Surely the intention has to be to field a strong squad, get a couple of goals ahead and then bring on the youngsters. I do not think Newport will be a pushover and I hope we do not show them any disrespect by fielding a depleted first XI.
Maybe but as Chilcs says with more options the decisions should be more based on the Sports Science indicating who needs a game and who needs a rest I never want to see too many changes I want to see 2nd string playing in what is fundamentally the 1st team to see what they can do I’ve seen 2nd string Saints teams in cups before and it’s like a bunch of drunk strangers trying to line dance together No-one comes out of it well
Very true… and amusing! Although the reality is a club of our resources should be able to field a team of fringe players and promising youngsters and still win. They play together as U23’s so ought to get the job done.
Cherry getting tonked by Norwich 4 - 0 at the moment they won't be in the Bag. Gunn in goal (for Norwich!) and Brandon Wiliams playing.
Yeah, cocked up and just realised. No idea why I thought he went to Bompey! I’ve not even been drinking.
Didn’t realise Norwich had signed Tzolis If FM is to be believed they’ve got themselves a great player
I am probably too old to comment here with modern sports science. But it seems to me when Notts Forest and Liverpool were winning everything, playing 60 games a season with 15 man squads no-one spoke of tiredness. Winning teams don't. Losing teams do. Two games into a season, I really don't think we should be resting players, we should be giving them game time to hone match fitness. I await to be shot down
Football was also a slightly different sport then. Very physical, but distance run has increased significantly in the decades since, as the ball is played on the ground more frequently, with midfielders and fullbacks expected to contribute in all phases, forwards expected to press and consistently make runs, etc. The days when post-match recovery involved three pints and half a pack of cigarettes are long since gone.
I used to work a five and a half day week, train on a Wednesday night, and play football twice every weekend. We were young and fit.
Absolutely, and so were professionals of the era. But the defining characteristic of modern football is the sheer pace at which it is played, and the amount of running required of players. It's easy to blame it on daggum rich players who never worked a day in their life being too soft to play multiple games a week, but the reality is that the game is just different, for better and worse, and one of the changes is that it places an incredibly high demand on players' aerobic fitness.
