Should have rested him from training....

[Pearl Ram]

He'll still be in full kit for the lap of appreciation though I-Ram, rest assured.

[Carl Sagan]

34 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

In all this Thorne and Ireland frenzy, I feel we are missing the most tragic story. John Terry being sent off over the weekend means he has now probably played his last competitive game for Chelsea. If he hadn't been picked on Saturday (stupid, stupid Hiddink) he wouldn't have been in the position where he could be sent off. No final game at the Sty leading the players on to the pitch to be rewarded with the tumultuous applause and total adulation of the Chelsea pigs. Tragedy. Lol.

Perhaps not for Chelsea, but we're sure to see him celebrating with whichever Madrid team captures the Champions League, presuumably wearing one shirt over another so he can whip it off as necessary and sprint onto the pitch when the final whistle goes.

[Carl Sagan]

46 minutes ago, ronnieronalde said:

Goodness me Carl. What are you basing that on?

He may not have your knowledge or interest in solar systems or far away galaxies but I can confirm that he's a fairly bright lad. Certainly football wise, so far every job he's taken on he's excelled at. 

 

Based on the rather unfortunate fact that, entirely unnecessarily, we go into the most important match of the season without our only proper CDM and one of our most important players. Of course you can also question his pronouncements and ongoing inability to make appropriate substitutions (not just Rotherham). Several of us who excel in different areas were discussing the team selection on Friday, all coming to the conclusion it should be obvious to anyone that the key players needed to be rested and not risked. One of the texts I received after the match read "How do such stupid people get such big jobs?"

I don't disagree with you that he's done well with the academy and I'd love him to succeed with the first team, but very often in life people are promoted beyond the level of their competence. This looks like one of those times.

[Carl Sagan]

1 hour ago, eddie said:

More sensible?

Where were the on-loan replacements the following season when we lost Mascarell, Eustace, Buxton, Martin and Bent in the run-in, and we were still without Thorne with the loan window still open?

Don't disagree with some of this, but it was also an illustration of what an incredibly difficult player Thorne was to replace effectively in our system. I firmly believe losiing him against Zenit cost us promotion that season. Hence the insanity of risking him against Ipswich. Very possibly a £200m mistake.

[Duracell]

Really really bugs me watching this argument, going round in circles.

There were perfectly valid reasons for not playing a full-strength side on Saturday, and equally valid ones for doing what we did. If I were Wassall, I'd have spent all week struggling to sleep thinking about which option to take, and I'm sure he did. I think, on balance, I would have played the same team. And I think I would still do the same again if the match was tomorrow.

Now IF you are of the firm opinion that we should have played a weakened side, then of course Saturday's events would infuriate you. I don't see any "I told you so"-type comments from this brigade but equally can understand why it comes across that way. But surely if you are in the full-strength camp you would understand why you would be annoyed if this was your opinion.

There is no right or wrong way to manage. You can ask 5 world class coaches how they would have handled the match on Saturday and you would get 5 different answers. This isn't an open and shut case and what happened on Saturday didn't prove or disprove anything.

 

[GboroRam]

1 hour ago, i-Ram said:

 and total adulation of the Chelsea pigs. Tragedy. Lol.

You spelled adultery wrong.

[ronnieronalde]

25 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Based on the rather unfortunate fact that, entirely unnecessarily, we go into the most important match of the season without our only proper CDM and one of our most important players. Of course you can also question his pronouncements and ongoing inability to make appropriate substitutions (not just Rotherham). Several of us who excel in different areas were discussing the team selection on Friday, all coming to the conclusion it should be obvious to anyone that the key players needed to be rested and not risked. One of the texts I received after the match read "How do such stupid people get such big jobs?"

I don't disagree with you that he's done well with the academy and I'd love him to succeed with the first team, but very often in life people are promoted beyond the level of their competence. This looks like one of those times.

Straight question, straight answer please.

How many of those several that were discussing it excel in football?

[Day]

I was actually calling for the fringe players and kids to be involved from Sheff Wed onwards, be threads and posts on here, only one or two, not a complete team overhaul.

Fully understand both sides, I can appreciate the reasons why Wassall would go with the full strength side and not see him as an idiot which is extremely harsh.

What frustrates me is the injury to Thorne wasn't through being overplayed, it's one of those freak injuries that can even happen off the pitch as we've seen today with Ireland. You can't wrap players up in cotton wool, Thorne could have broke his leg 2 minutes into the Hull game, same result, loss of a key player.

Had it not happened nobody would have been on Saturday night angry that we haven't rested players.

As you say Duracell, stick 5 managers in a room and it wouldn't be clear cut. Let's not forget we have Harry behind the scenes advising.

[uttoxram75]

I burnt my fingertip on a red hot ginger nut straight off the oven today which is impeding my ability to type right now.

There was no need for me to try and pick it up off the oven band, if i'd have waited 10 seconds it would have transferred onto a conveyor belt making it easier to flip off and place it on a ledge.

Hope this helps.

Yours gingerly,

Utch

[Carl Sagan]

1 hour ago, ronnieronalde said:

Straight question, straight answer please.

How many of those several that were discussing it excel in football?

Football's a multibillion pound industry and it's those who look beyond its once narrow confines that will do well in the long run. To answer you straight, none of us was directly employd within football though a few have tangential links with the game.

But for me this is an almost child-like application of game theory. Play a full strength team and there's only one (very unlikely) outcome that will be good and there are lots of potentially bad outcomes. Play an understrength team and there are no really bad outcomes and plenty of good ones. Of course you play the understrength team.

[Alph]

5 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

I burnt my fingertip on a red hot ginger nut straight off the oven today which is impeding my ability to type right now.

There was no need for me to try and pick it up off the oven band, if i'd have waited 10 seconds it would have transferred onto a conveyor belt making it easier to flip off and place it on a ledge.

Hope this helps.

Yours gingerly,

Utch

I got sacked for touching ginger nuts. 

That's how my PE teaching career ended

[Duracell]

21 hours ago, Alpha said:

I got sacked for touching ginger nuts. 

That's how my PE teaching career ended

But we're both cool now