Defending the indefencable

[Making Plans 936]

It''s very interesting to read all the posters various ideas on what defenders should be in, what defenders should be out, which defenders are best and what defensive formation should be adopted.

However, the vast majority of posts miss the point completely.

The basic fact is that we have not got any defenders that are good enough to play in the Premiership. Whatever team we put out, they are not up to the job.

Changing things round week after week is a complete waste of time - it''s like moving deck chairs around on the Titanic - it doesn''t matter where you sit, you''re still gonna sink.

The questions that should be asked are -

1. Why was nothing serious done to replace Malky - sure we got Charton, Doherty and Helveg in but let''s face it they came with almost exactly the same baggage as Malky left with - too old, too slow, not good enough for the Premiership. (Please note - the poster does not necessarily agree with this regarding Malky but we won''t go into all that again now)

2. Given that the defensive short comings have been evident all season, why was nothing done to strengthen the defence in the transfer window. What is the point of spending £3m on a striker to score goals when we keep letting more in at the other end. After all, you don''t buy a new tap if the bath leaks.

Unfortunately though we is stuck with what we''ve got until the end of the season. Apart from injuries, surely the best thing is for Worthy to pick the players he thinks are best, adopt a formation that those players are comfortable with and then stick with it for the remaining 10 games. At least if nothing else there would be some consistency and who knows, the players might gain a bit of confidence, build up a better understanding, get a bit of organisation and start defending as a unit.

Quite honestly, I think it''s the best chance we''ve got

[3pmkickoff 0]

Defenders with pace isn''t really essential. The likes of Adams etc never had it but that did read the game very well and could organize. I would certainly say Helveg is up to it, sadly Worthington dropped him after only two games when he hadn''t had time to get full fitness. Charlton''s also competed before as well.

I think the big problem is that no one is taking responsibilty for organization. You cold argue that the players aren''t up to it but then Palace haven''t really strengthened their defence and they don''t concede many. I was firmly in the camp of agreeing to let Malky go but in hindsight if we couldn''t get anyone better for the money then we should have kept in the bank and gave him a chance.