Team V Burnley

[Bristol Boy]

Assuming we have:

Injured:McIndoe, Brooker, Showunmi, Noble....Some could be recovering but unavailable.(4)

Loans:Russell, Henderson, Keogh, Artus, JMW (5)

Junior Pros:Plummer, Ribiero, Wilson, Slocombe etc

........BASSO....................

ORR...........CAREY...........FONTAINE.............MCALLISTER.......

SPROULE....ELLIOTT........SKUSE..................WILSON.

.................BYFIELD........TRUNDLE..............

SUBS

WEALE

VASKO

MURRAY

JOHNSON

JEVONS

Left Out:McCombe, Betsy (2)

We've played two tough games in four days and have another on Saturday.We'll need "legs" in midfield and up front and, given our squad, we'll need to freshen things up as best we can given our injuries.At 34 Murrays best impact seems to be late on, from the bench.

Seeing Brooker & Showunmi out again concerns me-Let's hope ES is a week or so away and Brooker is fit and available for the start of..........December (10 weeks)

I don't think GJ will leave LJ out but let's see.

[Nibor]

McIndoe only had a dead leg, hopefully he will be back.

How far away is Noble from fitness? I'd far rather see him in the side than Skuse.

I suspect Johnson will go unchanged if he can anyway.

[Guest Garfunkle]

I'm hoping that when mccombe gets back fontaine will go left back as i think mcallister has been our weakest link by far this season!

harsh or justified?

[Nibor]

I'm hoping that when mccombe gets back fontaine will go left back as i think mcallister has been our weakest link by far this season!

harsh or justified?

I agree McAllister has struggled but that's no reason to move Fontaine to a position he played poorly in last season when currently he's outperforming even Carey. McCombe will just have to wait for his chance. I'd like to see us think about loaning a left back though.

[Guest Garfunkle]

I agree McAllister has struggled but that's no reason to move Fontaine to a position he played poorly in last season when currently he's outperforming even Carey. McCombe will just have to wait for his chance. I'd like to see us think about loaning a left back though.

but gj does eventually draft his 'preferred' players back into the team as has been shown in the past ie with basso/wilson etc. this is why i think it would be better having fontaine moved to left back rather than dropped completely

[howey_ducky]

I'm hoping that when mccombe gets back fontaine will go left back as i think mcallister has been our weakest link by far this season!

harsh or justified?

suprisingly justified. he hasn't disgraced himself by a long shot but has looked out of his depth at times. still early days though, i'm still confident he can settle into this league and look the part.

[CHIPLEY RED]

Fontaine has to stay at centre back. He has come into the team and taken his chance superbly. To drop him now would be totally wrong. Players have to earn their right to a place in the team and Liam has certainly done that its now up to the rest to work hard and wait their turn as Liam did last season.

[Guest Garfunkle]

Fontaine has to stay at centre back. He has come into the team and taken his chance superbly. To drop him now would be totally wrong. Players have to earn their right to a place in the team and Liam has certainly done that its now up to the rest to work hard and wait their turn as Liam did last season.

i agree with that, I'm just saying that gj tends to bring his preferred players in regardless - just ask richard keogh!!

[GrenadaRed]

I have been debating if I would bring Mccombe in at CB and move Fontaine to LB. It seems such a shame to move a player on such good form as Fontaine, but we have a problem at LB this season. As I have written elsewhere I can't believe it, as I previously considered McAllister to be one of our best players. Perhaps he will regain form before McCombe is ready. I guess we are all a bit nervous about Vasko after his shaky first game; although he did well in his brief appearance last night.

[Henry]

If we were going to play two holding players then I'd like us to play with two out and out attacking wingers ie Sproule Murray Mcindoe

[paulie]

just looking at the tables and didnt realise that burnly have got a game in hand on us ,so they could potentially bbe top of the table on 13 points so this is going to be a kind of 6 pointer on saturday

[giles_23_bcfc]

don't change a winning side i say! if it aint broke, why fix it?!

basso

orr - carey - fontaine - mcallister

wilson - johnson - elliot - mcindoe

trundle - sproule

All depends on if McIndoe is fit. If he isnt, play Sroule on the left with Byfield and Trundle up front.

[samo]

i agree with that, I'm just saying that gj tends to bring his preferred players in regardless - just ask richard keogh!!

ask him what?

GJ asked him to sign a new contract and he wouldn't, so now he's enjoying the delights of league one football in the kingdom of yorkshire.

[ashley (city's no1 fan)]

I'm hoping that when mccombe gets back fontaine will go left back as i think mcallister has been our weakest link by far this season!

harsh or justified?

i like mcallister but he has defo been city's worst performer this season, basically because he has no competition for his place so he can still play badly and remain in the team. so i think we need to get in a left back on loan with a view to a permanent deal to compete with jamie mac and it might bring better performances out of him knowing he could get dropped

[bh_red]

I'm hoping that when mccombe gets back fontaine will go left back as i think mcallister has been our weakest link by far this season!

harsh or justified?

agree, hadn't noticed it before, but last night the "part-time city fan" I was with kept asking who the number 3 was and kept noticing mistakes here and there, suprising as McAllister started so well at City, that it he looked too good for League 1 level, it seems to be since the middlesboro game his form has just dipped and dipped,

I'd back him to get over it though.

otherwise though I would go unchanged if possible, if McIndoe isn't fit, then Byfield will come in with Sproule moving to the right wing, with Wilson swapping over

[Robbored]

If everyone is available - same team.Why change it if you don't have to?

