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Definately a return for Redmond. I personally would like to see R.Bennett back in the starting 11. And Hoolahan must be pushing for a recall now. Lots of options and choices for Adams to make.

I would go:

Ruddy

Whittaker Martin R.Bennett Olsson

Redmond Johnson Tettey Howson

Hooper Jerome

Rudd Cuellar Turner O''Neill Hoolahan Lafferty Grabban

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I think we need to be more creative/attacking at home with a more positive starting lineup:                                  RuddyWhittaker       Martin      Bennett     Olsson                         O''Neil  JohnsonRedmond                                          Howson                              Hoolahan                                 Hooper

Subs: Rudd, Cuellar, Turner, Tettey, Lafferty, Grabban, JeromeThat Said, I expect he will probably go with a similar team to that of the past2/3 weeks.

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--------------------Ruddy------------------

Whittaker--Martin--Bennett--Olsson

Redmond--Howson--Tettey--Johnson

---------------Hooper--Jerome------------

Johnson deserves to keep his place and Redmond makes such a difference in giving us that bit more quality and direct play. Although I really don''t want to start Whitaker, I think we have to after he got the equaliser v Derby, however this also means Bennett has to partner Martin which I''m not too confident about as I would prefer someone more experiencd that Martin at CB as they have to play half his game as well sometimes. Personally would prefer Martin Turner Bennett Olsson, but its only Millwall and we need to win.

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Id like to see redmond and bennett in the team.

As good as hoolahan is at this level I Can''t see the point in trying to completely change the tactics of the team and dropping 1 of the 2 forwards playing well together that have helped us to 7 points from 9 games. And let''s be honest we really deserved 3 at Derby.

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i think Adams will go with his previous starting 11.

how many times have people previously asked for him to keep a settled side?

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I wouldn''t change the back 4 as I think Cuellar has done very well. Whitts scored at the weekend and hasn''t played badly in a while so deserves a go.

I''d go for a midfield of O''Neil, Tettey, Howson and Hoolahan. Wes playing ahead of the 3.

2 strikers Hoops and Jerome

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Back 4 should not change, Cullar was unlucky with the pen but has been good in previous two games.  Turner lost his place, now he has to wait for one of the others to make a mistake to earn it back. same for bennett.

Whits scored and played ok against Derby so deserves to keep his place.  Having said his would rather see Martin right back in the long term, allowing Bennet or Turner to play.

 

 

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I think we should stick with both the starting line-up against Derby AND probably consider the same substitutions (barring injuries).

The prospect of bringing Redmond on after 55 minutes with the instruction to attack a (hopefully) tiring defence seems to  be a very good tactic.

I''m disappointed with the stick that Whittacker keeps getting - he does like to push forward and it is frequently whoever is playing on the left midfield at fault for not covering him.

 

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I think it''s harsh to blame the right midfielder for having to cover for Whits'' attempts to get forward. It seems he thinks he''s a bit like Redmond, but he''s far from it. I don''t like to bash a player with abuse, especially Whittaker because he''s not that bad, he just should be playing for a team like Bolton as his level is the championship because he''s pretty damn average which is why he sticks out like a sore thumb in our squad who are made up of very good championship players with a few lower premier league players (although I suspect some would disagree with the premier league part)

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I''d like to see Redmond and Hoolahan both starting from an entertainment perspective.
But I think the best chance of 3 points is to introduce just one of them into the starting line up.

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My apologies Mrs Miggins! I had meant to say right midfield!! If you look at our starting midfield line-up of Johnson, Tettey, Howson and Mc Neil none of them appear to ''hang'' to the right hand side of midfield and there is a tendency for them to become a somewhat tight central unit which changes when Redmond comes on. I would like to see McNeil spend a bit more time on the right which would give the other three a bit more room.

 

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I cant see there being any changes come Friday unbeaten for 3 games and looking solid;   the 5 game deadline has passed (I think its now a match ban for 10 bookings before March?) so Tettey can and should play - his partnership with O''Neil on sat was the bedrock of our performance.

