With Daws being back to full fitness this week it will be interesting to see if Brucey gives him a run out at Bury to help his match fitness in readiness for Burnley the week after. Then its big decision time at centre back, two from Daws, Harry and Curtis. Junior isn't in the mix for me though will play at Bury I suspect. All are on top of their game so a nice selection headache to have. As well as Harry and Curtis have done while Daws has been out, and both started against Burnley at home, for me Daws comes back in for Burnley and one of the others has to give way. Whoever is left out can count themselves unlucky. For me I'm going Daws and Harry?
If SB wants to keep out-of-contract-in-5 months Davies for the rest of the season then a week before the transfer window closes is NOT the time to drop him.
By the time the game is actually played there will be little more than 48 hours left in the window so personally don't see that being a significant influence UNLESS the reported Bournemouth interest in Curtis materialises into an offer at £3m, in which case City have a decision to make. Maybe Brucey might surprise us at Burnley and revert to 3 at the back, and play all three?
I don't think he'll consider that unless we were leaking goals. Dawson is injury prone so is likely to have another spell out the team between now and May. I think keeping Davies is vital to our promotion push. Fans won't like it but I see Maguire making way for Dawson - probably at Burnley.
Brucey's been saying that Dawson should be back for Bury for a while, so assuming he is fully fit, I expect him to start on Saturday, probably with junior. He's not going to stick with the same team, he'll make the usual cup changes, I'd expect Meyler back in, probably with Huddlestone.
No question about it in my mind - when Dawson is fit he comes back and partners Davies. That's our strongest defensive pairing. Maguire has done much better than I expected but Davies is a far better defender.
What's the pitch like at Bury, wondering if he'll risk Dawson if the pitch is poor, don't know if I dreaming it or not, but read somewhere that it cuts up pretty badly.
Then I think the state of it on Saturday will play a part if Dawson plays or not after what happened with him on his last return from injury( and that was on a good pitch) must be on SB mind, personally I think he'll give it a miss with him on Saturday.
He did make him captain and was pretty open in his praise after Davies' took the team talk in the FA Cup semi against the blunts. I know a lot has happened since then. The other issue with Dawson and Maguire as a cb pairing is their combined lack of pace.
If it rains again midweek as forecasted then I expect the pitch to be pretty awful, in which case I can see Daws on the bench at Bury, certainly shouldn't be risked with Burnley the week after. Maybe give him 20 minutes towards the end dependent upon the pitch and how the game is panning out
I think there'll be a few 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 formations if he has the CB's to do it Brucey loves 3 at the back
It's obvious Dawson , if fit, will come back eventually. We saw how we couldn't cope when the Fulham sub won all the headers.
Watched Everton at the w/end and whilst I appreciate it's a one off, £50m for Stones He was average at best. Now Harry doesn't have Stones Premier League experience, and some may add pace, but one hell of a difference in values. Harry at snip at £2.75m and worth a lot more today
I live quite near to Bury and there is forecast some horrendous rain due again from late tonight. About a months worth of rain will fall this week on top of what we have had since early November ( 9 months worth) This game will be a risk for Daws as the pitch is bloody awful as it is, and will only deteriorate as the week goes on. Would leave this one alone and prepare for Burnley
Stones signed by Everton at a similar age for about £2m/£3m wasn't he? It's the way it is. Barnsley I bet will be set to earn a massive chunk if the deal goes through. I'd rather see Stones stay in England. He's probably going to be a massive player for England over the next 10 years or so and English players moving abroad rarely tends to work out well. That said, I think having players playing all across the continent in different countries is the one thing every other country has over England. Broader experience across the squad, all the England team knows is the premier league.
