Time to Give Younger Players a Chance

[Si Nick]

League season is over, but highly unlikely to get into relegation trouble

Surely now is the ideal time to give Schlupp (if fit enough) an extended run - he has experienced this with Brentford, why not now see if he is ready to become a championship regular for next season.

At the same time, stick Hopper on the bench & give 15-20 mins in some games to see if he can be a regular squad player next season

Probably another Academy player worth giving some game time too ?

See little point in playing Howard (or Oakley when fit) as they can't be in next season's plans, so let's focus on some experiments for next season & see if we can uncover a gem during the rest of this season

 

[The Old Fox]

League season is over, but highly unlikely to get into relegation trouble

Surely now is the ideal time to give Schlupp (if fit enough) an extended run - he has experienced this with Brentford, why not now see if he is ready to become a championship regular for next season.

At the same time, stick Hopper on the bench & give 15-20 mins in some games to see if he can be a regular squad player next season

Probably another Academy player worth giving some game time too ?

See little point in playing Howard (or Oakley when fit) as they can't be in next season's plans, so let's focus on some experiments for next season & see if we can uncover a gem during the rest of this season

This would be logical, but it will not happen. Were Nigel Pearson to play other than his best team and get every point that they can, he would be inviting the axe. We will get more, "It's going to be hard, but I do not rule out a play off spot" drivel.

 

[Biffa Bacon]

The shop keepers who run the club will take the opportunity to revamp the family stand, upgrade the shop and refresh the retail offerings. Bringing on young footballers is so far out of their comfort zone it might as well be a mars mission.

 

[Matt_B]

Maybe. just maybe, our youngsters are, for the most part, not good enough to make the step up. History tells us this is probable.

 

[Biffa Bacon]

Maybe. just maybe, our youngsters are, for the most part, not good enough to make the step up. History tells us this is probable.

That almost goes without saying, the academy has not exactly been a hotbed of international talent, I don't even think Schlupp is ready to play regularly in the league yet.

 

[Graz]

I agree, I don't want to see the likes of Howard playing for us any more. He doesn't make any significant contribution to the team when he plays now anyway, so what's the harm in using Schlupp/Hopper instead?

I would still play our strongest starting line-up, but introduce the young players from the bench. No Steve Howard.

 

[Matt_B]

I agree, I don't want to see the likes of Howard playing for us any more. He doesn't make any significant contribution to the team when he plays now anyway, so what's the harm in using Schlupp/Hopper instead?

I would still play our strongest starting line-up, but introduce the young players from the bench. No Steve Howard.

The harm is that we need to win as any games as we can so that we go into next season on as much of a buzz as possible and so that the fans and owners don't get itchy trigger fingers for Pearson.

 

[alli1]

Yesterday i was unable to go to reading ,but after the bristol city game,after going there and seeing that rubbish i lost interest in the shambles we have at Leicester City now,so i thought i listen to the game on radio leicester ,but when Pearson put Howard on in the second half i turned it off, the blokes a f****** donkey but once again hes a Pearson favourite.so how long will Pearson keep his job ,not long i hope,managers never do any good when they come back to a club,we are worse off now than when Sven was here and how long will the owners stay with us,gates are starting to drop now,its a shambles all round now.god knows where we go from here,we were supposed to be Favourites to go into the prem at the start of the season and intsead we are a joke.

 

[Matt_B]

Yesterday i was unable to go to reading ,but after the bristol city game,after going there and seeing that rubbish i lost interest in the shambles we have at Leicester City now,so i thought i listen to the game on radio leicester ,but when Pearson put Howard on in the second half i turned it off, the blokes a f****** donkey but once again hes a Pearson favourite.so how long will Pearson keep his job ,not long i hope,managers never do any good when they come back to a club,we are worse off now than when Sven was here and how long will the owners stay with us,gates are starting to drop now,its a shambles all round now.god knows where we go from here,we were supposed to be Favourites to go into the prem at the start of the season and intsead we are a joke.

I told you Redditch, the mad people have spoken.

