As a Yank, I'm especially grateful for Eagleman's link to our first goal of the Patrice Vieira-era! It worked.

Here's hoping it's the first of many: for Wilf, to keep him enthused; and for the squad, to give them (and us) hope for the future.

I thought Jach was out of contract (and the door)?

Not yet, I think he has another year. Also, according to Brighty, Jach had a good season in Poland with his team winning their FA Cup and finishing runners-up in the league.

He was fine today in the 2nd half alongside the lads. He may surprise us yet in the new system.

Edited by doombear (17 Jul 2021 4.19pm)

Everything considered the first half was decent, considering it was first time out for all , and first time for months on end for a couple , added to that Walsall, were quiet competitive , in keeping us out , for most of the half. The kids had their hands full dealing with a bunch of seasoned pro,s , that had shown their physical ability in the first half, but quiet honestly grew into it, and I thought , were the better side after bedding in and getting to grips with the physical side. Should have scored, and one slip in defence that should have cost them, but generally the kids showed a lot of promise for me.

Edited by Putitout (17 Jul 2021 4.41pm)

A few posters have mentioned PV’s new system. Can anyone say what that is pls

All good signs of course, but we should be very cautious drawing any conclusions. Several times over the years I've seen pre season games where we passed it around lovely, only to revert to the long ball, or ultra conservative tactics in league football.

Like most, I would presume that Vieira is using these friendly games to impart his system of play, but he could just as easily be using the games to assess the players, before deciding on his tactics once he knows what the players can and can't do.