Rotherham United (H)

[waffer cup 07]

18 minutes ago, jmjhb said:

1200 last I heard

They only asked for 1500.

[Whitesince63]

8 hours ago, Alf Hartigan said:

He must offer something more than goals then, his stats aren’t good for that.

Well this season Millers are at 2 points a game when Nombe’s played and half a point when he hasn’t but obviously he was out injured for a couple of months. He’s not fully fit yet so I wouldn’t think will start on Friday but come on after about an hour as he did last game against Huddersfield though he did score their goal in the 25 minutes he was on. We should be scared though, very scared because Kion Etete is fit again and may start!! He hasn’t scored for them yet and looks likely to be shifted back to Cardiff next month as again he’s hardly played due to injury. They’re a little light in midfield with another couple of injuries so surely we must win this one? Any slip up on Friday would really hurt.

[Cheese]

 

 

[Krimzon]

2 hours ago, jmjhb said:

1200 last I heard

Cheers 

[marple whites]

3 points any which way it comes please

[desperado]

Almost impossible to predict the side for this one @royal white 😂

I reckon there’ll be 5/6 changes between the Boxing Day game and the one on the 29th.

I’d like to see something close to that side that thumped Wigan.

                          TSL

Tutu.        Toal.     Johnston.    Conway 

              Simons.    Erhahon 

       ACD.         Forss.       Gale 

                       Burstow 

But Fridays game may very well be the one which has Christie, Sheehan, Dempsey, Cissoko, Dalby, Forino or even Morley, Cogley or Forrester from the cold having a start. 

 

[Matt Lofthouse]

Don’t think the last 3 mentioned will be anywhere near the squad never mind the starting 11 and more likely out on loan/sold.  

[L/H White]

We'll win this 3-0

[wakey]

1 hour ago, desperado said:

Almost impossible to predict the side for this one @royal white 😂

I reckon there’ll be 5/6 changes between the Boxing Day game and the one on the 29th.

I’d like to see something close to that side that thumped Wigan.

                          TSL

Tutu.        Toal.     Johnston.    Conway 

              Simons.    Erhahon 

       ACD.         Forss.       Gale 

                       Burstow 

But Fridays game may very well be the one which has Christie, Sheehan, Dempsey, Cissoko, Dalby, Forino or even Morley, Cogley or Forrester from the cold having a start. 

 

I reckon long into the future folk will look back on this era and be baffled by two things:

1. the failure to combat climate change

2. Bolton fans ever suggesting a lineup without Sheehan in it.

[royal white]

2 hours ago, desperado said:

Almost impossible to predict the side for this one @royal white 😂

I reckon there’ll be 5/6 changes between the Boxing Day game and the one on the 29th.

I’d like to see something close to that side that thumped Wigan.

                          TSL

Tutu.        Toal.     Johnston.    Conway 

              Simons.    Erhahon 

       ACD.         Forss.       Gale 

                       Burstow 

But Fridays game may very well be the one which has Christie, Sheehan, Dempsey, Cissoko, Dalby, Forino or even Morley, Cogley or Forrester from the cold having a start. 

 

I don’t want to upset our faithful over Christmas. Can you imagine the meltdowns over Christmas dinner if I released the team early 😂 I might leave it till Boxing Day lunch time, or instead of the traditional Christmas games I might have a game of hot and cold on here 😉

[Ani]

This in the first of 11 games between now and end of January. 10 of which are league games. Which is crazy.

Very few players will play every game except the keeper. Really important we start the run positively and need to maintain the great home form. 
 

Going to be interesting to see how SS rotates the squad, EE for instance I would see starting away games but not needed as much at home. When does ACD get a breather ? Conway maybe could benefit from a rest ? 
 

Forester not had a look in all season so might move out, JDC and Morley not in recent squads so again moving in ?  But surely no one going without Genuine first team contenders coming in. Vic and McAtee need to prove their fitness and contribute. I know lots do not like him but JDC disappearance from first team surprises me. Especially if it means Tutu at right back in away games.

Lots of ifs and maybes but this period is likely to be the defining part of the season and it will need contributions from everyone in the squad not just a first 11. 

[jmjhb]

1 hour ago, Ani said:

This in the first of 11 games between now and end of January. 10 of which are league games. Which is crazy

Yep and it's the same for all clubs, going to hit those especially with small squads or injury crises.

[Wanderlust]

2 hours ago, jmjhb said:

Yep and it's the same for all clubs, going to hit those especially with small squads or injury crises.

With thirty points up for grabs, it might be worth a gamble on starting every game with the strongest line up against those makeshift teams, getting points on the board then resting them in rotation from February onwards - by which time any new signings will have had some time to prepare themselves to take over the load? 

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, jmjhb said:

Yep and it's the same for all clubs, going to hit those especially with small squads or injury crises.

Not to split hairs but we have 9 games in Jan, Lincoln have 6, Bradford, Cardiff and Wigan have 7, no name some.

Its the combination of being in the cup and the rearranged one at Stevenage that's done for us.

