Our "lean" Squad

[OzGers 425]

Warbs has continually reiterated the need for a "lean, hungry" squad, to allow youth a pathway in to the 1st team.

But do we all agree that this is likely to be a major reason for our underperformance at present?

Over the course of half a season, it has become clear that Warbs is reluctant to use any of the current youth setup, with limited game time seen by the likes of Hardie, Thompson etc

That being the case, there has been a reliance on generally the same starting 11 and 1 or 2 subs.

This in itself ensures limited competition for starting spots, meaning no matter how bad the incumbents play, we do not have the squad that our manager has enough faith in to throw someone else in.

Take Waggy for example - he is always 1st choice purely because Miller and Clark either are shoehorned out wide, or simply cant find the net.

The defence is the same - 3 central defenders to choose from, all of whom have been up and down

Wing usually reserved for McKay, Oduwa and occasionally Miller.

Our wingbacks are even worse for depth

The only area where we have significant depth, midfield, we seem to have an abundance of similar players, being attack minded, passing midfielders.

Its clear to me that Warbs needs to ditch this mentality and get 3 or 4 players in January that he has FAITH in that will push the 1st team squad for a position and create that healthy competition required to keep everyone on their toes.

He doesn't have to lose his focus on youth, he can surely being in young players, but they have to be ones he TRUSTS to do a job, and not simply youth players for the sake of it

[harlands plater 17,065]

Been thinking that myself, lean = no competition = complacency.

[the goal machine 7,821]

Hardie and Thompson should definitely have been used more so far.

[trueblueal 2,117]

Lean is fine if we have 18 good players but we don't. Waghorn has no backup and neither so Wallace or Tav. I'm not worrying though, I'm sure the manager knows this and we will strengthen

[Skyson1872 2,923]

I definitely think complacency has played a part, Tav and a few others have bought into their own hype. But I think our play style is the main bullet, I honestly reckon a strong defensive mid and striker with a flat back 4 would solve all our problems.

[STEPPS BOY 75,085]

No competition for places leads to the performances served up recently by Tavernier,Halliday and Waghorn..

[gazza27 15,336]

Am hopeful he's starting to realise we need a bigger and better squad.every week the bench really can't change a game

[Blackandra 732]

Things definitely need freshened up and I'd like to see the likes of Hardie and Thompson given more game time.

[STEPPS BOY 75,085]

Things definitely need freshened up and I'd like to see the likes of Hardie and Thompson given more game time.

Why play our youngsters when we could be playing Tottenham and Arsenal's youngsters?

[Blackandra 732]

Why play our youngsters when we could be playing Tottenham and Arsenal's youngsters?

Aye, agree wae that. As much as the loans looked good in the first few games they seem to have gone a bit off the boil. Think Thompson looks a player, naw really seen enough of Hardie to make judgment.

[Irn Blu 221]

Warburton has only had one transfer window to work with so far and its pretty much a new team. I think when he has the finished squad he needs then this is definitely the right approach.

The only real position we are missing is a strong and experienced DM which is where Eustace was supposed to come in.

We need the youngsters to be able to come on when we are strolling a game to protect their confidence should they make a mistake. Yes there was plenty of opportunities at the start of the season for this but they needed some time to adapt to the style of play Warbs wanted and the good thing is from the results we've seen they look to be on the right track.

I have every confidence in the manager and im sure we will see them coming through and rival teams adapting and following our football philosophy based on our future results.

Yes the results over the past few weeks have been questionable but I think given a few new faces all will be well and we will win this* league easily.

[cushynumber 25,178]

Underperformance?

[hammer93 15,133]

Totally agree, if we stick by the fact we only play 433 then we need more competition for places, our line up is far 2 predictable with such a small squad.

[Bears 794]

Lean and hungry is good but we've stopped being hungry.

[legalbeagle 3,734]

It is always tough, have too many players and then you get unhappy players because they aren't getting a game, too few and there is no competition.

[DeanMK 4,814]

The guy had to do a complete rebuilding job in the summer. People ought to give him more time before condemning him.

[OzGers 425]

No condemnation here, simply an observation.

His lean squad would work, if he had faith in current crop of youths. This is clearly not the case given their limited involvement, and therefore we don't have a "squad" as such in the sense that hungry players will take your place should you underperform.

