Has anyone any idea why our 'second string' play so terribly when they are given a game? Not just this week, but last year against Luton and so on. It's often been stated that Fox 'didn't take his chance', but this has been true of almost everyone. They ought to be chomping at the bit to force themselves into the first team squad but they always seem to play as if they don't care. I'm not just talking about skill, but attitude. Does anyone have any ideas?
It sounds overly conspiratorial, but I sometimes wonder if we throw these matches deliberately. Maybe not explicitly, but it feels like someone has said "go out, try to enjoy it, but don't worry too much and if we get lucky, great". Not really throwing, but the bare minimum of effort.
I have an idea, but it is pure supposition and also seems like another stick to beat CH with. So don't fire me down if I offer it, please. CH seems one of those managers who very much prefers to have a settled first squad (unlike, for example, PL). There are advantages to this, but one of the disadvantages is that it disincentivises (oh my god, what a management type of word for me to use!) the players who aren't in the first squad. They start to feel that, whatever they do, they won't get in the first team. For example, why should Fox or Becchio put in the slightest effort when they are obviously out in the cold for whatever reason? Of course, I'm not saying this is CH's intention. It would be pretty abject management if he intended that and I doubt if even his fiercest critics lay that charge against him. But people get messages about the way the wind is blowing. I'd like to think there are other reasons because this really does suggest very poor man-management. So can someone else come up with something, please?
Last seen surviving as soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground I believe. If you do manage to track them down the big fella is pretty useful with a welding kit, though good advice to try to not wind him up too much - and definitely don't try to get him on a plane unless you've stuck something in his milk.
But it's indirectly related to the A team. Maybe one of the reasons they are under-performing is that their positions are far too secure.
I'd had this thought exactly. No matter how badly Howson played last season, in an unfamiliar DM role, Fox still wasn't tried. So whilst that faith in Howson has clearly been rewarded by Howson's recent performances, Fox was probably left disillusioned, and nowhere near match fit. Of last nights contingent, Johnson probably knows he now won't get near the first team before Christmas unless Tettey gets injured, ditto Hoolahan for Howson; Garrido for Olsson; Bunn for Ruddy. That's nearly half the side playing with the mindset of "no matter what we do, it's not going to help us". Lambert clearly favoured rotation, but also had a squad where a lot of players were similar in ability. Hughton favours a settled side, and has around 14 strong players and then the rest merely make up the numbers, filling in where needed. However, if Lambert were to have stayed longer he'd have probably had to adapt to a more Hughton-style approach, because in buying the quality needed to step up a level he'd have only been able to bring in a few of that quality of player, who effectively are then undroppable.
i agree with most of this vietnam. i do think players need to keep their eye in, so to speak, and reserve football doesn't do it. hughton does favour the 'settled' side. i personally used to love lambert for mixing it up, always keeping things fresh, yet for some reason our fans were constantly moaning that we never had a settled side - now we do have a settled side, people want the manager to mix it up a bit!! another case where the manager (no matter who he is) can't win. i do disagree with the comment about him not liking surman - he was a regular in the side when hughton started, played every game but then he got injured and he isn't even a regular at bournemouth now, likewise fox is playing at the bottom of the championship with barnsley. these players were replaced with better players. i should also point out that although we never really had a definitive 'a' and 'b' team under lambert, our record when he played a slightly understrength side in cup competitions was truly abysmal and actually, hughton, fa cup aside, has a pretty good record in the league cup - he's played 7 and only lost the two, to bogey side villa and at old trafford.