[Bristol Boy]

I have been debating if I would bring Mccombe in at CB and move Fontaine to LB. It seems such a shame to move a player on such good form as Fontaine, but we have a problem at LB this season. As I have written elsewhere I can't believe it, as I previously considered McAllister to be one of our best players. Perhaps he will regain form before McCombe is ready. I guess we are all a bit nervous about Vasko after his shaky first game; although he did well in his brief appearance last night.

It's not sensible to try and repair what's broken by breaking what's working :noexpression: McAllister has surprised me by no being an outstanding player this season, so far and, for me, the main reason is pace and with all the players a yard or two quicker in this division, that's a problem.Some of his distribution hasn't been up to last season either.

don't change a winning side i say! if it aint broke, why fix it?!

Becase parts of it are broke and I'm assuming that MM won't be fit-Hope I'm wrong.The best time to make small changes is when confidence is high and it keeps the players on their toes an stops complacency.Fatigue is also a factor with three high pressure

All depends on if McIndoe is fit. If he isnt, play Sroule on the left with Byfield and Trundle up front.

Sproule's a right winger, why play him on the left as opposed to BW?

think we got a strong side at the moment. johnson is constantly talking about the squad, never just the team.

So utilise that squad

but you cannot possibley take out elliot, carey etc.

i think our only weak link is lee johnson; he's too lightweight in midfield and he does these little dinks when he shouldnt, sometime losing the ball to easily. was it him that lost it in the midfield which led up to their goal last night?

Agreed

however saying that, if noble was fit tomorrow, i wouldnt replace johnson for him. you just cant change a winning side unless you have to, (injuries, suspensions).

Benitez, Mourihno & Ferguson do it all the time

[Robbored]

Managers like Ferguson and Benitez have huge squads with quality all through.Almost all are internationals..They also have the Champions League to think of. Its a different ball game at that level.To compare City's situation with clubs like Liverpool and Man Utd is ridiculous.

[Bristol Boy]

Managers like Ferguson and Benitez have huge squads with quality all through.Almost all are internationals..They also have the Champions League to think of. Its a different ball game at that level.To compare City's situation with clubs like Liverpool and Man Utd is ridiculous.

Nothing like ridiculous.

Liverpool & Man Utd are, in common with City, competing against teams of equal quality-even better in a number of cases.We have a decent squad by Championship standards and we have to utilise them and keep all the players motivated and interested.

Benitez didn't pick the same XI in 90+ consecutive Liverpool games and my point is that if the three or four of the top managers in the Country think it's a good idea it just might be.WBA also made four changes last night having won 4-0 Saturday!

Win, Draw or Lose, you can always improve and there's no point in playing three right wingers in your front four if you have a quality striker available or playing a midfielder that isn't firing or a tired player when you have a fresh player available who may even arguably be better.

Mentally as well as physically, three games against quality opposition in eight days will take it's toll.

No excuses for a tired performance or an unbalanced team Saturday.

[BCFC Grim]

Personally would not change it barring injuries.

[aa_bcfc]

In the title of this thread it says 'every game is a cup final'. I would not put it that strongly but for me many of the games we are playing in are like a cup tie, and we are playing the games like they are cup ties. Consider the Weds, Cov and WBA games. In each of those there was an element of 'backs to the wall' defending and fiercely contesting every ball, almost like an under dog from a lower division battling against higher division teams. Because of this the performances and results have been brilliant and the games terrifically enjoyable. My concern is whether it is possible to continue that immense level of effort, committment and team spirit over a season .

[Bristol Boy]

My concern is whether it is possible to continue that immense level of effort, committment and team spirit over a season .

Great spot.

That's the bit that I eluded to.

It would be amazing if we could keep that up until Xmas never mind all season without freshinging it up by resting & introducing players.

GJ will have a strong case for more investment if we're there or there abouts at Xmas............and I don't think SL would say no.

[rockin-robin]

don't change a winning side i say! if it aint broke, why fix it?!

basso

orr - carey - fontaine - mcallister

wilson - johnson - elliot - mcindoe

trundle - sproule

Agree completely, I think when Mcindoe went off and Murray on, we lacked a bit of width and the natural left foot. Same team all the way for me.

Lets try however to get the ball to Trundles feet a bit more and allow him to turn and run at players a bit more.

[exiledinwatford]

Almost the team I thought of when MM limped off. LJ will still be in midfield IMO - I had Wilson on the left in MMs absence. I just hope Skusey is watching Marvelous Marvin and picking up some tips!