run rather than just 20 minutes or so and it allows the players to get a full 90 minutes ‘under their belts’ , we have worked really hard in training and we feel it will benefit them all to play 90 minutes. Other than that we would have a bench of eight or nine with some lads we want to look at and it would have meant a lot of changes which we don’t want to do. We have split the sides up and added to them with some players we want to have a look at.”
The ‘Boro’ will be playing only their 2nd pre-season game and have just three remaining pre-season games left to play - Loughborough (A) / Manchester City (H) / Ashton United (A) - in a unique short pre-season of games and Luczka is happy with the way pre-season is progressing, “Training has been excellent and we have given the players lots of concentrated quality running and ball work in shorter sessions as well as giving them further time off, which may seem strange but we feel we will be prepared and ready for the start of the season.”
West Didsbury and Chorlton will be playing their 5th pre-season game having lost to Clitheroe (3-0) Maine Road (2-1 ) St Helens ( 1-0) and Rossendale United ( 3-1), “They have arranged some very good competitive games and I am sure they will have benefited from them so far both in terms of fitness and team organisation and Andy ( Nelson) will have taken a lot of information from the games, it will be a good test for us which we are looking forward to.”
Missing from the games (see below) will be Ben Wharton, Steve Howson, Chris Makin, Gary Sampson and Griff Jones (who has started pre-season training) and Luczka said, “Missing the quality of those five players shows we have some strength at the moment.”
Ramsbottom United will be hoping to be in the hunt for promotion this season and this will be their 7th pre-season outing and so far they have been in impressive form winning 5 from their opening 6 friendly games; Prestatyn ( 2-0) Ashton Athletic (3-1 ) Oldham Boro (6-1) Elton Vale (9-0) Buckley Town (2-0) Bury X1 (1-2). They have played a mixture of opposition and have returned with some excellent results indicating they will be up with the front runners this season, “Bernard and ‘Jhono’ have assembled a good squad and I am sure they will be very happy so far with their pre-season preparations, it will be a competitive game and another good test for us.” said Director of Football Gerry Luczka
The ‘Boro’ were dealt a blow leading up to the start of the new season with news that last seasons’ top goalscorer Ben Wharton and the player who took all last seasons’ awards Steve Howson will miss the beginning of the season. Defender Howson damaged his knee at work during the summer break and has had x-rays and a scan to determine what the problem is. It did show he had fractured a bone in his knee and despite resting it has not improved and he is awaiting the results from further tests, “Depending on the results, which will obviously determine the recovery time, it looks like ‘Howsey’ will certainly miss the opening games of the season. He played such an influential part in our run last season so losing him is a big blow.” said Luczka. Last season’s leading goalscorer Ben Wharton also looks likely to miss the early part of the season, Wharton damaged his knee running during the close season and having returned from holiday it has not responded and he has been to see a consultant after having x-rays, “Again as with ‘Howsey’ we will have to wait for the results. We were looking forward to Ben developing further this season and this has been a blow to us and of course Ben, he was the top goalscorer for us last season, We will have to nurture and support both lads as they work towards their fitness.” said Luczka. Both players will need to be replaced at the start of a busy opening to the season including the FA competitions and Luczka said, “We will see the results and prognosis first and then make a decision as to what we do next, we still have four weeks to the opening game of the season and a lot can happen in that time.”
Also missing is Gary Sampson who is moving house and Chris Makin who damaged his lower back in the masters tournament playing for Sunderland. Although he has resumed training Griff Jones will also be missing as he takes his time trying to gain fitness after a long illness.