I can't figure out why on earth we would release or loan out three players who were quite suited to playing as wingbacks, then start playing with wingbacks again.
I'm also at a loss as to how we haven't had two specialist left backs in the first team squad for two seasons.
Wasn't Peltier talked up as someone who can play anywhere across the back?
This is the issue, IMO. I still think Warnock has credit in the bank because of the way he breathed new life into the club when we were staring into the third tier, and because of the way he had us going right through to the January of last season. That credit he built up accounts for giving him time to get his squad together, to work on his system, to get new lads up to fitness, to pull it all together - all of the things almost every manager has to do at the start of every season. You should never really look at the league table for 10, 12, 14 games anyway. That's when it starts to take a general shape and you can see what's happening. I think you have to give a manager time to blend it together and Warnock deserves backing on that despite the season petering out last time around after he'd signed a few players.
The issue that blurs the lines this season is the faffing on with formations before seemingly settling on one that appears to be the only one the club doesn't have the players to play because the manager has loaned them out. Throw this in with a handful of nonsensical press conference comments and that's why things have started to feel a bit messy. What happened in the second half of last season is also going against him, rightly or wrongly.
It is quite a confused state of affairs at Boro now but it really shouldn't be. We have a pretty good squad and have been very active in the market, so a manager that has been in place for 60-odd games and three transfer windows should really have most of his work nailed down by now. To be still searching for a system and scouring the bargain bins for a left back at this stage of a tenure is pretty strange IMO.
