Why we must rest Hucks v Barnsley

[a1canary 0]

Because he''s wasn''t fit for Luton yet played the full game and Barnsley is going to be no less of a dog-fight. We must take this opportunity, with the team on a bit of a high, to get him 100% rather than risk losing him for the season. We may need him more than anything as the season draws in.We have to rest him at some point as there is no way in the world he can go on playing every game becuase our fixture list from here on in is insane and would murder him. It goes something like this: Saturday - Barnsley aTuesday - Derby hSaturday - Cardiff aTuesday - Birmingham hSaturday - Stoke hSaturday (wow, a week off!!) - Colchester aFriday - Hull aMonday (just to make up for the week off) - WBA hSaturday - Leicester aTuesday - Burnley aSunday - Ipswich hSaturday - Southampton hSunday - Sheff W aThat means we have just TWO full weeks off between games between now and the end of the season! That''s what two postponments and a cup run does for you! We don''t have the squad to cope with this.So for Barnsley, i say play Brown up front with Martin (assuming he''s fit) and Lappin left. Hopefully Drury will be fit - nasty incident with the hoardings but hopefully it''s just bruising that will subside in time. I think we defend better with Brown in the side which may sound like an odd thing to say but it''s because our ball retention is so much better when he plays. He is the only one in the side who can hold the ball up and distribute from the front effectively, rather than allow us to conceded posession all the time.If anyone can find out, i''d be very interested to see our goals conceded stats when he plays and when he doesn''t (not including cup games!).It''ll probably prove me completely wrong but would be interested to know.

[ricardo 7,342]

Thats 13 games over 64 days or approx 1 game every 5 days.

If young healthy professional athletes can''t manage that then its a poor old show.

[Tumbleweed 106]

Interesting call- I wasn''t there on Tuesday so I don''t know how he played but if he did appear tired you may have a point. However there is also an argument for asking him to do his stuff against Barnsley which will be a huge boost over a relagtion rival and then rest him for a game we are unlikely to get anything out of (Cardiff away?) or which is not against one of our main rivals.

[sheded 0]

Hucks may well be nursing a niggle  A1 ,    maybe a smart thing to do  is leave him on the bench  in the first half , and see how the team  play without him ?  if it goes tits up   , send him on  , but up front  !   once he goes wide  he gets kicked to death  .....

[ricky knight 0]

[quote user="a1canary"]Because he''s wasn''t fit for Luton yet played the full game and Barnsley is going to be no less of a dog-fight.
We must take this opportunity, with the team on a bit of a high, to get him 100% rather than risk losing him for the season. We may need him more than anything as the season draws in.
We have to rest him at some point as there is no way in the world he can go on playing every game becuase our fixture list from here on in is insane and would murder him. It goes something like this:

Saturday - Barnsley a
Tuesday - Derby h
Saturday - Cardiff a
Tuesday - Birmingham h
Saturday - Stoke h
Saturday (wow, a week off!!) - Colchester a
Friday - Hull a
Monday (just to make up for the week off) - WBA h
Saturday - Leicester a
Tuesday - Burnley a
Sunday - Ipswich h
Saturday - Southampton h
Sunday - Sheff W a

That means we have just TWO full weeks off between games between now and the end of the season! That''s what two postponments and a cup run does for you! We don''t have the squad to cope with this.

So for Barnsley, i say play Brown up front with Martin (assuming he''s fit) and Lappin left. Hopefully Drury will be fit - nasty incident with the hoardings but hopefully it''s just bruising that will subside in time. I think we defend better with Brown in the side which may sound like an odd thing to say but it''s because our ball retention is so much better when he plays. He is the only one in the side who can hold the ball up and distribute from the front effectively, rather than allow us to conceded posession all the time.
If anyone can find out, i''d be very interested to see our goals conceded stats when he plays and when he doesn''t (not including cup games!).
It''ll probably prove me completely wrong but would be interested to know.

have you read what the Barnsley manager has said about Hucks tonight.




[/quote]

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="ricardo"]

Thats 13 games over 64 days or approx 1 game every 5 days.

If young healthy professional athletes can''t manage that then its a poor old show.

