Team for tonight

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

Couldn''t see another thread on the subject, what team would people choose for tonight?I''d go with:------------------------------Ruddy-----------------------------------Martin--------Turner--------Bassong----Olsson--------------------------------Tettey----------------------------------Redmond-----------Howson-------------Johnson-------------------Hooper-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jerome----------------------And if Bassong doesn''t make it, Martin in the middle and Whittaker on the right. I think Hooper showed real desire to come deep and link the play on Saturday, he was almost like a false nine at times. I see no reason why he can''t play just behind Jerome tonight. We would still have BJ''s steel on the left, and it could be more like a 4-3-3 if necessary, with Redmond and Hooper wider and floating, and BJ sitting more central.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"]Couldn''t see another thread on the subject, what team would people choose for tonight?I''d go with:------------------------------Ruddy-----------------------------------Martin--------Turner--------Bassong----Olsson--------------------------------Tettey----------------------------------Redmond-----------Howson-------------Johnson-------------------Hooper-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jerome----------------------And if Bassong doesn''t make it, Martin in the middle and Whittaker on the right. I think Hooper showed real desire to come deep and link the play on Saturday, he was almost like a false nine at times. I see no reason why he can''t play just behind Jerome tonight. We would still have BJ''s steel on the left, and it could be more like a 4-3-3 if necessary, with Redmond and Hooper wider and floating, and BJ sitting more central.[/quote]I would be pretty happy with that. Though possibly start Grabban instead of Jerome. I can see the argument for both options.

[The Phantom 0]

Wes has to feature after his form on Saturday, rest jerome and play Wes instead

[Tetteys Jig 830]

After seeing the Hooper/ Wes combo fail at Preston, no thanks!

We need a focal point to the attack, so one of Jerome or Grabban is essential.

I would probably still prefer Jerome as I think we need as many chances of goals as we can get.

I think i''d have Tettey back in for Johnson and then leave the rest of midfield as it is.

I''d probably leave the back four as it is. Neither Whittaker or Turner convince me at the moment in "more challenging" games and Cuellar always has a mistake in him but I think we should stick with being unchanged. Martin and Bassong worked well together.

[Move Klose 303]

Defo go with the 1st suggestion.

Ruddy

Whittaker Martin Bassong Turner

Redmond Howson Tettey Johnson

Hooper

Jerome

[lake district canary 4,531]

                       RuddyWhittaker Martin Bassong Ollson                     JohnsonRedmond  Howson Andreu Murphy                      Jerome

[ZLF 271]

For me

                 Ruddy

Whittaker  Martin Bassong  Olsson

                 Tettey

Redmond Howson Hooper Johnson

              Grabban

 

Turner to come in for Seb if he is still feeling his back,   if not stick with a back four to gain some understanding and consistency.

 

Howson just gets the nod ahead of wes,  who worked hard but is not quite ahead of JH for defensive work,   who put in his best defensive shift for over a year on Sat as well as that peach of a pass for the opening goal.  

 

Up front Grabban had a good game and unless things have majorly changed would continue to manage Jeromes pitch time to support recovery rather than risk a more serious injury. 

 

 

[morty 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

For me

                 Ruddy

Whittaker  Martin Bassong  Olsson

                 Tettey

Redmond Howson Hooper Johnson

              Grabban

 

Turner to come in for Seb if he is still feeling his back,   if not stick with a back four to gain some understanding and consistency.

 

Howson just gets the nod ahead of wes,  who worked hard but is not quite ahead of JH for defensive work,   who put in his best defensive shift for over a year on Sat as well as that peach of a pass for the opening goal.  

 

Up front Grabban had a good game and unless things have majorly changed would continue to manage Jeromes pitch time to support recovery rather than risk a more serious injury. 

 

 

[/quote][Y]

[The Phantom 0]

Never convinced about Johnson on the left. With charlton being so poor I would prefer a more offensive player possibly the new guy

[big baz 0]

I''d have to nearly agree with that however can''t for the life of me see what so many people see in jerome. He''s lazy offers no movement and stands off side for most of the match. The team Saturday with grabban, hooper and wes worked much better than any team featuring jerome has done all season because at last we had movement in the final third!

[big baz 0]

Agree with feedthewolfs team I meant. Sorry new to all this!

[ZLF 271]

[quote user="Lowestoft Canary"]Never convinced about Johnson on the left. With charlton being so poor I would prefer a more offensive player possibly the new guy[/quote]

 

Personally I am more convinced by BJ on the left than in the middle;   I dont think I have seen him play better than there around Xmas - but agree that its not a natural position for him.