[Johnnyrotten]

5 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

With thirty points up for grabs, it might be worth a gamble on starting every game with the strongest line up against those makeshift teams, getting points on the board then resting them in rotation from February onwards - by which time any new signings will have had some time to prepare themselves to take over the load? 

Who's that then? Presume they haven't played in many away games 😀

[Whitesince63]

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Not to split hairs but we have 9 games in Jan, Lincoln have 6, Bradford, Cardiff and Wigan have 7, no name some.

Its the combination of being in the cup and the rearranged one at Stevenage that's done for us.

I actually don’t see it as a negative because players clearly prefer playing to just training and I think a lot of hogwash is made over playing so many games. We have a huge squad and pretty much any combination you can name should be good enough to match or beat anyone in this league so great that we’ve more games than the rest. Only if we get a significant number of injuries should there be any problem otherwise bring it on.

[Krimzon]

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Not to split hairs but we have 9 games in Jan, Lincoln have 6, Bradford, Cardiff and Wigan have 7, no name some.

Its the combination of being in the cup and the rearranged one at Stevenage that's done for us.

So 11 games between now and the end of January then ? 

[Krimzon]

6 hours ago, Ani said:

This in the first of 11 games between now and end of January. 10 of which are league games. Which is crazy.

Very few players will play every game except the keeper. Really important we start the run positively and need to maintain the great home form. 
 

Going to be interesting to see how SS rotates the squad, EE for instance I would see starting away games but not needed as much at home.

Agree . 

I think we should have "Home and away" midfields . 

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, Krimzon said:

So 11 games between now and the end of January then ? 

Everyone has 2 games left in December so I was just mentioning the differences in January, some teams have 2 less than us.   

[Ani]

3 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

With thirty points up for grabs, it might be worth a gamble on starting every game with the strongest line up against those makeshift teams, getting points on the board then resting them in rotation from February onwards - by which time any new signings will have had some time to prepare themselves to take over the load? 

 

2 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

I actually don’t see it as a negative because players clearly prefer playing to just training and I think a lot of hogwash is made over playing so many games. We have a huge squad and pretty much any combination you can name should be good enough to match or beat anyone in this league so great that we’ve more games than the rest. Only if we get a significant number of injuries should there be any problem otherwise bring it on.

We will have sports scientists measuring every aspect of players fitness and fatigue. Players can not play so many games over such a short period and be at 100% throughout.

Resting players for games is to minimise the chances of injuries which might keep them out longer. It is a run of games where teams with stronger squads should have an advantage. But we need squad players to step up and contribute. I have always liked Morley as a player but his contribution has dropped off. McAtee needs to be the player we have played against. God knows where Big Vic is in terms of fitness. 
 

The big question is who leaves and who comes in, players who have not had much game time might be needed over next 6 weeks, so if they go we need players in the manager knows can do a job asap. Which mean someone like Ryan Hardie could be a good fit if changes do happen. 

[Johnnyrotten]

10 minutes ago, Ani said:

 

We will have sports scientists measuring every aspect of players fitness and fatigue. Players can not play so many games over such a short period and be at 100% throughout.

Resting players for games is to minimise the chances of injuries which might keep them out longer. It is a run of games where teams with stronger squads should have an advantage. But we need squad players to step up and contribute. I have always liked Morley as a player but his contribution has dropped off. McAtee needs to be the player we have played against. God knows where Big Vic is in terms of fitness. 
 

The big question is who leaves and who comes in, players who have not had much game time might be needed over next 6 weeks, so if they go we need players in the manager knows can do a job asap. Which mean someone like Ryan Hardie could be a good fit if changes do happen. 

I agree its unrealistic to go with the same players for so many games, its not just physically its about them being fully motivated and up for every game they start, rather than them just getting by and maybe holding a bit back for another game 3 days later.

Re McAtee, if he just gave us what he gave us last season and occasional appearances this year, he'd be an improvement on the current impact of Burstow, Dalby and Forss.  If he'd played at their level he'd be getting pelters for being lazy or having a funny run. 

[Krimzon]

57 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Everyone has 2 games left in December so I was just mentioning the differences in January, some teams have 2 less than us.   

Fair Enough , take ya point . 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I agree its unrealistic to go with the same players for so many games, its not just physically its about them being fully motivated and up for every game they start, rather than them just getting by and maybe holding a bit back for another game 3 days later.

Re McAtee, if he just gave us what he gave us last season and occasional appearances this year, he'd be an improvement on the current impact of Burstow, Dalby and Forss.  If he'd played at their level he'd be getting pelters for being lazy or having a funny run. 

If he played at their level, he would be in the team more often.

[desperado]

I’ve got some spare complementaries in ESU for Boxing Day - give us a shout if you’re looking for some spares, or if you’d like to go, no charge. 

Post here or PM me.

[Johnnyrotten]

53 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

If he played at their level, he would be in the team more often.

No he wouldn't, he's not physical enough to replace Burstow or Dalby.  He could in theory replace Forss but he was brought in as an upgrade and its unlikely SS would make that call to revert to McAtee other than as a sub.

And McAtee's been injured at least half the season, I'd say he's played at their current level (not the Burstow upto 4th Oct) and more, but accept he'd need to prove himself again if/when picked.