' The risk/reward substitution decisions '

' The risk/reward substitution decisions '


by Glen Williams


Speaking of replacements, it appears to be a bone of contention among City fans that the manager was not more proactive in his changes against Stoke.

Perhaps there is some merit in that, but it all seems to boil down to the mindset of not wanting to lose.

Harry Wilson was left warming the bench until the 84th minute, despite the game careering towards a 0-0 draw.

Jonny Williams was the only other change in the 74th minute, replacing the sub-par Sheyi Ojo, and he actually made an impact.

"Jonny Williams, I was delighted with him," McCarthy said after the match. "Harry, as well. Their movement, their touch and their pace looked like it was going to be effective, certainly Jonny Williams.

"He created one of the chances, a one two on the edge of our box to set Leo (Bacuna) and put Kieffer in.

"Pleased with them. But it would be nice if we had a replacement for Kieffer Moore."

Both Williams and, to a lesser extent, Wilson had positive impacts from the bench, but it begs the question; why did he not make more changes?

The likes of Josh Murphy, Max Watters, Mark Harris and even Junior Hoilett were waiting patiently for their opportunity from the bench but it never came.

He said he couldn't take Moore off because of how important he was defensively and that looks to be the crux of it. He simply did not want to lose the game.

"I do think we had the chances to win it," McCarthy said. "It wasn't our night, we could have lost it.

"Sometimes, you've got the point in your pocket, you take it and make sure you don't get beaten twice on the bounce.

"If you go through the season and don't get beaten two on the bounce, you're doing OK.

"We have stopped that and started an unbeaten run again, so we want to continue that on Saturday."

The draw was as bad as losing because you expect one of Barnsley or reading to win tonight as both playing relegation threatened sides. Thst will leave us 9 points off 5/6 place depending on the results.... and musnt forget got two other clubs above us after that draw! So it was really a disaster for us.

I agree..a draw was not going to be good enough so send fresh legs on with 20 mins to go.and really go for it I can't see the sense in keeping some of your best players on the bench..I just hope keifer isn't burnt out for Saturday...he looked jacketed yesterday

Knackered

Knackered

Strait jacketed more like !

Risk - We lose the game at the expense of one point, which given the current league standings this late in the season looks like it will mean very little.

Reward - We go into the Welsh derby two points better off, with an added confidence to beat what is a very good Swansea side and a more realistic chance of making the play offs.

Whilst I understand the philosophy of taking a point, I think this late in the season calls for a situational change and we should have gone for the jugular.

Risk - We lose the game at the expense of one point, which given the current league standings this late in the season looks like it will mean very little.

Reward - We go into the Welsh derby two points better off, with an added confidence to beat what is a very good Swansea side and a more realistic chance of making the play offs.

Whilst I understand the philosophy of taking a point, I think this late in the season calls for a situational change and we should have gone for the jugular.

a late goal only wins you the game if your on level terms and the game was still there to be won........ had he made a negative sub and our attacks stopped i would get the moaning....thats not what happened , our best 3 chances came in the final 15 minutes...yes he could have gone gung ho but as we saw with Harris in his final game that does not necessarily mean more or better chances... in fact 2 of those chances against stoke were on the break and had we overloaded the top end of the pitch and pushed them back 10 yards in doing so ,just wouldnt have happened... there is a difference in doing your best to not concede while still trying to win and just shutting up shop...

Risk - We lose the game at the expense of one point, which given the current league standings this late in the season looks like it will mean very little.

Reward - We go into the Welsh derby two points better off, with an added confidence to beat what is a very good Swansea side and a more realistic chance of making the play offs.

Whilst I understand the philosophy of taking a point, I think this late in the season calls for a situational change and we should have gone for the jugular.

a late goal only wins you the game if your on level terms and the game was still there to be won........ had he made a negative sub and our attacks stopped i would get the moaning....thats not what happened , our best 3 chances came in the final 15 minutes...yes he could have gone gung ho but as we saw with Harris in his final game that does not necessarily mean more or better chances... in fact 2 of those chances against stoke were on the break and had we overloaded the top end of the pitch and pushed them back 10 yards in doing so ,just wouldnt have happened... there is a difference in doing your best to not concede while still trying to win and just shutting up shop...

I don’t think anyone is moaning, just questioning an 84th minute substitute of an influential player who can change a game. I don’t see how brining on a Premier League standard player such as Wilson earlier would have led to the game not being there to be won, so personally would have liked such changes earlier.

Great result today and MM is performing miracles, but games are running out, so an element of risk management may have to be applied in certain games. Hopefully, we make the play offs due to a point gained versus Stoke as opposed to missing out due to 2-points dropped. At least we have an outside chance, which is impressive when you consider we looked like relegation fodder a couple of months ago.