Worthington and substitutes

[sonyc 5,491]

I suppose he''ll say it was to shore up the defence (after going for it in Palace game) but why Huckerby for Charlton? Wasn''t Jonson meant to have been wound up for a performance? Why Ashton off for Svensson? Have to win twice now to stay up (4 points won''t be enough with the current goal difference of the other 3).

 

 

[Big A 0]

if you watched the game you''ll have noticed that charlton was just as attacking when he came on and Hucks looked knackered when he came off. He also had two great shots at goal

I''d rather have seen charlton on that Jonnson!! Worthy did just fine today

[Helsinki canary 240]

In the 1st half we were murdered down the right wing as Drury was left exposed - I guess Huckerby was not totally fit and Worthy wanted to shore up that wing and try to move the game further up the pitch. Last week they brought Svensson on at left wing and put Hucks onto the right wing, this shored our defence and moved the game up.

[NavMan 0]

The substitutions today I believe will prove to be one of the biggest talking point of the season and it is these that I believe has ultimately sealed our fate in this league.  Why oh why has he taken off Huckerby and brough on Charlton.  I mean come on there was still 20 minutes to go and we were playing a team that had bee pulverised the previous week having four put past them by a team that were only a few points above us themselves.  He was blatantly going for the draw otherwise he would have brought on Johnson and I have stood up for Worthy in the past but today after watching the game in my local I cannot support him in his decisions. I only hope for his sake that Ashton was injured and that is why he was substituted because what other manager would take off a player that has been a reveleation since being here. Southampton play Crystal Palace next week and unless it is a draw and we win then it means that we will be in the bottom three going into the last game of the season .  Having not won away all season I am afraid that having to go to Fulham and win is just not on my agenda.

[silver fox 0]

I agree with bringing on Charlton, but it should have been in the middle of defence in place of Fleming.  I still fail to see why he made such a big issue of Jonson earlier this week then left him on the bench.  Ashton didn''t look fit from the start, but if he needed to take him off he could have put Jonson in the middle as he is fairly good in the air.

Sadly Worthy tends to get it wrong more times than right.  Our fate is no longer in our own hands again so WBA need to lose on Monday and Palace and Southampton need to draw next weekend. I still think we can beat Birmingham and Fulham but will 36 points be enough?

[AJ 1,218]

why wasnt brennan on the bench?

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Charlton was bloody awesome when he came on!  Hucks ran out of steam and wasn''t tracking back enough.  Charlie came on and did really well

[NavMan 0]

Big A - You have stated that in the first half we were exposed and yes you were right but we certainly were not exposed in the first 25 minutes of the second half which is when the substitution was made.  I''m sorry but to bring on a defender and take off Huckerby when Johnson was there was negative and has cost us dearly. 

[FatMan Fat 0]

Well, I hate to say it, but a few posters on this board have been saying that Worthington isn''t up to the job because of his tactical naivety. 

If we go down, it won''t be because of this match but because of CP at home and away, MC at home and a couple of other cock ups where the extra 6 points or so would have left us well clear of relegation. People say that worthington is a young manager and he is learning.

Really?

He still hasn''t learned how to defend a lead

[Dame to Blame 95]

Get off worthy''s back, the man has done a fantastic job here you load of moaning gits.

[August 64 0]

Hucks was way off 100% fit, Charlton did very well in an attacking role when he came on.

Sorry winning at Fulham not on your agenda - good job you won''t be playing.  We are still very much in with a shout.

August 64

[Robbo007 0]

I''m sorry Navman, but I totally disagree with each of your points.

Huckerby didn''t look 100% fit, had a poor game (often running to far with the ball), and looked knackered. Throughout the game Drury was exposed (prime example being there first goal), so do you bring on a right winger (Jonson), or a left Back, He made the right choice there.

As for Ashton. Mckenzie was playing really well, and Ashton was looking jaded. Svensson scored the goal last week and deserved 10 minutes

[LinkNR9 0]

Some stupid comments made on this post, by people who clearly haven''t played the game at anything above park level. Both substitutions were TOTALLY CORRECT and, if it hadn''t been for a blinding save by Niemi, Charlton would have won us the match with his header. If anyone should have been taken off, it should have been Bentley, who was very poor for the last 25 minutes. 