 

There are still concerns in the formation -  Whittaker remains unconvincing but deserves to keep his spot,  i am no wiser as to what the best CB partnership is (but it does look better with Cuellar/Martin than Martin Turner),  neither Johnson nor Howson do the wide midfield roles well (howson on sat in the first half was too anonymous)  and the 4 midfield musketeers severely blunts our creativity while offering little extra defensive cover.    However 7 from 9 should not be discouraged so can see nothing but the same again. 

 

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Perhaps the problem we have to overcome, or accept, is that three of our most important players, Hooper, Hoolahan and Redmond cannot really all be in the same team.

Wes cannot start centrally in a four man midfield and is most effective at the tip of a diamond or in a midfield five.

If there is a midfield five then Hooper is not the best player to play as the lone striker.

If we play a diamond then Redmond cannot really be in the midfield.

To try to accommodate all of these three means we have to play at least one of them in a position that they are not best suited for and where we have somebody better to do the required job.

Quite simply we must play the best team, not necessarily the best players.

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Same starting line up for me.

For the first time this season I feel we have looked difficult to score against and that is crucial if we want to go on a long unbeaten run. Part of that is down to the central two midfiled players who look solid if not particularly inventive. Much happier with Howson wider IMO.

Bit tough on Redmond but for a few games at least I''d favour a settled side.

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We should attack this game from the start imo.  Strict instructions to Tettey and O''Neill to stay back and let Redmond and Murphy carry the attack. Leave out Johnson (who for all his good play, is hamstrung by his inconsistent passing). Leave out Howson (who still disappears at times)                RuddyWhittaker Martin Cuellar OllsonRedmond Tettey O''Neill Lafferty                 Hooper                 Jerome

Attack and attack with conviction and directness, not ponce around in ever decreasing circles.

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[quote user="Hairy Canary"]Same starting line up for me.

For the first time this season I feel we have looked difficult to score against and that is crucial if we want to go on a long unbeaten run. Part of that is down to the central two midfiled players who look solid if not particularly inventive. Much happier with Howson wider IMO.

Bit tough on Redmond but for a few games at least I''d favour a settled side.[/quote]This.Winning is far more important than entertainment, for the minute anyway.

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lake district canary wrote the following post at 24/12/2014 10:41 AM:

We should attack this game from the start imo. Strict instructions to Tettey and O''Neill to stay back and let Redmond and Murphy carry the attack. Leave out Johnson (who for all his good play, is hamstrung by his inconsistent passing). Leave out Howson (who still disappears at times)

Ruddy

Whittaker Martin Cuellar Ollson

Redmond Tettey O''Neill Lafferty

Hooper

Jerome

Attack and attack with conviction and directness, not ponce around in ever decreasing circles.

Been on the sherry old boy, well it is Christmas.

Same team for me, maybe Redmond in for O''Neil but on balance would stay as we were.

We have a bench other teams can cream over and to bring some of those guys on against a tiring opposition is a great option for us.

To drop Jonno who has been so good for us playing an unfamiliar role over the last few weeks would be silly, more of the same Adams please.

Six points in the next two! OTBC

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Agreed Morty - Anything less than a win against Millwall is a backward step.

There is no point being top of the top 8 teams mini league if we continue to drop too many points against the other 16; a draw against Millwalll will not be good enough to ensure the gap to the top 6 does not grow

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Agreed Morty - Anything less than a win against Millwall is a backward step.

There is no point being top of the top 8 teams mini league if we continue to drop too many points against the other 16; a draw against Millwalll will not be good enough to ensure the gap to the top 6 does not grow[/quote]Although Millwall aren''t winning they do frustrate away from home, and have taken creditable away points.This is a game where we will have to be patient, so we can avoid the naivety of earlier games at CR this season, where it was presumed that we would just sweep teams aside.

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The last few games we have seen a very different approach to games, clearly influenced very heavily by the arrival of a top experienced coach. So, I really cannot see much change from the team starting eleven, and even if there are changes we will I feel see a very similar tactical approach for several more games to come, if not until the end of the season. The squad we have really shows its worth now, with the tighter more conservative and controlled first half, then changing in to a more enterprising approach early second half, by the introduction of real quality off the bench. Sure, if we go and get two or three first half goals in a match the approach for the second half may change, but so far so good, and as a result I now feel nice and confident for six seasonal points regardless of Reading''s management change.

