Stoke 2-2 Bolton - Bye Bye Premier League!

why does a woman on a football forum always have to be a bloke? you lot are strange.

MT - which one is trigger????

LH - my comment was laced with sarcasm.

Trig is Reebok Rebel bud..

Jayne... I think you're a women!

In a dramatic twist I can confirm Largehat is actually a 44 year old woman called Deidre.

Passi, you cheeky twat. I'm 43.

Doh - of course - not on the ball today ;-)

MT - you think she is more than one woman - like schizophrenic!!!!!

aaron_bwfc wrote:

Coyle would be a fool to start Lee IMO, he obvously isn't 100% match fit and with it being the biggest game of the season I sumply wouldn't risk him.

Thats what substitutions are for, if he gets tired then take him off.

he was on the field 10 mins against West Brom and managed to thread a great ball into their box, this is something our other players can't do, Lee can create chances

he has played 70 mins in the reserves and been training for 3 weeks now, NRC has played the last 2/3 games with an injury, before West Brom he hadent gone to training pretty much all week but he still played because we NEED our best players.

He would be a fool not to start him.

Lee can play.

largehat wrote:wanderlust, there seems to be a lot of people in the same boat. A lot of us have got tickets in the Stoke end.

I may have to mug the ref outside the ground if nothing else turns up.

Lee wasn't up to it when he came on in my opinion. He looked off the pace and light weight. He was easily tackled, easily beaten. It's understandable after such a long lay off - he should not have been risked in that crucial game at that point. Bringing on Lee was a decision that partly led to us conceding - Lee lost the ball softly a couple of times and it put extra pressure on us, same as Klasnic did, and K Davies.

I would start this side at Stoke, and for good reason (imho).

Bogdan
Steinsson Ream Boyata Ricketts )
Eagles Tuncay ReoCoker Vela Petrov
Sordell

Knight is way too risky - same old errors against WBA so it has to be some variation on that defence, maybe Ricketts central and Alsonso wide - who knows, but anything is better than Knight.

Eagles has been pacey and dangerous recently, he has started to get stuck in and he is putting real shifts in, one of our most determined players at the moment.

Let's face it, Mark Davies has been poor recently. He would be out and Tuncay in for me. NRC and Vela play central midfield while Tuncay alternates between CM and ATT. We have all seen the way Tuncay chases lost causes, can cause problems for the opposition with skill and drive. He is a tricky customer and he always puts in 100% or more. Mavies doesn't.

Sordell is in. Ngog doesn't shoot and doesn't score. Davies is slow and useless, especially against Stoke. And, you know what, Stoke's training all week and their expectations will all be geared towards how to deal with Bolton and Davies. Let's shock the hell out of them and throw Sordell at them who creates chances, beats players, is lightening fast and is not afraid of shooting.

With Vela, Tuncay, Eagles and Petrov creating chances and a proven scorer finishing them off we might just catch Stoke off guard. Turn up with the same 11(ish) as last week and we play right into their hands...

It's the last game of the season. Do we stick to our guns which have misfired for most of the previous 37 games or do we do something last ditch and try to survive. If we take the same team and tactics as usual we all know there is a high chance of us getting nothing. We need a win, we may as well go for it. Eh?

Jayjay, I appreciate that it's your opinion and you can pick whatever hypothetical XI you like, but realistically, do you think any manager in the history of the club would pick Tuncay with tonsilitis or give Josh Vela his full debut ahead of Mark Davies in a 4-5-1 in such a vital game?

It's the same with Sordell. It's too late. I know everyone on here is unhappy he hasn't played, and with some justification - but for this season, that ship has sailed.

Pratley is back in training.

By 'eck, the gang's all here! And I have the sexiest avatar.

FWIW, I think we have to stick with our tried and tested players for our final game. There would be absolutely no point in playing Sordell because it's too little, too late. If he bombed we would all be told, ' I told you so ' by the management.

We just have to go out with our best eleven and treat it as a replay of our FA cup semi. We beat them a couple of seasons ago 2-1 at their place after being 1-0 down. Matty Taylor did the business for us that day.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:Pratley is back in training.

It just keeps getting better.

If pratley, NRC and sparky are all fit for sunday I think you will see a 4-5-1 with davies up top on his own.

For some weiird reason I can't wait for the game on sunday,

OWEN Coyle isn’t ruling out Chung-Yong Lee making an appearance from the start of Sunday’s survival showdown at Stoke.

he won't start then

Would be too much of a risk against Stokes clod hoppers to start Lee IMO, they would kick the guy off the field.

I think were treating him a little bit delicately because of the Holden event, but Holdens extended injury wasn't just because he was rushed back, his leg hadn't healed right in the first place, probably from a surgery cock up, if it had done then he would of been fine any playing for us now.

If Lee has been playing reserve matches and doing first team training then his leg must be fully healed, he can play, the only reason he shouldn't is if hes is way off match fit.

Ricketts came back from 9 months out and was great straight away, and scored a goal in his return game,

were treating Lee to softly here in my opinion, either his leg is healed or it isn't, and since he has been playing and training then it must be.

He can play.

I'm with you on this to be honest, if he's ok to play them I would certainly start him. He's our best winger, now he's back I suspect OC may put Eagles in the position he brought him in orginally for, just behind the striker.

.........Bogdan.......

Boyata.......Knight.....Ream.....Ricketts

Lee......NRC......Pratley.......Petrov

.................Eagles............

...............Davies........

That's what I think our starting 11 may look like if he starts Lee and Pratley is fit.

I like the shape of that team Aaron, I think Eagles did well in the hole at Villa and against Swansea too, but I imagine Mark Davies will be selected ahead of Pratley.