Brents Goulet
New Signing
Let me start up front with 3 big caveats
1. I went to The New Den and we are dreadful, no arguments
2. No manager is above criticism
3. This MB is the place for people to say what the hell they like
That all said, I do worry that the reaction from some people to the Millwall game is crazy. In fact, the reactions to almost every defeat this season seem to be a little extreme.
I understand why most people disagree with the policy of making 11 changes, and it's hard to defend after that result. In reply:
25 points doesn't make us safe, or even nearly safe. We still need at least 5 wins and we all know how easy it is to lose games in this league. The way the table is, if we beat Hull we'll be dreaming of the Europa League, and if we lose we'll be looking over our shoulder.
We are only in our second season in this league; we are not by any means an established club here who can afford not to prioritise the league yet. If we were 16th for e.g. everyone would want us to focus on staying up; Middlesbrough are 16th and only 6 points behind.
Next point; our success is based on continuity of players and making minimal changes; we rotate less than others, freshen up less than others, and rely on the same small nucleus of players. The positive is that gives us continuity, cohesion and partnerships all over the pitch from players who play together every week. And you'd have to say it works as an approach.
The downside is fatigue, and lack of game time for squad players. The Arsenal game at the end of a busy xmas will have taken more out of the players than we can imagine, especially not getting the win we deserved. So I think we probably need to trust EH to know what players need resting to be at their best for Hull. Unless anyone here believes we are in a position where we don't need to be at our best for Hull. I cant believe anyone does.
We also have squad players who need game time so they are game ready when called upon. All the Under-21 games in the world don't replace real games. So we made changes. Maybe too many, maybe it wasn't the right approach, but the idea EH must apologise and has disrespected anything is ridiculous to me. Millwall will have been watched, and the team would have prepared the same way for this game as any other. It's just that we were dreadful on the day.
Final thought...it is just ten years ago that many Charlton fans felt Alan Curbishley has taken them as far as they could go. They got complacent with their success, and lost sight of their own reality. They were in the top half of the Premier League at the time. Those fans, with hindsight, didn't lack ambition, they lacked reality. I worry some of our own fans are going down a similar path.
1. I went to The New Den and we are dreadful, no arguments
2. No manager is above criticism
3. This MB is the place for people to say what the hell they like
That all said, I do worry that the reaction from some people to the Millwall game is crazy. In fact, the reactions to almost every defeat this season seem to be a little extreme.
I understand why most people disagree with the policy of making 11 changes, and it's hard to defend after that result. In reply:
25 points doesn't make us safe, or even nearly safe. We still need at least 5 wins and we all know how easy it is to lose games in this league. The way the table is, if we beat Hull we'll be dreaming of the Europa League, and if we lose we'll be looking over our shoulder.
We are only in our second season in this league; we are not by any means an established club here who can afford not to prioritise the league yet. If we were 16th for e.g. everyone would want us to focus on staying up; Middlesbrough are 16th and only 6 points behind.
Next point; our success is based on continuity of players and making minimal changes; we rotate less than others, freshen up less than others, and rely on the same small nucleus of players. The positive is that gives us continuity, cohesion and partnerships all over the pitch from players who play together every week. And you'd have to say it works as an approach.
The downside is fatigue, and lack of game time for squad players. The Arsenal game at the end of a busy xmas will have taken more out of the players than we can imagine, especially not getting the win we deserved. So I think we probably need to trust EH to know what players need resting to be at their best for Hull. Unless anyone here believes we are in a position where we don't need to be at our best for Hull. I cant believe anyone does.
We also have squad players who need game time so they are game ready when called upon. All the Under-21 games in the world don't replace real games. So we made changes. Maybe too many, maybe it wasn't the right approach, but the idea EH must apologise and has disrespected anything is ridiculous to me. Millwall will have been watched, and the team would have prepared the same way for this game as any other. It's just that we were dreadful on the day.
Final thought...it is just ten years ago that many Charlton fans felt Alan Curbishley has taken them as far as they could go. They got complacent with their success, and lost sight of their own reality. They were in the top half of the Premier League at the time. Those fans, with hindsight, didn't lack ambition, they lacked reality. I worry some of our own fans are going down a similar path.