 

However a natural left mid is needed,  its not wes and bennett has not impressed since returning.  Murphys rescent appearances have been variable and increased use as a sub only for me right now.     Andreu would be another square peg/round hole solution,   the advantage of BJ is he did the job well - I dont know if Andreu can.

 

I would love to solve the left mid with Dorrans, Jarvis or Noone.

[TCCANARY 263]

 

Has Jerome''s injury situation changed?

 

 

[Highland Canary 76]

Agree with the OP. Jerome starts if fit.

[snake-eyes 13]

Why on earth would you drop the most creative player we have after a very good and influential game on Saturday?

Why would you also want to replace him with a guy who is supposedly better defensively against a side that has scored the 3rd fewest goals in the league? Not to say that he hs only played a handful of minutes over the last 3 weeks.

I just don''t get it.

For me it is no surprise we have played better football in the last 2 games since Wes has started.

For me he must start as many as possible without knackering the we man out!

[The Bristol Nest 513]

Same team as Saturday.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="lake district canary"]                       RuddyWhittaker Martin Bassong Ollson                     JohnsonRedmond  Howson Andreu Murphy                      Jerome

[/quote]

Are you serious? So you''d drop our hat-trick scoring striker plus Wes and Grabban who both played superbly on Saturday?

I''m really staggered at how out of touch I am with some other fans views on Wes and how he makes us tick. For me it is so unbelievably obvious that Hooper and Wes combine superbly (ok maybe not at preston but virtually every other time they''ve played together) and should both be in our starting line up unless injured but I acknowledge I seem to be in a minority on that one.

[Monty13 2,229]

Same team, barring injury to Seb and then the same sub Neil made with Turner in for Bassong.

Might be tempted to swap Johno for Tettey for a bit more cover, but really Charlton shouldn''t be worrying us enough to break up that midfield.

Can''t understand the radical changes some are suggesting and absolutely no way Wes or Hooper could be dropped after performing like that, what sort of message would that send?

[morty 0]

That no one''s place is safe, and that the manager will pick the best team to win each game?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Jim Smith"][quote user="lake district canary"]                       RuddyWhittaker Martin Bassong Ollson                     JohnsonRedmond  Howson Andreu Murphy                      Jerome

[/quote]

Are you serious? So you''d drop our hat-trick scoring striker plus Wes and Grabban who both played superbly on Saturday?

I''m really staggered at how out of touch I am with some other fans views on Wes and how he makes us tick. For me it is so unbelievably obvious that Hooper and Wes combine superbly (ok maybe not at preston but virtually every other time they''ve played together) and should both be in our starting line up unless injured but I acknowledge I seem to be in a minority on that one.[/quote]Jim.Every single time a thread is started Lakey will pick a team like this, to get the reaction that you provided him with.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

Players need to be rewarded for their efforts and strong performances. AN said he wanted a reaction after the Brentford game and that was shown in abundance at the weekend and to some extent against Brimingham.

For that reason, I don''t see why the team needs changing (barring injuries). Yes the opposition are going to be better than Blackpool but it''s a very poor Charlton at the moment and we need to focus on ourselves. We''ve had half a season plus so far of inconsistency, we now need a settled side - and if it''s a winning one, why should we change it?

The combination of Hooper/wes looks exciting (Preston was over a month ago - and was one game), Grabban seems to have found a new incentive to play, the balance was right between defence and attack for the first time in a while and it was a team playing for each other.

[Barclay End Lower 0]

I''d go for Turner & Bass (If Seb''s fit) with Martin out at RB. Other than that, i''d keep it the same. Charlton have only won twice since they beat us? But as we know - they''re a stubborn nut to crack. Some of the football we played on Saturday was top notch (Yes, I know it was Blackpool), so if we can maintain the fluidity and speed of our play then we should create enough chances to win.I''d keep Jerome on the bench whilst he recovers, because the last thing we want is him out injured.The midfield conundrum will get every more bit interesting when Vadis is up to speed though.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

To those arguing the case for an unchanged team, I''d argue that playing three games in a week is reason enough to shuffle the pack a bit. Wes was outstanding on Saturday, but starting three games in a week may be a little beyond him – I''d rather keep everyone fresh. Yes we won and were excellent, but Blackpool were awful; in away games, we have more success when we can get a strong foothold in the midfield. I wouldn''t be disappointed to see an unchanged team, but then if we win again tonight do you pick the same eleven for Wolves? There''s no point in having strength in depth if you''re going to start the same team three times in a week, irrespective of form. You don''t mount a promotion challenge with just eleven players, and rotation is an important advantage when you''re one of the ''big guns'' in this division (as we undoubtedly are, looking down our squad list). No need to make wholesale changes, but if Tettey and Jerome are fit then they''re both outstanding players. And although Whittaker did okay on Saturday, I don''t think a rest would do him any harm – besides which, Martin is more defensively reliable at RB (while still liking to overlap), which suits away games better.