[/quote]Fair enough point ricardo but in case you weren''t aware, Darren Huckerby is neither of these things at this moment in time - at least if you replace the word ''healthy'' with ''fit''.And as i said, right now we just don''t have the squad to manage this sort of turnover of games, as we''re discovering everytime someone gets crocked or suspended.

[Sing, Sing, wherever you may be... 0]

barnsley boss is worried about the threat of hucks. surely a fit proffesional should be able to play some part in every game. They are paid to play after all. If i dont work i dont get paid.

[The Voice of the Thorpe Area 0]

Darren Huckerby is a professional athlete- paid good money to play football. If he is incapable of playing once every 5 days, then he should not be playing at all.

[a1canary 0]

Well ok it seems i''m out numbered here and besides, Brown is still injured apparently so we''ve got no choice. But you''re all missing the point. Which is not that he shouldn''t HAVE to play once every five days but that he is not fully fit to play, with a calf strain and shin problems. Meaning that if he continues playing 90 minutes twice a week for the next month, don''t be surprise if i''m back here giving it the "i told you so''s" when he''s ruled out for a month!

[Anderz 0]

Ahh, yes, because the training undegone each day is unlike the exertion akin to playing the one game you speak of out of the 5 days..? Grant has said that he''s upped the competitiveness of the training, which happens on a day-to-day basis, even enforcing the players to wear shinpads so as to make it as much like a proper game as possible. But of course, to some, this is not seen as being anything that could compound player tiredness or fatigue.

The notion that a footballer gets paid solely for a 90 minute runaround every 7 days doesn''t half annoy me. And where posters say things like: "For £xx, xxx, I would run around kicking the football for that amount of money" is just silly. If you would, why aren''t/don''t you?

Sure, footballers get paid extortionate wages, but Clubs are willing to pay those figures, so the players would be daft to ask for reduced wages. You''re just never going to hear a player saying: "Naaah, don''t offer me £15,000 a week, I''d much rather have a comparative wage to, say, a bus driver. How about £320 a week instead - that seems fairer..?" to a Chairman when negotiating a contract.

To be honest, I''ve lost where I''m going with this post, but I''m going to submit it anyway as this issue of player fatigue/tiredness being unacceptable due to wages paid seems rather daft to me.

[mbncfc 1]

I actually thought Huckerby looked perfectly fit on Tuesday. He was still running at players in the last moments of the Luton game and with a bit of recovery time this week I think he''d manage to play at a high-enough level on Saturday too...

Both Newell & Davey have been in the press before our relative fixtures stating how Huckerby is the main threat. By putting a question mark over his fitness, Grant is probably leaving a few doubts dangling for them...

[huck tastic<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Bryan Hamilton could turn this around...<BR><FONT> 0]

I think it''d make more sense to rest him for a less vital match than Barnsley...maybe one where we''re less likely to get a result even at full strength...Cardiff away maybe 

[Stavros 0]

ssssshhhh we don''t want the tykes finding out about this mind-gamesmanship! :D

[Syteanric 1]

agree with sheded.

Barnsley are a physical side which we saw at Carrow Road, if Hucks starts and they know he is unfit they might see to it that he gets some "special treatment".

he got taken out vs coventry and was clearly struggling with it vs Luton.. a tough challenge in the early part of the game would see him stretchered off perhaps.. which would mean he was out for a while..  Put him on the bench and see how it goes.. if we are losing we can throw him on.. if we are winning he can sit with his feet up and enjoy the game.

jas :)

[a1canary 0]

Yes, i''d go along with that shed and jas.And, absolutely spot on Anderz - as you say it''s ridiculous to suggest that players are paid to run around for only 90 minutes a week, as if they have their feet up for the rest of the time. Ditto with the "for that money i''d play every 5 days" type comments - it reminds me of people saying ''i pay for your education'' to a student because they pay taxes, or ''i pay your wages'' to a nurse because they pay taxes! As if that person is indivually writing a cheque and has a right to tell people what to do because of it!

[a1canary 0]

Ha ha - what do i know! Seems like he was doing everything from the right today which really seemed to give him/us something different going forward. Including a left footed goal apparently - bet he hasn''t got many of them! What a legend!

[macdougalls perm 0]

A1 wrote "What a legend!"

This word can be over-used but I don''t think that there is any doubt that Huckerby is a bona fide legend!