Yes and on that basis, we won't if he did the right thing until after Ipswich on Saturday ;-)
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
[Albion] Did Chris Hughton do the right thing with his Walsall team selection?
- Thread starter North Stand Polls
- Start date
Yes and on that basis, we won't if he did the right thing until after Ipswich on Saturday ;-)
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Yes CH was right
I disagree with this too. It's the players not turning up that's the problem.
Gritt23
New member
The modern game says YES, he did the right thing, that's what the modern game has given us when it comes to Cup competitions. But it's a massive NO from me. Rotation makes sense, maybe this is the game to try Dunk and Uwe together, but don't make more changes than we would from one League game to another. We have a game Saturday, then the International break. We also have a new strike partnership that needs time on the pitch together and forwards ALWAYS benefit from a confidence boost of a goal, even if it's a penalty. Well Hemed could have stroked him 2 penalties last night, and maybe tucked something else away to complete his hat-trick, and he'd be absolutely buzzing from that going into the Ipswich game.
But oh no, it's the Cup therefore we make WHOLESALE CHANGES and hide behind the ridiculous "picked a side good enough to win the match" line. Incidentally, I don't know whether CH did use that line, but most managers in that situation tend to. The line about us having "so much good possession breaking into their final third" wasn't exactly borne out by 49% possession and zero corners, so we were definitely in the trotting-out-nonsense-quotes mindset.
But oh no, it's the Cup therefore we make WHOLESALE CHANGES and hide behind the ridiculous "picked a side good enough to win the match" line. Incidentally, I don't know whether CH did use that line, but most managers in that situation tend to. The line about us having "so much good possession breaking into their final third" wasn't exactly borne out by 49% possession and zero corners, so we were definitely in the trotting-out-nonsense-quotes mindset.
KZNSeagull
Well-known member
Yes. We have a big squad with competition for places and players need to play. Not CH's faults that the players he picked did not perform - there was plenty in that side last night to win comfortably.
CH fielded a strong enough side - a side that should have been able to beat Walsall. Unfortunately, COG missing the penalty blew it for us. Brighton at 2-1 would have shut up shop and I'm certain we would have won. Unfortunately it didn't pan out that way.
Was his selection wrong? No, it was fine. Ultimately, we avoided suspensions and/or injuries to first team players.
Would progression to the next round have been worth it had Bruno been sent off? Or Hemed injured for several months?
Was his selection wrong? No, it was fine. Ultimately, we avoided suspensions and/or injuries to first team players.
Would progression to the next round have been worth it had Bruno been sent off? Or Hemed injured for several months?
Hardly needed hindsight to know that team would struggle.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
I just don't bye that. Injuries and suspensions are just part and parcel, they will happen all season long. Injuries can be picked up in training. Suspensions will come in at some point, it barely matters if they happen at the start of October or the end, or whenever.
By all means make 2 or 3 changes. Have some fringers on the bench to have a runout in the 2nd half to help integrate them into the 1st team. But changing the entire XI because we've got a game on Saturday...Isn't that their JOB ? I just do not accept that a midweek trip to Walsall could have such a significant impact for a game 4 days later, ESPECIALLY at this stage of the season when players are still looking to get their full match fitness/sharpness back.
These games should be a further opportunity for the 1st team to gel, for partnerships to be worked on, for confidence to be gained in a competitive game. Instead its just a night off, treated no differently to a meanginless pre-season knockabout. All the players last night know full well that the only reason they were on the pitch is because the game doesn't matter. How can that be a "good thing" ?
Bwian
Kiss my (_!_)
- Jul 14, 2003
- 15,898
Playing matches gets players match fit-how many times do we hear "He needs a few games before he'll be fully fit"? Weekday training is a combination of fitness training and skills improvement. Makes you wonder sometimes what they do at the multi million pound training centre.
Left Footer
Well-known member
Yes it was the right thing.
No one cares about the League Cup anymore.
No one cares about the League Cup anymore.
Absolute nonsense.
None of Maenpaa, Rosenior, Murphy or Rea had EVER tasted defeat in an Albion shirt until last night.
Dunk is one of our biggest stars, and Calderon our longest serving player.
