Holloway in trouble for too many team changes

[Tute]

I'm not really sure what the FA expect to do about this.

I mean at this rate, why bother with a manager? Just have a coach and let the FA pick the starting eleven. It's utterly ridiculous.

Having said that, I don't condone what United did a few years back. That wasn't fair on the teams around West Ham at all. No doubt they all had to face United with Ronaldo, Rooney, et al. so why shouldn't West Ham have been subject to the same thing.

 

[Shamikebab]

Having said that, I don't condone what United did a few years back. That wasn't fair on the teams around West Ham at all. No doubt they all had to face United with Ronaldo, Rooney, et al. so why shouldn't West Ham have been subject to the same thing.

But then why should we have had to go into a Champions League final with anything less than a rested squad when the opposing team was allowed to?

In the end we still put a strong team out and were fairly beaten iirc, forcing teams to put out their strongest team every week will just lead to injuries. How would Capello and the FA react if Terry/Lampard/Rooney miss a big tournament because they're being forced to play even when they need a rest.


It's all moronic really.

 

[HangTime]

Absolute disgrace, I am sick and bloody tired of associations sticking their oar in where it isn't wanted, clubs should be able to field any (eligible) team they want for any game.

You get all this nonsense about how it's not fair on the fans who have paid to watch, it's not fair on rivals of the team you are playing against - what a load of cods-wallop. You follow a club not a group of players and over the course of 38 games if you end up in the bottom three then you have only yourself to blame. Worrying about the fact that somebody put out a weakened side against another team down the bottom just smacks of desperation to me, if you are having to rely on other results then maybe you need to start looking a bit closer to home for where things are going wrong.

One fundamental point about football anyway is that opinions on players are subjective - ask every football fan to pick their best XI for a given club and I guarentee you won't get 100% agreement from everyone. So where do you draw the line? Why does the FA *know* (and surely to issue any sort of punishment we must be dealing in facts) what the best team for any club is any more than the manager? How are squad/youth players supposed to get a look in if barring injuries clubs are only allowed to start with the same 11 players in every match - doesn't it make a mockery of their whole 25 man + infinite youth squad if that's the case?! What happens if a player has a loss of form, the manager wants to drop him but the FA turns round and says "Uh-Uh, computer says no".

 

[Eddie]

Absolute disgrace, I am sick and bloody tired of associations sticking their oar in where it isn't wanted, clubs should be able to field any (eligible) team they want for any game.

You get all this nonsense about how it's not fair on the fans who have paid to watch, it's not fair on rivals of the team you are playing against - what a load of cods-wallop. You follow a club not a group of players and over the course of 38 games if you end up in the bottom three then you have only yourself to blame. Worrying about the fact that somebody put out a weakened side against another team down the bottom just smacks of desperation to me, if you are having to rely on other results then maybe you need to start looking a bit closer to home for where things are going wrong.

One fundamental point about football anyway is that opinions on players are subjective - ask every football fan to pick their best XI for a given club and I guarentee you won't get 100% agreement from everyone. So where do you draw the line? Why does the FA *know* (and surely to issue any sort of punishment we must be dealing in facts) what the best team for any club is any more than the manager? How are squad/youth players supposed to get a look in if barring injuries clubs are only allowed to start with the same 11 players in every match - doesn't it make a mockery of their whole 25 man + infinite youth squad if that's the case?! What happens if a player has a loss of form, the manager wants to drop him but the FA turns round and says "Uh-Uh, computer says no".

I understand exactly what you're saying and I agree totally, but the other side of the argument raises a few concerns which could potentially severely damage the integrity of the league itself.

Managers should be allowed to field whatever team they want, I think we all agree on that, but should they be allowed to do that if it means the integrity of the league itself suffers, or becomes less competitive, or even descends into a two-tier league with relegation threatened clubs only focused on trying to beat other relegation threatened clubs?

 

[Weebull]

What, you mean like it is currently? Or is "six-pointer" just a term for a game I imagined?

Clubs that sacrifice their best teams against the big names risk the chance they might have gotten something from it. As Sunderland proved, even the seemingly best side in the league are beatable at home if you mix a bit of luck in with sheer team spirit. Play your reserves and lose 10-0, and still not even win the game you were resting for, and your gamble doesn't pay off.

The fact is, it should be the manager's choice as to whether they want to take that gamble.

 

[HangTime]

should they be allowed to do that if it means the integrity of the league itself suffers, or becomes less competitive

Managers have been doing this for years one way or another, and the integrity of the league has remained intact. Is anyone seriously going to sit here and say that Ian Holloway can bringing down the premiership, a hugely successful league worth billions of pounds just by picking a few fringe players to play against Aston villa?

As for competition, the best teams finish near the top of the league, and the worst teams finish down the bottom, same as always. The ultimate in competitive leagues would see every game end in a draw and when was the last time that happened?

 

[Tute]

But then why should we have had to go into a Champions League final with anything less than a rested squad when the opposing team was allowed to?

It would have to be enforced at a FIFA level, forcing all teams to put out their strongest players at all times.

But it's unenforcable.

 

[Eddie]

Managers have been doing this for years one way or another, and the integrity of the league has remained intact. Is anyone seriously going to sit here and say that Ian Holloway can bringing down the premiership, a hugely successful league worth billions of pounds just by picking a few fringe players to play against Aston villa?

As for competition, the best teams finish near the top of the league, and the worst teams finish down the bottom, same as always. The ultimate in competitive leagues would see every game end in a draw and when was the last time that happened?

It's not about just one or maybe two managers doing it - of course Ian Holloway isn't going to bring the league down on his own, not one post has suggested it - it's about what if more managers do it? What happens then? If say the bottom six clubs start doing it, how do you think that'll pan out?