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Hearing a few people worrying about strengh and depth.

Pick a starting 11 when squad is fit and available and formation. Not that easy considering considering what a small squad we got ;)

Vigouroux

Thompson
Branco
Turnbull
BOO

K.Stewart
Kasim
Traore

Ajose
Obika
Robert

Belford, Williams, Brophy, Rodgers, Hylton, J.Stewart, Thomas.

If Ojamaa signs stick him where Robert is, move Robert into the midfield and Kev Stewart on the bench for Brophy.

Can't see Brendan being happy with Williams, K.Stewart and Anton on the bench mind!

Williams for me has improved every game and looked superb at centre back against Sheffield united

Playing him in the right position helps of course i.e. central defence rather than midfield.

Defence is actually really tough to pick.

Branco has been in undroppable form. Turnbull will be ever present again, Williams looks quality and Nath is well, Nath.

Could Williams play RB? You could go Williams, Nath, Branco, Turnbull perhaps.

Agree he's very good. Couldn't drop Branco at this stage though, gives us an aerial presence at the back and is tough as nails while I love Turnbull's aggression.

Could put Williams into midfield for Stewart but that would be a bit too samey and defensive, and I like the energy Stewart gives us.

Impossible to pick a 'strongest team' at the moment, as there are so many options, though would like to try out against teams set up to defend:


That still leaves Kasim, Rodgers and Hylton on the bench, any of whom could slot into an equally strong first team in their respective positions.

Yep "Nath is Nath" and not one of our 4 best defenders in my opinion

Vigourou
Boo Turnbull Williams Thompson
Kasim Traore Robert
Ajose Obika Hylton

Whatever 1st XI is on the pitch, the bench is going to be mighty strong.

Something we haven't had for years.

Could be our season?

So before 6pm on Tuesday everyone was doom and gloom and now its all hunky dorey.

Fickle lot.

We've managed to replace the numbers in last seasons squad, but that squad was ultimately too thin and inexperienced to get promoted.

We've no real idea how this revised squad will shape up, when it comes to quality of performance....one thing is for sure that we'll be hit by injuries/suspensions and call ups as last season andf already this.

I think there was only a 3 or 4 who thought the world was about to end, most were pragmatic or didn't comment.

Why have you never mentioned this before?

You'll never win anything with kids. :-)

Not one of you has chosen our joint-top goalscorer in their starting XI.

:-o

thats not really true. di canio had a strong bench, even last year it was pretty good.

Just seen BBC Wilts tweet that Kevin Stewart is back at Liverpool having scans.. Possible medial ligament damage..

Not surprised, it was an awful tackle.

you card!

I quite like Rodgers at the minute, he also has an eye for goal.

Hope Stewart isn't out for long, his versatility is important to us.

Border line red IMO. Especially when you see some of the shit that people get sent off for nowadays.

Think the whole stadium heard the thud!

Vigouroux

Thompson
Branco
Williams
Turnbull

Kasim
Traore
Robert

Ajose
Thomas
Obika

The above is based on Branco continuing his excellent form and not reverting to his previous standard when he wasn't good enough to start - so far, he has been superb to his credit.

Madness to drop Kasim, a proven class act in League 1 and I expect Thomas to be the first name on the time sheet.

Anyone who went on Saturday would never choose to play Turnbull at LB. great CB, but intricacies of a full back are not easy to learn.

The Birdseye potato waffle of football

I've mentioned many times that I puzzled by how we'll accommodate so many attack minded players and despite all these posts I'm still at a loss, perhaps more so.

I think we need the directness of Stewart and/or Ojamaa playing. A front 3 made up from Ajose, Thomas, Obika and Hylton doesn't offer much beyond goals; I don't see much creativity in that front 3.

I know we need goals, but they also need supply and with those 3 and Kasim and Traore on the pitch there's not much space left for supply. I'd like to see something like:

Vigouroux

Thompson
Branco
Williams
Turnbull

Traore

Kasim
Robert
Stewart/Ojamaa

2 from:
Ajose/Obika/Thomas

I am working on the basis that three of the back four are undroppable - Thompson (captain), Turnbull (player of season 14/15) and Williams (excellent so far).

That leaves Branco, who shouldn't really be left out based on his current displays.

I've had about 4 starting 11's so far.

With the Estonian and Ajose it suddenly much, much, much harder than when the window slammed..

You see, again another example of how Power plays real football manager in the way that I play 'FM'.

I end up hoping for suspensions and injuries (not painful) because then I would get to leave players out of the team without pissing them off, and getting to play other deserving players instead.

Genius.

Good job Coops has to pick the team, as we cant decide..

I thought he did ok.

Any idea if Brophy looked good enough to challenge for the LB slot? From what I've seen of BOO (only one game) LB is still up for grabs.

That's why he's paid the big bucks :)

I've only seen two games so far, but the following would be my first picks:

GK: Vigaroux

CBs: Turbull & Branco

MF: Traore

CF: Thomas (based on him being Smith's replacement)

The others have done nothing wrong, although BOO looked limited v Vale, but there are now plenty of options for the other positions.

Same. At one point in my FM team I had 4 "World Class Strikers" and they were in the top 6 most expensive players in the game. It was tough accommodating that much brilliance. :)


ftfy

As a side note, I often wonder whilst playing FM what the TEF would be saying as I do certain things like sell off top players because they get too big for their boots or refuse contracts because I do not pay over 30k a week to anybody, or insist on the club building new facilities at the expense of my transfer budget. Or pettily insult Jose Mourihnio for no other reason than it makes me happy

I imagine I would probably be burnt in effigy in real life.

I agree. I thought Turnbull was very sound at least in the first two thirds of the pitch, linking up effectively with Stewart, with some great passing, and always making himself available to get things moving down that side. What he didn't have was the subtlety of a classic wing back in the final third - and i didn't see that in Stewart either....so there was little incisive attack from the left.

I went tuesday and given time Brophy could challenge, very raw at the moment mind

Makes no difference. Pick the best team, not the best 11 players.

Yep, did ok. Completely wasted there though. An emergency measure, sure.

I thought he was better in defence and did more going forward than BOO has so far this year. Probably just a confidence issue, as BOO can beat his man when he wants to and deliver a good cross, but too keen to play it safe in the early stages of his Swindon career.

He did look good, but his movements were very unnatural, restricting the movements of those ahead of him. It takes time on the training ground etc to work those set plays, rotations, where to move to in each different phase of a move....

Plus he's a fucking good CB. Our best one by a mile.

I thought Brophy defensively was poor the other night, kept being wrong side of his man and kept getting skinned. Was pretty good going forward to be far but remember he was playing against bottom of the football league ..

Which is still a massive step up from part time

He probably wouldn't be happy about being shoved out to full-back either, having made the decision to rejoin us for the year.

Where was he tier 9? That's like me getting off my drunken ass and turning out for Sutton Utd tomorrow, and that wouldn't go well!

Yeah level 9.

Is Thompson really un-droppable though, it's about competition for places if he's not fit and someone comes in does well in his position then I'd bench him on his return to fitness due to the other player in his position doing well - competition for places shows nobody is un-droppable.

 

He certainly isn't "un-droppable" in my book.  He may be Team Captain and 'one of our own' but he should earn his shirt on merit, just like the others.

But he is hands down our best right back.

The tables have turned, we now have so many class players that it's hard to fit them into the squad. 70th minute subs and "Plan Bs" look like they will have impact now.

As long as the team gel well and the training goes smoothly I can see us going up, we seem to have a player for all occasions.