Forster-Caskey played most weeks in the side that finished in the play-offs two season ago.
Ince and March are both highly promising young players.
About the only two that your statement might be considered fair, are Holla and O'Grady.
Again - plenty there to win this comfortably. The players let us (and Hughton) down.
Bwian
Kiss my (_!_)
- Jul 14, 2003
- 15,898
Of course he didn't field a strong enough side-if he had they wouldn't have lost and would have scored a goal or two in open play. They didn't. If he puts that lot out every week then we're relegation fodder.
As for your last comment-what if those events happen on Saturday? Footballers get injured and sent off all the time-it's what they do for a living.
I don't agree at all. If COG had scored the penalty - something you'd expect a striker to do - then we would have take a 2-1 lead and closed up. As it happened we pushed forward and got caught at the back. It's hardly rocket science. It doesn't make the team we fielded yesterday shit. It makes them unlucky.
Put it this way: If - for arguments sake - the team we fielded yesterday would have beaten Walsall nine times out of ten but on this occasion didn't, does that mean it was the wrong team? Is it simply wrong because we lost? Do you accept chance plays a part? Do you honestly see things as that binary?
I'm glad to see the results of the poll put your absurd opinion in the minority.
To an extent, yes, but how many goals was playing O'Grady up front on his own ever going to yield? He's shouldn't even be seen as a striker, he is nothing more than a big lump that holds the ball up well; a defensive forward. Would've preferred him to stick a DS striker up there with him, surely we must have one that's earned a shot?
We do have more important things to worry about than the COC though, so it's not the end of the world that we're out, it's just a shame that we went out in this fashion.
We do have more important things to worry about than the COC though, so it's not the end of the world that we're out, it's just a shame that we went out in this fashion.
Bwian
Kiss my (_!_)
- Jul 14, 2003
- 15,898
So unlucky that they couldn't score from open play? Get given 2 penalties and miss one with the ball landing somewhere near Stoke.
It was the wrong side to put out against a high flying, confident L1 side-if we wanted to win. If we wanted to see just how weak the squad is then it was the correct team to put out.
I'm interested to learn how you think that side would beat Walsall 9 times out of 10? Are you Mystic Meg?
Nothing wrong with trying to remain positive but the fact is that we went out of a competition to a L1 side that we didn't give enough respect to.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
OK "most" of them was perhaps harsh. But that was still a wholesale 2nd string lineup, replacing a pretty settled 1st XI that hadn't even played half a dozen games this season, and containing several players in key positions (COG, JFC, Holla) who DID fail us last season. Players who have had to be replaced to try and avoid another dismal showing like last season, of which last night was certainly an echo.
Whoever the opposition is, you can't just throw an XI together like this for a one-off game and expect that team to function. If we're playing an entire 2nd XI in this competition then at least tell the fans before they bother buying tickets and travelling.
Blue Valkyrie
Not seen such Bravery!
Yes, his general aim was right in playing non first team players, BUT...
(1) Ince-JFC-Holla never works in midfield and always results in a GRIM game, resulting in plenty of post-match NSC ANGST and GRUMBLES.
(2) COG just isn't up to it.
Get. Rid. Today.
(1) Ince-JFC-Holla never works in midfield and always results in a GRIM game, resulting in plenty of post-match NSC ANGST and GRUMBLES.
(2) COG just isn't up to it.
Get. Rid. Today.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
There is a pretty straightforward reason that COG missed that penalty. Its the same reason he's not picked to play games. He's not very good.
Had Hemed or Baldock been on the spot, then I think there's a far better chance that we would still be in the competition. But we decided instead to make a conscious decision to select several players who are not very good, and put them in a team that was thrown together from the 2nd string. And that's why we're out. Nothing to do with luck.
CH gambled that the weak team he put out, with one up front, would beat a bunch of third division players. They didn't. He got it wrong, end of.
Big fan of CH - he was the man I wanted to replace Sami, unlike many on here - but there's no doubt he made a mistake last night.
Big fan of CH - he was the man I wanted to replace Sami, unlike many on here - but there's no doubt he made a mistake last night.
throbinson
Well-known member
The team he put out was good enough to win the players just didn't perform