| The nonsense of squad rotation 12:08 - Dec 3 with 1307 views | turtle2 |
Back in teh 1981 season - arguably the best season in the clubs history we won the UEAFA Cup, semi-finalists in the FA Cup, narrowly missed winning the league - i think we played approaximately 70 games with a squad that utilised 15 players ? O'Callaghan, McCall, Sivel - Stockwel perhaps ? coming in for the 11 who played em all.... yes times have moved on but we need to be fielding our best team in every game - the bench at the start last night looked better than those on the pitch - we lose harmony and consistency with the constant rotation..... that makes up a large part of consistently winning as it did 23 / 24 when we had a stable core of players ? Last night - in parts was like watching an average sunday morning pub team and apart from maybe 4 or 5 key players i dont think we have a strong squad at all ? Macateer ? seriously - may as wlel play with 10 - the front is beyond bad and the team we last used in the championship was massively better ? if he sold those players to replace with players that would do a better job in a return to the prem in 2026 that would be understandable - but letting them go to replace them with dross seems like the biggest mistake ive seen an ITFC manager make in a long time - very sad to see us in the current state |  | | |  |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:13 - Dec 3 with 1183 views | positivity |
1981 was 44 years ago, sir bobby was rotating his team later on in his career.
i wish we had rotated a bit more that year, would have been our only league championship in my lifetime! | |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:22 - Dec 3 with 1154 views | homer_123 |
That season, is without doubt, the best argument you can have for squad rotation.
What might have been [sigh]. |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:23 - Dec 3 with 1138 views | Basuco |
The two players not rotated are Leif and Azor, Azor was dead on his feet after 75 minutes last night and Leif has struggled in the second half of a few games, rotation is part of the pace of modern games. Back in the day no team rested players, they all seemed to drink huge amounts of alcohol and many smoked, so it did not matter, but now it shows if players play 90 minutes 7 times in 22 days. |  | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:25 - Dec 3 with 1137 views | J2BLUE |
It's almost like sports science has evolved a little bit isn't it?
My dad worked with a former player after he retired and he said he used to have "a cup of tea and a fag" at half time. Perhaps one of the coaches should offer around a pack of Marlboro Lights? |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:28 - Dec 3 with 1101 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
It was lack of squad depth to cover injuries / burnout that resulted in a potentially unprecedented quadruple turning into a single trophy that year.
Those were also different times, and a different game. Arguably the game has gone too far the other direction now, but squad depth and rotation is crucial for success nowadays. I do think we need a bit more stability in the team selection (a core always on the timesheet), but ultimately if we have 20+ in the squad that can easily be switched around from game to game, then we'd be in a strong position. We're just not there yet... | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:32 - Dec 3 with 1064 views | positivity |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:25 - Dec 3 by J2BLUE |
It's almost like sports science has evolved a little bit isn't it?
My dad worked with a former player after he retired and he said he used to have "a cup of tea and a fag" at half time. Perhaps one of the coaches should offer around a pack of Marlboro Lights? |
wonder if in sir bobby 's early days at the club, he was being told to go back to the tactics of the 1920s? | |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:32 - Dec 3 with 1063 views | WestStanderLaLaLa |
Yeah, let’s pump em full of cortisone, didn’t do anyone any harm |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:21 - Dec 3 with 900 views | reusersfreekicks |
12 players played the majority of games though |  | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:21 - Dec 3 with 888 views | bsw72 |
Any ideas what cost us the title and the FA Cup . . . answers on a postcard. |  | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:26 - Dec 3 with 856 views | BasingstokeBlue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:21 - Dec 3 by reusersfreekicks |
12 players played the majority of games though |
That wasn't the OP's speculation. |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:32 - Dec 3 with 818 views | itfcjoe |
And we lost 6 of our last 8 league games because we ran out of puff, after only losing 3 out of the first 34. and an FA Cup semi final |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:08 - Dec 3 with 662 views | yesjohn99 |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:32 - Dec 3 by itfcjoe |
And we lost 6 of our last 8 league games because we ran out of puff, after only losing 3 out of the first 34. and an FA Cup semi final |
Warky has said he doesn’t know how they got through the 2nd leg of the Uefa final. They were all dead on their feet in the days leading up to the game. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:13 - Dec 3 with 650 views | mellowblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:08 - Dec 3 by yesjohn99 |
