Wednesday 14 September 2016

Junior Stanislas makes progress

For some it will have been a surprise to see Junior Stanislas make a start against WBA. I thought he would be the pick that Eddie would go for on the left, as Max Gradel was carrying a slight strain on his thigh, and Ryan Fraser has not yet the experience of some of the players in the squad. Again there was no Marc Pugh and while I don't think he is injured, he is also now having to try and raise his game to get into the match day squad. 


Junior Stanislas is trying to make as big an impact as he did last season.
So it was Junior that got the nod against Albion and he made a decent impression. He has the raw pace that would trouble the full backs and he is always a player that gets into shooting positions. His career at AFCB has been a little stop/start, but Junior has always come back stronger from injury and fashioned chances for others with his play.

Against WBA, Stanislas had several efforts on goal. He did not score, but it was only Ben Foster that prevented that and the really big opportunity he had to score. When Jack Wilshire fed him a pass in the second half, it was not a poorly hit shot but just feet of Foster that kept it out. I still think Junior has a little way to go before becoming a real favourite with AFCB fans, but if he keeps going forward and trying to score then the fans will give him credit for that. So often we see players that are afraid to shoot and I hope the fans get behind him as much as they can as he does always try and get on the end of moves, and he is a player that will feed on confidence.

There is lots of competition for the left winger in the side and it is hard to see anyone layer holding down that position all season. Still Junior will get a fair number of starts there and it is important that he can try and keep some consistency in his performances if he is to be the player that is most regularly to start games there.


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3 comments:

  1. Nothing to do with your post...can anyone advise why the reserves/under 21s do not play in the Premier League competition ..whilst teams like Brighton do...what does the club have to do to get into these leagues...it must be better to pit the players against their Arsenal/Chelsea etc counterparts rather than the South West leagues

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  2. Because the AFCB facilities are only rated as a grade 3 and the competition rules state academies have to be grade 1. Investment in this direction has previously not been seen as a high priority. There is now another hurdle to be got over before any further investment in 'facilities' can be allocated. As has been previously reported... there is a problem with negotiations with the stadium owners for facility improvements/increased capacity etc. with the owners demanding an 'unrealistically high rental increase' if those plans go ahead... raising the prospect that we may even have to 'move house'. Obviously there are some major decisions to be made in the background by the bod and investors... until then it's a matter of concentrating on the first team squad and getting consolidated in the prem.

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