 

[Graz]

The harm is that we need to win as any games as we can so that we go into next season on as much of a buzz as possible and so that the fans and owners don't get itchy trigger fingers for Pearson.

That's the point I'm making though.... I don't see Howard helping us at all. As I said, we should be playing the strongest team. But when there is a choice between an old player or a young prospect, and not much difference in ability between the two (Howard and Schlupp for example), we should now be going for the younger player.


Yes, we want to build momentum for next season. But there isn't much point in doing that with players who won't/shouldn't be part of the team next year, if we can avoid it.

 

[David Gwilliam]

There are several games left this season. Having paid to watch them through my season ticket I expect to enjoy them. This involves Nigel picking the team he thinks is most likely to win. If Hopper is picked then I would expect it to be because Nigel thought he was better than the alternatives.

 

[Leigh]

Hopper travelled with the squad yesterday to Reading. Might mean he's quite close to Pearson's plans. Or that he's just getting that further experience of being with the first team.

 

[SJN-Fox]

Given the importance of the remaining games to the other teams in the league, I'm sure the Football League would have something to say if we were to start fielding weaker teams for the remainder of the season, which is precisely what we would be doing by fielding a bunch of academy players.

 

[homer]

There are several games left this season. Having paid to watch them through my season ticket I expect to enjoy them.

Best of luck with that one, Davey Boy

 

[Si Nick]

Given the importance of the remaining games to the other teams in the league, I'm sure the Football League would have something to say if we were to start fielding weaker teams for the remainder of the season, which is precisely what we would be doing by fielding a bunch of academy players.

where did I advocate "a bunch" ? - just suggesting giving one a start (or two if several off the bench performances were encouraging) & maybe one or two on the bench.

Given NP's comments after the game, a message of "I'm playing/including in the 16 a young player ahead of you if you aren't making the effort/following my instructions" would be a good approach, rather than doing a half time hair dryer & then picking the same team

 

[Willlow]

I never realised that the only difference between Howard and Schlupp is the age! There was me thinking that NP introduced Howard on Saturday to add a bit of strength and aerial power to the front line.

 

[indierich06]

I never realised that the only difference between Howard and Schlupp is the age! There was me thinking that NP introduced Howard on Saturday to add a bit of strength and aerial power to the front line.

I wasn't there, how did that work out for us?

I'm guessing he lumbered around, giving away fouls left right and centre?

 

[Willlow]

I wasn't there, how did that work out for us?

I'm guessing he lumbered around, giving away fouls left right and centre?

He still offers a better aerial threat than Schlupp, which I am sure is one of the reasons NP would have brought him on. If he had wanted somebody running into the channels or running with the ball he would have given Schlupp a chance.

Just trying to point out to people that the two strikers offer different things, so the argument of "I dont know why he brought Howard on instead of Schlupp." is stupid. Maybe people should think first on the different qualities the player could potentially bring to the game, rather than whether they are young and 'flavour of the month'.

 

[Biffa Bacon]

He still offers a better aerial threat than Schlupp, which I am sure is one of the reasons NP would have brought him on. If he had wanted somebody running into the channels or running with the ball he would have given Schlupp a chance.

Just trying to point out to people that the two strikers offer different things, so the argument of "I dont know why he brought Howard on instead of Schlupp." is stupid. Maybe people should think first on the different qualities the player could potentially bring to the game, rather than whether they are young and 'flavour of the month'.

Howard was the only choice available based on the fact we had no luck playing through or around Reading and our most effective option (if we had a decent holdup/flick on type player) was the long ball over the top, Nugent, Beckford and Schlupp aren't effective in that type of game.

 

[Redditch Fox]

Howard was the only choice available based on the fact we had no luck playing through or around Reading and our most effective option (if we had a decent holdup/flick on type player) was the long ball over the top, Nugent, Beckford and Schlupp aren't effective in that type of game.

And I'm certain you need that kind of option in this division. Its not something that managers like to admit but almost all of them will go for route one when faced with that kind of situation or if they need a goal with a few minutes remaining. Unfortunately, Howard is almost time expired and we need another forward to provide that option.