Histon Reaction plus views on the youth scheme news

March 26, 2009 1 Comment

I didn’t get to see the Histon game as I’ve been pretty busy this week, but by the sounds of it I didn’t miss much. A point is a good enough result for both sides as the play-off push moves up another gear. With Kidderminster winning the night before against Wrexham then a win at the Glassworld Stadium would of been nice, but it wasn’t to be. Kiddy are now are main threat in the race to get 5th. It looks like Cambridge, Histon and Torquay will take the top 3 places in the play-off picture, while ourselves, Kidderminster, Kettering and maybe Oxford are fighting it out for the last remaining place.

A lot of the views I’ve seen on the forum suggest that it was a poor Boro display and that a lot of the play was up in the air, which doesn’t surprise me. There was always going to be an affect after reaching the Trophy final on Saturday and for Boro to come away with a point against one of the top sides in the league isn’t a bad result. The style of play would of been due to the manager’s instructions and obviously Westley thought that playing long and direct may have forced a result against Steve Fallon’s well organised Histon side. We saw in November that Histon are dangerous going forward, so for us to keep a clean sheet shows how much we’ve progressed defensively.

Earlier in the week, Phil Wallace announced that Stevenage are to join forces with Protec to help the club produce stars for the future. This completes an overhaul of the youth schemes at Boro since the summer when they parted company with the EFCO scheme. Pete Edwards is the man that has been given the responsibility to manage the youth set up and he is very experienced in the game after spells at Nottingham Forest, Reading, Manchester City and Barnet. He has been with Barnet for the last 5 years, helping players such as Joe Devera, Ishmail Yakubu and Danny Hart progress to become professional players.

Since the EFCO began over a decade ago, very few players have progressed to become regulars in the first team. Players like James Dilnutt, Errol Tellemaque and Jack Bradshaw have made the odd appearance, but have never held down places. The only one that has ever really progressed is George Boyd and he was a trainee at Charlton before being released and moving to Stevenage. Hopefully with Protec now taking over, then more and more players from within will make the step up to first team level in the coming years. The early signs are good…..

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Mendes joins on loan deadline day

March 26, 2009 Leave a Comment

Graham Westley has bolstered his squad further with the loan signing of Aldershot striker Junior Mendes. The move was completed before the 5pm loan deadline today and will give Lee Boylan and Calum Willock competition in who will partner top scorer Steve Morison up front as the season comes to an end. I think it’s a good move for Boro to bring in an experienced striker for the run-in with Boylan not always fit and Willock seemingly out of form. Goals could be vital in the last few games and recently in the league, goals have been coming hard to come by with only 5 being scored in the last 5 games.

Mendes is a strong and quick striker who began his career as a trainee at Chelsea. After leaving Stamford Bridge, Mendes moved up north to Scotland and spent 4 seasons with St Mirren. After a brief stint at Dunfermline, Mendes moved back to St Mirren before coming back to England, joining Mansfield in 2003. He only spent 18 months at Field Mill before joining Huddersfield Town. He was never a regular at the Galpharm Stadium though and loan spells at the likes of Northampton, Notts County, Grimsby and Lincoln followed. He joined Aldershot in February 2008 after being released and was an important member of the squad that won promotion last season from the Blue Square Premier.

Mendes Stats

Chelsea – no appearances

St.Mirren – 57 (20) 16 goals

Carlisle United (loan) – 5 (1) 1 goal

Dunfermline Athletic – 9 (6)

St.Mirren – 20 (2) 6 goals

Mansfield Town – 62 (3) 14 goals

Huddersfield Town – 16 (19) 6 goals

Northampton Town (loan) – 13 (5) 3 goals

Grimsby Town (loan) – 11 (7)

Notts County – 26 (17) 5 goals

Lincoln City (loan) – 4 (6)

Aldershot Town 7 (10) 4 goals

As his stats show, he isn’t a prolific goal scorer, but could be a player that brings the best out of other players in the team. It could be interesting to see how he will link up with Morison. I think Morison plays his best football when he is alone up front and has an attacking midfielder playing in the hole behind him. His best form has been when he has played with George Boyd or Adam Miller. It could of been a good move for GW to bring in someone who could play in that position, especially as it could be more suitable for when playing away from Broadhall Way.

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