Genius or Madness. I have seen Madines benefits to the team with his strength, experience, holding the ball up, aerial ability etc, all good attributes which have served us well during a number of games this season. He even seems fitter than ever and has been showing a more positive attitude this season. However for all the positives outlined above, he in my humble opinion should not be starting the majority of games. He is nowhere near mobile enough, he doesn’t have that turn of pace and he is not likely to score a bagful of goals.
He certainly has a place in the squad but he should not be starting and certainly not doing 90 minutes !!
Here now lies the problem. Madine is a big voice in that dressing room, outspoken and not afraid to say what he thinks. The players respect him and their commitment , togetherness and hard work on the pitch cannot be questioned. From Appleton’s point of view making him captain was genius because he knows that so long as Gary is on board it’s good news for him. But that puts Appleton in a difficult position when picking his team. How on earth does he drop him as he is the captain ? I don’t think Madine would be too happy hearing that news but I have been surprised that he has been starting every game and rarely been substituted. Like many on here I am bemused by Appleton’s team selection at times, Jerry, top scorer on the bench, Lavery scores first goal for yonks then gets 5 minutes of injury time at Watford.
So with regards to Madine, I think Appleton has may have dug himself a bit of a hole with this one. The way Appleton says he wants the team to play is not consistent with Madine starting every game. We have such ability within this squad and we are at our best when attacking the opposition with pace and good movement and scoring goals from our recognised strikers. That ain’t going to happen if they are bench warming. As others have said, we missed another opportunity on Saturday to play to our strengths and have a right go. Instead we laboured to hang on for a point, not for the first time this season. We as fans see it but why doesn’t the Manager ?
He certainly has a place in the squad but he should not be starting and certainly not doing 90 minutes !!
Here now lies the problem. Madine is a big voice in that dressing room, outspoken and not afraid to say what he thinks. The players respect him and their commitment , togetherness and hard work on the pitch cannot be questioned. From Appleton’s point of view making him captain was genius because he knows that so long as Gary is on board it’s good news for him. But that puts Appleton in a difficult position when picking his team. How on earth does he drop him as he is the captain ? I don’t think Madine would be too happy hearing that news but I have been surprised that he has been starting every game and rarely been substituted. Like many on here I am bemused by Appleton’s team selection at times, Jerry, top scorer on the bench, Lavery scores first goal for yonks then gets 5 minutes of injury time at Watford.
So with regards to Madine, I think Appleton has may have dug himself a bit of a hole with this one. The way Appleton says he wants the team to play is not consistent with Madine starting every game. We have such ability within this squad and we are at our best when attacking the opposition with pace and good movement and scoring goals from our recognised strikers. That ain’t going to happen if they are bench warming. As others have said, we missed another opportunity on Saturday to play to our strengths and have a right go. Instead we laboured to hang on for a point, not for the first time this season. We as fans see it but why doesn’t the Manager ?
