Runners-up don't get a Euro place. It's not that Austin and the rest can't play three times a week if needed. If it was a league game it would have probably been full strength. But from a sports science point of view it's asking for trouble.
I take on board that a key player may be injured but that to me reflects exactly what governs our mindset ... Fear I am all for letting youth grow into talent 100% behind CR I also agree that talent has to come through but... None of us even knew any of these new players that in four games we have now made little heroes already When the fixtures were announced we knew the score , we know this league and what is demanded Yet we are still in the first stages of growing a team so by chucking out a completely new team is a mistake Eating the crap about fitness or risk is even worse IMO plus we have an international break . Of course we move on but I have to say I will watching CR with different eyes from now on I fully expect him to get 3 points Saturday now because only that will do if we are all consider this growth We lose on Saturday and get outplayed then even I will understand the frustration a lot better I know today's footballers are race horses but I fully believe that fitness, momentum and more importantly I don't want any more bullshit anytime during the day, from anyone. That includes me!
What's your dream (for QPR) then Watto? Here's the thing - we will probably finish mid table somewhere. The club has consistenty played down the idea of promotion. So a lot of fans who haven't actually looked at our squad will be disappointed. The Cups represent a welcome diversion from what will be a year of grinding tedium (hopefully with signs, as we saw on Saturday, of a decent playing philosophy being implemented). Now Ramsey is under huge pressure to win away at Huddersfield (if we don't what the **** was the point of that team on Tuesday). I get sports science, and I get (as DT says) that its result is over conditioned players who spend huge chunks of their careers unable to play. For me this game, as Stan's presence on the pitch on Saturday showed, and the joy that a few battered aging geezers like me took from seeing their team at last trying to play decent football, is about sentimentality, not science.
I'd love to see us win the FA Cup in my lifetime and have a night out or two in Europe. I'd hate to see us rest players in the FA Cup because the games are on Saturdays and it's a competition that deserves respect. would be great if we were an established top six prem side but there's no great appeal to becoming a West Brom or Sunderland finishing 17th forever. The League Cup doesn't really do it for me unless we got into the quarter-final. My priority for this season is just stabilising in the league. The first XI has the makings of a decent side but an unlucky run with injuries and we're relegation candidates with an inexperienced manager.
So where does the balance come into it regarding expectation? At the moment we are light years away from being a top half Premier League side let alone top six and that is only likely to happen if the big 4 feck off as part of any newly formed European super league. We do not have the structure or infrastructure in place to even consider that kind of lofty ambition at the moment. Therefore that is why in my view both cup competitions need to be given due respect as they are the only real possibilities of any success and a suitably strong side should be played with the addition of one or two youngsters, not wholesale changes as we saw on Tuesday. Ramsey has dug himself a huge hole now for Saturday as stupidly that becomes a must win game otherwise what justification does he or the club have for the selection process. This in a way was very avoidable.
No key players being injured or weakened for Saturday is the justification for the selection. It's not a must win at all. Would be disappointing to lose but who are we to say we have to be beating Huddersfield away? We aren't going to win the cups or get close to doing so whatever we do. He put out a team of players who need a chance to show what they can do as many of them will be needed in league games. Some may be first choice players in a week if Austin or others go. The League Cup stopped being respected a long time ago.
Agree Saturday shouldn't be a must win, but with the way things panned out on Tuesday with the selection policy, Ramsey was effectively saying the league takes priority (which i don't disagree with) and league cup doesn't matter, which i do disagree with. It was almost out of the Harold script book of throwing the game a bit like Burton last season. Don't get me wrong Wats I liked what I saw last Saturday and the way the team had shape and a game plan, it would have been good if that had been carried through into Tuesday as winning breeds confidence and a chance of a 3rd straight win was lost. There again if some of the chances were taken we would have won by a country mile and Ramsey would have been applauded for his approach to the game!!!!!!
