How should we approach the last 3 games?

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Lets not go mad but more minutes for Jebbo, Osula, Koulibaly, Arblaster, Brooks is a definite. And let Billy have a fair chance on Saturday in front of the kop.
Who's next in line to make their debut?
 

derekacorah said:
  • Play Sharp from the start
  • Bring Jebbo on to replace him
  • Lock Ndiaye in a cage so no one else can have him
  • JOC can't play because he's not in the 25 man squad

I think we can win 3 games so the rest needs to just stay as it's been for the rest of the season (apart from the bits where we went a bit shit for a few games).
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We only named 23 in the squad so we could play JOC
 
Bring in Sharp, Fleck and Norwood for experience and see what Brooks, Coulibali, Osula and Arblaster are made of alongside the experienced head.

Expect Stevens to get a final swansong, same with Basham.

Predict 75% of the old guard will be gone after this season.

Need to understand if those kids are ready to make a difference and save us a bit of cash.
 
If I was hecky, my line up for Preston, Hudders and Birmingham would be;

1 DAVIES

26 CLARK 12 EGAN (c) 19 ROBINSON

39 SACHDEV 42 ARBLASTER 17 COULIBALY 28 MCATEE 3 STEVENS

38 JEBBISON 10 SHARP

Subs
21 DEWHURST
2 BALDOCK
9 MCBURNIE
15 AHMEDHODZIC
16 NORWOOD
22 DOYLE
35 BROOKS

NOTE: 55 mins in - take Sharp off for McBurnie in every game. As soon as Sharp gets to 250, replace him with McBurnie so he is given a chance to save his career at the lane.
 
FMBlade1 said:
Firstly, fantastic evening and lovely achievement- and what a luxury to be up with 3 games to spare!

So how should we approach them? Firstly its worth noting EFL rules, as we don't want any point deductions:

"EFL regulations say full strength sides must be fielded in league matches.

The regulations also state that "from the fourth Thursday in March, any team sheet for a league game should include at least 10 outfield players who featured on the team sheet for the league game before". The team sheet includes substitutes"

For me:

- Billy Sharp should play every second of every game to give him every opportunity to reach the 250 goals milestone. If we get a penalty he'll take it, can even get him on freekicks as well.

- It would be nice if JOC was able to come on for the last minute of one of the games to get a rousing reception. However that may not be likely if it affects an alleged legal situation. Same with Brewster and RND.

- Berge and Ndiaye should not play at all. They are our two most valuable players and are out of contract at the end of next season. We'll either need to get a fee for them or rely on them heavily, we cannot afford any risk of them doing their ACL in etc or we are stuffed before we even start next season. The same could be argued regarding Doyle and McAtee, on the one hand City will want them to get games, on the other hand perhaps not if the matches are meaningless. Might be worth asking what they would like us to do.

- As pommpey said last night there are some players who need to pull their socks off and demonstrate that they can offer something next season. They should also play as much as possible, namely Lowe, Davies, Bogle, McBurnie, Fleck and Jebbison. Basham probably will be here next season but it would be good for him to play as well, possibly in place of Anel.

- Where we can within the rules, get as many youth players some minutes. Ball_Sup (Phil) any suggestions?

- If Huddersfield are safe on the final day, let Neil join in with our celebrations if he wants to. He is a Blade after all!

- Finally, even if Burnley get a points deduction which would mean we could still win the title, I wouldn't bother going all out to chase them down, its not worth it.

Anything else?

UTB
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We need to keep picking a strong side for the last 3 games, with a smattering of youth and continue using all 5 subs.
Billy should definitely start on merit, he's looked much better than McBurnie recently.
I actually think we'll see quite a few changes on Saturday due to fatigue and over celebrating
We should definitely go full strength against Huddersfield and the Brum game will be like a training exercise for both teams
 
I mean, we should pretty much approach them like any other match. It's not like we're fighting for anything else and the season is nearly done. Many of the young lads mentioned will be out on loan next season regardless.

I'd give a couple of them a rest, but mainly for the sake of the performance. I don't actually think the likes of Illy and Sander will want to be dropped mind.

Billy definitely needs as many minutes as possible though to get that 250.
 
