International Call Ups?!

[Hamlet Pete]

The league game against Billericay Town has been called off due to international call ups...

Safe to say the Ricay fans aren't happy about it. Must admit I'm a bit miffed by it too

 

[Al Crane]

I think it suits both teams right now! They have injuries...we have injuries and a game tomorrow. And at the moment a breather and reset for us might not be a bad thing.

 

[Hamlet Pete]

Apparently we're 'running scared'

 

[AveryDave]

What a load of old nonsense. Three players who have made four starts between them. We’re so shit we’re actively avoiding playing football.

And if we lose tomorrow night we’ll have 18 days without a game.

 

[Don't Slow Down]

It is the right decision to get the gammons raging

 

[Hamlet Pete]

A man tired of angry Billericay fans is tired of life

 

[Pink Panther]

I assume 3 players on international duty is the minimum requirement for requesting a postponement. Only the top two divisions of English football have no fixtures scheduled for next weekend. I've just checked and 8 fixtures in the next two levels have been postponed. I've also noticed National League fixtures postponed on previous occasions. How many of those clubs are missing more than 3 players and literally couldn't name a full squad? Obviously some will have injuries too, as we do. Clifton being absent, plus Romain and Pingling injured, leaves Mills as our only available striker.

Maybe we'd have gone ahead with the game if we'd made a better start to the season? However it's a perfectly legitimate request, and at least 8 other clubs have done likewise. I'll guarantee any Billericay supporter one thing; their club would have done exactly the same in the same situation if it suited them.

 

[EDC]

I was actually looking forward to it, the family are away and it’s one of my favourite grounds. I’m extremely pissed off.

 

[newme]

A man tired of angry Billericay fans is tired of life

gavin and stacey?

 

[Pink Panther]

I still haven't forgotten that time we all made a wasted journey to Billericay for a game that was called off due to a frozen pitch, which they thought they could thaw out by pouring boiling water on it. They can count themselves lucky to get more than 90 minutes notice the game's off.

 

[Roger D]

I assume 3 players on international duty is the minimum requirement for requesting a postponement.

Three was the minimum last season, I'm not aware of it changing.

Has an Isthmian League match ever been called off for this reason before? I wonder what the lowest level match called off ito date s?

 

[EDC]

I still haven't forgotten that time we all made a wasted journey to Billericay for a game that was called off due to a frozen pitch, which they thought they could thaw out by pouring boiling water on it. They can count themselves lucky to get more than 90 minutes notice the game's off.

Yes, we’d just paid to get in, ordered a pint then heard it was off. They did give us a refund straight away though.

 

[liamdhfc]

What a load of old nonsense. Three players who have made four starts between them. We’re so shit we’re actively avoiding playing football.

And if we lose tomorrow night we’ll have 18 days without a game.

The minimum number of call ups to request a postponement is 2. I’m also told the very righteous Billericay have discussed doing it as recent as last season & Bracknell did it a couple if years back.
If the game went ahead, we would have had one forward in Mills as Romain, Pingling & Jeffrey would likely all be out. We would also be missing JBW as had to be replaced after the warm up Saturday plus CBB, so no left back of note , plus potentially no right back if Ming got injured.
Therefore, it’s both within the regulations & based on the above a thoroughly professional decision to make.
The fact it’s annoyed so many Billericay fans is an unintended bonus.

 

[AveryDave]

The minimum number of call ups to request a postponement is 2. I’m also told the very righteous Billericay have discussed doing it as recent as last season & Bracknell did it a couple if years back.
If the game went ahead, we would have had one forward in Mills as Romain, Pingling & Jeffrey would likely all be out. We would also be missing JBW as had to be replaced after the warm up Saturday plus CBB, so no left back of note , plus potentially no right back if Ming got injured.
Therefore, it’s both within the regulations & based on the above a thoroughly professional decision to make.
The fact it’s annoyed so many Billericay fans is an unintended bonus.

Of players that are apparently available as of now we could absolutely put out a team, nine of which started the game on Saturday:

Ruddy; Ming, Ekpiteta, Chambers, Chalobah; Ricketts, Scott, Shokunbi; Wanadio, Mills, Jallow

Subs: Gyebi, Parry, Allen, Hansson, Lovatt

No doubt there are injured players who would get into the starting line up and on the bench, and maybe some of those would be fit for Saturday. But every team is dealing with that.

Any attempt to try and dress this up as anything other than using the available rules to avoid playing football is laughable.

And the fact we’re doing it is a poor reflection of where we find ourselves - both on the team that Hayrettin has put together and the fact that the club hasn’t been able to get any playing infrastructure outside the first team in place in approaching a year since Rose left.

 

[Pink Panther]

And the fact we’re doing it is a poor reflection of where we find ourselves - both on the team that Hayrettin has put together and the fact that the club hasn’t been able to get any playing infrastructure outside the first team in place in approaching a year since Rose left.

Those are separate issues. We'd still be missing 7 senior players against a big budget opponent even if our recruitment and infrastructure were better. If the requirement for requesting a postponement was 4 players on international duty we'd have had to play the game regardless. As it is, we've used the rule to our advantage and it would have been naive not to do so just for the sake of claiming some sort of moral high ground. We saw last season how fine the margins can be between ending up in a different division. Weymouth rescheduled a fixture with us to suit themselves by using the rules last season, and ultimately survived on goal difference at our expense.

