Becchio situation

[swe_canarie 0]

Am i the only one in thinking that Chris Hughton is sending out the wrong message to his squad of players by suddenly starting to involve Luciano Becchio since publically airing his frustration at the lack of first team opportunities?

Ok, so if i winge a little bit to the press ill get my chance....

I think, like 90% of fans that Becchio should have had more of a look this season, but has CH made a mistake here?

[Warren Hill 0]

I think bringing him on for Elmander yesterday was a mistake.

[JF 694]

Dont think he will play another minute for us now. RVW should be back at the weekend and I would expect Becchio to be moved on in the window.

[swe_canarie 0]

[quote user="Warren Hill"]I think bringing him on for Elmander yesterday was a mistake.[/quote] I agree- bit baffled by that substitution

[The Young One 0]

Think he was just aiming for the win, Elmander is an excellent player but unlikely to score, where Becchio is more direct and a fresh pair of legs.Think the only element missing from yesterday was someone who could link the midfield with the attack, and that player was on the bench for all of the game.

[littleyellowbirdie 3,138]

[quote user="swe_canarie"]Am i the only one in thinking that Chris Hughton is sending out the wrong message to his squad of players by suddenly starting to involve Luciano Becchio since publically airing his frustration at the lack of first team opportunities?

Ok, so if i winge a little bit to the press ill get my chance....

I think, like 90% of fans that Becchio should have had more of a look this season, but has CH made a mistake here?[/quote]What''s starting to show up is that there is value to Elmander''s game up front other than goals and his involvement immediately before Hooper''s cracker the other day kind of illustrates it. Someone else pointed out that he partners Ibrahimovic up front with Sweden who does extremely well, so it leads me to think that his value may more as a catalyst and raises the idea that perhaps his value as a catalyst exceeds the value as a target man himself. Just a thought. Offers some possibility to Hughton''s thinking re putting Becchio at the bottom of the list of strikers.I think Hughton''s basically a fair-minded bloke. Becchio''s grievance wasn''t unreasonable and Hughton probably saw it as such and so is giving him some more chances. I don''t think that''s weak, I think it''s pragmatic. I think Becchio''s a good player, but it''s a question of how you give the guy an adequate chance to find his feet and maybe shine when you have other more immediately promising prospects available like Hooper, RvW and Elmander. Not sure it''s possible to really know the answer. Think giving him starts in the FA Cup might possibly be a good approach.Lot of tricky trade-offs to consider and the way Hughton appears to have reacted is good for the individual player''s morale at the very least and can only have a positive effect on his sharpness, which should we actually find ourselves really needing him due to injuries is important. Also, given the general view that we should have four strikers on the books, particularly as 4-4-2 is becoming an increasingly popular option for Hughton this season, with Hooper and RvW here, attracting a decent replacement might be difficult.

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

Well to be fair to all parties when  a player has a moan there are 2 options really1) Drop him totally and stick him in the reserves2) Do what Hoots has done and say "Ok, proove your point"We dont know whats gone on behind the scenes though.I expect Bechio has been punished in some way, financially or officially warnedI expect both the club and Bechio are expecting to part ways in JanuaryAlso having anyone upset is not good for morale what so ever, also bear in mind that Bechio is long time mates with the other Leeds lot so that has to cause a rumble somewhere.Dont think its as bad as what the Spurs lads did though, that was througly disrespectful.If your not sure what i mean, look around the internet / twitter for last nights picture of Adebayor and Assou-Ekotto<img>http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2932591.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Benoit-Assou-Ekotto-tweet-2932591.jpg</img>

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[img]http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2932591.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Benoit-Assou-Ekotto-tweet-2932591.jpg[/img]

If it escapes you look at the number of fingers they have held up in regard to the scoreline ;)

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="Nexus_Canary"]Well to be fair to all parties when  a player has a moan there are 2 options really
1) Drop him totally and stick him in the reserves
2) Do what Hoots has done and say "Ok, proove your point"

We dont know whats gone on behind the scenes though.
I expect Bechio has been punished in some way, financially or officially warned
I expect both the club and Bechio are expecting to part ways in January
Also having anyone upset is not good for morale what so ever, also bear in mind that Bechio is long time mates with the other Leeds lot so that has to cause a rumble somewhere.

[/quote]

I did think it might appear weak on Hughton''s part but actually i think it was the right move, largely because of point 2 above and because it minimises disruption. You couldn''t really say he''s had a really good run but at least he has had some game time and it has taken the heat out of the situation. Any Leeds fan will tell you his first touch is the weakest part of his game and that he is really a penalty box striker who feeds off crosses and quick balls in from the byline. He''s never going to be well suited to our game under Hughton. I just feel for him a little given the way in which his transfer came about and the fact that his start was rising rapidly when he joined us and now he''s really back to square one. I can really see him going back to Leeds in Jan.

[a1canary 0]

*star

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I think He''ll leave once RVW is back and settled. We''ll maybe sell him in January and look at replacing him with a different type of striker/ attacking midfielder.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

   Does anyone else think that Becchio suddenly being given game time may be a result of our injury list, and not because of his outburst to the media?

   He publically spoke out around the time that both Pilkington and Snodgrass initially injured themselves. I know that Becchio isn''t a winger but these two key injuries, along with RvW, Tettey and Bennett, freed Hoolahan up in the pecking order (e.g. Crystal Palce) as the ''impact sub'' type player. Which in turn put Becchio in Hoolahan''s spot. With RvW out, there was no other player against Crystal Palace who could have came on to replace our strikers as they tired towards the end of the match.

   I think Becchio came on Sunday purely as a like-for-like (ish) replacement for Elmander who was clearly tiring- I also think Hughton recognised that we looked the more likely to score, so therefore didn''t want to alter too much by instead bringing on Hoolahan.. Although in practice this didn''t work out too well...

   So could this all just be a coincidence..?

[Salopian 1]

It does look a little strange, that Becchio suddenly finds himself on the pitch after his public protest about being ignored.

In fact he is Elmander''s substitute. The Swede gives his all, covers a lot of ground and receives a great deal of pushing and worse. It is no surprise that Becchio comes on to replace him late in the game. He is similar in build to Elmander and in the absence of RvW no one else can play the target man for Hooper.

(We ought at least to note and rejoice that CH has finally gone for 4-4-1-1, if not 4-4-2.)