I'll walk down Shoreham Steet to get to the Preston game, getting a lift to Huddersfield and will decide my route if I get through the Birmingham ballot.
 
The regulations also state that "from the fourth Thursday in March, any team sheet for a league game should include at least 10 outfield players who featured on the team sheet for the league game before". The team sheet includes substitutes"
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but is it even possible to breach this?

  • We have a nominated playing squad of 25, I think. Presumably 22 of those are outfield players + 3 keepers.
  • Normally there are 18 in a matchday squad: 16 of whom would normally be outfield players.

If that's right, there are maximum 6 outfield players in the squad who would be eligible to play vs Preston but weren't on last night's team sheet(?) So whoever we select, we're bound to have minimum of 10 who were on last night's teamsheet.
 
Klaatu Barada Nikto said:
I think Norwood will be fine if we're playing 3-4-2-1, but not 3-5-2.
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An interesting take. No doubt he'd be better protected but I wonder if we should prioritise protecting a player defensively when they themselves have defensive responsibilities?

Accommodating Norwood there would have a knock-on effect going forward, too. We don't currently have anyone capable of playing alongside him in a pair and where would it leave Berge?

To me it feels like he's become 'half a player', meaning we're having to play other players or sacrifice others in order to accommodate him. Selecting a player shouldn't come with this sort of pay off.
 
relish said:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but is it even possible to breach this?

  • We have a nominated playing squad of 25, I think. Presumably 22 of those are outfield players + 3 keepers.
  • Normally there are 18 in a matchday squad: 16 of whom would normally be outfield players.

If that's right, there are maximum 6 outfield players in the squad who would be eligible to play vs Preston but weren't on last night's team sheet(?) So whoever we select, we're bound to have minimum of 10 who were on last night's teamsheet.
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I think, though I could be wrong, that players under 21 don't count in the 25 man squad, but can play. So we could theoretically breach the rule by sticking in a load of youth players.
 
Melton Blade said:
Keeping within the rules over the course of the next 3 games we do need to blend in the likes of Coulibaly, Blaster & Brooke (not together of course) amongst midfield plus Jebbo & a look at Osula up front. This gives us a real chance to assess their level for next season development (Champ or L1).

Enda, Fleck etc can come off the bench for Lane farewells.

What a great performance by everyone this season.

UTB
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Spot on , keep within the rules of course but give meaningful starts and minutes to fringe players , dont just sub them on with 5 minutes to go , we need to know what they are made of . Anyone know if we have a left wing back in the youths worth a try rather than Stevens ?
 

I'd line up:
Wes
Bash Egan Clark
Bogle - - - - - - - - - - - - Lowe
Coulibaly - - Fleck
Brooks
Jebbison - Sharp
​
Subs: Davies, McBurnie, Arblaster, Gordon, Stevens, Osborn, Osula
 
FMBlade1 said:
Firstly, fantastic evening and lovely achievement- and what a luxury to be up with 3 games to spare!

So how should we approach them? Firstly its worth noting EFL rules, as we don't want any point deductions:

"EFL regulations say full strength sides must be fielded in league matches.

The regulations also state that "from the fourth Thursday in March, any team sheet for a league game should include at least 10 outfield players who featured on the team sheet for the league game before". The team sheet includes substitutes"

For me:

- Billy Sharp should play every second of every game to give him every opportunity to reach the 250 goals milestone. If we get a penalty he'll take it, can even get him on freekicks as well.

- It would be nice if JOC was able to come on for the last minute of one of the games to get a rousing reception. However that may not be likely if it affects an alleged legal situation. Same with Brewster and RND.

- Berge and Ndiaye should not play at all. They are our two most valuable players and are out of contract at the end of next season. We'll either need to get a fee for them or rely on them heavily, we cannot afford any risk of them doing their ACL in etc or we are stuffed before we even start next season. The same could be argued regarding Doyle and McAtee, on the one hand City will want them to get games, on the other hand perhaps not if the matches are meaningless. Might be worth asking what they would like us to do.

- As pommpey said last night there are some players who need to pull their socks off and demonstrate that they can offer something next season. They should also play as much as possible, namely Lowe, Davies, Bogle, McBurnie, Fleck and Jebbison. Basham probably will be here next season but it would be good for him to play as well, possibly in place of Anel.