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I would like to see us attack AND defend.  Even if you put out an attacking team, with the right attitude and tactics, they should be able to defend as well.  A team with Tettey and O''Neill in as holding defenders - and Redmond and Lafferty creating - should be able to cause enough problems for any team - and be able to defend.  The problem earlier in the season imo was bad tactics - too many people attacking and not enough discipline to be prepared to defend as well.  If two defensive midfielders stick to their jobs properly, the rest of the team is more free to attack.  

We are only going to win this league if we get back to attacking from the start of matches - we just have to do it better and not get sucked in like we did earlier in the season.  The first half against Huddersfield was a warning imo - and we went behind at Derby too, with a "solid" line up.  No team is going to get promoted by being careful, or solid.   Just look at the free scoring teams above us and the evidence is there.  The team that is brave enough to attack will get promoted this year - but it will also need to be able to defend.  Just sending a team out to be solid is not going to do it. 

The consensus was on Saturday that if we had a few more minutes we would have won the match against Derby, so there''s no point for me in being too careful at the start of matches.  Go for it from the start - but go for it sensibly and with a disciplined mind set - and then we will succeed.

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4-3-1-2 Hooper and jerome up front. Have Redmond behind floating to either wing.

Have a solid 3 in midfield of Johnson, tettey and howson.

Keep the defence the same.

Think that''s the best balance and not giving Redmond much defensive responsibility should benefit him.

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I''d like that Vlad but feel O''Neil should be in there for someone. Who do you drop is the question??

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[quote user="lake district canary"]

We are only going to win this league if we get back to attacking from the start of matches - we just have to do it better and not get sucked in like we did earlier in the season.  The first half against Huddersfield was a warning imo - and we went behind at Derby too, with a "solid" line up.  No team is going to get promoted by being careful, or solid.   Just look at the free scoring teams above us and the evidence is there.  The team that is brave enough to attack will get promoted this year - but it will also need to be able to defend.  Just sending a team out to be solid is not going to do it. 


[/quote]

 

I admire your enthusiasm, Lakey, however, I am not sure what "evidence" you are referring to when you mention "free scoring teams" that are above us. I only see one, and that is clearly Bournemouth. Of the other five teams, two have scored less than us and one is tied. The remaining two are within two or three goals, which is minimal after 22 games. 

 

The points we have given away this season are primarily because we are defensively weak at the back and have made key mistakes at times and given points away. I have no doubt that our management are aware of that and will be looking to shore things up if the right opportunity comes along. You''re correct when you say, to be successful, we need to do a better job at being more aggressive in attacking earlier in matches and midfielders can assist at the back when we need to defend. However, for that approach to be successful we need those players assisting a strong defense, something we can not confidently boast about at the moment. It is not that we are that bad overall versus others in the division ( Middlesbrough aside ). It''s just that we have conceded goals when a little more strength/professionalism could have avoided it.

 

I realize there are some posters who are content to keep Whittaker in the side having been influenced by his goal in the last match, and he should be admired for his determination. However, he was caught out of position and/or beaten so many times when he was the last man defending on the right that we might well have lost a game we had no right to lose. Truthfully, I tremble at the thought of Whittaker playing right full back when we play Bournemouth given the power and speed they demonstrate down their left side.

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[quote user="lake district canary"]I would like to see us attack AND defend.[/quote]Might be worth an e-mail to Neil Adams, I''ll bet he''s never thought of that. [:S]BTW, Merry Christmas Lakey. [;)] [:D]

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[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="lake district canary"]I would like to see us attack AND defend.[/quote]Might be worth an e-mail to Neil Adams, I''ll bet he''s never thought of that. [:S]BTW, Merry Christmas Lakey. [;)] [:D][/quote]

Well, it appeared someone needed to put him straight after weeks of letting in soft goals!  At least we''re on a better track now, hopefully.

Merry Christmas to you too - and all the other Nelson reprobates, even........even......oh c*ck, can''t remember his name.......

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One of Redmond or Wes has to come in. We need to take the initiative in this game. O''Neil dropped for a solid midfield of Johnno, Tettey, Howson and Wes. Hooper and Jerome is still bearing fruit so stick with that. As for the back line, ruddy, martin, Bennett, turner, olsson. Redmond as impact sub but would happily see him in over any of the front 6 other than Jerome.

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