Selections & Subs

Not for the first time, have i found the subs made by Bilic completely baffling! Why take off your three best players and replace them with inferior ones? As Kanu got the magic of any of the three taken off? Is Phillips not past it as proven in the last games of the championship? When we needed the defence to be steadied by a Jonas type of person - why oh why Field?

Bizarre that Ivanovic played 60 minutes against a good Brentford side and was not even on the bench - why? He would have been perfect instead of Field to have come on and calmed things down!

Starting line up next week - will Gallagher start instead of Sawyers who is persistently poor? I doubt it - why?

It just seems to me that it's a case of keeping certain players happy and also keeping squad players like Kanu happy who is great at giving the ball away! Should Button not be given an opportunity as again Johnstone could have done better with at least two goals.

I thought the defence were OK yesterday and Bartley much better but if you had a Ben Foster type of person behind them and a Mulumbo type of engine in front of them - it would invite less pressure. What does Sawyers actually do apart from chewing gum? I just don't get it - every pass is backwards or sideways if actually involved!

In pro football any semblance of keeping the squad happy should never be a topic.

The Bilic substitutions are constantly bizarre and he hurts us much more than he ever helps our cause.

Is he on a retainer from West Ham?

I feared the worst as soon as he made the first change. In fact I fear every sub he makes and even the second half for that matter.

I think the logic was that HRK would be able to hold up the ball more than Robinson who was tiring and had ran his sock off anyway. Our front 3 including Robinson was chasing down their back 4 all evening to great effect. Not much choice other than HRK to be honest, sadly he is the best we have in reserve at the moment.
Again Pereira and Diagana were both fading badly.
Field is a very average player but let’s remember he does have previous experience at the level and to me made sense to try to add more numbers in front of our defence.
Phillips, I suspect was tasked to get the ball up the pitch, I see the logic but again the application was the problem not the idea.
Let’s face it we don’t have many options at the moment.
In the games ahead hopefully we will

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Originally Posted by wbaliquidator

I think the logic was that HRK would be able to hold up the ball more than Robinson who was tiring and had ran his sock off anyway. Our front 3 including Robinson was chasing down their back 4 all evening to great effect. Not much choice other than HRK to be honest, sadly he is the best we have in reserve at the moment.
Again Pereira and Diagana were both fading badly.
Field is a very average player but let’s remember he does have previous experience at the level and to me made sense to try to add more numbers in front of our defence.
Phillips, I suspect was tasked to get the ball up the pitch, I see the logic but again the application was the problem not the idea.
Let’s face it we don’t have many options at the moment.
In the games ahead hopefully we will

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I get the logic but the best three players on the pitch bring about confidence and even if shattered Pereira and Diangana could still bring the magic which Kanu does not have. Yes Kanu can hold the ball up well on occasions but he also gives the ball away too much. Phillips is a complete waste of space as proven in the matches last season since lock down. Field is lightweight and not even a proven championship player and to be honest should have been loaned out. We dropped points last season because Bilic did not start Pereira or Diangana ie Wigan away was a classic!


Logic tells me when a world beater like Ivanovic who played sixty minutes in the week - should have been on the bench at least and would have been perfect for the last 10 minutes.

Gallagher should be starting against Southampton but it won't happen and he and Krov will be on the bench - would bet money on it so if we go a goal down away from home who can be ruthless in front of goal?

Livermore is not great but at least he puts in a shift now and again. Please please can someone tell me what Sawyers brings to the party? I really do need to know. When does Bilic also realize that Johnstone is costing us points?

Thought O'Shea and Furlong did well yesterday and Bartley was OK but even a big s hit house door would be nervous defending with that clown in between the sticks!

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Originally Posted by baggieal

Not for the first time, have i found the subs made by Bilic completely baffling! Why take off your three best players and replace them with inferior ones? As Kanu got the magic of any of the three taken off? Is Phillips not past it as proven in the last games of the championship? When we needed the defence to be steadied by a Jonas type of person - why oh why Field?

Bizarre that Ivanovic played 60 minutes against a good Brentford side and was not even on the bench - why? He would have been perfect instead of Field to have come on and calmed things down!

Starting line up next week - will Gallagher start instead of Sawyers who is persistently poor? I doubt it - why?

It just seems to me that it's a case of keeping certain players happy and also keeping squad players like Kanu happy who is great at giving the ball away! Should Button not be given an opportunity as again Johnstone could have done better with at least two goals.

I thought the defence were OK yesterday and Bartley much better but if you had a Ben Foster type of person behind them and a Mulumbo type of engine in front of them - it would invite less pressure. What does Sawyers actually do apart from chewing gum? I just don't get it - every pass is backwards or sideways if actually involved!

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Can't say I agree, but this is what this board is for.

HRK for Robinson at 3-1 up should be a good sub to make. HRK's main attributes are occupying a defender, working the channels and holding the ball up. We know his quality is limited, but these should be his strengths. We were under a lot of pressure at that point and he didn't do too badly apart from the 3rd goal when he passed it to Mount.

Diangana had a quiet game, Phillips has a burst of pace on him. I thought this was a better shout than bringing on Edwards. And Field for Perriera was in injury time, trying to kill a few seconds and toughen up the midfield.

I don't think we blew it because of Bilic's subs, I think we blew it because we have a bang average keeper in goal and HRK didn't launch the ball away in the 93rd minute.

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Originally Posted by WBA123

Can't say I agree, but this is what this board is for.

HRK for Robinson at 3-1 up should be a good sub to make. HRK's main attributes are occupying a defender, working the channels and holding the ball up. We know his quality is limited, but these should be his strengths. We were under a lot of pressure at that point and he didn't do too badly apart from the 3rd goal when he passed it to Mount.

Diangana had a quiet game, Phillips has a burst of pace on him. I thought this was a better shout than bringing on Edwards. And Field for Perriera was in injury time, trying to kill a few seconds and toughen up the midfield.

I don't think we blew it because of Bilic's subs, I think we blew it because we have a bang average keeper in goal and HRK didn't launch the ball away in the 93rd minute.

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Regarding HRK,

I watched the Harrogate match and he gave the ball away time after time against a team that were non league a month before, his hold up and ball retention play was abysmal.

If you want the ball holding up then you need the type of skill set that the likes of Deeney offer.

This doesn’t necessarily mean a big lump like Deeney......back in the day Kenny Daglish was one of the best I’ve ever seen at doing this and Odemwingie was good at this even though he was slight of build.

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Originally Posted by mickd1961

Regarding HRK,

I watched the Harrogate match and he gave the ball away time after time against a team that were non league a month before, his hold up and ball retention play was abysmal.

If you want the ball holding up then you need the type of skill set that the likes of Deeney offer.

This doesn’t necessarily mean a big lump like Deeney......back in the day Kenny Daglish was one of the best I’ve ever seen at doing this and Odemwingie was good at this even though he was slight of build.

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I agree Mick - HRK constantly gives the ball away and whilst I do agree with 123 he can be good at working the channels, I honestly think he's complete garbage. I actually prefer Austin to HRK as whilst he may not look as if he's working as hard - he does know where the net is! In total honestly both are out of their depth along with Phillips, Sawyers and the clown in goal!

It should not be rocket science - a Ben Foster/Joe Hart type in goal - Gallagher first choice in midfield, and a striker up front like an Odenwingie who can score and produce some magic!

I think we need to ditch the 5 at the back system we are using as the players we currently have are not good enough to play it, with Gallagher and Krov new additions and hopefully Grant and maybe Deeney I would play 433 because at the moment we are getting over run in midfield with Sawyers and Livermore trying to do the work of 3