I'm basing it on what I've been saying all season (plus allowing for transfers we've made), and it's based on wanting two players for each positon in case a player is out for more than one game: CB - if Hobbs gets injured we don't have a replacement. Cooper is an option to replace Chester, but since McShane went out on loan there's nobody who can provide any bulk in there. Particularly in aerial battles (and at set pieces) the ability to stand in the way of an attacker and hold them away from the ball without it being a foul is important. If Chester and Cooper do it with someone like Iwelumo it automatically makes the referee think something must be wrong because they've no 'right' to be able to do it. RB - East I've seen nothing to suggest he's suitable cover for if Rosenior were to pull a muscle against Blackpool and miss most of March. You certainly can't describe him as contributing towards a very good squad. DM - there's no replacement for McKenna. Evans can play there so once Olofinjana is ready to start that sort of deals with that. Koren - there is no replacement for him. Brady seems to be stepping up to it, but that's always relying on Stewart not suffering too much because of his long layoffs as there's nobody for left wing. Upfront - we only have Adebola who's suitable for the lone striker role, and he's not able to start games now, never mind when it's two games a week. Well we have King as well who I think could do that job, but Barmby seems to want to play him out wide and he's never impressed me in that role.
If the worse comes to the worst maybe NB may have to consider playing himself in some of the remaining games. Cover for CB is a real issue now that even Maccas gone as others have alluded to.
Koren, international captain and world cup player, he did well for West Brom at Prem level appearing in most games before they released him, seems like a bizarre decision on their part given the flashes of brilliance he shows
Of course he would; Swansea, Wolves, Bolton etc would snap your hand off for him. It does worry me a tad that people are saying that our current squad wouldn't be good enough to grace the PL when we are pushing for promotion. I always look at Cairney as an example of how the PL and CCC give players a better light. Cairney benefitted from having more time on the ball, he doesn't have the quickest footballing brain but he knows how to work the ball if he gets time. I feel Brady, McLean and Stewart would benefit from having more time on the ball, then the crosses would be of more quality and wouldn't feel so rushed. Manonne is PL quality, as is Koren, Chester, Hobbs, Stewart, Evans and Rosenior. Chuck in Cairney and Cooper for the future and you have the skeleton of a half decent team. Then you can build around them and push on.
I'd agree with your initial point that out back up players are weak compared to our starting XI, though I'd dispute a couple of the points mentioned above. Cooper is a replacement for Hobbs, rather than Chester, he's left footed and can play the left centre back role(or at left back) and personally, I think he's as good as Hobbs. I also think Brady looks pretty good in the Koren role, though obviously not as good as Koren.
If you're suggesting that the Crawley game alone doesn't necessarily mean we must have **** backup players, I completely agree. We have a few players not in the team who are just as good as the ones in the team. I don't buy this "Chester might be best in the future" business. Chester is a quality player right now, I'd say he's our best player but I can understand the arguments in favour of Koren. Thing is, Chester stands out in a quality defence next to other great defenders, Koren stands out partly because he's our main goal threat, which considering the profligacy our strikers, isn't that difficult. Top 5 in order for me: Chester, Koren, Rosenior, Hobbs, McKenna If Stewart was at his best he'd probably make that list too.