Eric Black

[paul_e]

The thing is, does it have to be youngsters?  Replace Bacuna with Gestede and there's 1 'problem' solved.  Replace Guzan with Bunn and there's another, bring in Clark and Okore (or Toner in place of one of them) at the back and you've got all of the 'bads' out of the team.  You might need 1 or 2 on the bench as cover but just get them to sit quietly and only bring them on as injury replacements.

I can understand not wanting to throw 4-5 kids in but you can at least try to pick an 11 that has a future at the club (If they want it).

[peter w]

replace a midfielder with a centre-forward out of his depth who has also come in for criticism? Bunn was very average when he came in and to be fair to him Guzan has played well of late. Okore? You're joking surely. he dorsn't want to play. He should be binned. Clark was injured.  It's not just as easy as saying - there you go I've got rid of them - and in any case the players you picked, what makes you think anything would be different - Toner aside they have been shite too this season.

[paul_e]

replace a midfielder with a centre-forward out of his depth who has also come in for criticism? Bunn was very average when he came in and to be fair to him Guzan has played well of late. Okore? You're joking surely. he dorsn't want to play. He should be binned. Clark was injured.  It's not just as easy as saying - there you go I've got rid of them - and in any case the players you picked, what makes you think anything would be different - Toner aside they have been shite too this season.

Replace a midfielder with a striker, yes, we're relegated already do we really need to be playing 451 badly and offering very little going forward, it's not like the extra cover is making us tougher to breakdown.

I agree that Bunn was average and I don't think there's much between the 2 but one is being booed the other isn't.

Okore, no I'm not joking, he should be ahead of Richards and Lescott and he has far more credit in the bank with fans than those 2 put together.  We don't know the details of the fallout between him and Black but if he wants to play then he's shown that he'll put more effort in than the 2 who were picked ahead of him.

Clark, I know he was injured which is why I said 'or Toner'.

What would be different is that the players who are getting booed wouldn't be on the pitch so there would be a better atmosphere, the results don't mean shit right now but doing something to bridge the gap between the team and the fans might be important and that's not going to happen with the safety first bullshit selections we've seen from Black.  Most of those players have been less shite than the ones they'd be replacing anyway so again it's not like it's even hard to justify making these changes purely on form from this season.  The sole reason he's picking the team like this is that his 35 years in the game have taught him that experience is important, so he's picking his most experienced 11.

[peter w]

Yes, but you're replacing a midfielder for a sub-standard centre forward who needs service. Play him and he needs decent service. Play him without it and he's passenger as he has been all season. Absolutely no point just throwing someone who has failed all season just so its a change and we're down anyway.

As Okore. Whether he should be ahead of Lescott or Richards or not he isn't because he had the shirt and put in some truly woeful performances. He then made some ill advised comments and now we're told he's refusing to play. Either way there's no way he can or should be anyehere near the first team or any impressionable academy players like Toner coming through. I'd wager Toner was only put on the bench because against Southampton because there was no other alternative. i have seen little from him (which is virtually nothing to be fair) or Lyden to suggest they should be near the first team. Squad maybe. With that in mind, again, I think Black has little choice as to who he can play at centre-half.

Safety first is where Black has to go. He has to produce a base to work from.

[Nunkin1965]

Yes I'd agree with this

Jores Okore is not the first and definitely not the last who has expressed his opinion on team matters but still should get picked and you're right. He's got more credit and ability than Lescott and Richards.

[peter w]

He's refused to play for the team and you said we should pick him? No, sod him.

[Chris Smith]

Yes, but you're replacing a midfielder for a sub-standard centre forward who needs service. Play him and he needs decent service. Play him without it and he's passenger as he has been all season. Absolutely no point just throwing someone who has failed all season just so its a change and we're down anyway.

As Okore. Whether he should be ahead of Lescott or Richards or not he isn't because he had the shirt and put in some truly woeful performances. He then made some ill advised comments and now we're told he's refusing to play. Either way there's no way he can or should be anyehere near the first team or any impressionable academy players like Toner coming through. I'd wager Toner was only put on the bench because against Southampton because there was no other alternative. i have seen little from him (which is virtually nothing to be fair) or Lyden to suggest they should be near the first team. Squad maybe. With that in mind, again, I think Black has little choice as to who he can play at centre-half.

Safety first is where Black has to go. He has to produce a base to work from.

A base to work from, for what ends? The season is all but over, we are relegated what is the point of him looking to the future when he's out the door come the end of May and many of the players will be looking to join him?

[Matt C]

I can understand even if I passionately disagree with some of the selection decisions. Apart from one. Bacuna - why?

[peter w]

Because the new manager is going to have have something to build onto for next season. We can't expect to buy a whole new team and start from there. plus, as a club we'll have more positivity at the end of a bad campaign if the slightest green shoots of recovery are seen from a solid base.

[paul_e]

Yes, but you're replacing a midfielder for a sub-standard centre forward who needs service. Play him and he needs decent service. Play him without it and he's passenger as he has been all season. Absolutely no point just throwing someone who has failed all season just so its a change and we're down anyway.

As Okore. Whether he should be ahead of Lescott or Richards or not he isn't because he had the shirt and put in some truly woeful performances. He then made some ill advised comments and now we're told he's refusing to play. Either way there's no way he can or should be anyehere near the first team or any impressionable academy players like Toner coming through. I'd wager Toner was only put on the bench because against Southampton because there was no other alternative. i have seen little from him (which is virtually nothing to be fair) or Lyden to suggest they should be near the first team. Squad maybe. With that in mind, again, I think Black has little choice as to who he can play at centre-half.

Safety first is where Black has to go. He has to produce a base to work from.

The last line is where you're going wrong but also on the right track, yes he has to create a base to build from but that has to include the fans and he's done nothing but burn bridges in that regard.  I don't know why you're defending him but, in my opinion, you're trying too hard, he's a caretaker who will be fucked off by the summer his sole job should have been to try to do what he could to take the sting out of the relegation and get the fans back onside and looking at a positive start to next season.  Picking the team he has with so many players with no future here is just like putting pause on and trying to limp to the line, after the season we've had that's not the right approach and the vast majority of people on here can see that.

Aside from that when you can't defend for shit trying to create a base by being defensively solid just doesn't work.

Final point, Bacuna has made it far more clear than Okore that he wants to leave and yet you support him being in the team whilst saying Okore has no place near the first team, do you not see the hypocrisy in that?

[peter w]

Okore has refused to play and Bacuna hasn't. No hypocrisy there. He may not be great but he's no worse than most of what we have.

[supertom]

Okore has refused to play and Bacuna hasn't. No hypocrisy there. He may not be great but he's no worse than most of what we have.

Best of a bad bunch at the back...but still pretty mediocre.  (Okore that is)

[ciggiesnbeer]

To be fair to him what Okore actually did is unknown. According to Black it was to refuse to sit on the bench because he wanted to play in the starting line up. According to Okore this is not true.

[oldhill_avfc]

Safety first is where Black has to go. He has to produce a base to work from.

He's tried this and can't find a way of making it work with the players available.  You think he should try it again for the remainder of the season.  To what end?  It doesn't show a new manager anything.  Playing Grealish, Traore, Lyden, et al might be more enlightening.

[ROBBO]

We've only heard one side of the story and that is from Black none of us know what was said and in what context, what I do know is that whenever he plays he appears to give one hundred percent which is more that the other centre backs.