I noticed in the interview with Powell on BBC that the 18 squad players he had yesterday were the only ones he had fit and available so I thought I'd double check and indeed it was. This squad with three players under 20 and also Cook who has rarely featured just shows how small our squad actually is, I was surprised to see it was this thin when thinking of the players who were actually unavailable yesterday being Solly, Jackson, Kermorgant, Cort and Pritchard. So in reality we only have a 23 man squad, similar to the Curbishley days I think.
Curbs liked players who could play in more than one position, which made it easier to manage a small squad. We also have Pope, Hollands,Green, Azeez and Smith out on loan, of which only Pope and Azeez seem genuine contenders for the future, Smith possibly. The good thing about a smaller squad is that everyone feels involved, but it also means you have to be sure of a player when you buy him. I'm all for a smaller squad. Ours may lack quality in some areas, but I don't see how it would be improved by having more squad players of the same standard.In the event of more of our players getting injured I hope we could recall our loanees to cover the situation.
I agree with FHB. Team spirit must be better with a tighter group. Besides, how can we keep all the players match fit without a reserve team? Even when playing Football Manager, I tend to build a squad of 18-20, augmented by a few talented youngsters. Utility players are key, but do we have many of them in our current squad? Wilson? Dervite? I believe our squad to be pretty strong. Not the best, but good enough to have won more than once this season. Last night could be the catalyst for better times, though.
Since Ponders is so reluctant to commit himself, I would like to support FHB's opinion. Our squad is plenty big enough though maybe not good enough. While Green and Hollands may no longer figure in our future, they should be good enough to come back and play in the rather unlikely event of a real emergency (that is, we cannot field a match day 16). No need to add further mediocre players to our permanent staff just to cover that remote eventuality, and any further loans to which we are entitled and could afford are best left to cover any long-term injuries or to take players who we will sign permanently when the window re-opens. On the latter topic, have you all noticed how the permanent transfer market is still ticking over? Partly because so many players are out of contract (including some good ones who we cannot afford) but also because clubs are blatantly agreeing to loan and borrow players with permanent contracts already agreed for January.
Was no-one concerned at how we had no-one on the bench worthwhile last night? No-one who could change a game?
Andy Hughes was a substitution which helped us, but I know what you mean. That's simply because our best players are injured, if we could afford to have a strong bench with our injury list what would we do with these game-changers when everyone is fit?
Exactly. If we are struggling to field players who can strongly influence a game from the start, it would be a bit of a luxury to leave any such on the bench. Hughes, Dervite, Evina and Stewart are probably as good as the players on the bench at most lower-third clubs and could well be regular starters for the likes of Yeovil, while a few weeks back posters here for clamouring for Pigott to start, even at a time when we had Kermit. It was bit demeaning to Cook when Sir Chris said his choice of subs was dictated by who was available. The implication being that had anyone else been available Cook would have got nowhere near the bench. Do yourself a favour, Cookie, and join New York Red Bulls. Lloyd, Ruben and Bradley will help you settle in.
We are looking very short of striking options up front for Saturday. With 50% of our strike force injured, it's looking like The Pig and The Fish ( sounds like a pub....) to start.
Just finished reading your interview in BACKPASS magazine, Eddie. Excellent stuff. You certainly know a thing or two about settling in a new country, eh?
