Hopkin.. was it pure genius

To be honest Bronco, it is your comment that the 'players looked lost' that is more relevant than did DH potentially throw a spanner in the works to make a point (no, he just bloody got it wrong on Saturday) - it just shows how fragile and vulnerable our position still is, our players are still very brittle when up against it and we still need the right type of new faces asap.
I like what DH has done in trying to get rid of some of the overpaid wasters the club brought in but so far he, SR and JR have not really lived up to pledges made towards the end of last year re the absolutely essential additions we need - I know we are only half way through January but thats 'half way' longer than the club was telling us back in November. I just sense we have a big couple of days coming up in terms of how things are going to be looking, and as someone close to the club said to me today 'Southend on Saturday is massive, will we see the City pre Barnsley or will the edginess have returned'

 

I'll wait til the end of the transfer window if that's okay but you may be right !

 

A simple answer to that is don't change a winning team/formation, we've been doing well recently why make players play in position they may not feel comfortable playing, I think we will see a team selection of :

O'Donnell
Caddis
Knight-Percival
McGowan
Wood or Paudie O'Connor
O'Connor
Payne
O'Brien
Ball
Doyle
Miller
Maybe Sam Surridge if he comes from Bournemouth in time.

 

For saturday, he'll play a back 3. Doyle will be on his own up front.

 

I do think he gives the better teams to much respect. Over recent weeks the team have played some good pressing football and scored goals but at Luton Sunderland and Barnsley we have try to play containing football and lost admittedly we were a bit unlucky at Sunderland. But in all three games we should have stuck to the football we served up recently which brought results

 

Its an interesting one because in many ways Payne and O'Brien staying only keep us in the position we were at on Jan 1st player wise - and there has been a real mix of views since the weekend of 1) as you state above 'why change a winning team and formation' to 2) half way through the month where are the improvements we need to the team?
So depending which way you look at it we could be going into this weekend with the squad that was abysmal at Barnsley or the one that was starting to lift our spirits - they are both one and the same so do you stick or twist?! For what its worth my own view is we need to improve the team by another 20% minimum (so thats at least 2 better players), and this is just to enhance our chances of survival and not some pie-eyed view of the higher reaches of League 1 - we are still in a dogfight this season! Dont know if I have been that clear on the point I am trying to make (my excuse is got serious Man Flu!)

 

I posted the other day I had sympathy with Hopkin when he said the two goals were from poor defending without doubt he's correct, and cant be denied, but if they are asked to play a formation that nullified Barnsley rather than play to our strengths he has to take some criticism for that, as he and the players have taken the plaudits for the majority of those very good performances recently, even at Sunderland we made chances, but last Saturday was poor in comparison.

 

Hopkin seems to be struggling to bring in any new faces of real quality that are going to help us get out of this mess. So...... is it worth asking the question posed by this thread again? Were the changes he made yesterday tactical errors, or done to force Rupp to get his hand in his pocket again?

 

I just can’t see it. He is genuine in my view, playing brinkmanship with Rupp is not in his toolbox tbh.

 

Losing 4 0 at home to Southend is more likely to bring the sack a little bit closer than an influx of quality signings.

 

The idea that he might be losing matches to force the hand if Rupp is beyond ridiculous