[Monty13 2,229]

"That no one''s place is safe, and that the manager will pick the best team to win each game?"

If there''s a change of tactics understandable, I agree.

But if, as some are suggesting here, they want us to play the same formation but drop one or both of the most influential players from the last game, you don''t think that sends a rather weird message?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Monty13"]"That no one''s place is safe, and that the manager will pick the best team to win each game?"

If there''s a change of tactics understandable, I agree.

But if, as some are suggesting here, they want us to play the same formation but drop one or both of the most influential players from the last game, you don''t think that sends a rather weird message?[/quote]Not in the slightest.And regardless of the quality of the opposition, I would expect some, at least small, tweaks when playing away from home, whether it be in tactics, personnel, or both.And as pointed out, we have three games in a week.I am going to stick my neck out here, I may be wrong, I may be right, but if Wes starts, I bet he doesn''t have as good a game as he did on Saturday.

[Monty13 2,229]

Surely the reason Wes and Grabban came off was saving them for tonight FTW?

I think if Seb hadn''t been injured we would have seen Hooper removed as well.

I''d rather start with whatever AN feels is the best chance of getting something from the game tonight and withdraw players with one eye on Wolves at a similar stage if he thinks we will still get a result. Settled teams are also a big positive to keeping runs going.

Unless we are expecting some bigger changes in the next two games a fair few players are going to play all of or the majority of the three matches, they''re all fit lads, they can handle it. It''s the match winners he''ll need to keep fresh who will likely play all three, but get subbed, guys like Howson, Redmond, Hoolahan, Hooper and, imo, Grabban.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Monty13"]Surely the reason Wes and Grabban came off was saving them for tonight FTW?

I think if Seb hadn''t been injured we would have seen Hooper removed as well.

I''d rather start with whatever AN feels is the best chance of getting something from the game tonight and withdraw players with one eye on Wolves at a similar stage if he thinks we will still get a result. Settled teams are also a big positive to keeping runs going.

Unless we are expecting some bigger changes in the next two games a fair few players are going to play all of or the majority of the three matches, they''re all fit lads, they can handle it. It''s the match winners he''ll need to keep fresh who will likely play all three, but get subbed, guys like Howson, Redmond, Hoolahan, Hooper and, imo, Grabban.[/quote]Maybe, maybe not.It could just as easily have been a tactical move to tighten things up, and see the game out.The manager had the luxury of giving a few players a breather, and getting a few gametime, but that was only made possible because we had the game won.I don''t think we have a first choice 11 that suits every game, so he will use the squad.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Jim Smith"][quote user="lake district canary"]                       RuddyWhittaker Martin Bassong Ollson                     JohnsonRedmond  Howson Andreu Murphy                      Jerome[/quote]

Are you serious? So you''d drop our hat-trick scoring striker plus Wes and Grabban who both played superbly on Saturday?

I''m really staggered at how out of touch I am with some other fans views on Wes and how he makes us tick. For me it is so unbelievably obvious that Hooper and Wes combine superbly (ok maybe not at preston but virtually every other time they''ve played together) and should both be in our starting line up unless injured but I acknowledge I seem to be in a minority on that one.[/quote]Jim.Every single time a thread is started Lakey will pick a team like this, to get the reaction that you provided him with.[/quote]

Seriously, Morty just * off.

The above team is  perfectly feasible for tonight.  Wes is probably not going to start every match here on in, especially when there are three gamers in a week - and neither is Hooper, especially if a lone striker is wanted away from home.  If you want a single striker away from home, Jerome is just as likely to be that man as Grabban - and as I am sure the lord and mighty Morty wrote somewhere - Hooper is not best as a lone striker.  So we''ll see.  Johnson - I am told - did well on Saturday as defensive midfielder, otherwise I would have put Tettey there.  

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="bristolcanary"]Same team as Saturday.[/quote]

^^^^^^^^^ thisTo my mind there has been more than enough chopping and changing already, particularly in defence. OK some of it''s been forced, but a lot has not. Settled teams are what we need now.Do not buy this ''3 games in 8 days is too much ''stuff. FFS, these guys are professional footballers and are perfectly capable of it, particularly in the modern game where 3 subs are allowed.

[morty 0]

No.It really isn''t.