Of course it was part of the reason why we lost those matches. We had to play players who had played two international matches including extra time because there was no one to cover.
You talk as if Robins and King have two separate aims rather than should be working together for the good of the club. You seem to think King should punish Robins for changing formation and also the players by making them have to play too many matches in succession.
The point here is that we set a budget at the start of every season and Robins was backed well in the transfer market. In the summer, we our recruitment was predicated on playing 3-4-1-2 and resources allocated accordingly. The plans have changed and Robins bears some responsibility for that as it seems like he had a 4-2-3-1 as a Plan B from the get go. It’s not a criticism of Robins either, it was a massive rebuild job and a lot of money spent.
Perhaps this is one for the ITKs (@Saddlebrains), but you or I don’t know how many players MR pursued and if EMC was a top target or not. It’s established truth that we tried all window to sign EMC so my inkling is that he was a high priority target.
A point that you and Cam are missing is that we don’t need to urgently make the playoffs this season. We’ve set a 5 year goal and we’re meeting that plan. Desperation usually leads to blunders and we can’t afford to waste money on a multi-million pound Hilßner, can we?
My instinct is that Robins is happy with the direction of travel even if we didn’t get EMC over the line this Jan.
The point here is that we set a budget at the start of every season and Robins was backed well in the transfer market. In the summer, we our recruitment was predicated on playing 3-4-1-2 and resources allocated accordingly. The plans have changed and Robins bears some responsibility for that as it seems like he had a 4-2-3-1 as a Plan B from the get go. It’s not a criticism of Robins either, it was a massive rebuild job and a lot of money spent.
Perhaps this is one for the ITKs (@Saddlebrains), but you or I don’t know how many players MR pursued and if EMC was a top target or not. It’s established truth that we tried all window to sign EMC so my inkling is that he was a high priority target.
A point that you and Cam are missing is that we don’t need to urgently make the playoffs this season. We’ve set a 5 year goal and we’re meeting that plan. Desperation usually leads to blunders and we can’t afford to waste money on a multi-million pound Hilßner, can we?
My instinct is that Robins is happy with the direction of travel even if we didn’t get EMC over the line this Jan.
So the resources were provided then, were they not?
It would’ve been ideal to get EMC over the line but that wasn’t the difference between making the playoffs and not. Our results against the teams around us did make a difference.
I understand everyone’s frustration at the loan back, but we have got ourselves an excellent player. 19 goals and 12 assists for £4-5m is potentially a bargain.
He’d have gone for an extra million or two had we not completed the deal in Jan - assuming P’boro don’t go up.
We'd need to be a lot stronger than this year to be near the autos. A tall ask without O'Hare, Sheaf and potentially others if that happens. I am not saying it isn’t possible but I think some posters seem to think it's inevitable.
I don’t think many are suggesting it will be inevitable . For me this season has been an anomaly with 4 very strong sides competing at the top , next season personally I don’t think will be as strong . Maybe only Burnley would be a force .
Thats not to say other teams will strengthen but I think the league will be a lot more competitive