The Football Dome

RantLog

Moan, moan, moan...

After his side’s 1-0 defeat to Bristol City earlier this week, Exeter City boss John Cornforth described the match as a "complete waste of time."

"I won't be doing this next year, we will only play bigger teams that get the crowds in because there's no point if people aren't going to turn up," Cornforth said.

"It's totally false compared with what we do on a Saturday during the season and I just can't wait for the season to get started."

Has Cornforth – as a professional football manager nonetheless – failed to grasp the entire concept of the pre-season friendly?

As I understand it, friendlies are designed to prepare for the upcoming season; getting players into match practice, perfecting existing tactics, trying new ideas and looking at trialists all in the presence of a low-key, no pressure atmosphere.

But what exactly is Cornforth looking for out of his pre-season warm-ups? Crowds of 10,000+ packing into St. James’ Park to watch the Grecians get smashed 18-0 at the hands of Barcelona? Isn’t that scenario slightly more 'false' than the one City found themselves in on Tuesday evening?

Bristol City are a strong Second Division team who traditionally like to play attractive football. Shouldn’t Cornforth be thankful that his side get a run-out against a team who like to play football but aren’t a class apart? It gives him the opportunity to see how his men match up against a decent team whilst not being played off the pitch.

So the match may have been a dour affair, but isn’t it the job of the manager to find plus points out of every pre-season affair and ensure that he and the squad get as much out of the fixture as possible? If the match was a waste of time for Exeter, it was a waste of time because of Cornforth. Bristol City boss Danny Wilson took a completely different view, insisting it was a "good workout" for his Division Two boys.

And why moan about the attendance for a friendly? Exeter averaged 3,313 per home fixture last season; Tuesday’s friendly attracted 1,253, not a ‘bad’ figure by any means. But Cornforth obviously feels the point of friendlies should be to attract huge crowds rather than to assess his squad before the serious business gets underway.

For small clubs, home fixtures versus the very top clubs are few and far between. When such a fixture is arranged, it pleases the home supporters and brings in a little extra cash. But as a match, it does very little for a Third Division club because – as Cornforth put it – "it’s totally false compared to what we do on a Saturday during the season."

Exactly, John.

Send feedback to Chris.C.

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