Ultimately, if he can get that 3 or 4 in January to create that competition, I think we will see a remarkable improvement

[DeanMK 4,814]

No condemnation here, simply an observation.

His lean squad would work, if he had faith in current crop of youths. This is clearly not the case given their limited involvement, and therefore we don't have a "squad" as such in the sense that hungry players will take your place should you underperform.

Ultimately, if he can get that 3 or 4 in January to create that competition, I think we will see a remarkable improvement

It's hard to tell what youths would be able to make the step up. We're currently in an extremely competitive league and it may been seen as too much of a risk. I think we need more players too add to our squad depth. There's just not a single player on the bench who can make a big difference to the game. We need a tall, clinical striker who would give a different dimension. I can't stand watching us drawing a game and only having Nicky Clark as your backup plan.

[Blue Avenger 22,567]

MW had a major rebuilding job to do in the summer with very limited funds and if we are TBH with ourselves, he has done a sterling job and exceeded the expectations of what is possible under such circumstances.

However, it was always going to be a short term fix as just not sustainable. In the short term we need that defence sorted and a player or two elsewhere should do the trick for promotion of that I am confident. I also can't see from where any money is coming from for anything else, despite the demi wave's recent propaganda.

For the top tier, we need significant player investment, as scraping around in the bargain basement will just not cut it. St Johnstone, gave us our biggest insight on the work needed to be done and that will mean spending serious cash.

[Bertent 2,081]

something that can be improved with better posture.

[bluedart1952 1,378]

the goal machine, on 20 Dec 2015 - 10:15 PM, said:the goal machine, on 20 Dec 2015 - 10:15 PM, said:

Hardie and Thompson should definitely have been used more so far.

I would add Walsh to that, he is a far better prospect than McKay will ever be. Also people are saying about bringing up to 4 new players in, where is the funding coming from as we are still arguing about wether we have paid MA back his 5million and the board have issued no new statements about future funding for January to strengthen the team.

[WeeJim 92]

He started with basically fuck all due to prior mismanagement, did a good job to buy in a team in one window that's still sitting, albeit not by much, at the top of the league. I don't think it's realistic to ask for much more so far given that scatter gun buying rarely if ever gives you a success with every signing. I reckon he hoped we'd get through the season with the business he did at the start but he's now had half a season to watch what he bought and what he inherited and to find out strengths and weaknesses. Some of the youth he hoped to bring through have probably not shown enough in training so far to make him think they can cope without help. The team he bought have probably needed the game time they've had to prove to him whether they were up to the job or not and what they've shown is they're not good enough to carry the youth he hoped to introduce. Realistically for the job he's had to do he's done fantastically well, what he does now will tell us how good he really is and how much backing he's really got from the board.
He's been saying he needs to bring in experience, solid players, that's what I think will actually give the youth more of a chance rather than putting them further down the pecking order. In my opinion we need a decent striker who can cover the left or a decent left wing type player who can provide a goal threat and we need a solid, experienced defence minded midfielder who can, if we're lucky enough to find one, cover for right back.
He still gets his lean squad but we have enough quality and experience to actually use the youth as competition for some places.

[SeparateEntityMyArse 54,297]

Wonder what goes through the minds of Hardie Walsh and Thomson when they can't get a sniff despite MWs pro youth approach and the awful form of some of the established players.

[gmcf 34,663]

No condemnation here, simply an observation.

His lean squad would work, if he had faith in current crop of youths. This is clearly not the case given their limited involvement, and therefore we don't have a "squad" as such in the sense that hungry players will take your place should you underperform.

Ultimately, if he can get that 3 or 4 in January to create that competition, I think we will see a remarkable improvement

I think he used a lot more of the youth players earlier in the season when things were going better. I think it's more a case of playing them at the right time ,but the way things have gone lately , it would be unfair to play them when the game's in the balance , as has happened more often recently , and the crowd are desperate and on the players backs .

I do agree we could do with a bit of freshening up but I'm not convinced that will happen.

[ZZed 4,510]

In my judgement the foundation is only half built. He has two windows to bring in more quality and get us ready for the challenges ahead. I have faith that he will do this. This is just the beginning of the beginning.