I think your last sentence contradicts the rest a little bit. What we saw under Redknapp and Hughes and even Warnock when going out of cups was very different to Tuesday night. This wasn't a team clearly sent out to not give a stuff. It seems the endeavour was there and more than enough chances were created to win the game. What definitely doesn't help is the lack of reserve team football and the poor quality of opposition when something is set up. If people like Furlong and Grego-Cox were playing regular games against really good players every week there would be less need to use games like this to educate them as footballers.
You do love Ramsey don't you. Green Diakite Hill Ned Hall Ali Henry Luongo Philips Chery Austin Now in the tradition show me yours good sir.
It's pointless trying to make excuses about Tuesday, with the imbalance in our squad we were always risking defeat. The youngsters simply aren't good enough and if you use Fulham last season as a yardstick, their Youth Cup finalist youngsters failed dismally in the Championship, far better players than ours. If, as I expect, Austin and Phillips depart by the end of the month we'll be in a relegation battle as there are no natural goalscorers in the squad at present. This week will define our season as there is little time to bring in replacements...
What would Smithies think if after we've signed him, he can't even get minutes in a cup game? Green might be going too, so we needed to see what our #2 is made of. Diakite actually played 90 mins on Monday for the u21 s, and missed a penalty. I agree about Hill. You want Ned (our best CB and captain) with his porcelain hamstrings to play his 3rd game in 7 days? (he's played in every game so far this season). And then presumably in his 4th in 11 Vs Huddersfield? We're not exactly stacked with CBs. Agree re Hall. Faurlin?!! The man was absolutely dead on his feet after 60 mins on Saturday. I thought it was a mistake to play him so soon after wolves anyway (he should never play more than once in a week imo), so 3 times in 7 days would be insanity. Injury recurrences are most likely whilst fatigued. Lord have mercy. Why not use a cup game to test whether Doughty can step up and fully replace Henry in our starting lineup. Picking Karl would be a negative Harry-esque choice. Doughty said in pre-season that's he's targeting 30 league starts, so he clearly has ambitions above being benched Vs Carlisle. Austin and Phillips are quite clearly no's: you want to cup-tie them/risk injuring them thus knocking a large percentage off their value? Even if they stay, why on earth would you risk the duo that will win us the championship, Vs Carlisle? I want Chery and Luongo fit and raring to go Vs Huddersfield, not dead legged after their 4th game in 11 days. More than that though, you're risking dischord if our fringe first-team players don't get gametime. Poulter and JET rightfully needed minutes to stake a claim to a first team spot; if i were them i'd think "why sign me then never let me play a full 90mins?". With the transfer window closing we needed to take the opportunity to test our 2nd choices in certain positions to give a guide of where needs strengthening (Kpekwa + Furlong are currently 2nd choices). It's about keeping the squad motivated and sharp as a whole, and many of Tuesday's lineup hadn't played much competitive football this season (so how could we expect them to be up to speed whenever they're introduced to the first team). Ramsey's been praised for opening up a pathway for promising youth players to get into the senior squad. That pathway disappears when you don't play them in these sorts of games. (TLDR: I'd have picked exactly the same lineup Ramsey did)
I cannot think of any other profession where the ´employee´ has so much power with his and is pampered so much Good post Tramore, exactly the sentiments us ´fickle´ have at the moment.
Spurs vs Chelsea final last year, I´m sure their fans enjoyed the excitement of being at Wembley, just like we did when we managed to stagger our way there!!
I was there. It was a mediocre atmosphere at best considering the rivalry between the teams. It becomes worthwhile once you get to the last 8 or 16. Everton putting out as strong a side as they did is very much the exception but clubs like that that haven't won anything for decades and can realistically win it should be going for it.
It appears Wats we will never taste the glory of being the part of the last 8 or 16...or 32 for that matter! ,-)
We have a much handier way of getting to Wembley via the playoffs and an opponent we should be able to beat
