People keep referring to the team SB carded on Saturday as 'our reserves' . Very few of those players have played for the reserves this season. Reason being the reserve league is of a poor standard and the games are few and far between. Which is SB problem, how does he give the likes of Dawson, McKenna, etc, competitive match practise? The only football the majority of Saturdays team play is in training, and injuries can occur in training as well as in a competitive game which makes all this talk of not being interested in the FA Cup all the more baffling. Of course the club are interested, or should be, and a player can get injured tiling his bathroom or crossing the road, they cannot be wrapped in cotton wool. The Cup replay has now taken on a bit more importance now the Derby home match has to re-arranged. What would be better that week-end, a 4th rd cup game at home against Barnsley or a blank week-end ? Because usually after a blank Saturday the club are arranging matches behind closed doors to get some decent competitive match practise. I do not think we would see a similar performance from the same team in the replay because they have now had a good 90 mins football under their belts and next time orient are the home team who are expected to win. That makes it a different type of match altogether. I also don't think a couple of Saturdays team would get picked again and possibly SB would add a first team regular and maybe a youngster from the 'real' reserves.
On the one hand I want him to put a stronger side out as we have been presented with the perfect opportunity to make the 5th round. BUT, the team we played should have been good enough on Saturday, and for the first 10-15 minutes it looked comfortable enough. It should have no problems in the replay either. I've also already bought a ticket for Peterborough at London Road on the Saturday (and I want payback for that 3-1 defeat in September) Spot on, Tony. You might be forgetting, however, that it's "only the cup"
Players can get injured falling down lift shafts or tripping over dogs as well I can understand resting key players but not making that many changes but it seems to be the way now , so much for the romance of the FA Cup
Changes or not though, none of those players would have raised that many eyebrows if they were included in the starting line up for a league game. We can sit and make excuses all we want, the reality is we should have won on Saturday. Thank God our manager agrees too.
It's not just about injuries though it's fatigue. That's the killer and it leads to loads of injuries later on. People ignore how fast we play the game and how many matches we play without a break at any point. Always leads to daft little muscle injuries in March time.
Well said that man. With a potentially choice 5th Round draw looming if we dispose of Orient and Barnsley I hope SB puts out a decent side in the replay. Get the first line midfield out there to start, see how Proschwitz does with some decent service and crosses, put the game away by half time and THEN let the rest have their opportunity to show what they can do. I'd start the same back-4, keep Cairney in for Koren, with Elmo (if fit), Meyler, Evans, Brady, and let Pro and Aluko batter them up front. 2-0 up at HT and then bring on the reserves.
What we needed was a Jimmy Bullard in midfield. He'd have run through a brick wall for the chance to play for his beloved Tigers!
I think you will find that most of the players who played in that fixture train with the first team so are managed in just the same way as the first team
