What if McNair AND Fry are out for the playoffs?

Big_Nothing

Big_Nothing

Well-known member
Fry is unlikely to be 'match fit' with the amount of games he's now missed. I feel as though he's been protected to be fit for the playoffs, but that would still mean he needs a game or two to be up to speed. Either that or he is goosed for the season and we don't want it public.

McNair's was a muscle injury from what I could see. That could be a month out.

If this is the case, what do we do?

Do we put the android that is Johnny Howson in at centre half and brace ourselves for he and Smith to be targetted? I still fancy them to come out on top against most sides in the division with his positional play and nous. Plus it allows us to have him step out with the ball, he's comfortable with it to feet and will feed it into midfield well, frees up a spot for Mowatt who's growing into form.

Or

Do we not want to break up the Hackney Howson metronome? It keeps the team ticking over and keeps us on top of teams. In that case, either Smith or Dijksteel would have to play centre half with the other at fullback.

In that situation, whoever is the right back is going to have to tuck in to protect us when teams counter us and/or Howson is going to have to be excellent in that space to cover wide. Maybe Jones becomes a good choice on the right in this eventuality.



- One thing that fills me with optimism is that even with this eventuality I feel as though we have enough goals in us to keep us in games against anyone and potentially scare them from being brave enough to exploit it in the first place.
 
I think mowatt and dijksteels recent successful returns have given us options.

Dijksteel at right back and smith in the middle

Or

Howson centre back and mowatt next to hackney, depends who’s fit for the left berth though, could we play forss there or bola or even crooks with Jones on the right? I’d actually love to see bola left back and Giles on the left though to see how that would work out.

Luton away would not be the best time to experiment but we may have no other option if none of the injured lot are available, would be worth trying some options out though in some dead rubbers before the play offs.
 
gravy173 said:
I think mowatt and dijksteels recent successful returns have given us options.

Dijksteel at right back and smith in the middle

Or

Howson centre back and mowatt next to hackney, depends who’s fit for the left berth though, could we play forss there or bola or even crooks with Jones on the right? I’d actually love to see bola left back and Giles on the left though to see how that would work out.

Luton away would not be the best time to experiment but we may have no other option if none of the injured lot are available, would be worth trying some options out though in some dead rubbers before the play offs.
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Dijksteel centre back with smith and jones vying for full back. Its a big blow if fry isnt fit but personally i would have Dijksteel instead of McNair who i think has been consistentantly poor at the back
.
 
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gravy173 said:
I think mowatt and dijksteels recent successful returns have given us options.

Dijksteel at right back and smith in the middle

Or

Howson centre back and mowatt next to hackney, depends who’s fit for the left berth though, could we play forss there or bola or even crooks with Jones on the right? I’d actually love to see bola left back and Giles on the left though to see how that would work out.

Luton away would not be the best time to experiment but we may have no other option if none of the injured lot are available, would be worth trying some options out though in some dead rubbers before the play offs.
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We still need at least 2 points to secure the playoffs so unless we win at Luton then they ain’t going to be any dead rubbers

You’d imagine that the manager wouldn’t want to much change or disruption in the team and if smith (just had an impact injury) is fit for Luton then maybe he thinks dijksteel can replace McNair at centre half, clearly howson can but that’s disrupting midfield.
In truth he has quite a few options. Dijksteel was fantastic at right back the other night (!!) and did anyone notice his pace in recovery situations ? He’s so quick.

It’s got to be between, dijksteel, howson or even smith.
All offer positives but a lot depends on the midfield options. If Ramsey isn’t fit and he wants howson at centre half then he’ll keep Hackney left and a great opportunity for barlassor in the middle with mowatt (!)
So many options…good options but a positive performance is necessary against Luton even if we end up losing (I’m expecting our toughest away of the season)

All of that said and I haven’t mentioned Fry yet.
Carrick might be tempted to risk him and Fry will (you’d imagine) tell Carrick truthfully how it feels which helps Carrick determine whether it’s worth a risk.
Then there’s the issue of fry being nowhere near match fitness.
Who knows.
Perhaps the plan was always to have fry ready for the Rotherham game and then the playoffs but we’ll soon see.
Playing smith there with little pace is a risk but offers a lot more at right back with dijksteel there!
What to do 🤷‍♂️
 
