[Albion] The Big Six dilemma

[maffew]

Also - surely if all us "lesser" teams just put out weakened sides against the "big six" all that will happen is that the gap will become wider. Surely, we all ought to be trying to beat the bigger teams to keep the Premier League as competitive as possible?

one for the future, all that matters this season is staying up then look at progression IMO. I am glad I am not the manager

 

[Peter Grummit]

Exactly, how pissed off are our best players going to be if they are dropped for games against the top six? Pretty pissed I imagine and who can be sure it won’t detract from the great team spirit we currently have?

Can’t agree with Naylor on this.

Would give them better chances to fill the gaps in their autograph books.

 

[Nixonator]

One of the last steps to separating this league probably, or the 'big six' pissing off somewhere else.

Will probably happen, the gap is already vast enough for upsets to be rare.

The PL have needed to finely balance the division to pander enough to the big clubs to keep their huge advantage but to give the other clubs a tiny fighting chance enough not to be on the end of embarassing results week in week out. Trouble is their greed is unending and they want even more of the pie now with the mandate to better 'compete' in the CL along with more threats of a breakway no doubt. If clubs play their 2nd team against them we will see more and more large scorelines, reduction in competitiveness and interest decline.

How anyone can have a 'soft spot' for these conglomerate machines is sickening to me, let's not forget what was going on at our club at the time of the first breakaway they lead to enrich themselves. The sooner they **** off to some european wankfest league the better, but domestic TV rights are huge so it won't happen until they get all sorts of legally binding agreements to control and hinder the domestic structure they leave behind.

 

[pottert]

I think it’s a very debatable point.There is no point in beating Man Utd & Liverpool If we then lose to Palace & Huddersfield but
if we make wholesale changes against the top six we are basically writing those games off but does give some players a break.Before the Liverpool game I thought we would make a few changes but I suppose CH thought if it’s not broke don’t fix it.I was really fearful for that game & I was proved right.Its worth remembering that we won’t have many weeks like that again this season playing the 2 most successful teams in English football with a game against our fierce rivals sandwiched in between.If we do make changes against the big sides it does give other players a chance to impress but to be fair we don’t have that many players to come in.


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[Official Old Man]

The best players in the squad have earned their place in the Premier League and have earned the right to play Spurs, Chelsea etc. Sidelining then for a ‘well earned rest’ may be perceived as denying them the fruits of their labour.

My thoughts exactly. As fans, these big games are what we got promoted for. Must be the same for the players.

 

[father_and_son]

For me it is about the proximity of the games. The players looked tired on Saturday and regardless of opposition, it is hard for some of the players to perform at their very best for 3 games in 8 days in the Premier League. We nearly got something at United and that would have given a massive boost to the players and the club, but as it goes we didn't get any points.

We do need to rest some of the players when we are playing so many games together and with the Christmas fixtures it will be interesting to see what CH does. But agree we need to make sure we win the winnable games but be competitive in the other games. Would have thought Hemed could have started one of the last 3 games to give GM a rest.

This. One game a week and we should be playing our best squad every time, but when the games start to pile up, we need to use the depth we have to allow us to rest a few players. In lower leagues and in cup games, we'd rest players when playing weaker opponents, but now we are at top table I agree with [MENTION=10202]Not Andy Naylor[/MENTION] that we should use the "probably won't win" games.

I wouldn't advocate resting everyone (like its a league cup tie) but a few key players.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

I've had to change my mindset this year. I normally want the underdog to stuff the big fish but as they are now our competition I now want the BIG sides to stuff the minnows (apart from us obviously).

 

[perseus]

Let's make it a top Seven!

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Also - surely if all us "lesser" teams just put out weakened sides against the "big six" all that will happen is that the gap will become wider. Surely, we all ought to be trying to beat the bigger teams to keep the Premier League as competitive as possible?

Your point is very valid, but I think there's a slight difference between 'all of us "lesser" teams' and the promoted teams, especially us. Like one or two others, I'm not convinced some of our players have got over their awe at some of the players we're up against, whereas Palace beat Chelsea partly because they're not frightened of them. They've beaten top six teams before and we haven't. Huddersfield beat Manchester United because they had a go early on then hung on grimly.

Before you say it, I know - rotating against them means we never will. Although try telling Beram Kayal and Connor Goldson that putting them in gives us no chance. If these guys are good enough to be in the squad, they should be good enough to play. And if they can prove themselves against say, Spurs, then they obviously improve their chances of staying in against Burnley.

As for annoying players who want to play in the big games, CH has already said that his job is to win games, not keep players happy. Although both would be nice.

 

[Captain Sensible]

I don’t understand the reluctance to put Baldock in the squad. As far as I know he’s fit. Is there something I’ve missed? We have been crying out for pace upfront and someone to pull defenders away from Murray.

 

[symyjym]

It kind of makes sense, though stick to Duffy and Dunk every game unless injured or suspended. We could have started with Kayal, Baldock and Schelotto against Liverpool, all perfectly capable and still keeping the spine together. The three mentioned certainly need to be in a starting line up at some point this season. Baldock is as good as anyone if fit.

 

[Ernest]

I remember Magoo trying this and we still lost the matches we were meant to win

 

[perseus]

I don’t understand the reluctance to put Baldock in the squad. As far as I know he’s fit. Is there something I’ve missed? We have been crying out for pace upfront and someone to pull defenders away from Murray.

Not so sure Baldock has sufficient pace, but lots of running about. I would have definitely thought about including him against Liverpool as their defence is leaky.

There is a problem integrating a player, Baldock, Kayal, Goldson, after a long term injury lay off. If players are genuinely very good they integrate seamlessly, but if they average they may NOT get up to speed at all. e.g. Lualua.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I don’t understand the reluctance to put Baldock in the squad. As far as I know he’s fit. Is there something I’ve missed? We have been crying out for pace upfront and someone to pull defenders away from Murray.

CH has said he hasn't been able to train consistently to the same level as Kayal.

 

[portlock seagull]

It’s an interesting idea. I can see the authorities taking issue with though which would be fantastically ironic given the huge imbalance amongst clubs they’ve caused has created divisions within divisions; and killed domestic cup competitions!

I still think we’re heading to CGI stadia and watching 2 piles of cash forklifted onto the pitch, biggest wins.

 

[maffew]

It’s an interesting idea. I can see the authorities taking issue with though which would be fantastically ironic given the huge imbalance amongst clubs they’ve caused has created divisions within divisions; and killed domestic cup competitions!

I still think we’re heading to CGI stadia and watching 2 piles of cash forklifted onto the pitch, biggest wins.

I think the fans would take more issue with it than the authorities

 

[Return of the Rev]

I'm sure you and me were talking about this happening back in our Div 1 days!

We are visionaries my old friend

 

[OzMike]

Good idea I think, rest players for the winnable games and see the rest going for it.