A nice evening in the West Midlands. It's nice to chill at this time of the year. Good to see some familiar faces from Notts as well. A very nice cheeseburger and some lovely donuts too.

Things to take from the game 

- Dan Crowley and Aaron Nemane's link up play was excellent in the first half and both had a hand in the first 2 goals. O'Brien basically stealing Crowley's goal ????. It's what we've come to expect down the right, with the deeper lying CAM, linking up with the wing-back. DC also produced some nice crosses and is technically astute. 

- Riley Reynolds looked promising. Chased lost causes and had a good effort tipped over by the Nuneaton keeper. Agile player

- Geraldo Bajrami looked calm in the centre of midfield and I think that's where we see him long term. He said before that he prefers it in midfield and I'm not surprised. Looks comfortable there.

- Aidan Stone was calm in possession and vocal as well. Always on his toes to chase a loose ball and looks to distribute quickly, which suits us. One moment in the 1st half where he kicked quickly out of his hands and almost ended up with Macca through on goal.

- Cedwyn and Didzy look sharp. McGoldrick with some elegant turns and dips of the shoulder. Cedwyn's pressing was good and finished well after swivelling his body. He was also passing on advice to Charlie Gill who had a decent game and ended it with a mazy run, taking on about 3 players and getting into the penalty area.

- Lucien Mahovo looks assured in possession and looks to be on a good path to spend more time with the 1st team in the near future. He's strong and most importantly an athlete. He's built well and has that calm assurance on the ball, to bring it out of defence and overlap his wing-back, something we do often.

Lucien Mahovo struggled a lot defensively, shirt tugging and being caught out. On the ball, he looked okay. I don’t think he played that well overall.

I agree with everything else; a lot of the youths looked determined. I hope to see some play against Stoke.

Thanks for the reports guys, it’s always good to have first hand accounts.

McGoldrick looked skilful to me and I’m really looking forward to seeing him play in the league. 

4 hours ago, MuddyPatchPie said:

McGoldrick looked skilful to me and I’m really looking forward to seeing him play in the league. 

Yes, he was cheeky at times with little dinks and neat touches. Although he missed a sitter, which I thought he wasn't paying attention to, but @TheCalFoster said that he actually called for it. Haha! ????

It was a good first friendly for the two squads, plenty to improve on and lots of positives to take from it.

It's going to be good to see the players a few games into the pre-season, although the training is top-notch. I think some of the youngsters will get up to speed, so please don't think I am being harsh for the sake of it.

Youth Players:

Lucien Mahovo: He struggled a lot, defending at times was quite good. The issue was his shirt pulling and lack of awareness at times. He did do some nice defensive touches, passing he seemed fine.
Ryley Reynolds: Looks to be a decent player, who will only get better with more experience. Notts may consider loaning him out.
Brad McGregor: I would like him to be around the first team, he did some good stuff and looked comfortable going forward.
Charlie Gill: He needs more time with the youth team, he did okay but made some poor decisions and gave the ball away a little too much.
Luther Munakandafa: Looked eager to get forward, could do a bit more defensively, but he's a lively player that has the ability to go further.
Madou Cisse: This lad looks pure class, really talented, and I agree with comments about him being of the mould of Aaron Nemane. They're very much alike and it's really uncanny.

All the senior players did fine, some additionally had their wobbles, but it's nothing to be taken too constructively. The only reason why I have given my opinion on the youth players is that I hope to pass on my recommendations onto other fans and maybe any glancing eyes may find it useful too. It's not a knock on them, one game doesn't say a lot, but I am impressed. I hope Luke Williams figures a way to fit some of them into our plans this season.

Thank you to everyone who went and has shared their thoughts; it’s useful, and I am thankful for the time you have taken because it gives me a better idea of what’s happening. As an exile, this is a gold mine and makes you feel in the know.

i thought most of the youth players put in a shift, one or two need to gain more experience its clear but they showed some great potential too.

the wing backs and midfielder were great.