Very good point from Kingsland regarding when is rotation too much or too little regarding fitness, confidence, consistency etc! We have very good cover in all areas - KELV/BART BUTTS/RICHARDSON JAIDI/FONTE/MARTIN/SEABOURNE HARDING/DICKSON OXO/LALLANA/NGUSSAN/FORTE HAMMON/SPIDER/CHAPLOW BARNY/GULY/LAMBERT Now im even missing a few names but that shows just how deep our squad actually is! I feel it is very important to find a solid starting 11 but its difficuilt to keep this week in week out. Players are different under different circumstances and occassions. Some examples being -- Dodgey away day with a bad pitch doesnt suit the likes of spider so maybe chaplow is drafted in? Play teams who like to play long ball so Jaidi is drafted in place of Seabourne? Younger players getting overplayed and risked or not experienced enough? Older players getting too tired etc? Nigel Adkins has several factors to look into. Also players have injuries or morale issues and NA has a tougher job than we can imagine! All in all i feel he has got the entire club aware of what we are trying to do and the likes of lallana travelling hours alone to watch us play away suggests to me that even when not playing the boys know there roles! COYRs
"do the positives of this outweigh those of squad rotation, and if so, how much?" While I've never had control of a football team, I have had plenty of supervision of semi pro squash teams and police special unit teams. In both cases, what the squad rotation gives you as a manager is a level of, "creative tension." Will your player fight like a demon for his place and for the team if he knows, beyond peradventure that he is the first name on the sheet and that his position is completely secure? While we probably consider these folks as stars, I'll bet you they are mostly human beings and respond to the stick and the caress. brendan (atlanta)
Hey welcome brendan.........I take it you are a saints fan.......You are not alone out there in yankee land you will be surprised. Any way we look forward to your contribution. I think your right most will respond to that. I think our biggest worry of course is the fact that Saints at the moment do not seem to play the same back four 2 games on the trot. Which I think causes unnecessary problems at the back.
Players have their strengths and weaknesses. The Jaid/Martin/Seaborne debate: Jaidi's experience makes him first choice when he's fit. He occasionally gets done for pace and skill, but that's to be accepted from someone of his build. His age and fitness mean that he won't be fit for the backlog of games coming coming up so we have to consider alternatives. Seaborne is a decent sweeper and he's good atplaying the ball from the back, but he's not the best under pressure, particularly away from home, when teams close him down quickly. he's probably still having nightmares about Mackail-Smith! In home games against less confident sides, he uses his time on the ball to look up and use his range of passing. Martin, although relatively inexperienced, has a natural composure and ability as well as the physical attributes. When he has played, I've liked what I've seen. With Jaidi not having the legs and Seaborne not having the ability under pressure to hold down a regular place, its only natural that people are looking at Martin to take over.
Hey, Welcome ........Itchen North Matt............nice to see you on here. We look forward to your contribution. Fair point you have made about Jaidi. your point would suggest maybe that we should see Martin blooded more on away matches then, which could be a useful addition. Although I think he has been used more on the home front. Probably to give him a bit more confidence. When is Jaidi's contract up is it this year or next? As I feel we will see a lot more of Martin next season.
I raise the question as there has been an awful lot of publicity surrounding other players contracts but not his. Which I think is a pity as I think we could squeeze another year as a back up centre back don't you?
Don't you think it will depend on whether we go up this season ( which I am hoping we will). I think if we were to stay in League 1 then Jaidi & his experience would be welcome as he does a good job. But if we go up then the championship strikers tend to have more pace. Isn't Martins contract up as well ? I seem to remember reading he was given 18months last year ? I would of expected him to have been offered another contract by now. Perhaps he has been an we haven't heard about it yet, I hope so.
I really hope Martin gets a new contract as I think he's a real prospect and we've let too many talented defenders leave without being a decent shot at the first team: Matt Mills and Mike Williamson come to mind. I think Jaidi will leave in the summer when his contract ends and a replacement will be bought in. I think he's been a great player for us but his lack of pace together with not being able to play more than a game a week has forced Adkins has in team selections a lot this season, I think he'll look at other options. Hopefully Martin will be given the opportunity and promote a youngster to fourth choice CB. I hear good things about a few Lloyd Foot and Aaron Racine in particular.
If he is then I would have thought that they would have signed him up again for at least 3 years unless he is looking to bolster the central defence with a more experienced player during the summer if Jaidie isn't going to stay.
I think he is. He signed in November 2009 so that would be due to expire this summer. For some reason I thought it had been extended but I can't find anything online about it, so I must have made it up! With West Ham allegedly interested in January you would of thought we would be keen to tie him down on a contract. We could risk him leaving for nothing in a few months.
Didn't know West Ham were interested.....Do not want to lose him the same as we did with Hall was it ,went to QPR? I think he still plays for them. Do not want any of our young prospects going off unnecessarily.
