Ray Hicks maybe a new person on this thread but he's hit the nail on the head from what I've heard. Adding to what Stretford said how can you really gain an idea of the talent in the region with a one hour trial?
On the other points he raised:
1) Yes yay for the Phoenix, just a shame I'm away that wknd.
2) great idea the Under 22 cup, another chance to show the younguns up for higher honours
3) Competitions review: good thing IMO. With the Div 1 not really showing much keeness for promotion maybe there is room for improvement in the MPL. Ultimately tho, there still needs to be a promotion/relegation element to the league otherwise the league will lose all sort of interest for the other 6 teams that won't win it. And a perfect time to sort out the whole schools vs clubs issue. My other real hope is to sort out the whole juniors playing in their own age group to have real leagues across the board however that will probably be a lost cause.