[Big A 0]

[quote]Big A - You have stated that in the first half we were exposed and yes you were right but we certainly were not exposed in the first 25 minutes of the second half which is when the substitution was ma...[/quote]

I never said we were exposed. If you look purely at the players (Huckerby=Striker/winger, Charlton=defender/ full back) which i think you are then the substitution looks defensive. If you look at what actually happened in the game you''ll see that Charlton was attacking as much as anyone, he was fit, he was poorly marked by Southampton becuase they didn''t know how to deal with him. Overall he was getting into some fantastic positions. Huckerby was obviously knackered, his touch and pace had gone.

I can safely say i saw more attacking threat from Charlton in those minutes than i have from Jonsson all season. To say that single substitution has cost us the game leads me to question whether you have actually watched the highlights/ game.

[0ridgemanddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

Don''t worry about the substitutes the team selection was wrong from the start IMO Docherty should have started the game giving extra height in defence Crouch was winning everything in the air. Where was captain calamity for their second goal out on the wing leaving the middle of defence exposed. I''m sorry but Worthingtons favouritsm has sold us short again. Crystal Palace have put three past our defence and the bottom team has put four past us surely that should tell us all we need to know about our weaknesses.

[Old Boy 0]

"He still hasn''t learned how to defend a lead"

Please tell me how leaving a tiring Huckerby on, rather than replacing him with a fit defender, would have helped the team defend their lead. Also, how would leaving on a tiring Ashton rather than replacing him with Svensson (who prevented a vital goal against Charlton last week) would have helped the team defend a lead?

[sonyc 5,491]

The Charlton/Huckerby switch justs looks misguided as I see it. Charlton has barely made the bench in weeks and there''s two strikers sat there - one who scored last week and the other who had been told he would have played had Huckerby not made it. No, this doesn''t mean Worthington should be sacked nor that Charlton played badly - simply the whole substitution gave the impression of defending (unless there was a pre-match talk to the contrary) and again, why spend the week talking up Jonson about putting it about when he has 20 minutes or so to do that? Charlton for Fleming yes! After all Rednapp changed two of his defenders at half time!

[shropshire canary 0]

For the first hour or so all southamptons attacking came down the left hand side (our usual weaklink when hucks is in a not tracking back mood. He was yesterday (clearly not 100%) and so replacing him seemed logical. As to whether it was Jonsson or Charlton is therefore the only area of debate, and as some have said on here if niemi hadn''t made a blinding save from Charlie''s header we would all be acclaiming the choice Worthy made. All in all then a borderline call.

Svensson for Ashton - no debate here for that decision as Deano looked knackered and Matt was no doubt on a high after last week.

One these changes had been made though and Kamara had come on Southamptons threat came from the right, and bentley/helveg were looking under more pressure, with the former looking tired too. The last 10 minuntes could have seen Jonsson replace bentley - he''s certainly a tougher tackler and who knows...

Quite simply the luck we''ve enjoyed the last couple of games (Shearer miss, Murphy free-kick off the post) went the other way (Aston post, Niemi saves) for once, but as hacknyed a phrase as it is "that''s football".

We are still absolutely in there shouting, a win against Birmingham is a must and who knows what can happen then - I don''t expect the Saints fans thought they''d be out of the bottom 3 today as the drove up the M27 from Pompey last Sunday!

[NavMan 0]

After reading the comments above after I posted in a somewhat down hearted frame of mind am now ready to apologise for my comments on Worthy''s substitutions.  It''s just that I could not believe we had lost that game and to me that was the game where everything depended as it could have still be in our hands with a win but now it is''nt.  Yes I know Palace and Saints could draw on Sat but I always think that realistically there will be a winner as in most games and then it is down to the last game where I feel no very confident with us not winning all season away from home.  And yes I did watch the game live at my local on Canal +. 

[ZLF 271]

Actually Charlie appeared to do well while on the pitch and it seemed that the hux cant defend penny has finally dropped with Worthy!

A defender to try and secure a point - how can that be a bad choice? 

However it is also an odd choice - Jonson was praised for his defensive work and even his harshest critics on here recognise that - its going forward he disappointed.   Drury and Jonson work well together and it would have been a better swap.

Likewise I am always happyto see quality on the pitch and charlie has that (if he had been as popular as Leon these boards would have been in outrage, sadly that has not happened) so bring him on would have been a sound move if Flem had gone off but again that didnt happen.

Worthy and subs remains a topic, but I think we are barking up the wrong tree looking to blame sats defeat on charlie for hux. 

OTBC