I just find it amazing how the mood can suddenly change from optimism to despair! Yes we suffered a defeat at home to a very good Brighton side but it doesn't alter the bigger picture! Everyone else around us also lost and there will be many more twists and turns before May. We are in a far healthier position now than back in October when we were rock bottom. Mick is doing a brilliant job and we all know that we lack quality all over the park and sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit when we are beaten by a much better team. Plenty of work to do but the positives still far outweigh the negatives! COYB
JWM no-one is being pessimistic here, were not going to be saying... 'whoopee we played like dog ****e and lost how wonderful!' We are far from out of the woods yet, none of us know how this transfer window will pan out. Personally I'll feel a lot more comfortable in February when we know who we have to work with over the remainder of the season. Fingers crossed DJ signs!
Yes we played badly but you have to give full credit to Brighton for being a very good team Mick will have already identified those players that he wants to bring in and those that he wants to discard. We have a fortnight now until our next League game and this will give him time to begin shaping the side for the coming months. Another 24 points should see us safe and that's all I am focusing on for the remainder of the season as I'm sure Mick will be.
Think your right about resting players for the Villa match, this match has come at the wrong time after the Christmas schedule. We need to field a virtual reserve team, the game is of no importance, it is a no win match, if we progress we get extra matches, if we draw we would have a midweek reply, before a Saturday league match, a big advantage to your opponents presuming they do not have a reply. We just do not have a bigger enough squad to cope. Cast your mind back to when Mick was manager at Wolves, he fielded a virtual reserve team against Man Utd midweek, he thinking that he would lose anyway with his strongest team, so he might as well rest his best players for a winable match on the Saturday, they duly lost against Utd, and won on Saturday. Looks like Mick is going to field fringe players against Villa, news coming through in the E.A.D.T. that this is excactly what he is going to do.
Don't talk so bleeding daft! A lot of Townies have paid good money to go up to Villa with the cost of tickets and petrol, grub etc and it would be an insult to the 3,000 Plus to watch a weakened team! Besides which we haven't got a big squad anyway and I can't see that we would be putting out all of our kids! To suggest that this game is of no importance is just bollocks imo Travelling Town fans want to see us put out a competitive team and I'm sure that Mick will pick his strongest available side.
mick mccarthy is doing a very good job so far. you've not got a great team so inevitably, when you come up against a better side you might lose, but you can't argue that he has done a very good job with the hand he was dealt. he's given you a platform on which to build; one where you can realistically survive from. you'd never have thought you'd be on 30 points at this stage when he took over. you won't get in the play offs - you've not got a good enough team - maybe some of your fans got disappointed because they felt you might be able to keep climbing the table, i don't know. if you stay up he's done a great job. if you finish mid table he's done an outstanding job. if you finish in the play offs he's performed a miracle. i suspect you'll be somewhere between the first two options, around lower mid table. then you can build for next season happy new year to you all by the way
Loach will be a good pick and Hewitt at Right Back is also a good shout! Not quite the wholesale changes that you weree alluding to!
On the optimism to pessimism argument. My POV hasnt changed. MM has improved us but we were/ are in a dangerous position and dont have a great squad. There is now a chance to improve and tweak the squad but there will be many more dramas along the road to May Im sure. There are positives now which werent there before but it doesnt remove the fact we are not out of danger. The league has to be our top priority so if that means putting out a fringe FA cup squad then so be it. Our squad isnt that large so even if we do put out an eleven that is not deemed as our best it will still be a team that will probably have been seen before. The likes of Carson, Chopra, Scotland, JET, Loach etc are possible starters so it would still have a decent chance of putting up a fight.
The reason we have to put in Loach and Hewitt is because Hendo/Orr have not been given permission to play. Hyam should get a start as MM said before he will give him a chance during the xmas period - he hasn't really been given a chance yet so I assume he has always been lined up for this game. Campbell has now gone back so we will have to put in another striker (I imagine Chops). It's not about submitting a 'weakened team' it's just that we don't have enough of our own players to submit the same players that have been playing recently!
I really couldn't care less what happens v Villa, I'll be there. If we win, great, if we go out, boo hoo. I just don't want a replay really! I agree, Mick has performed a fantastic job thus far. Great appointment! However, I feel we can do somewhat better than simply survival. Play offs I'd say is a 1% chance, and not the aim, however if we sign wisely I believe we can certainly improve on 19th.
