What would Smithies think if after we've signed him, he can't even get minutes in a cup game? Green might be going too, so we needed to see what our #2 is made of.
Diakite actually played 90 mins on Monday for the u21 s, and missed a penalty.
I agree about Hill.
You want Ned (our best CB and captain) with his porcelain hamstrings to play his 3rd game in 7 days? (he's played in every game so far this season). And then presumably in his 4th in 11 Vs Huddersfield? We're not exactly stacked with CBs.
Agree re Hall.
Faurlin?!! The man was absolutely dead on his feet after 60 mins on Saturday. I thought it was a mistake to play him so soon after wolves anyway (he should never play more than once in a week imo), so 3 times in 7 days would be insanity. Injury recurrences are most likely whilst fatigued. Lord have mercy.
Why not use a cup game to test whether Doughty can step up and fully replace Henry in our starting lineup. Picking Karl would be a negative Harry-esque choice. Doughty said in pre-season that's he's targeting 30 league starts, so he clearly has ambitions above being benched Vs Carlisle.
Austin and Phillips are quite clearly no's: you want to cup-tie them/risk injuring them thus knocking a large percentage off their value? Even if they stay, why on earth would you risk the duo that will win us the championship, Vs Carlisle?
I want Chery and Luongo fit and raring to go Vs Huddersfield, not dead legged after their 4th game in 11 days.
More than that though, you're risking dischord if our fringe first-team players don't get gametime. Poulter and JET rightfully needed minutes to stake a claim to a first team spot; if i were them i'd think "why sign me then never let me play a full 90mins?". With the transfer window closing we needed to take the opportunity to test our 2nd choices in certain positions to give a guide of where needs strengthening (Kpekwa + Furlong are currently 2nd choices). It's about keeping the squad motivated and sharp as a whole, and many of Tuesday's lineup hadn't played much competitive football this season (so how could we expect them to be up to speed whenever they're introduced to the first team).
Ramsey's been praised for opening up a pathway for promising youth players to get into the senior squad. That pathway disappears when you don't play them in these sorts of games.
(TLDR: I'd have picked exactly the same lineup Ramsey did)
