TRUE BELIEVER
Vital Football Hero
I thought Cameron was a very decent player prior to the injuries and maybe he'll come good again but in his couple of games for us he wasn't able to really show much to make me think he'll be a big miss. Given the time he maybe could've got back to his old self but my first impression was the injuries really took their toll.
Under the circumstances I know it wont be a popular opinion but i don't think Merrie and Perry pairing are currently the answer in centre mid, so i think we need a def mid a lot more than we need a back up centre back so i think it's worked out for the better.
I am not sure that your thoughts about Merrie and Perry will be unpopular.
I personally like them as a pairing, but they are young and inexperienced. They will be the future for us but need time to develop, time we haven't got at present. We need to use our experienced players for the moment to stabilise our position, but given that the way they started to perform in the Pompey and Doncaster games I wouldn't completely write them off to come back in a few games time.
I am hopeful that we utilise our youth players more this season and I think given a decent run in the side a number of them could establish their positions. I think that Merrie and Perry come into that bracket, but the performance against Crewe exposed their weaknesses and I think a change is needed to give them chance to regain their confidence. I would give one of them a run out alongside Evans today with Palmer on the bench as backup.
What I don't want to see is them condemned to be bench warmers for the rest of the season whilst we bring in loan players to fill the squad.
They have shown that there is talent there and we should use this season, whilst expectations are low, to give them, and others, the experience of league football required to bring them on instead of doing what we usually do and sending them out on loan. Play them alongside the experienced players we have and let them school and protect them whilst giving them the chance to improve whilst we as fans need to temper our expectations and look to just surviving the season and not pressuring players by over criticising performances.
It could be said that this season was a write off from the moment we went into administration, yet we are sitting mid table with new owners to come in and looking more likely to survive than many other clubs. We need to accept our predicament and get behind Sheridan and the players win or lose and give the younger players a chance to prove they are worthy to wear the Wigan shirt.