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Post by loy PRA on Dec 18, 2009 16:06:45 GMT
I don't think it's right that Mick McCarthy is being given such a hard time for allegedly fielding a 'weaker team' vs Man United and subsequently hauled before Soho Square to justify his team selection despite the fact he's the manager.
His job is to keep Wolves up with a limited budget with a small squad, I would've done the same. Nobody seems to question Man U fielding a weaker team vs Hull when Newcastle and Middlesbro where fighting for survival last season. Also, at the end of the day McCarthy is employed as Manager and thusly his team selection is answerable to no one, it's up to the Wolves board to penalise him if they think he isn't making the right decisions.
A fellow G'head fan often uses the platitude 'you always play your strongest 11' but I disagree. the Tees mouth on BBC also states everyone may as well 'give up' if what McCarthy did is repeated often enough however the fact that such large squads are employed these days is down to the fact it's a manager's discretion who to play and when - managers and players alike are pragmatists, hypothetically would you risk your combative midfielder who's on a yellow card when theres a derby game next week on the rest of the game or would you substitute him? would concentrate on league survival and play a weaker team in a cup competition? Most likely on both counts.
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Post by frankiegth on Dec 18, 2009 17:07:10 GMT
I think you know the answer to your own question and the comparison to Scumchester is a valid one. I feel the old double standards card is due to be played though and MM will find himself in hot water and the club punished.
The only problem I would have with the situation is the one which did upset the Wolves fans and that is they payed to watch their first team (or sommat like it) ang got to see a load of make-weights. Even if it was in MM view a team selection made for the right reasons.
I agree with your view, it's up to the Wolves board to decide how to deal with MM's strategy if at all.
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Post by loy PRA on Dec 18, 2009 17:15:08 GMT
The only problem I would have with the situation is the one which did upset the Wolves fans and that is they payed to watch their first team (or sommat like it) ang got to see a load of make-weights. Even if it was in MM view a team selection made for the right reasons. That's a fair cop, my 'big' club being Sunderland, we had MM during our catastrophic 15 point season in the Premiership and we could have arguably claimed we saw a season full of makeweights! ha. But I can understand it being very frustrating to travel midweek and get absolutely tonked, that's football though I suppose.
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Post by J Esaj PRA on Dec 21, 2009 12:58:26 GMT
The very fact that this is a point of discussion goes along way to exposing the modern game for the complete sham that it is. It is yet another symptom of the disease that is money...
I do fully respect the decision to pick a side of fringe players, because Wolves need to survive due to the vast sums of money involved. However, it goes against the sport of football to go into a game deliberately reducing your chances of winning. If you don't do everything in your power to win a game, you're not really taking part in a sport.
I also dislike the message it sends about (ab)using the squad system. Ultimately it encourages clubs to spend beyond their means to have large squads that they don't need.
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Post by frankiegth on Dec 21, 2009 17:06:41 GMT
It would appear, given the result against Burnley MM's strategy worked. That's not to say the outcome wouldn't have been the same had he put a full first team out at old trafford.
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Post by amberaleman on Dec 21, 2009 20:05:27 GMT
Any manager who puts out a weakened side is taking a calculated risk. The risk is that you lose - or lose more heavily than you would otherwise have done.
Although McCarthy's gamble seems to have paid off, it could easily have backfired. Wolves might have lost 8-0 at Old Trafford, possibly meaning a sweat on goal difference at the end of the season. And there was no guarantee that having rested most of the first choice XI Wolves would go on to beat Burnley.
I agree that managers have a right to take these risks, so long as they accept the consequences if they don't come off. There's an old saying that fortune favours the brave, and sometimes that works in football.
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Post by coops on Dec 23, 2009 15:59:24 GMT
I don't like it because it has the potential to skew the league table even more in favour of the "big teams" if Mc Carthy gets away with it and other "lower" teams use the precedent to rest their best players every time they play someone they don't think they can't beat anyway.
