13 games in 57 days, thats a hell of a run and you can't expect to play everyone in those games imo We've already seen Butterfield come in, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a variety of players start at some point including Harding, Martin, Puncheon, Hammond, Sharp, Connolly, De Ridder & Guly (players who could get in most Championship sides anyway so nothing to worry about) Everyone is gonna have to play their part now, its the final hurdle, the squad will need to be ready. Come on You Reds!
So true, just glad we've not got loads of players going off on international duty, losing Chungs bad enough! Theres quite a few key players in or around the action tonight. Robson-Kanu = Reading Barry Robson = Boro Kenny Miller = Cardiff (although he won't play 90) Snodgrass = Leeds O'Dea = Leeds Collison = West Ham It'll be like injury watch tonight, still should make it a tad more interesting!
where are all the "don't change a winning team brigade"? of course, Nigel will be using the squad wisely over the next two months.
We did ok last season when we had games in hand to play. Nothing like winning to stop you feeling tired. Fit footballers want to play every game.
Never understood this whole burn out issue myself (Says the fat man). Its 90 minutes of games + training time for people supposed to be at the peak of physical fitness. So long as they don't pick up injuries why change a winning team?
I know Sunday league football is not in the same league but once a few more years back than I care to remember we had had a few games postponed due to the bad weather. Two weeks remained and we had 3 games left to be played with two of them against the same team.The league proposed that we played one game with the result being given for both games.our clubs couldn't agree who would be playing at home though so we played twice on the same day. We kicked off the first time at 10.30am and the second time at 1.30pm. Though we only managed to train together once a week we managed well enough to last both games out. Same for both teams so in that way we were I guess as knackered as each other but we actually enjoyed it. Being unfit and of lower quality it is quite likely that we did more running and tackling than you will see in a professional game. We also played the second game on the astro turf pitch at Kennington and do I not like that stuff. So for players to complain about playing a game that they love and get well paid for after only having 2/3/4 days rest makes me laugh.
Because you pick the team the manager thinks is best suited to the team you are about to play, not the one you've just beat. Example; Lambert gets injured, and in a game he misses we win 1 nil with a Jos header from a corner. Lambert is back for the next game that we need to win to get promoted and it's against Reading .... do you put Lambert on the bench?
no-one has said that, but anyway it is about maintaining peak performance at all times, which is always relevant to the level you are at. Even top professionls of any sport find that their bodies go through a recovery phase... Nigel's job is to detect which players can perform the next game at peak performance without signs of fatigue or a niggle.
Point taken, perhaps should have said managers/clubs etc. Point is we have clubs around us who have a game or two in hand and they have the same time limits as us. We do have a big squad and hopefully won't see many injuries in the run-in which will hurt us.eleven. I do expect one or two changes per game but against the toughest looking opposition would expect Nigel to pick what he feels is his best. I find it is harder for the fans when there is a fixture pile-up as the expense can be crippling and the travelling extremely tiring.
come on, we are "professional" fans. This shouldn't be tiring at our level.... now if we were sunday league fans, then yes, we wouldn't have the stamina
With the size of the squad we had before January, I'd be worried about the next 8 weeks. But not now. We've got a deep enough squad now, in general, to get by and rest players as and when. Yes we don't have another Lambert or Lallana or Hooiveld waiting in the wings, but at least it's going to take a shed load of injuries until we have to start turning to the likes of Holmes, Forte and Reeves, or playing Morgan wide right or Guly up front alone etc.
