Pre season

Could be retaliation for Dan Martin getting crocked by one of their players last summer.

Absolutely! Hopefully the pre-season programme will be structured to build towards hitting the ground running for the first game in National League South, and not based on whether grounds are easy to get to or whether the clubs sell good beef burgers! ⚽️

Decent revenue though given the support Argyle and City bring for PSF's.

I usually really look forward to pre-season friendlies, but what a dreadful set of matches we have this year. Is five it, or will we belatedly try to fit in another one or two like we did last year?

In fairness, we do at least seem to know when the actual season starts, unlike last year when we had to get Truro to rearrange a game with Willand so that they could fill our blank Saturday at the last minute.

As a fan, I love the chance to visit grounds around Devon in pre-season (even if just to see Nico fielding a bunch of trialists at Stoke Gabriel and causing the knowalls to blow a gasket by giving Russell Cleave a runout!)

No away games at all other than two behind closed doors - so nothing a fan can attend.

Can’t blame the club for getting Exeter and Plymouth to Plainmoor. Two revenue raisers but opposition now way above us.

Where are the games that will simulate the blood and guts of National League South and get us really ready to hit the ground running?

Why not play say Gloucester City, Oxford City, Kidderminster or Brackley? Clubs that made the playoffs in National League North or South last season so decent benchmarks.

I know we will probably be trying to tap up Reading, Bristol City and Southampton for loanees, but are games against their youngsters fit-for-purpose preparation for the rough and tumble of National League South?

I don’t think so. Will clubs in National League South pass the ball out from the back, play a highly technical minimum physical contact game and give us time on the ball? I very much doubt it.

Still, McGavin might enjoy the extra time on the ball and score a worldie from 35 yards.

And to finally p*** me right off, it looks like we are closing the Pop for the game against Southampton Boys.

As if having to buy tickets in advance is not already a big disincentive, we’ll be stuck in a seat unable to move around to chat with friends.

You would have to try really really hard to make me miss a game at Plainmoor, but the club really is trying hard.

Thank God for Buckland. Yeovil next Saturday, Newton Spurs the Saturday after. A club that actually tries to get people to come along to watch, rather than trying to stop people from coming.

… and Buckland start the season with a 7-1 win over Teignmouth at Coach Road. Would have gone if it was a 3 o’clock kickoff but it was moved to midday.

Bucks have recruited well and look like they will be challenging for the Western League title.

Southern League football at Newton Abbot in 2024/25? Let’s hope so. Buckland deserve it. A lesson in how to run a football club.

I am sure I will be made very welcome when I pay at the gate next Saturday. A good chance to spy on the team that should be our rivals for the title this season. Or will somebody come out of the pack to push the two relative sleepy giants out of the way?

You can put the money saved in the kitty for all our away trips this season.

I've never known a pre-season so lacking in inspiration as this one, and the fact that the Southampton game will only see the Bench open makes me wonder if this is the season that Clarke Osborne begins to wind down his involvement with the club.
There is something amiss about the whole thing; a lot of fans are expecting a good season given the optimism over the new signings (and let's be honest the idea that it will somehow be like the last time we were in the NLS) and I wonder why the club isn't picking up on this.  All we are getting is the usual North Korean style interview videos (and I wonder did Halstead ever get a bollocking for reminding the interviewer that we had actually been relegated last season?).