- Where we can within the rules, get as many youth players some minutes. Ball_Sup (Phil) any suggestions?

- If Huddersfield are safe on the final day, let Neil join in with our celebrations if he wants to. He is a Blade after all!

- Finally, even if Burnley get a points deduction which would mean we could still win the title, I wouldn't bother going all out to chase them down, its not worth it.

Anything else?

UTB
Click to expand...
Sober, hopefully :)
 
At the risk of sounding overly cautious, I would try to limit the risk of any freak injuries between now and season end for the following:
Ndiaye, Berge, Baldock, Anel and Egan. Therefore (as much as they will hate it, they would be benched or rested completely)

Then start Sharp Coulibaly, Jebbo and Bogle as much as possible, with Bash getting a run out from now on.

I want us to finish well, but the job is done. We need to try and get Billy over the line and get some game time for other players.
 
bongleblade said:
I'd line up:
Wes
Bash Egan Clark
Bogle - - - - - - - - - - - - Lowe
Coulibaly - - Fleck
Brooks
Jebbison - Sharp
​
Subs: Davies, McBurnie, Arblaster, Gordon, Stevens, Osborn, Osula
Click to expand...

Fuck that, we’d lose every game.

The regulars will want to play and finish the season on a high. Let them see it out, they deserve it. Just give more minutes to fringe players/ youngsters than usual.
 
Jimmy23 said:
As soon as Sharp gets to 250, replace him with McBurnie so he is given a chance to save his career at the lane.
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Where are people getting this idea that McBurnie needs to "save his career"? He's been class for most of this season, we've got another year option on his contract and you just have to look at the body language between him and Hecky after FT last night to see he's going to be here next season, and rightly so. I will be amazed if he doesn't start the first PL game.
 
Plenty of minutes for the likes of Jebbo, Osula, Coulibaly, Blaster and Brooks maybe give some of the other fringe players a run out like Sachdev and Dewhurst.

Get Billy to 250.
 
I would mix it up for each match to give everyone some game time.
With Preston being the last home game where we would ideally like to stagger the ovations if we can and start making changes from 60 mins)
For Preston I would go with:
WES
BALDOCK (sub with Bogle) BASH EGAN JLT LOWE (maybe sub for Stevens for last 10)
BERGE (sub with Norwood early 2nd half)
DOYLE (sub with Fleck) McATEE (sub with Couli)
SHARP (play 90 if he can) N'DIAYE (sub with Jebbo)

Against Huddersfield I would probably start with Davis, Bogle, Bash, Egan, Clarke, Enda (if fit), Fleck, Norwood, Doyle, Sharp, Jebbo and make the subs to suit the game.
Ideally sub Jebbo for Osula, Fleck for Coulibaly and maybe give Arblaster and Brooks some game time.

McBurnie is knackered (I know that is his general appearance, but I feel he has been playing through minor injuries for a while). Play him against Birmingham maybe.
Let Anel spend time with the new baby (hopefully due soon now!) for a week or so and then play him at Birmingham.

Keep if professional as we would want that if we were fighting for play offs or against relegation.
Would be sensational if JOC could come on for 5 mins at Birmingham and make an over-lapping run.........maybe one last time for us :(

Just looking forward to 3 games where my nerves aren't shredded.
 
I don’t get this obsession with getting Billy to 250. We put the strongest team out, and that doesn’t include Billy.
 
Preston: Wes, Bogle, Basham, Egan, JLT, Lowe, Fleck, Doyle, Arblaster, Sharp, Jebbison - Davies, Ahmedhodzic, Baldock, Brooks, Coulibaly, Osula, McBurnie

Easily hits the 10 outfielder thing, still a pretty strong lineup, gives some younger/fringe players a runout, gets some younger players onto the teamsheet which'll allow even further rotation at Huddersfield. Want Sharp to have every opportunity to get #250, want to see what we've got from the edges of the squad, don't want to see Ndiaye or Berge play another minute, also don't want to see more than minimal use of Doyle/McAtee
 

I think you gradually feed the kids into the squad.

Start Sharp and Jebbo upfront next game
start Bogle
bring Arblaster, Osula, Brooks into the squad.
Tell Anel to go and be with his girlfriend and start Bash

Bring in players who are with us next season.
 
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