Or criticise the manager or anything but I think today shows what a lot of people were saying last season which is that we have a few good players but the SQUAD is wieful. As soon as you have to start using the fringe players you may as well stick biglil and jay in midfield. Hopefully Stendel and more importantly his bosses now be able to see which areas we have no adequate back up in and bring players in to fill those roles. Not too downhearted but it's given a dose of realism when people were getting too excited about our first 11s ability in a squad game. A helpful learning experience for a manager with very little opportunity so far to see the fringe players in competitive football
I know where you're coming from, but changing 3 of a 4 man midfield is severe, and even Dougall didn't have his best game. I think it's asking a lot to have a full squad of players of equal ability at this level. Any player that's worthy of a first team place and not getting a game will be off - unless you're paying them well. Still unbeaten in the league, and haven't conceded a goal. I think January will see a few new faces.
It's disappointing. I gather Blackpool tinkered with their team like we did so it's no excuse but you have to think that when the players see 7 or 8 changes to the team they get the feeling that the game isn't regarded as that important by the manager and play accordingly whether consciously or subconsciously.
Yep, defeats always disappointing, especially after the great start we've had and also after taking the lead, but we still had the lions share of possession, and plenty of shots on and off target. Not sure there is a team in the league that can afford to drop half a dozen players and expect continuity. Even the top teams are field "weakened teams" and come unstuck. 6 opportunities for players to grab the eye, none taken.
I’d agree with that. I think if any of those players who came in last night came into our starting 11 in the league on their own (or maybe a couple of changes max) they’d do a sufficient job.