RLB and Subs


Totally agree. Those misses, the mayenda late chance recently (forget which game, before he suddenly started two) i think give them minutes, sharpen up maybe those don't go the way they did.

I think RLB is really guilty of not using some of what he had. Aleksic and Mayenda up until a few weeks ago really criminally underused, whilst some players get flogged
Mayenda's been used loads man. He started the season as our first choice striker up until he picked up an injury that kept him out for a month.

In the meantime, Isidor firmly established himself with some real goal scoring form. Isidor's form has probably kept him out of the side more recently too.

We've played 37 games. Mayenda has been in the squad for 31 one of those. 18 times as a starter, 11 a sub, and only twice an unused sub (both coming just after his injury.

He's played the full 90 11 times. He's played at least 70 minutes 18 times.

I think that's a canny bit of football for a young lad who many had written off before the start of the season.
 
I think that last season Jobe was seen as the next asset to develop, so they can rake in a higher bid this coming summer. I'd be amazed if he is still here (assuming we don't go up). Then I think that Rigg is probably seen as the one to cash in at some point in the future, maybe summer 2026? So until recent weeks we have been selecting him every week, regardless of form, and in my view to the detriment of our short term needs in the middle of a promotion challenge.

I've not seen enough of Aleksic to judge - he looks really raw (but talented) - maybe they think he is less likely to generate a large fee any time soon? Maybe he comes into the team more next season, a bit like Mayenda did this season, so they can boost his value then?
If there is any truth to this ‘bean counter’ theory that we are selecting young players regardless of talent, form or fatigue to increase their exposure and thus their sell on value - it may seem logical but still short sighted if the end goal is increasing club revenue.

Surely selecting the best players possible for any given game and striving to win as many points as possible regardless of who was on the field will give us a greater chance of promotion, and those premier TV pounds will surely dwarf any profit we make on the likes of Bellingham or Rigg?
 
Yes I agree. And I think his substitution decisions have been pretty poor overall, even at the beginning of the season, so I'm not saying he has done well in that respect. It's just muddied the waters - and is a big concern IMO - that there is influence on any manager of the club to make selection decisions based on increasing the value of players.
Take the tin foil hat off man.
 
If there is any truth to this ‘bean counter’ theory that we are selecting young players regardless of talent, form or fatigue to increase their exposure and thus their sell on value - it may seem logical but still short sighted if the end goal is increasing club revenue.

Surely selecting the best players possible for any given game and striving to win as many points as possible regardless of who was on the field will give us a greater chance of promotion, and those premier TV pounds will surely dwarf any profit we make on the likes of Bellingham or Rigg?

Some people are just fuckin' nuts.
 
Just a quick look at some player stats over the season (League only)

Aleksic - 4 appearances
Poveda - 6 appearances
Aouchiche - 8 appereances
Hjelde - 10 appearances
Anderson, Ba, Bennette - 0 apperances
Jones - 1 appearance

Combined total of 6 starts between those.

Haven't counted Browne and Samed due to injuries.
 
There has to be an agreement/understanding that Jobe has, and nobody will convince me otherwise. It’s the only reason for him to have played every single minute. It’s about getting as much exposure and experience into him for his development through time on the pitch to increase his value. Same goes for Rigg, albeit he’s younger and they’ve backed off him slightly.
I agree, i think it's clear we are a stepping stone for him going on to bigger things, i expect europe to be his next major move, it wouldn't surprise me if Dortmund come in for him in the summer, in the least, and i think Rigg has maybe another season at this level, and he will be moving onto bigger things as well.
 
There has to be an agreement/understanding that Jobe has, and nobody will convince me otherwise. It’s the only reason for him to have played every single minute. It’s about getting as much exposure and experience into him for his development through time on the pitch to increase his value. Same goes for Rigg, albeit he’s younger and they’ve backed off him slightly.
Overplaying him and making him look sub standard won’t increase his value.
 
Just a quick look at some player stats over the season (League only)

Aleksic - 4 appearances
Poveda - 6 appearances
Aouchiche - 8 appereances
Hjelde - 10 appearances
Anderson, Ba, Bennette - 0 apperances
Jones - 1 appearance

Combined total of 6 starts between those.

Haven't counted Browne and Samed due to injuries.
That's 'cos not a single one of them gets near our strongest 11. We're trying to get promoted ffs, not put people in the shop window.
 
Rigg had 3 games out injured the start of January and came back still looking flat.

I think it's more to do with a young player being out of form than anything.
With the younger players probably a bit of both.

However as a general point we haven’t used the squad or substitutes as much as we should have imho. I think the late goals we have conceded tells us that as players are out on their feet. Appreciate RLB may argue the squad isn’t good enough.

Barring an absolute disaster we are in the play offs so we need to give some of the players a good rest in the next few weeks. We have 3 cup finals coming up and we need to be 100% ready
 
Fair enough. That's up to you.

How about what you were saying this time last year?

:lol: I wondered if someone might bring that up.

Same thread though...


We weren't blessed with options.

I mentioned 'Project Bellingham' loads on here last season. I think I even came up with it. It was food for thought at the time. I've softened me stance on it though having seen the development the lad's made from last season to this one.

And at the same time I also acknowledged that there weren't many alternatives to giving Jobe a game last season.
 
Sure there was some stats on here recently that we've used the least amount of subs in the league by quite a distance.

Found it, back in December but doubt much has changed

 
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No but this is about making the most of the squad. I don't really any of them particularly highly, but I don't think it's unreasonable to believe they could have been utilised more, even to protect the fitness of our strongest 11.
I think a big issue we've had is giving ourselves the opportunity to give lads a run out.

So many of our games going to the wire means it'd be a huge call to bring on young/untested players, whether it's fresh legs or not.

If we had experienced players to come on then that's a different matter, but we don't.
Sure there was some stats on here recently that we've used the least amount of subs in the league by quite a distance.

Found it, back in December but doubt much has changed

Yeah, well, we've got the fourth highest number of points in the league. So the above doesn't really concern me.


I don't agree with using subs willy nilly. I think 5 subs a game should be reduced back down to three. I think benches should be shortened as well.

Mowbray had a scattergun approach to subs, and that rarely paid off.
 
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Mayenda's been used loads man. He started the season as our first choice striker up until he picked up an injury that kept him out for a month.

In the meantime, Isidor firmly established himself with some real goal scoring form. Isidor's form has probably kept him out of the side more recently too.

We've played 37 games. Mayenda has been in the squad for 31 one of those. 18 times as a starter, 11 a sub, and only twice an unused sub (both coming just after his injury.

He's played the full 90 11 times. He's played at least 70 minutes 18 times.

I think that's a canny bit of football for a young lad who many had written off before the start of the season.
I don't mean over the season i just mean in the time between coming back from injury and a few games ago when he was starting. Seemed to be getting 10 minutes here and there for a good bit
 
I don't mean over the season i just mean in the time between coming back from injury and a few games ago when he was starting. Seemed to be getting 10 minutes here and there for a good bit
Well I think your 'seemed to be' doesn't quite fit with reality. Here's his minutes...


Again, I think Isidor's form has kept him out of the starting line-up more than owt else, and he's had to be patient for his chance.
 

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