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Cardiffdaffs said:
McGree is the more worrying miss for me. Think he has been pivotal to our success this season and since that international break we haven’t been quite as fluid on the left. We can certainly cope without him as recent wins have proved at home but away he has been key.
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Carrick talked about Mcgree getting a ‘scan’ in his interview after the hull game; but what’s the issue, scan for what ? Knee, calf thigh ????
 
Smith at centreback for me with Dijksteel right back. Smith has a tendency to be pulled centrally when defending anyway which occasionally means we get caught out to his right, Dijksteel is the other way round and often finds himself to wide so the natural fit for me is Dijksteel RB and Smith CB.

If we are still missing Ramsey and McGree as already mentioned I’d like to see Giles further forward with Bola at left back to make us a little more solid at the back especially with a makeshift centreback.
 
Having not seen what Smith is like at CB, my preference would be Bola or Dijksteel and leave howson in midfield. That said, Mowatt and Hackney seem to play quite well together.
 
Priv said:
Smith at centreback for me with Dijksteel right back. Smith has a tendency to be pulled centrally when defending anyway which occasionally means we get caught out to his right, Dijksteel is the other way round and often finds himself to wide so the natural fit for me is Dijksteel RB and Smith CB.

If we are still missing Ramsey and McGree as already mentioned I’d like to see Giles further forward with Bola at left back to make us a little more solid at the back especially with a makeshift centreback.
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I just heard the commentary saying we needed 2 more points to be certain but hey ho
Don’t like Giles in left midfield, I don’t think that’s going to work…he’s not a midfielder and that role asks so much more than just getting forward.

Gonna be interesting to see what Mr Carrick does
 
Ex Footy Legs said:
I just heard the commentary saying we needed 2 more points to be certain but hey ho
Don’t like Giles in left midfield, I don’t think that’s going to work…he’s not a midfielder and that role asks so much more than just getting forward.

Gonna be interesting to see what Mr Carrick does
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On sky they hadn't taken into account the fact Millwall and Blackburn play each other yet. Because of that we're mathematically guaranteed top 6.
 
Fabiopaim said:
I thought we played much better once Howson went CB the other night. Paddy looks devoid of confidence.
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Yeah, i have liked McNair over the years but he does look more nervy than others. Probably down to mistakes he's made this year and some fans getting on his back because of them.

i think he's probably the "trigger" for the press for a lot of opposition teams now (although that's also probably partly down to Smith not being as good an outlet as Giles too).

howson is brilliant there when we're on the front foot. The question mark would be if we get pinned back and have to deal with a lot into the box.
 
Air Resistance said:
Having not seen what Smith is like at CB, my preference would be Bola or Dijksteel and leave howson in midfield. That said, Mowatt and Hackney seem to play quite well together.
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I agree, have seen Smith pulled central a couple of times, where he hasn’t dealt with things, and lost the ball, sometimes the just get rid is the way to play, do the simple things well.
 
The obvious choice for me would be Crooks at Cetre Half , at 6ft 5in he has the physicality , good in the air and on the floor .
A reverse John Hickton .
Play him there in training from now on and let MC decide if he can do it.
 
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Don't agree with Giles being in the midfield. If he's there, and Bolas at LB, unless we change our gameplan then we'll have Giles sliding the ball up the line for Bola to hit the crosses.
 
I'm sure the team during training are trying lots of different scenarios, Bola Crooks, dijksteel, (Smith if fit) Howson.
I think it will depend on a few factors, who we play against, also if Mcgree & Ramsey are still injured, that might move Hackney over to the left,
If so, then using Howson CB, would leave Mowatt and Barlaser as our midfield engine ( both capable of doing that if needed)
The good thing is we have options, and good players waiting for there chance to shine.
What we don't want is playing anyone half fit. and i'm sure carrick wont take that risk.
 
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