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Post by ifreakinrule on Dec 23, 2009 17:25:27 GMT
It would appear, given the result against Burnley MM's strategy worked. That's not to say the outcome wouldn't have been the same had he put a full first team out at old trafford. and man u lost their next game with 8 of the same players that took on the (mighty) wolves. maybe merlin mick knows more about football than ferguson
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Post by Sultan of Cannock- SRFC on Dec 30, 2009 17:12:43 GMT
maybe merlin mick knows more about football than ferguson It might just be possible. Remember ferguscum was a mediocre East Stirling manager and a pretty awful St Mirren manager before suddenly becoming the genius who did so well at Aberdeen before becoming manager of the Devil's own. Could there have been a pact with Old Nick somewhere down the line?
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Post by ambersalamander on Dec 31, 2009 13:01:57 GMT
You just reminded me of the Creative Writing part of my English A-Level exam nearly ten years ago ( ). Because the paper now officially belongs to the Exam Board, I can never re-read this again, which is sad, because I was sitting in the exam hall sniggering quietly to myself. The story was about a talented but very arrogant young footballer who signed for Man Utd and seemed to be living a charmed life of money, women and fast cars, until one day he decided to have a chat with ol' Fergie about his future and thence discovered a clause in his contract that he hadn't bothered reading properly. Basically, it said that to sign for United was to sign one's soul away to hell in exchange for the resultant fame and fortune that was guaranteed you (through the powers of evil, of course) with Sir Alex himself being the Devil incarnate. The story ended with this young man spluttering incoherently with Fergie patting his knee in a fatherly manner, admonishing him gleefully for not reading before he put his signature to something and saying, "Why on earth do you think the team is known as the Red Devils?"
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Post by peekay on Jan 8, 2010 1:48:31 GMT
maybe merlin mick knows more about football than ferguson It might just be possible. Remember ferguscum was a mediocre East Stirling manager and a pretty awful St Mirren manager before suddenly becoming the genius who did so well at Aberdeen before becoming manager of the Devil's own. Could there have been a pact with Old Nick somewhere down the line? Erm, didn't he manage them to their highest ever league finish and so, qualify for the UEFA cup?
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Post by Sultan of Cannock- SRFC on Jan 9, 2010 7:21:27 GMT
Erm, didn't he manage them to their highest ever league finish and so, qualify for the UEFA cup? Erm, not quite. He struggled in his first couple of seasons but got them into the first division when the Scottish League reorganised in 1976. He then won that league with them to get them into the SPL. I'd based my assumption on a newspaper article entitled "Why St Mirren were right to sack Alex Ferguson" in which his tactical abilities were criticised. Saints achieved their highest league finish (3rd in the SPL) AFTER fergie had gone. He was sacked because he accepted the job at Aberdeen without informing St Mirren first - indeed the first they heard of it was when Fergie asked some of the staff and players to go to Pittordrie with him. He took St Mirren to a tribunal for unfair dismissal but the court found in favour of St Mirren.
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Post by loy PRA on Jan 9, 2010 13:17:46 GMT
My alternative view is that all clubs from the North West are evil. Including, but not limited to; Salford, Manchester United, Radcliffe Borough, Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Barrow (pushing it slightly there), Kendal Town, Southport, Blackpool, FCUM, Bury and a number of other clubs. Oh and Stockport. And Tranmere. And Knutsford.
Mick McCarthy however, is a very underrated manager. However he did guide Sunderland to a 15 point relegation from the Premier League, so he's not perfect. I'd tip to do well with a decent budget mind, something he's never had.
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Post by peekay on Jan 12, 2010 18:33:10 GMT
Erm, didn't he manage them to their highest ever league finish and so, qualify for the UEFA cup? Erm, not quite. He struggled in his first couple of seasons but got them into the first division when the Scottish League reorganised in 1976. He then won that league with them to get them into the SPL. I'd based my assumption on a newspaper article entitled "Why St Mirren were right to sack Alex Ferguson" in which his tactical abilities were criticised. Saints achieved their highest league finish (3rd in the SPL) AFTER fergie had gone. He was sacked because he accepted the job at Aberdeen without informing St Mirren first - indeed the first they heard of it was when Fergie asked some of the staff and players to go to Pittordrie with him. He took St Mirren to a tribunal for unfair dismissal but the court found in favour of St Mirren. Fair enough. I didn't know that. I do kind of follow them a bit as most of my family is from Paisley.
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Post by frankiegth on Jan 14, 2010 11:37:51 GMT
Bit late but, I had to laugh at the way the jock genius put a full strength side out against Leeds (not) and got his @rse kicked. ;D
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