Warky has said he doesn’t know how they got through the 2nd leg of the Uefa final. They were all dead on their feet in the days leading up to the game. |
They looked dead physically and mentally. I think they thought they had done enough first leg. I know I did. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:15 - Dec 3 with 641 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:32 - Dec 3 by itfcjoe |
And we lost 6 of our last 8 league games because we ran out of puff, after only losing 3 out of the first 34. and an FA Cup semi final |
Indeed. The OP appears to be making the complete opposite point to the one they think they are making! |  |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:53 - Dec 3 with 564 views | jaseitfc2015 |
Im not against rotation at all and can see what McKenna is trying to do eg basically have 2 strong 11s , that said I think he started rotating too much, too soon for a side with so many new players , where the priority should be to embed and form familiarity
The centre back pairing to me is something that should never really be rotated … they need to form that relationship and trust to be effective
In other areas I think dropping Philogene for the Bristol game was baffling as he was on form - that said he did then go on to score against Norwich
The sweeping changes from game to game too , sometimes as much as 7 changes is too much - you need continuity , momentum , muscle memory . You are not getting that with rotating so soon with a new group like this | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 16:59 - Dec 3 with 538 views | mellowblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 13:32 - Dec 3 by itfcjoe |
And we lost 6 of our last 8 league games because we ran out of puff, after only losing 3 out of the first 34. and an FA Cup semi final |
It was disappointing coming so close. The Uefa Cup was like a booby prize at the time to me almost, as I had set my heart on the league. Of course now I am very proud and happy we won it. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 17:46 - Dec 3 with 464 views | Swansea_Blue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:13 - Dec 3 by positivity |
1981 was 44 years ago, sir bobby was rotating his team later on in his career.
i wish we had rotated a bit more that year, would have been our only league championship in my lifetime! |
Indeed, on both points. “Narrowly missed winning the league”… because we weren’t able to rest the players. Nobody’s going to go through a season now using only 15 players. [Post edited 3 Dec 17:47]
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 18:58 - Dec 3 with 363 views | mellowblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 17:46 - Dec 3 by Swansea_Blue |
Indeed, on both points. “Narrowly missed winning the league”… because we weren’t able to rest the players. Nobody’s going to go through a season now using only 15 players. [Post edited 3 Dec 17:47]
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the run in was 16 games in 53 days. Including some monster ties. It is no wonder they were knackered. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:08 - Dec 3 with 275 views | stonojnr |
and yet the one thing the players from 81 say was missing from our arguably best season ever was, actually more players who could have played the squad role to give them the time to recover, be at their best, cut down on the injuries they suffered.
so its kind of bad example to cite.
as with most things in football no-one cares about squad rotation when we are winning, its only when you struggle to draw or start losing games people moan about it. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:34 - Dec 3 with 246 views | southnorfolkblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 12:25 - Dec 3 by J2BLUE |
It's almost like sports science has evolved a little bit isn't it?
My dad worked with a former player after he retired and he said he used to have "a cup of tea and a fag" at half time. Perhaps one of the coaches should offer around a pack of Marlboro Lights? |
I still remember a picture (in a Xmas album I think) of Big Al puffing away by the side of the training pitch 😂😂 | |
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| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:56 - Dec 3 with 206 views | thecheek |
Leif is easily our most consistent player
He plays every game
Got to be something in that |  | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:57 - Dec 3 with 202 views | mellowblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:34 - Dec 3 by southnorfolkblue |
I still remember a picture (in a Xmas album I think) of Big Al puffing away by the side of the training pitch 😂😂 |
I think Beattie and Hunter used to spend half of training drinking tea and smoking in the groundsman's shed. | | | |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:59 - Dec 3 with 193 views | southnorfolkblue |
| The nonsense of squad rotation on 20:57 - Dec 3 by mellowblue |
I think Beattie and Hunter used to spend half of training drinking tea and smoking in the groundsman's shed. |
Now you mention it I think the Beat was also in the photo 😂 | |
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