I would never put Embleton up front. He’s not good enough in the air or “back to goal” which is what was needed. O’nien can do that. Wasn’t about more forward thinking, was about who is better at the job needed. O’nien, imo, is a much better option. I’m only making the point as I don’t believe there’d be any issue if o’nien had seen out the game, walked off and not picked up an injury. Point is any of the important players could’ve picked it up. O’nien has an existing shoulder problem which never affected him. Neil, Embleton, possibly o’brien could all be just as important players and could all have been injured in the same way, yet there were no questions asked about any of them. Only o’nien and, despite there being a few comments saying “why o’nien “ not many were before he got injured
Used to watch a lot of youth football in the late 60s, We won it twice 67&69 I think, the era of up and coming players Bobby Kerr, Ritchie Pitt, Billy Hughes Colin Sugget etc, we used to attract decent crowds in those days, any matches under the floodlights at Roker was worth going to see, happy dsys
Not sure I agree that we needed a change up front at all. Obviously Harris may have signalled to the bench that he had picked up a knock or was knackered but it didn't appear to be the case. Either way we shouldn't be bringing on 09 or Embleton and if I'm being honest I was surprised we started Dan Neil and that he played 90 mins even though he was excellent. All imho of course and that's what Johnson gets paid to do so onward and upwards. Just hope 09 scan reveals no significant damage.
Disagree personally about Neil etc. I think we should be going to win the competition again. Hopefully it’ll be the last time we ever play in it mind! Play a team strong enough to win it.
Luke is versatile, but playing him up front in place of a centre forward ? are you OK with that ? how often will that be tried I wonder. I agree about Embleton fading but giving him 20 minutes should not be a problem. LJ's touch line decisions are often at odds with his studied post match interviews, and this I believe will be his eventual down fall, hopefully for all our sakes, it will not be this season .
We can't wrap players up in cotton wool tbh. If they've got an injury weakness it'll be found out, especially the league we're in. Let them play and be done with it, we've a strong squad this year. Something we haven't been able to say for years.
Don't agree, there's very little point in bringing on valuable players when you're 2-0 up in a nothing game with what, 10 minutes left? I'm not suggesting we never play him but it was a poor decision that backfired.
Erm no its not. I dont count the Pizza cup as a proper game, its more of a chance for us to play U23 players and give them a first team opportunity, its just a hiderance now. Neil has been benched our last 2 league games, so like i said if hes fit he should erm start every game erm
Oh I can see your point mate, No danger there. I'd agree with what Collins said last night in the post match crack with Frankie in that we will hopefully use it for the time being to give lads who aren't getting games in the League. I get that we have more young players who may benefit from these games at the minute than we have had in previous seasons, I'm just nervous given that we may again pay the price for our continued involvement when fixtures become more congested but that's probably just me overthinking it.
Totally disagree mate promotion is total priority this season. Imagine if Neil or Onien ruptured their cruciate in this tournament or any other important player for us. Weve won it once already and the prize money isnt even great. We're going to have a load of fixtures to catch up on soon with international breaks, a possible FA Cup run aswell as a possible Quater final in the Carabao cup aswell as a hectic Xmas league schedule. Theres no point at all risking key players in this pointless competition.
Think must see it as you say, pointless competition. But I don’t think Johnson & the players are allowed to. I like it. It’s realistically the only cup competition we can win. And I want to see us win it. If someone dies their acl then that could happen in any game. It’s pure bad luck if it happens. League has to be number one priority absolutely but I certainly want to win this cup too
Cant have done a lot for Harris's confidence either, and these young players need to be backed , by actions as well as words.
Its a pointless trophy though mate so who actually cares if we win it or not? Id much rather concentrate getting as far as we can in the proper cups and finally secure promotion. I know your talking about bad luck but sometimes in life you need to do yourselves a favour and stay out of the firing line unless it is completely neccesary.
Johnson has already said he'll accept a fine and play a weakened team next week agains Man Utd because its only 2 days before the Gillingham game, so he's not taking it that seriously. The fact we're playing Man United U21's so soon to a league match sums up everything i say about this Cup being an unwanted distraction.
sorry but that’s rubbish mate. He’s taking it less seriously than the league. Which is exactly what he should. League is (as I said) the priority. But I still want to win this one
Whatever floats your boat then mate, but a Golden Pizza is far from my priority this season and not exactly something to be proud of. If anything winning it made us a laughing stock last season and highlighted how far we'd fallen
I cared about this tournament a lot last year but with the trophy safe in the cabinet and even more pressure to get promoted this time around I'm much less concerned about it. Especially if you're talking about taking unnecessary risks when the game's in the bag.
