Do we need to strengthen our reserves?

[NeonYellow 4]

Thinking about last night''s game I am concerned that players like Drury, Lappin, Whitbread and to some extent Surman don''t have either the strength or pace required to compete in the premiership.

And more importantly that Wilbraham can''t reach premiership standards if Holt is injured.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction to last night. I like all these players and really appreciate their contributions so far but maybe they could be sold to buy further players. Thoughts?

[When Saturday Comes 0]

This is getting really boring.

Forget it, move on.

[Gingerpele 0]

Drury is getting on, we all know he''s not at his best any more.

Lappin has never been a wonderful footballer, but tries his best and puts in maximum effort.

And Whitbread/Surman will be getting games this season, i''m personally leaning towards the view of the manager rather than you in this situation....

[NeonYellow 4]

I''m not suggesting I know better than Paul Lambert (who quite frankly can do no wrong in my eyes) but maybe this is something he is also considering himself for January.

[Morisons Prozac 0]

Lappin, Drury, Korey, Rudd, Wilbraham will never get a Prem game unless severe injuries so are the main question marks over Surman, Fox, Jackson & Whitbread? If so, then this is ridiculous. Surman & Jackson have the quality to succeed in the Prem but are confidence players and will shine through at some point. Fox is arguably our best midfielder so no worries there and before yesterday people weren''t even questioning Whitbread''s ability.Sorry but this is a knee jerk reaction and this conversation wouldn''t have taken place if we won yesterday.

[NeonYellow 4]

That''s not true actually Croft''s Number 1 Wizard - I thought that about Lappin, Wilbraham and Drury before last night''s match.

I can admit that my inclusion of Surman was partially based on last night and the season so far, admittedly a bit harsh to include Whitbread and I hope he can play a big part.

I believe R Martin, Fox, Rudd and Korey have the ability to step up 100%.

[Mahogany 0]

We made 6 changes between Wigan and Stoke and still matched an established Premiership team, I think that speaks to the depth of our squad more than the MK match.

[CambridgeCanary 0]

The OP''s question is fundamentally flawed

 

We do not need better reserves.   Any new signings need to be first team calibre and if that pushes other players down the rankings so be it.   Lappin was first choice left side midfield two years ago.   Now he is fourth choice.  We didn''t sign reserves for him, we signed better players who improved the squad and made the good enough player a reserve.   Similarly, Ward has moved down the rankings as has Drury.   If we sign another left back, it should be someone better than Tierney to improve the team not a backup who leaves the team itself no better.

 

So, no to strengthening the reserves and yes to improving the first team and strengthening the reserves by default.

[NeonYellow 4]

Good point there Cambridge Canary and more like the kind of answer I was hoping for.

Financially that would be very difficult I suppose and would imagine there is some room to sign emerging players that have the potential to step up and also be good squad players with more potential long term.

[CDMullins 446]

[quote user="Mahogany"]We made 6 changes between Wigan and Stoke and still matched an established Premiership team, I think that speaks to the depth of our squad more than the MK match.[/quote]

 

5 of the Players that started at Wigan, started against MK. Aswell as our new signing Ayala and Simeon Jackson.

 

Thats 7 established players, plus a goalkeeper who doesnt have that much influence on the game, so against MK it could easily of been Ruddy ingoal so thats 8. A very strong side.

 

Drury will play League matches if Tierney gets injured.

 

Cant see Korey or Wilbs getting much Premier League football.

 

What I am trying to say is many of the players that got hammered by MK, could quite easily of started against Chelsea on Saturday.

[Mahogany 0]

Yeah, but I''m more of the opinion that the MK game was an aberration rather than a true reflection of the team''s skill. Most of that team was good enough to get out of the Championship and match a Premiership team (if a fairly weak Premier team). I think it was probably a mix of underestimating MK and knowing its a fairly unimportant game in the long run, along with a very good performance for MK of course.

[Jacko 0]

[quote user="Mahogany"]Yeah, but I''m more of the opinion that the MK game was an aberration rather than a true reflection of the team''s skill. Most of that team was good enough to get out of the Championship and match a Premiership team (if a fairly weak Premier team). I think it was probably a mix of underestimating MK and knowing its a fairly unimportant game in the long run, along with a very good performance for MK of course.[/quote]

Sums it up nicely for me. Martin, Whitbread, Drury, Fox, Surman, Hoolahan and Jackson all played a lot of games last year in a promotion winning side. They have not become rubbish overnight. Its one bad game against a side who are playing with a lot of confidence and benefit from playing week in week out which some of these lads arent at the moment. Players like Martin and Fox had at least 30/40 decent games last season. Players like Hoolahan and Jackson won a lot of games for us against better opposition than MK Dons

 

You also have to be realistic. We have improved the squad immensely this summer but there is only a finite amount of money we can spend. It is also dangerous to radical overhaul the team in one go. If we can stay up this year, we will have more money and thus will be able to attract more players and increase the quality of the squad further. You can''t expect to have an established Premier League squad in one transfer window. Teams like Stoke and Bolton has spent years to getting to that stage and even then many would criticise their squads for not being strong enough. Its even taken Man City about 2 or 3 seasons to have a strong, balanced, title chasing squad and they have all the money in the world.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

I am reasonably optimistic that we have a decent squad whether it will be good enough to survive who knows. Some of the players have had disappointing starts this season but it is very early days 12 games in we will know a lot more