 

[AveryDave]

Those are separate issues. We'd still be missing 7 senior players against a big budget opponent even if our recruitment and infrastructure were better. If the requirement for requesting a postponement was 4 players on international duty we'd have had to play the game regardless. As it is, we've used the rule to our advantage and it would have been naive not to do so just for the sake of claiming some sort of moral high ground. We saw last season how fine the margins can be between ending up in a different division. Weymouth rescheduled a fixture with us to suit themselves by using the rules last season, and ultimately survived on goal difference at our expense.

The club are choosing not to play. The most likely reason for doing so is because they don’t think they can get a result.

Three squad players (four starts between them out of a possible 18) have been called away but most of the team that played against Haringey on Saturday are currently available.

The club clearly doesn’t think the available players are good enough, or that there are other options available that are good enough, to get a result.

That’s a failure of recruitment and playing infrastructure.

 

[Pink Panther]

The club are choosing not to play. The most likely reason for doing so is because they don’t think they can get a result.

Three squad players (four starts between them out of a possible 18) have been called away but most of the team that played against Haringey on Saturday are currently available.

The club clearly doesn’t think the available players are good enough, or that there are other options available that are good enough, to get a result.

That’s a failure of recruitment and playing infrastructure.

I'd say 5 league matches is far too soon for a definitive judgement on the success or otherwise of our summer recruitment. Perhaps we think we'll have a better chance of a result by playing this game at a later date?

My personal view is that it's a poor rule that allows a fixture to be called off with just 2 players absent on international duty, and I'd be annoyed if another club had done this to leave us with a blank Saturday, but plenty of much bigger and better resourced clubs have done the same.

 

[Bugpowder Dust]

I think that's harsh to say the club have decided that the players aren't good enough

More the case that they are taking advantage of the chance for a new squad to spend some extra time working together and for some injuries to clear up.

Which as PP says increases our chances of getting something from the fixture when it is replayed. Sensible decision imho

 

[Paula_G]

The club are choosing not to play. The most likely reason for doing so is because they don’t think they can get a result.

Three squad players (four starts between them out of a possible 18) have been called away but most of the team that played against Haringey on Saturday are currently available.

The club clearly doesn’t think the available players are good enough, or that there are other options available that are good enough, to get a result.

That’s a failure of recruitment and playing infrastructure.

I’m not really a fan of this “they did ‘X’ to us therefore it’s okay to do “Y” to them” that seems to be prevalent in discussions on here today. Given there are at least another six international breaks to come this season is this something we’re going to see more often this season? In addition I do wonder how players feel mentally in this situation if they get the impression that “…the club clearly don’t think the available players are good enough…“

 

[liamdhfc]

Let’s be clear, we are in the business of giving ourselves the best chance of winning games. The rule is there for a reason and it’s not one that we framed. What other rules should we not use if advantageous at the time?
The basis of the argument used against us is that we have plenty of players. On that basis there should be no international breaks because most clubs at the top level have about 70 players to choose from across all their teams.
The rule is there to prevent clubs getting an unfair advantage and that is exactly what Billericay would have if we have no full backs and no forwards.

 

[EDC]

I think that's harsh to say the club have decided that the players aren't good enough

More the case that they are taking advantage of the chance for a new squad to spend some extra time working together and for some injuries to clear up.

Which as PP says increases our chances of getting something from the fixture when it is replayed. Sensible decision imho

Yes, agree although it’s pissed me off no end, the club must come first. Let’s hope a weekend off results in a charge for the top. Chin up.

 

[AveryDave]

Braham-Barrett played 90 minutes and Clifton came off the bench last night in Montserrat’s 3-2 win over Barbados.

 

[peckhamasbestos]

Braham-Barrett played 90 minutes and Clifton came off the bench last night in Montserrat’s 3-2 win over Barbados.

feels like a Hamlet victory to me.

 

[KPMG]

So does Cray vs Chatham

 

[jbjl]

In Hamlet's absence I went to Canvey v Whitehawk given local proximity - taking advantage of the unexpected vacant game slot. Quite liked that raised north bank of 12-15 steps in the blazing sun.

 

[Hamlet Pete]

I went to watch Crawley Town vs Newport County. Former Hamlet loanee (from Coventry) Corey Addai was in goal for Crawley. Looked a decent player commanding his penalty area, didn't score a goal though

 

[AveryDave]

feels like a Hamlet victory to me.

At this point, I’ll absolutely take it.

 

[AveryDave]

Miquel Scarlett came off the bench in the last minute for Guyana in their 5-1 win against Antigua and Barbuda last night.

 

[Bugpowder Dust]

So does Cray vs Chatham

Something almost suspicious about that scoreline...

Chatham 5W from 5 and Cray 5L from 5. Chatham at home yet Cray win 5-1. Must be in the 500-1 odds territory. Bonkers.

 

[EDC]

Shoreham v Bexhill for me, beer galore in the sun.