There is more to football than just kicking the ball, and data cannot solely be used as a first choice decision making implement, although it can be pretty useful in some areas.
Ball control is a must, especially the further up the league you get. That has to be first on the list of data. Being comfortable on the ball has to be another.
Protecting the ball from the opposing player is something that should be taught at a very young age, so that when they get to the first team it becomes natural, rather than forced.
So many times I see our players getting the ball and turning the wrong way, or get muscled off the ball, or other players do not make themselves available to help out.
Being able to head the ball has to be another skill, regardless of position, that the academy players should have to have. The number of times that someone like Mayor tracks back with a player, for a corner maybe, and makes no effort to head the ball. He's not a great header of the ball, he just tries to be a presence to put the opposing player off.
Shoulder to shoulder contact is part of the game but it seems that if a player goes down he gets a free kick, regardless. More input should be placed on this throughout the academy so that the players can deal with it when they get to the first team.
There is a difference between youth football and first team football and players must be skilled as soon as they get into the first team squad, not have to pick these things up when they get into the first team. I'm afraid Lolos may not have done enough and gets pushed off the ball too easily and we may lose him at the end of the season.
We have to wait for the fruits of the academy to bring forward first team players automatically. They need to be coached into how to play men's football so that they are ready when called upon and we may have to wait a few seasons for the current academy to provide our team with ready made players. Jephers and Coops are the exception, and there may be one or two who may be able to follow, but that will be because of their own footballing traits and not due to the change in coaching which has only just started to take effect.
These are not dark arts. These are the ways that the game should be played.
The squad should be made aware of how the opposition use the dark arts, and be shown how to nullify them, or at least deal with them.
Referees are so different in how they manage the game. More importantly some referees are more easily conned than others and the Club should make the players aware of how each referee will react to the various situations that occur.
Small advantages turn into big advantages if the players are given the right information about how the referees deal with the nuances of the game.
It's no good managers complaining about a certain refereeing decision after the match if the referee has a reputation for it before the match begins!
Men v boys has been the name of the game in several matches this season, but that will always be the case when we rely on youngsters, either through our academy, or on loan.
Experience is gained through time and every successful team has to have a mixture of both youth and experience. We are lacking in the latter, especially in our defence, but we must give Lowe the opportunity to put this right in the summer as he allowed, rightly in my mind, our experience to leave in January.
Be optimistic for next season. An improvement would be a top half finish with a flirt at the play-offs a possibility must be the target. Improvement season on season has to be the target.
Recruitment will always be the key, so let us hope that Lowe and his staff can improve the team each season until we become more experienced, more battle conscious, more street-wise, and then we can have a go at promotion, just like we did last season, before Covid came our way.
More experienced players don't come cheap but we have the grandstand to get us extra profit, and lets hope Covid doesn't curtail its effectiveness in providing extra cash for the first team, although there will be other expenses that the grandstand will have to provide for, and catering for Covid may be an added expense in itself.
Summer is always interesting and frustrating at the same time. When do the new arrivals arrive? Who will they be? What positions will they vie for? Who will stay with us? Who will leave for elsewhere? Always exciting to see the fixture list for the first time, but the summer recruitment will be the most interesting part of this summer, for sure.