Yesterday was dreadful, it was part, bad day at the office for Mick, our players did not show up & part Brighton are a half decent team.! I do appreciate what a damn good job Mick is doing, when he took over if I had been told you will have 30 points by the end of the year and a couple of results from the drop zone I would of said thanks very much that will do me well. I do have a couple of items though that leave me scratching my head; Why has Hyam again fallen out of favour, from what I have seen he offers us more than Drury & as for NRC I am yet to see him have a good game, when you add to this that some of Ndaw’s best performances have been when playing alongside Hyam that for me is even more baffling. I know Hyam got injured & than had a virus but that is a few weeks ago now so surely he must be over that. The other is Edwards, since he has moved back to RW he has been bloody useless, he does not take his man on, he is often caught on his heals, he can’t cross the ball, his passing at times is woeful & he is often drifting into the middle to much. He was our worst player yesterday (even worse than NRC) yet week in week out he plays 90mins.! Rant over..! With regard to the Villa cup game I actually think it has come at just the right time for us, Mick will be forced to shuffle his pack, I hope we get a chance to have a look at Hewitt at RB, Loach will get another chance in goal, Hyam should also be starting this one for me, Scotland & Chopra will get a chance to stake a claim for the vacant position up front. JET for a start, Mings on the bench.! Loach Hewitt Smith Chambers Cressy JET Ndaw Hyam Murphy Chopra Scotland ALB Martin Edwards Drury Mings
We should play Mings from the start, and why not include Burke, Ainsley, Murray, Whight, Lawrence could be brought in as well. Find it strange you include Cresswell, the guy deserves a rest, and if he plays and has a good game, there is the possibility that Lambert could launch a new bid for him.
Mings is cup tied having played in one of the earlier qualifying rounds and I believe Scotland won't be played as it seems very likely that he will be out of the club by the end of January (most likely on loan) I would also echo some of the frustration of Edwards' performances.. he seems to have lost that spark that made him a decent attacking full back but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him fill in at RB against Villa (not that I want him too) Plus I can't imagine MM putting Murph back out wide given how instrumental he's been for us up top. I'd like to see Martin played on the Right and JET (or possibly Carson) played on the left. As for the Hyam claims, it was always difficult to break back into a winning side but even I'm a little perplexed as to why NRC got the nod ahead of him. I must admit I was hoping NRC to be able to rekindle some of his previous form as at his best he would be an absolute hero at this level but unfortunately for whatever reason he looks half the player he used to be.. Quite the fall from grace
Cant really argue with anything King has posted above. Even if Mings was available non-league to premier league opponents in 3 weeks is a big ask so not an idea I would personally consider. On Edwards, Im glad that others are now agreeing with me on this point. He was poor on the wing when he first arrived from Sunderland. We moved him back to RB and so he put in less crosses most of which were still poor but the 1 or 2 good crosses he did put in from full back per match isnt bad so everyone started calling for him to be moved forward again. He can put in a decent cross but not consistently enough to be a first choice winger. He isnt our biggest problem but personally he wouldnt be a first choice in any position for me.
Firstly Mick has done an outstanding job at the club so far and has by far exceeded expectations but he's not the messiah. He's been exactly what we've needed, someone to get back to basics, get us organised and on an even footing. I think he'll do this and dependant on how the January transfer window goes I think we will be mid table by the end of the season. McCarthys biggest strength is keeping things simple and get back to basics, I unfortunately think it is also his biggest weakness and perhaps sometimes doesn't think out of the box or take risks, some would argue now is not the time to do this. I've already had my say also on Edwards, he looks really ineffective on the RW, for me we should try Martin there as he looks lost on the LW yet he does looks like he could make something happen (more than Edwards)!! We all know Edwards was positionally poor at RB but other than that I thought he was pretty decent and actually pretty outstanding going forward for us, taking on players, overlapping, getting to the byline, I'm perplexed at how he just doesn't do this on the RW. He's certainly less of a danger to us on the RW than at RB but he's also less of a danger to the opposition, him attacking from RB was one of our biggest strengths. I haven't been overly impressed by Orr although it's clear he knows defensively what he is doing, he has kept us slightly tighter at the back but it would be good to see Hewitt given a run. At Villa I don't think MM has much option really with who to play but I'd like to see Hewitt given the chance and the rest of the defence pretty much the same, as I said I don't think he's got much choice. Try Martin on the RW, Hyam and N'Daw in the centre as they look our best pairing although lack creativity which is why I would put JET central uptop and put Murphy on the left.
