For me; and I'm a fairly clueless tactician (not in Flyers league), a successful team on the pitch usually results in naming unchanged squads with players in their 'correct' positions. Oh and a little motivation helps too. My question is, with so many players in the squad, has Harry actually picked the same starting 11 more than once this season? He seems to want to be the new Ranieri 'the tinker man' who cannot resist alternating / swapping / fiddling rather than finding 11 players and a formation and sticking with it. I know we've had injuries but even so its like a revolving door every match. Against Burnley, Traore plays well on the wing. Next game v Derby he's dropped? Maiga plays v Burnley and scores on his debut. Come the Reading game, Bobby Z gets on the pitch ahead of him? We loan Hitchcock out repeatedly, yet take Keane on loan. I can't see he's any improvement on what we already have? What's happened to the Brazilian kid? My personal belief is that Harry really hasn't got to grips with the squad this season. He went out for a tight defence and grinding 1 nil wins but seems to have lost the plot of late. There is no continuity from match to match. I look at our other rival sides in the top 6 and they just don't chop and change like we do. For me its the root cause of our problems.
I know we played 19 players in December alone. Thats 2 more than in the entire 75/76 year of (near) glory. I would not be at all surprised to find we haven't fielded an unchanged team ever this season.
WBA, I was just thinking along the same lines. Harry seems to be continually looking for his best line-up and I can't imagine these continued changes are doing us any good. The injuries haven't helped, but it does all seem unsettled. Our defence kept changing then settled then changing. It would be interesting to know of he has picked the same team more than once this season; gut feeling is he hasn't.
Harry is clueless, hence the need for him to continually change the team, hoping something will click!
Fact is simple he was given a selection of very good talent last season assembled by Hughes ... Sorry lads but have always said Hughes was better than what we have . He used excuses to dismantle and we went down with a whimper and those players were used to protect Harold's reputation and have to say many ate the rubbish. I sincerely hope Harold who now has his players at the club turns it around and I credit him for making us tight but it's wasn't rocket science to see we has no plan B ... I hope now they can get their **** together as no excuses anymore
Do not quite agree with this The back 5 have been settled (without the tragic injury to Simpson...the back 5 would have been immovable. IMHO 3 other players would have been immovable too (Phillips, Austin and Barton) So 8 of the team would have been solid (and who knows Faulin may have made himself undroppable too)..so 3 to tinker with That is about the right ratio in my opinion. Arry has had major major problem with injuries to very important players (Simpson, Austin, Faulin, Phillips, Onohua have been a huge loss....) I feel sorry for Arry and for us RRRs....HOWEVER not that much .......because the team he put out on Sunday...even with the players he had available..... was just wrong to me and stupid, and lacking foresight, lacking confidence.....WRONG!!!!
I agree with most of that Beth, although Harry isn't picking Onuoha, even though he's been on the bench for weeks!
That is because Arry refuses to listen to me....and play him in front of the back four as DCM (I am beginning to sound like Flyer aren't I)
Well I can't see old Ned as a defensive midfieler tbh. Not good enough on the ball and it would take him a long time to get the positioning right. Has to be Henry I'm afraid.
