Your team for Saturday?

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

What a head-ache for Alex Neil! So who would you choose?

My XI would be:

1. Ruddy

2. Pinto (if fit) Martin (if not)

3. Klose

4. Bennet

5. Olson

6. Tettey (if fit) Mulumbu (if not)

7. Jacob Murphy (swap for josh half time)

8. Howson

9. Naismith (Pritchard on if he looks poor)

10. Jerome (Oliviera on if not firing)

11. Brady

Bench: McGovern, Murphy, Pritchard, Bassong, canos,

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

I''d start with the same eleven as at Forest, fitness permitting.

(I''m one of those who prefers Ruddy in goal though.)

Certainly Graham Dorrans deserves to keep his place?

It''s not in AN''s psyche to a select the same team for two consecutive (league) games though so expect a change or two from the compulsive tinkerer.

P.S. He is doing rather well at the moment though and gradually dispelling a few doubts in my head at the same time.

[Buh 0]

It keep same team as forest but the bench deserves a shake up.

Oliveira and Naismith should be on there song with josh.

It seems harsh on other players but this season is mental and we need all of them. 2 games a week so they will all get a chance.

[lake district canary 4,830]

Looking forwards to the day when both Murphys are in the starting line up. Probably won''t happen this Saturday, but if we start with the Forest line up, the team could end up like this by the end of the match -             McGovernPinto Martin Klose Olsson        Howson DorransJa Murphy Pritchard  Jo Murphy              Oliveira

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Tough calls all over the park!

I''d probably go with:

ruddy

pinto

Bennett

Klose

Olsson

Howson

Mulumbu

Dorrans

Jacob

Josh

Jerome

but I don''t wanna drop Wes! It''d just be nice to see what double murphy can do!

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Don''t change a winning side unless there are injuries. Oliveira could come on though in the second half either to give Jerome a rest or if we are chasing a goal. This will be a much harder fixture than some may think

[sonyc 6,144]

Must be the same team really. Any nobody has Wes in the team and he was influential at Forest and arguably one of the most consistent performers this season so far

[morty 0]

[quote user="sonyc"]Must be the same team really. Any nobody has Wes in the team and he was influential at Forest and arguably one of the most consistent performers this season so far[/quote]Whilst not wanting to get bogged down in the whole Wes debate yet again.....Yes he is having a good season, confounding a lot of critics, and surprising Alex Neil at his performances (it looks like we had already bought replacements) he looks pretty, but I am starting to question his effectiveness. He was always at his best when he received the ball higher up the pitch, usually at the tip of the diamond, playing those passes through to strikers. It just seems now he''s that bit deeper, and sure he still has all his tricks, but am not seeing those killer passes.Its a tricky one because as soon as we take him off we look worse for it.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

Yes, dropping Wes would be madness.  And we need consistency to build understanding between players, so I really hope AN resists the urge to tinker.  Most of his tinkering has been when things haven''t been working, Saturday they certainly did so I hope he doesn''t !

 

Football is about the team, and players need to learn to work together in little groups around the pitch and all 11 as a whole.  You''ve got the understanding between the two CBs, and the keeper, the way those players link with the fullbacks, between each fullback and the wide player ahead of him, Wes linking up with all the players during attacks, and so on all over the pitch.  These understandings take time to develop.

So it''s tempting to say play both Murphys, or bring in Pritchard, etc etc.  But my hope is that we have the same starting lineup as against Forest, and the changes are on the bench instead.  Where I think we should have Bennett as defensive cover, Ruddy as GK, and the rest can be attacking options because we can deal with any injury to the back 4 by bringing on Bennett and reshuffling.  No disrespect to Burton but we have got to be aiming for 3 points on Saturday !

[ZLF 335]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]Don''t change a winning side unless there are injuries. Oliveira could come on though in the second half either to give Jerome a rest or if we are chasing a goal. This will be a much harder fixture than some may think[/quote]

which winning side dont you change?

[Lavanche 0]

Morty: I think Wes never was a killer passer. He does that once in a while in advanced positions, but his major job is keep us going and he is still doing that very well even in deep positions.

It is the vision and all those small passes to transfer from defense to offence.

Thats why we look poor most of the times without him. I think we didn''t prought any replacement for him thought during the window. Maddison could be in long term.

Pritchard for me was to replace Brady and get more competition for wide players as Redmond left and we had no idea how influential Murphys would be this season.

Canos was 1 to 1 back up for Redders. Too bad we haven''t seen him more thought as Josh clearly isn''t comfortable playing right side of the field. He constantly in first half tried to cut in with his weaker foot to only get himself in trouble. Second half from him was way better tough and even outside the goal he was defending with more confidence and kept the width better.

Good tactical decision from AN anyway to use 4-4-2 instead of 4-2-3-1. With Canos it probably would have been our normal formation as cutting in is not efficient without advanced positions.

I would go for Nottingham team at saturday with exception of giving Brady a breather. 3 games in a week is quite much for anyone. I would probably use Pritchard in his place, but Naismith could start too. Josh and Jacob in a same team would be asking trouble as their defensive work rate is nowhere near at the level of Naisy or Pritch.

[Coq au vin 0]

Same as Forest with a few tweaks: Pritchard coming in for Brady, Oli starting for Jerome and Mulumbu or Thompson to add a bit of defensive bite in midfield so dropping Howson to the bench as I think Dorrans offers the best build up play from that position.

Naismith on bench then on for Hoolahan when he wanes in the centre attacking trio.

[Six Pack 105]

One win with Naismith in the team and the unsavvy are confused ! He shouldn''t be anywhere near the 18. Josh & Pritchard played well - not unexpected, that''s why they''re in the 18.

It should be the same eleven that played against Forest. The only selection question would be Dorrans or a defensive midfielder.

If Josh comes in it should be for Brady.

[Iwans Big Toe 382]

[quote user="Six Pack"]One win with Naismith in the team and the unsavvy are confused ! He shouldn''t be anywhere near the 18. Josh & Pritchard played well - not unexpected, that''s why they''re in the 18.

It should be the same eleven that played against Forest. The only selection question would be Dorrans or a defensive midfielder.

If Josh comes in it should be for Brady.[/quote]The voice of reason. Go grab your tin hat mate.

[hogesar 10,761]

Think I''d go:

Ruddy

Pinto

Martin

Klose

Olson

Dorrans

Howson

Jacob Murphy

Hoolahan

Brady

Jerome

And probably go with Naismith, Josh, Pritchard, Oliveira on the bench.

Would be harsh on McGovern, especially since I think my judgement is half purely based on his size! He''s not really done anything wrong.

Dropping Hoolahan at the moment is insane - he has been great for us and Nottingham Forest fan''s on their forum couldn''t believe he was playing in this league with his quality. Even when not directly creating assists he keeps us ticking over and links play better than anyone else we have in the team!

Thought Oliveira looked like he could be useful.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I think the Burton game is definitely a Jerome type game. save olivera for Newcastle imo.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

There''s no real question in my head that Jerome should start.

Oliveira is our number two striker until/unless he proves otherwise.

The main advantage of having him available is that he provides a much better option than Lafferty to replace a tiring Jerome or provide new impetus up-front should we be chasing a game.

I had a lousy stream and gave up after a while so was unable to assess Oliveira to any reasonable degree but noticed that he did one or two decent things and looked a clever player.

It wasn''t a night to be able to assess his likely impact on the score-sheet though, but any more informed views on his performance would be appreciated.